By Rosemary Marchese
I won’t apologise for the harshness of the title. Truly, that’s what you’re doing to yourself if you’re tied to your desk chair, comfy lounge, car seat etc. This is a wake-up call… your body needs to move! Think about how much you sit. Now compare that to when you were a child. Even if you were what I call ‘moderately active’, you played perhaps one sport per week (training and a game) and played outdoors at lunch and after school. OK, even if you weren’t that active, you’re likely to have still had a sports lesson once per week and mucked around outside at lunchtimes. But life’s busy, right? How much do you REALLY need to do to get it right?
We’ve known for a long time that physical activity and exercise (yes, they’re different) have clear health benefits. Over the past four decades or so it has become clear that there are tremendous health benefits to REGULAR, MODERATE INTENSITY physical activity. The best of these benefits comes in the way of disease prevention – prevention of heart disease and reduced risk of a range of other health problems among those who move it, compared to those who don’t. Did you know that about half of Australian adults aren’t doing enough physical activity to gain health benefits? That’s right. We’re sitting too much! In my opinion that means we’re dying a slow death. Harsh again? Well, let’s look at it more closely.
You place your hand on an electricity wire and you get electrocuted. You head into the surf without the ability to swim and you drown. Clear-cut. But for some reason if things don’t happen to us right there and then, we tend to fob it off as insignificant (OK, a massive generalisation but you get the drift). ‘No, that donut won’t hurt me.’ ‘No, I don’t need to walk today.’ ‘I’m OK cancelling my gym membership.’ ‘I’m too busy to exercise.’ Are we serious? We ask children to be accountable for their actions, and yet day in and day out I see so many people failing to be an adult. Failing to be accountable for their actions. Why? Because YOU CAN. Because you cannot see the IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES of your actions. The effect is not dramatic enough, not fast enough.
Still too hard? The recommendations are for ‘moderate’ intensity exercise. So, let’s clarify a few definitions…
- ‘Physical activity’ means that you’re moving large muscles by walking, taking the stairs, gardening, playing a sport or doing some physically active work activity.
- ‘Exercise’, well that’s the planned stuff, where you’re getting the body moving for recreation, leisure or fitness, with the goal of improving your fitness or performance, e.g. going to the gym.
Still too hard? Well, guess what? ‘Moderate’ means that you can be moving at an intensity whereby you can maintain a conversation. It’s the ‘vigorous’ activity that causes lots of sweating and puffing. This type will get you even more health benefits but the Heart Foundation recommends that we participate in moderate intensity exercise for 30 minutes on most, if not all days of the week. Seriously? You can’t find 30 minutes? John Howard was the Prime Minister and walked daily for 30 minutes. Whether you like him or not politically, there’s something to be said about his commitment to his health. Not sure what Kevin is up to, but using Johnny as an example, are you honestly busier than the Prime Minister of Australia?
This post was written by Rosemary Marchese who is a fitness author and writer, physiotherapist and mum (not in order of priority of course!). She has published two fitness textbooks and is currently working on her third book, consulting for fitness training organisations and blogging fit bits and tips for fitness professionals and the general public! Check out her blog or catch up with Rosemary on her website.
This post was written by Rosemary Marchese who is a fitness author and writer, physiotherapist and mum (not in order of priority of course!). She has published two fitness textbooks and is currently working on her third book, consulting for fitness training organisations and blogging fit bits and tips for fitness professionals and the general public! Check out her The content on this post is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as individual fitness or health advice, nor should it replace the advice given to you by any medical, health or fitness professional in a one-to-one scenario. Always seek medical clearance and advice before embarking on any exercise regime. The author takes no responsibility for any accident or injury claims as a result of the content on this site
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