“Run, Forrest, run!” [Jenny's often repeated advice to Forrest in the film "Forrest Gump".] | | |
I suspect it won’t come as a shock to you to realise that exercise is good for you. We are constantly bombarded with messages about how we need to lose weight and do more exercise. What this section is meant to do is reveal just how it is of benefit, and how it has to become part of your every day life. Just like weight loss diets, most people have made resolutions to look like the model on the Nike ad, that start well and fade all too quickly. | | |
Most people sign up in a burst of enthusiasm, go regularly for 2 months or so and then rarely go again. Every time they think of going they feel guilty about how much money it has cost them to have that gym membership that they aren’t using. Unfortunately, that does not spur us on to go more frequently, but quite the opposite. The human mind avoids the subject by putting “gym” in a little box in the corner and never going near it again. Your psyche is fantastic in subconscious avoidance techniques. This is a perfect adaptation to allow normal functioning following a traumatic event, such as bereavement, but not helpful in these circumstances. | | |
So, how is exercise good for you? | | |
Most of the research published about the health benefits of exercise are on its effects on cardiovascular disease. At the core of the problem of cardiovascular disease is dysfunction in the cells that line your blood vessels. An inflammatory process begins, abetted by a high LDL cholesterol, that causes thickening of the blood vessel itself, furring up of the lumen and an inability for the vessel to relax and dilate. The pathology of these processes is extremely complicated and still being clarified. Exercise, however, seems to reduce the incidence of all the contributing factors. Sedentary people have a 20-50% increased risk of developing high blood pressure compared to active people and a nearly 7 times greater risk of developing heart disease! | | |
