A doctor was invited in a morning joggers’ meeting to say something about heart diseases. The doctor said that he was going to keep it simple. He said that exercise causes a spark inside our body that burns all the cholesterol in our veins that can cause a stroke. After saying that short sentence, he told everyone to go out and jog.
The convenience of modern living has one clear disadvantage. It has robbed us of our natural form of exercise; physical work.
It may sound funny but it is a fact that early man had better coronary conditions because they had to chase down their food. And in terms of diet, early man was eating leaner meat because their food also had a lot of good exercise, with all the running from being hunted.
Today, there are 600,000 heart disease related deaths in the U.S. every year. Heart disease is the culprit to 25% of all fatalities making it the number one cause of death in America.
No matter how far we have gone, modern medication can only manage the symptoms of heart disease. The only thing we can do to prevent it is by leading a healthy lifestyle with the perfect blend of diet and exercise.
How Important is Exercise?
Thomas Jefferson said, “Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.”
In short, Thomas Jefferson said that exercise is more important than reading.
What is Exercise?
Webster defines exercise as the regular or repeated use of a faculty or bodily organ, a bodily exertion for the sake of developing and maintaining physical fitness. A more useful and objective definition of exercise is as follows:
You are exercising when your heart rate is equivalent to 80% up to 100% of the value of 220 minus your age. So if you are 50 years old, 220 minus 50 will give you 170. Any activity that brings up a 50-year old man or woman’s heart rate to anywhere between 136 to 170 beats per minute, can be considered exercise.
So if you tell someone that he just won the lottery, will that give him exercise? A heart attack most likely. He has to keep it up there for at least 15 minutes for it to be considered as exercise. Even the excitement of winning the lottery won’t keep anyone’s heart rate up for 15 minutes. And when he finds out that it’s all just a joke, be sure he’ll be running after you and it’s your turn to do some exercising.
When you’re heart beats around the boundaries of 80% of your maximum heart rate, flood rushes quickly through your veins and unclogs it from the cholesterol that have settled.
Heart Benefits of Exercise
If you have not done any form of exercise for a very long time, then you have to consult your doctor before getting into it. But, if you have been doing it occasionally and you are not a suspect for any heart condition then, it is best to keep the habit at least 3 to 4 times a week so you can flush your veins and arteries clean before the cholesterol harden and start causing problems.
Your heart is like the motor of your car. If you have no intention of using for the day or, you have been depriving it with a challenge, say you are always on a relaxed cruising speed, it is always advisable to rev it up in the morning to unclog it of all the carbon buildup. The human heart works the same way.
Anti-Stress
Aside from the biological benefits, exercise is an anti-stress activity. Work and sometimes family keep every adult under stress 24/7. While rest and relaxation may seem to be the obvious remedy, most will say that they carry the day’s stress and problems even when they are sleeping.
In such a case, the only thing you can do is substitute a positive stress to your unhealthy negative stresses.
Exercise is a positive physical stress that can take you away from the day’s troubles and problems providing you with that much needed time off from real life.
Some have used exercise as a way to unload all their negative energy, an activity that can serve as a punching bag for all your negative emotions.
Exercise has proven to be very helpful as a “de-stressor”, an outlet that calms you down and sets you back in the right perspective.
Supervised Training
While you can do some jogging on your own, it is best to exercise in Fitness 19 (Fees or Reviews) were they can give you a tailor fit program that will be best your condition and goals. If you are suffering from a heart condition but with a doctor’s clearance for exercise, it is vital to have a professional supervising your workouts.