The manual or physical work that was a big part of our ancestor's life has all but been removed from our modern day lives. Hard work, from farming to simply doing household chores without appliances is no longer part of ordinary life for most people. But the problem is the human body is designed to be active - very active and needs the stimulation of vigorous movement to stay strong and healthy.
This lack of physical activity in our lives has become such a serious threat to our health it now has a name - Sedentary Death Syndrome or 'SeDS'. The frightening facts are that not only adults are developing this disease but children are as well. And the cause is - too much food and too little physical activity.
Our collective obsession to being glued in front of a screen of some sort has a lot to answer for as our activity level drops to the equivalent of sleeping when we are parked in front of these modern miracles. Between that and the bad food choices that are made when sitting in front of these screens it is no surprise that two thirds of the worlds population are overweight and 50 percent have at least one serious health condition.
The legacy we now leave behind and perhaps the greatest tragedy is that health ailments previously associated with the older population will now affect children. This will serve to drastically decrease not only the quality of their lives but the length of their lives as well. It is now predicted that children being born today will have a 20-30 year reduced life span. So, it seems although we will leave them the wonder of modern technology we also leave them this horrifying inheritance.
To avoid the severe decline in health that leads to the risk of over 50 illnesses and diseases due to inconsistent or non existent physical activity is such a simple one. Get yourself started on a proper exercise program containing mostly strength training activity as the condition of your muscles is the main contributor to the health of your metabolism (your body's engine).
Your metabolic health depends on the effectiveness of the body's chemical and physical reactions from converting food into energy to repairing and renewing the body's cells and tissues to building resistance to aging and disease. Your levels of strength, stamina, body composition (muscle/fat ratio) and energy give you your quality of life and can only come from the health of your metabolism. And since your muscle tissue is the main driver of your metabolism it starts and ends right here.
Make no mistake about the correct type of activity that is needed to give the most health benefits. Long, slow endurance type of activity (walking, jogging or cycling) is great as part of an active lifestyle but cannot give you the muscle strengthening of proper exercise. Working the major muscle groups through their full ranges of motion under a load is what is required to deliver metabolic health which in turn gives your better weight management and true anti aging benefits.
Modern exercise programs are more concerned with what happens to the body long after the exercise session is over as opposed to old fashioned exercise beliefs that were only concerned with what happened during the session.
Proper exercise to maintain health and wellness should be viewed more as part of a lifestyle and not as a laborious undertaking best suited to athletic enthusiasts. It is far easier to find time for a couple of sessions each week than to risk having your life cut short by a killer disease that could be stalking silently from within. It is each of our responsibility to make sure we are not another victim and we only have to give a little bit of time and a little bit of effort each week to ensure this.
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Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger. In her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards being strong, fit and youthful at any age.
