Rising Health Issues and Physical Activity

This brings me to the final article, “The Importance of Exercise and Physical Activity in Older Patient Populations” and although it is directed to older patients the message is clear for all ages. Exercise prevents disease.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) issued new guidelines and an overview of the importance of exercise and physical activity in older populations. The guidelines are published in the July issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, PhD and colleagues from the ACSM states “the guidelines confirm that regular physical activity reduces the risk of many adverse health outcomes”. The guidelines also state that inactivity will lead to possible health concerns later in life. Remember “spending our health gaining wealth then spend our wealth to regain our health” quote from earlier. Adults who participate in any type of regular physical activity will gain some health benefit. It must be emphasized though, to reach the most health benefits, the duration, frequency and intensity of the physical activity must continue to evolve.

The benefits of regular physical activity are endless. Physical activity can be separated into two types aerobic exercise training and resistance exercise training.  Aerobic training improves cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength and endurance. It also reduces the accumulation of central body fat that lines the arteries and heart thus reducing the stress on the heart and protecting it from heart disease and hypertension. Regular aerobic training has been proven to control and reduce body fat, improved glycemic control and reduces the effects of bone-density loss in post-menopausal women and improves cognitive function. 

Resistance exercise training or strength training improves muscle strength, endurance, walking stability, balance, chair-stand movements and bone density.  These are all very key issues for people who are at risk of developing a disease or have one of the aforementioned diseases.

The basic conclusion to all this healthcare mess and statistical nightmare is that basic and simple exercise can be so beneficial for high-risk individuals that the results could be staggering. Doctors and Physicians should be prescribing active and healthy lifestyle promotion right along side the heart, hypertension and obesity medications. It should be part of their treatment plan.

The medical research is clearly showing that the issue of obesity, heart disease and hypertension are not going to go away any time soon. However action is required to promote better health choices. Combining both aerobic and resistance training has shown to be the most effective way to better health along with proper diet.  

The ACSM guidelines concludes by stating that “there is clear evidence that fitness, metabolic and performance benefits occur with regular aerobic and resistance training and also contributes to the reduced risk of developing chronic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”