Fitness is a term that is used to help define the ability to stay in the best physical shape. You may ask, then, “What am I staying in shape for?” To each person, this will be something different.
For most, it is a matter of staying healthy as long as possible while for others it means making heads turn every time and having the hottest body. You see, your body is designed to work as a machine. When each part of the machine is cared for, the entire machine works the best that it can. When the machine is neglected either in part or in whole, then the machine won’t run well and eventually won’t run at all.
If a car, for example, is well maintained for many years, it will last many years longer. If it isn’t taken care of, for example, you don’t change the oil in it, and you cut several years off the life of the car. That’s costly to you, but when you look at this as your body, you are shaving away days, weeks, and even years off of your life when you don’t take care of your machine (your body.)
One of the simplest and most effective ways to bring down blood glucose levels cut the risk of cardiovascular disease, and improve overall health and well-being is physical fitness and exercise. Yet, in our increasingly sedentary world, where almost every essential task can be performed online, from the driver’s seat, or with a phone call, exercising and being physically fit can be a tough case to sell.
In reality, everyone should exercise, yet a survey shows that only 30% of the United States adult population gets the recommended thirty minutes of daily physical activity, and 25% are not active at all.
Inactivity is thought to be one of the key reasons for the surge of type 2 diabetes in America because inactivity and obesity promote insulin resistance and other factors that trigger other kinds of diseases.
The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling the onset of any kind of disease. For people who are already candidates for some serious diseases like diabetes and heart failure, exercise and physical fitness can improve the condition of some parts of the body like insulin sensitivity, lower the risk of heart disease, and promote weight loss.
In 2003, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published an issue regarding the result of their study and found out that lack of exercise and physical fitness were the key factors behind obesity and other serious diseases like diabetes.
Hence, it is extremely important for a person to stay healthy and be physically fit in order to avoid such illnesses.
Fitness is not something that you have to struggle with. When you were three you were probably taught to brush your teeth. You learned to put your clothes on. When you were learning how to do them, you likely hated it. But, once you learned how to do it, it became something that you didn’t think twice about. Do you worry about brushing your teeth today? No, because it’s a habit. That’s what we want you to think of when you think of fitness.
It’s just something that you do. Granted, the first weeks of learning to be fit and staying healthy will be the hardest. You’ll dread it. You’ll find excuses for not doing it. You’ll claim that getting fit is just too hard. You just can’t give up what you love. That’s not true.
In fact, if you have the willpower to save your life by sacrificing for just a few weeks, you’ll see that fitness can be easily mastered by you.
Take a look at yourself right now. What do you see? If you are unhappy about any part of your body, chances are good that area of your body is bothering you because it’s an unhealthy area.
Although many people start looking into fitness because they want to lose weight, fitness is not just about weight loss. By understanding where you stand on these factors above, you can work to improve your overall wellness and increase your lifespan as well as the quality of life that you are currently living.
The first order of business with any exercise plan, especially if you are a “dyed-in-the-wool” couch potato, is to consult with your healthcare provider.
If you have cardiac factors, your doctor may want to perform a stress test to establish a safe level of exercise for you.
Certain complications of some diseases will also dictate what type of exercise program you can take on. Activities like weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics can possibly pose a risk for people with diabetic retinopathy due to the risk of further blood vessel damage and possible “retinal detachment.”
Health experts also contend that patients with severe peripheral neuropathy or PN should avoid foot-intensive weight-bearing exercises such as long-distance walking, jogging, or step aerobics and opt instead for low-impact activities like swimming, biking, and rowing.
If you have conditions that make exercise and physical fitness a challenge, your provider may refer you to an exercise physiologist who can design a fitness program for your specific needs.
If you are already active in sports or work out regularly, it will still benefit you to discuss your regular routine with your doctor.
If you don’t think that you need to lose weight, that’s great! You are one step closer to being healthy. But, that’s not to say that you don’t have health problems beyond that level. Many people are still at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol as well as other concerns even though they aren’t technically overweight. Therefore, you need to take into consideration the fact that overall health is in fact important to improve.
The bottom line is that physical fitness and exercise should not have to be a rigid activity and should not come off strong. Your exercise routine can be as simple as a brisk nightly neighborhood walk, walking the dog, or simply taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The important thing is that you keep on moving. Every little bit really helps a lot.
In the end, you will realize that the many things that good food can bring you are equally the same as what physical fitness can do for you
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