Regular exercise is key to preventing and managing chronic medical conditions and illness, however it is estimated that 92% of adolescents and over 95% of adults do not meet the current guidelines for physical activity.
In the United States 40% of all deaths are due to unhealthy lifestyle.
Exercise is an integral part of the management strategy for chronic conditions such obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Recently the role of physical activity was reviewed in preventing chronic and infectious diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and corona virus disease (COVID-19) which currently represent the top 3 leading causes of death in the U.S.
Research shows that as a personal training client or physical therapy patient you have the single greatest influence on your destiny relative to health outcomes provided that you regularlyparticipate in physical activity and exercise.
What is it that we need to do to achieve desired health benefits?
What is the Exercise Threshold to improve health outcomes? The World Health Organization (WHO) and Exercise Is Medicine/ACSM recommends at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity throughout the week. Increasing the volume of physical activity yield even greater health benefits.
The WHO guidelines suggest that the Aerobic Exercise content such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming should be complemented with Resistance Training or Muscle Strengthening Exercise two to optimally three times per week preferably on non-consecutive days, and to limit sedentary behavior such as too much sitting, reclining and lying down which has been linked with increased mortality.
Resistance training has been linked to improved physical performance, functional independence, the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes and enhanced cardiovascular health. Strive to complete two sets of 10-15 repetitions per exercise for all major muscle groups.
Older adults 65 years and older and/or adults 50 and older with at least one chronic condition are also advised to include Balance Training to help reduce the likelihood of falls and injury.
Remember from previous blog, advancing age alone is NOT necessarily responsible for an increased risk of falling, but rather your overall health status which is most strongly associated with the risk of a fall and subsequent injury.
Aggressive lifestyle change and multifactorial risk factor modification may SLOW, HALT or even REVERSE PROGRESSION of atherosclerotic heart disease. Aggressive lifestyle has also been proven to reduce your chances for falls and injury.
When exercises specifically target your weaknesses or impairments you give yourself the best chance to optimize balance and gait (walking ability), optimize and maintain functional ability, slow down age-related decline, and possibly extend your independent living skills and longevity.
Starting a personalized exercise program
Prior to beginning a physical activity and exercise training program your exercise professional performs a Comprehensive Health and Functional Fitness Assessment which is essential as a baseline measure of your exercise tolerance and functional capacity. Based on the results, the exercise professional then develops an individualized Exercise Prescription that considers your medical condition, fitness level, goals, any relevant exercise contraindications. This is followed by designing an initial Exercise Training Program which is adjusted as your body adapts to the exercise and when health and medical status changes.
The beneficial health effects and expected significance of regular physicl acticity and resistance training remain unappreciated by many clinicians and the public at large.
References:
ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal Volume 28 Number 5,
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