People exercise for many reasons. I am going to limit my discussion on why exercise to my target audience. Maybe you are overweight and don’t like the way you look. Maybe you are really overweight and it is affecting your health. You may have Diabetes. That is the main reason I exercise so religiously. I have been diabetic for 47 years now and do not have any complications secondary to Diabetes. Maybe you want to be able to play with your grandchildren. Maybe you have a bad back or arthritis. This does not mean that you should not exercise. As a matter of fact, certain exercises may help you out quite a bit.
What if you are “too old” to exercise? I am here to tell you there ain’t no such thing. Most of the debility associated with old age has nothing to do with old age, but with disuse and inactivity. Many septuagenarians (70 plus years old) are healthier than out of shape 40 somethings.
Take for example Harriette Thompson, who completed her first marathon at 76 years of age!!! On May 31, 2015 she became the oldest woman ever to complete a marathon at 92 years 65 days old. She completed the marathon in 7 hours 24 minutes and 36 seconds.
How about Frances Woofenden who is waterskiing in her 80s!! She didn’t start skiing until she was 50 years old when she moved to Florida.
Ernestine Shepherds is a 78 year old personal trainer. She wakes up at 3 am every morning to run and lift weights. And guys, she can bench press 150 pounds.
At 96 Tao Porchin-Lynch is the worlds oldest yoga teacher, as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records 2012
Sister Madonna Bruder, age 86, forced the iron man organization to create 2 new categories, age 75-79 and 80-84. An iron man competition is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bicycle ride and finishing off with a full marathon. Sister Bruder holds the record for the 80-84 age group with a time of 16 hours 32 minutes.
Jacinto Bonilla has a CrossFit workout of the day (WOD) named after him, ”Jacinto Storm”. On his 69th birthday he did 69 squats, 69 wall balls, 69 pull-ups, 69 pushups, 69 kettle bell swings and 69 deadlifts using 95 pounds. The catch? Another rep is added each year meaning this year he is due to increase to 78 reps.
So, I don’t think age is any excuse.
I often joke with my patients by asking them, what would you say if I told you I could prescribe something that will help control your Diabetes and blood pressure, help you lose weight, sleep better, stop smoking and relieve your depression all with little to no side effects. The usual answer is bring it on doc. Their enthusiasm always fades when I prescribe 30 minutes of exercise daily.
But everything I said is true. Exercise can do so of these things and more.
Aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, biking, swimming, etc, as well as certain types of resistance training where you decrease your rest periods, have a direct effect on your heart. Over time, it will cause your resting heart rate to go down, and the amount of blood your heart pumps with each beat to increase. In most cases, it will lower blood pressure over time, further lowering strain on your heart.
Exercise has a beneficial effect on HDL, the good cholesterol, and overall will greatly reduce your risk of having a stroke or heart attack. As a matter of fact, lack of exercise is a major risk factor for heart disease, just like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and family history.
Exercise obviously will help with weight loss. Exercise burns a lot of calories, especially aerobic exercise. Until recently it was thought that aerobic exercise was the best way to lose weight. Lately, weight training is gaining its fans. It does not burn up as many calories per hours as aerobic exercise will, but it has a higher after burn. The after burn is the calories you burn after exercise. Resistance training and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which I will discuss much later as it is not appropriate now, have very high after burns compared to aerobic exercise.
Exercise, along with diet, combine to form a powerful tool for weight loss. Diet alone will often lead to a plateau. Exercise, by increasing your metabolism, will help you get over that plateau. Be aware, however, that you can not out exercise a bad diet. Otherwise I would have a 30 inch waistline.
Weight loss is one way exercise helps control Diabetes. Another is by increasing your body’s sensitivity to insulin, thus helping your body utilize insulin more effectively. Patients with type two diabetes have Diabetes not because they don’t produce enough insulin like in type one Diabetes. Initially people with type two diabetes produce a lot of insulin. Their body just does not respond to the insulin. This is called insulin resistance. Eventually, after years, the pancreas poops out and type two diabetics can decrease or stop their insulin production. Exercise and weight loss increase insulin sensitivity, thus making the Diabetes easier to control, or in some cases curing the Diabetes.
Everyone knows that exercise produces endorphins. We’ve all heard about a runners high or people addicted to exercise. This is caused from the endorphins. Endorphins act as a mild antidepressant and it has been shown that exercise can act like a low dose of prozac and relieve mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
Endorphins can also help overcome tobacco dependence and addiction. It will reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms as well as reducing the weight gain often associated with smoking cessation.
According to the CDC, regular exercise also helps reduce your risk of cancers of the bladder, breast, colon, uterus, esophagus, kidney, lung and stomach.
Weight bearing aerobic exercise like walking, jogging, dancing, as well as resistance training like weight lifting help promote bone health and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. In addition, regular exercise helps reduce your risk of falling by promoting healthier, stronger muscles and improvement in balance. Again, less falls equate to less broken bones and head injuries.
Exercise promotes the production of certain proteins and chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain, thus keeping learning and judgemental skills sharp as you age. Exercise is one of the few practices that have been shown to decrease risk and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Exercise, unless you do it too close to bedtime, will help you sleep better and improve sleep quality. We are not really sure of the mechanism but we know that exercise helps improve slow wave sleep, the deep sleep when the brain and body have a chance to rejuvenate.
Certain exercises can absolutely help with arthritis and back pain. With stiff and painful joints, the thought of exercise may seem overwhelming, but exercise, if done properly, can increase strength and flexibility, reduce joint pain and help combat fatigue. Strengthening the muscles around joints helps reduce joint trauma which will slow the progression of arthritis. Lack of exercise will eventually make joint pain and stiffness worse by weakening the muscles and worsening balance.
As for back issues, a strong core and good flexibility definitely improve pain and function as well as lifestyle.
And lastly, exercise will help improve your sexual health. In men exercise will help maintain testosterone levels and reduce risk of erectile dysfunction. Women will have increased sexual arousal as a result of regular exercise.
So to review: weight loss, lower risk of Diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, treat depression, help with smoking cessation, lower risk of osteoporosis and falls, help arthritis and back pain, lower risk of many types of cancer and Alzheimer’s, sleep better, better sex. What are you waiting for?
In future episodes I am going to discuss exercising with certain health issues, such as Diabetes, heart disease, back pain, arthritis.
I am assuming most of you are reading this because your doctor recommended you exercise. If not, please consult your doctor prior to starting any exercise program to make sure it is safe for your particular circumstance.
I want to leave you with one last thought. You don’t find the time to exercise, you make the time to exercise.
Thank you, and see you next time
Mike Fedak, the exercise doc