Kenneth Gardner - THE FITNESS CLUB HOW MANY of us would work if we did not have to? Most of us find work a chore, oppressive and a necessary evil. Many of us wish that we did not have to work because we believe that we have to work too hard for the little pay.
With exercise also being work, most of us approach it with the same mindset, making it even more unattractive. But brace yourselves! Man was made to work, especially to do physical work and he is at a great disadvantage if he does not.
Man's biomechanical machinery puts him at a disadvantage when he does physical work which is why he finds physical work so difficult. Ironically, that is why man benefits when he does physical work. Man was made to do physical work and if he does not then he becomes prone to the harsh reality of lifestyle diseases.
Exercise is not synonymous with physical activities. Exercise is physical activity (medicine) that is planned, structured, repetitive and purposive, with an objective being the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness.
Virtually all conditioning and many sport activities are considered exercise because they are generally performed to improve or maintain physical fitness. Most occupational tasks are usually accomplished with little regards for physical fitness. However, we can structure work and our activities of daily living in a more active form and thus build up physical fitness at the same time the task is accomplished.
Present day tasks require very little
energy expenditure and human's tendency is to equate leisure time with inactivity. Thus, there are many reasons for including exercise as a part of our regular lifestyle. This will help us to avoid hypokinetic
disease such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity and so.
Exercise helps us to make the most of
our mental capacities. Exercise is used as therapy to help in the management of
anxiety, substituting for drugs such as sedatives. Depression has also been successfully alleviated with the use of exercise.
The physical fitness that we experience from exercise also makes possible the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. By attaining acceptable levels of physical fitness, we experience a feeling of being more relaxed, we feel less tired, the discipline engendered by regular exercise also helps us to be more discipline in general. Our self-confidence becomes more positive, all this leads to a better self-image. We are better able to produce and are more productive and our whole being works better as one.
With all the technologically-dominated innovations of contemporary society, physical fitness activities are needed to help us make the most of our mental potentialities, to avoid the many chronic disease of our modern age. An integrated, meaningful, joyous and satisfying life is what we all crave. Physical fitness is a major part of the formula. In a simplistic way we assess life, in terms of the physical activities that we perform, what we can afford to do or what we would like to be able do. All then are better enjoyed when we are capable and better able, based on what our level of physical fitness will allow.
Kenneth Gardner, Exercise Physiologist at The G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport.
