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***image1***Since active-duty personnel are required to weigh-in and perform a physical test every year, everyone maintains their fitness and healthy body weight, right?
Wrong.
Did you know that since questions were asked of military personnel in 1995, the proportion of military members getting fatter and fatter has steadily increased? (2005 “DOD Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active-Duty Military Personnel”)
Whether one uses the 1998 National Heart and Lung Blood Institute’s guidelines, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines or body mass index, overweight and obesity continue to steadily rise. In 2005, well over half of all active-duty personnel were overweight.
***image2***All this is alarming given the military’s emphasis on physical activity. Slightly more than 50 percent of servicemembers vigorously exercised (running, walking, cycling, swimming or other vigorous exercise) for at least 20 minutes for three or more days a week during a 30-day period of being asked the question.
Why is this? It certainly cannot be because we don’t know how to exercise or that we don’t know how much is recommended. Most people understand that it is ideal to get some vigorous to moderate endurance physical activity three to five days per week. Strength training, eight to 12 repetitions of major muscle groups just once a week, maintains strength, while just two (nonconsecutive) days a week improves it.
Perhaps some of us have a bad taste in our mouths about exercise because we associate it with semiannual testing? Other reasons and excuses abound. Here are some of the more common ones and some antidotes:
“I’m too tired.”
Lack of activity and exercise may be your problem. Get moving and you will find you have more energy. Seems contradictory, but when you expend energy, you get energy.
“I’m too old.”
It is never too late to start exercise. Provided your doctor gives you the OK, you can improve the function of the heart and muscle strength at any age.
“I hate to exercise.”
You are probably not mixing it up enough. There are plenty of other activities besides running and you will reduce your chance of injury by varying types of exercise. Do this for three weeks straight and you’ll be hooked –we call it “positive addiction.”
***image3***“I can’t afford a gym membership.”
Post and base gyms are free and underutilized. Besides, you don’t need a gym to be active.
“Exercise is painful.”
When you haven’t exercised in a while, getting back to it requires a very slow and gradual process over time to avoid injury. Don’t go too hard, too fast, and you will be amazed at how your body adapts. You might be a little sore at first, but once you get going, the soreness goes away.
“I don’t see any changes in my body.”
It took you years to look like you do right now, how could you expect to erase it in two weeks? It takes consistency and persistence to lose just 1.5 pounds of fat in a couple of weeks, so set a realistic goal and whittle-away at it.
Besides, positive changes from exercise are going on inside where you can’t see.
“I don’t have time.”
Non-exercisers have just as much time in the day as exercisers. It is a matter of priority and lifestyle change. As with anything else that is worthwhile in life, it requires commitment and discipline. If you can’t always fit in a full 30 minutes, then carve it out in 10-minute chunks.
***image4***Consider exercise as just part of your day, like brushing your teeth or eating a meal. We don’t think twice about making time to eat two or three times a day, yet often exercise gets pushed off as a “nice-to-do” if there is time. I’ve adapted a wise saying that applies: you only have to be active on the days you eat.
While regular, vigorous activity is essential to good health (physical and emotional), we should also look for opportunities to be more active every day. Many jobs today require too little activity; so take the stairs, walk wherever you can (even up escalators), briskly walk for a meeting instead of sitting at a table, hit the treadmill or bike while watching the news or your favorite TV show.
An active life is a healthy life. Chances are that if you are active, you probably are better about eating healthy and getting the right amount of rest each day. There’s no need to search for more information about exercise (even though there is a lot of it easily available), just decide to do it. Now. No excuses.
