Exercise, Health & Fitness.
With the run-up to the Olympics, researchers have been assessing how exercise affects health and a recent study in the Lancet maintains that approximately one-third of adults are not doing enough exercise. The dangers are so out of control that authors of the research are claiming the problem is a pandemic. Physical inactivity now kills as many people as smoking does, but unfortunately, it is not emphasized as a major health risk in its own right. This could result in billions more in health care costs worldwide as well as preventable deaths for millions of people.
A lack of physical activity can lead to an array of potentially fatal diseases such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This recent study in The Lancet suggested that about 10% of deaths are a result of such health conditions and the risks vary according to location. 33 researchers from around the world took part in this investigation and they discovered that those in countries with high incomes exercised the least and the UK was one of the worst countries with almost two-thirds of adults being too inactive.
Something has to be done to stop this worrying trend and it could be so easy. There can be all sorts of barriers that prevent people from exercising and many are surprised at how skilled personal trainers are at motivating people and breaking down those barriers.
‘It’s all about listening to the client and finding out what they want to achieve and then it’s a case of designing a regime that is tailored around their particular level of fitness’ our head personal trainer has said.
Clients tend to stick to a regime if they know that it has been created especially for their level of fitness and the amount and intensity of the exercises can be adjusted as they progress. People often don’t know how much exercising they should be doing or what techniques to use, so weight loss can help clients get on the right track.
The amount of moderate exercise recommended to protect adults from obesity-related health conditions is 150 minutes a week and even activities that are not normally counted as ‘exercise’ such as gardening can have a positive effect on health. Activities such as this as well as walking to the shops instead of taking the car all add up and can have a surprisingly big impact, but more needs to be done on a mass scale. Researchers in the Lancet emphasized the role governments need to play in ensuring exercise is made easier for the public. Physical activity needs to increase markedly across the world and particularly in the UK to prevent weight-related diseases from draining health service resources
