Fitness Isn’t an All or Nothing Proposition
Let’s take a minute and first discuss what we really think about exercising and physical fitness. Unfortunately, it’s a commonly held belief that the world is made up of two kinds of people: athletes and non-athletes.
The “athletes” are thought of as individuals who either engage in a sport professionally, and those who may have other jobs but who are devoted to a full-on lifestyle where they follow a strict diet and dedicate virtually all of their free time to training. These are the triathletes, marathoners, and bodybuilders we’re talking about. The “non-athletes” are simply the rest of us.
The problem with drawing this kind of distinction is that it puts exercise and fitness in extreme and unnecessarily “bright line” terms. Once we start thinking of ourselves as non-athletes, it’s easy to then wonder why we should bother exercising at all.
But health and physical fitness isn’t an all or nothing proposition. There is a spectrum of healthfulness, and the hardcore athletes are simply further toward one end of that spectrum. Regardless of where you currently are on that spectrum, it’s possible to use exercise – even exercise sessions of 15 minutes or less – to become more athletic and more yourself to a greater state of health.
(It’s worth noting that health and fitness aren’t always perfectly aligned – some of the fittest athletes in the world may actually be sacrificing their health in order to improve their athletic performance.)
Think of Health and Fitness as a Series of Small Decisions
Every decision you make has some degree of impact on your health. We’re probably already quite familiar with how our dietary choices can affect our state of well-being.
But the decisions we make with regard to exercise are arguably even more important than diet.
In fact, you don’t need to completely turn your life upside down in order to begin a fitness routine, nor do you have to give up all your other activities and hobbies so that you can work out. Research has shown that small doses of physical fitness activities can be a significant boost for improving and maintaining your health.
Of course, not everyone starts down the path to a healthier life from the same place, and certainly your genetic makeup matters. For better or worse, you’re stuck with the genes that were passed down to you by Mom and Dad. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have any control over your body.
Studies have shown that while exercise can’t change your genetic makeup, working out can impact how your body reacts in response to your genes. (This is known as “genetic expression.”) So while you can’t do anything to change your genetic makeup, it is possible to influence how genetic expression occurs. The most direct way to do this is through exercise. Possible health improvements that you can achieve through exercise include how your body regulates glucose and insulin releases, and how it stores fat. (http://myfitnessnut.com/mednews1).
There’s No Age Limit on Fitness
And the benefits of relatively short workout sessions aren’t reserved just for the young. In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that even relatively small amounts of exercise and physical activity (which the study identified as 75 minutes per week) can help postmenopausal women who are sedentary and overweight improve their overall health. (http://myfitnessnut.com/mednews2)
It’s true that working out more frequently than 15 minutes at a time can provide additional benefit, but the difference between doing nothing and doing just 75 minutes per week is particularly significant.
