"Every time you exercise and move your body, it is like dropping money into your longterm health fund."- Aaron Alexander
Cardiovascular and resistance training both evoke positive benefits that will decrease the risk of unwanted diseases and discomfort. In this blog post we are going to discuss the implications of a sedentary lifestyle and the benefits of cardiovascular and resistance training on the body.
Ramifications of an inactive lifestyle:
The following facts are from a study conducted by Health Survey of England (2006).
Increased BMI and Weight circumference in both men and women correlates with a high risk of coronary heart disease. Men with 21% very high risk and women with 23% very high risk.
Increased risk of developing a cardiovascular condition such as hypertension, low levels of HDL cholesterol and diabetes. 13.6% of men and 13% of women were reported to be diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition.
Increased risk of type 2 diabetes. It was diagnosed in 5.6% in men and 4.2% in women.
24% of adults were reported as obese.
Manifestation of lower back pain due to long hours of sitting.
Keep in mind that those numbers will have increased over the years but the picture i'm trying to paint here, is that an inactive lifestyle can lead to a detrimental life path.
Benefits of Cardiovascular activity:
Cardiovascular activity is any activity that turns on the cardiovascular system in the body for a certain period of time. The longterm benefits are the following:
It strengthens your heart muscle. In fact, the size of the left side of your heart can increase as well as the thickness of the muscular wall.
Increases your heart stoke volume, meaning your heart will pump more blood in one contraction making blood circulation efficient.
Maintains optimal blood pressure by reducing resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
It turns LDL (bad cholesterol) to HDL (good cholesterol).
More mitochondria (cells that produce energy) is developed in the muscles.
Lungs become more efficient.
Improves cognitive function and longterm memory. In fact, Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki stated that exercise produces brand new braincells in the hippocampus increasing it's volume.
Benefits of Resistance Training:
Resistance training is any type of exercise that includes weights, bands, springs and even your body weight against gravity. The longterm benefits are the following:
Increases bone density. It is especially crucial for women to weight train because of the high risk of Osteoporosis (a condition where your bone density is reduced increasing the risk of bone fractures) as they become older.
Increases muscle size which in turn creates an efficient metabolism system.
Improves joint health.
Reduces the risk of injury because the muscles and connective tissues such as ligaments and tendons will be strong.
Improves body composition (muscle to fat ratios).
Increase in the number of motor units recruited during exercise.
Increased body awareness.
References
Active IQ. (2014). Active IQ manual L3 exercise referral. Cambridgeshire, UK: Active IQ LTD.
Suzuki, W. (2017). The brain changing effects of exercise. (Video file). Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_suzuki_the_brain_changing_benefits_of_exercise?language=en#t-470449
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