A crucial aspect of a healthy lifestyle and total wellness is physical activity! Throughout history, especially before the invention of automobiles and public transportation, the constant movement was unavoidable in human societies. The first Homosapiens were nomadic hunter-gathers, so physical work and a great deal of walking were a big part of their everyday lives. They traveled from place to place, used fire, hunted animals, gathered food and water, and secured shelter. Certainly, they were much more active than the majority of people today, even if the gym is a big part of your daily routine.
Around 10,000-15,000 years ago, the modern Homesapiens achieved dominance over other hominine species and animals. They advanced intellectually, and language development allowed for cooperative behavior and augmented their physical abilities. Manual dexterity helped in the production of practical tools. Eventually, they graduated from nomadic lifestyles to settled communities.
Even though their nomadic lifestyle changed, they were still very active and progressed towards farming, the domestication of animals, and the division of labor. By 7000 B.C., agricultural productivity instituted social stratification, commerce, and technological development. Constant movement was part of human existence one way or another since the evolution of walking.
We are genetically adapted to expend a great deal of energy and various diverse physical movements throughout the day.
Over the years, industrialization and technological advances progressed, unfortunately resulting in more sedentary lifestyles. As recent as 1960 half of the workforce was involved in labor-intensive activity. Now it’s estimated that as much as 80% of jobs are sedentary in nature, or require only light activity. For many decades workers have relied much more on phones, computers, and machines, requiring very little energy expenditure.
Not only did workplace activity levels dramatically decline, but so did physical activities on the home front. With increased lifestyle costs and financial responsibilities, people are dedicating more hours towards making money than performing household duties. It’s not that people are slacking on household responsibilities per se, but it can be far more time and cost-effective to pay someone else to cook your food, do your laundry, clean your house, wash your car, maintain your property, and watch your children. While this approach may put more money in your pocket, it dramatically decreases your overall daily physical activity, exponentially increasing your risk for chronic degenerative disease development. Due to these factors and the continual high consumption of low nutrient, high calorie, chemical-laden, packaged and fast foods of convenience, exercise and movement are of EXPONENTIAL importance!
The importance of exercise and daily movement cannot be over-emphasized. Not surprisingly, North America and Europe lead the world in the sedentary category, with 43.3 percent of Americans not even reaching the minimum requirement for daily exercise and physical activity! Other parts of the world aren’t too far behind the U.S, with the Europeans showing up at 34.8 percent, while the Russians come in a close 3rd with more than 30 percent shy of that low recommendation. Even more startling is that greater than 80 percent of young people (ages 13 to 15) worldwide do not get the hour a day of vigorous exercise recommended for their age group.
From an evolutionary perspective, human survival depended on constant daily movement and physical activity. Our refusal to recognize and address this extreme lack of energy expenditure in modern times in comparison to our ancestors can and will produce devastating health consequences. Consuming more nutrient-devoid calories with far less than optimal daily movement is not the ideal recipe for health. It doesn’t take a high IQ to figure out why obesity, diabetes, cancer, and many other degenerative diseases are reaching epidemic figures!
Some startling stats on the dire importance of physical activity!
The World Health Organization recognizes a sedentary lifestyle as one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability. Sedentary lifestyles elevate all causes of mortality, DOUBLES the risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes, and increase the risks of colon cancer, osteoporosis, cholesterol issues, depression, and anxiety, amongst others.
- Per the WHO, “60 to 85% of people in the world—from both developed and developing countries—lead sedentary lifestyles, making it one of the more serious yet insufficiently addressed public health problems of our time.”
- In the US, it is estimated that approximately 35% of coronary heart disease mortality is due to physical inactivity.
- With increasing amounts of time spent with computers, TV, video games, and smartphones, and less time moving around and playing, children are feeling the impact as well. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of overweight children in the United States has TRIPLED since 1976.
- 2,500 adults from the Netherlands were observed in the largest study known to objectively calculate the undeniable association between diabetes and time sitting. The researchers found that each additional hour of sedentary time was associated with a 39% increased risk for metabolic syndrome (high blood sugar, blood pressure, triglycerides, excess fat around waist, insulin resistance, and low HDL cholesterol), and a 22% increased risk for type 2 diabetes. While committing to more daily exercise is vital for optimal health, limiting sitting or sedentary time is equally as important.
FIVE INCREDIBLE BENEFITS OF EXERCISE!
Exercise for better skin- Exercise increases blood flow and circulation to your skin, promoting cellular respiration. Mitochondrial energy increases so cells get more oxygen and nutrients and eliminate toxic waste more efficiently, preventing premature aging of the skin.
Stimulate Brain Function- exercise stimulates the production the production of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) which not only preserves existing brain cells, “it also activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons and effectively makes your brain grow larger!” (1)
Exercise Stimulates Mood! – Exercise boosts feel good neurotransmitter chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, which can do a great job buffering stressors. Princeton University researchers, found that exercising increases GABA production, a neurotransmitter that helping to induce a natural calm state, while inhibiting excessive excitatory neurotransmitters. (2)
Fat loss of course- Study’s show that exercise, especially intense exercise like HIIT or high intensity interval training, stimulates genes involved in fat metabolism. Unlike low intensity exercise, HIIT increases overall metabolic function so you burn fat even while you are sleeping! According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the benefits of HIIT include significant increase in aerobic and anaerobic fitness strengthening the heart, decreased fasting insulin and increased insulin sensitivity, and a reduction of abdominal as well as subcutaneous (just under the skin) fat! (3)
Healthy Joint and Bone Health- exercise can be one of the best ways to maintain healthy bone mass as you age. Weight-bearing exercise can be one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis. When we do any type of resistance training osteocalcin levels in the blood rise, which is a marker of bone growth. Use it or lose it!
1- https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/10/13/how-exercise-makes-your-brain-grow/#b2d54edd1f95
2- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23637169
3- https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6752/high-intensity-interval-training
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/the-couch-potato-goes-global/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
https://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2016/09/16/7-surprising-exercise-benefits.aspx