Lifting, Walking and Sprinting - the Tommy Wood way

Whether you are young or old the fitter we can keep ourselves the better, so say a lot of Doctors. Of course age and any illness, amount of mobility etc must also be taken into account. That being said I think what Tommy writes makes sense.

Here are some words written by Tommy Wood M.D. who may I say sounds a very nice young man .... I just love it when any child makes a nice reference to their mum - but then that's just me!  

Tommy's words now:

"Nowhere in the following text will you find me recommending that you go to the gym and destroy yourself for two hours a day.

For those of you that know me, I think you may find that fact a little surprising (hi mum). This article is designed purely to make sure that you are alive, kicking, and spending your children’s inheritance for as long as possible. For that reason I think it’s worth, right at the start, differentiating between exercise for health and exercise for performance. Obviously you can spend years training for performance whilst improving health and vice versa, and that is the balance that many people find, but it is not always the case.

Many of you will crave the feeling of endorphins and adrenaline coursing through your veins that comes from hitting a personal best or doing a workout that all but breaks you. I am one of you, and I have a huge amount of respect for anyone willing to put in the work required to become as good as they can be at their chosen sport. However, we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that it is healthy to crush ourselves for hours upon hours every week. We do it for the love of the sport or the way it makes us look or feel, and that’s great, but you can easily have too much of a good thing. While elite athletes are clearly exceptionally fit, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re healthy. I have no doubt that some of my endurance endeavours have taken a couple of years off my life (and my knees), but I would never change that.

However, if you want to reduce the risk of disease and live longer, healthier and happier, just do as the title tells you.  It’s not that arduous, I promise…

Lift

Increasing evidence supports the benefit of lifting heavy weights (resistance training) two or three times per week to keep you fitter, healthier and stronger, which is particularly important as you get older.

Walk

We can’t really dispute that increasing levels of activity can reduce the risk of developing all the major Western diseases – cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), cancer, obesity and type II diabetes. Walking is the most extensively studied mode of exercise, and has a number of fantastic benefits. In fact, Walking for just an hour a week at a brisk pace reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

Sprint

Your level of “aerobic” fitness directly predicts how likely you are to die of cardiovascular disease. This is often defined as your VO2Max, which is basically a measure of how much oxygen your body can use when you maximally exert yourself. The more oxygen you can use (higher VO2Max), the lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Exercise that increases your VO2Max also conveniently boosts the protective effects of walking, as mentioned above."

It's well worth hopping over and reading the full article link here http://primaldocs.com/opinion/lift-walk-sprint/

And as the caption asks "What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?"

Makes you think doesn't it ...... time for a walk I think!  

Keep Fit, Keep Healthy but do take care .....

All the best Jan

You live and learn as the saying goes. One thing I enjoy, especially in my two favourite seasons Spring and Autumn, is walking. Although a walk is good for you any time of year,

What I didn't know was:

____ Hippocrates said  

“Walking is man's best medicine. ”


He spoke with wisdom

All the best Jan

walking is very good . it is also cheap . it does not cost gym fees .

"lift, walk, sprint" Great simple message Jan. I also totally agree that being fit doesn't always equate to healthy. One of the biggest risks to health nowadays is just sitting down. It doesn't take a massive effort to reap massive rewards ! Spring is in the air, go for a walk. You'll feel better afterwards :-)

I think many of us can be guilty of too much sitting around. I often look at teenagers who sit by their computer screens playing Call of Duty etc even the grandchildren have a liking of computers / ipads (or equivalent). School curriculum is centred around the computer and writing code ..... I have to say a lot of it is completely lost on me BUT to the younger generation it is just a normal part of life.

We must never forget that we were born with two great limbs that move, with no expense ..... I do think we should use them more.

Get off that chair and move !

All the best Jan

Just the title of this thread is making me tired and bored.

People nowadays are not fat and sick because they are sedentary, they are sedentary because they are eating stuff that is making them fat and sick and lacking in energy. I know this firsthand because after going on a low-carb diet all of a sudden I was moving around like crazy and I was energetic beyond my wildest dreams, and this was before I even lost a lot of weight.

No one should tell an overweight (fat/obese) person to exercise without ensuring they are on the correct diet. Exercise makes one hungry and the HFLC diet is perfectly capable to melt off pounds without any initial exercise at first. In fact, exercise is dangerous (and useless as a weight loss tool) for those who are obese. Once they have dropped a few pounds and feel more energetic and capable of it they should ease into it gradually. Telling a sick obese person to exercise for hours is torture.

Having said all that, exercise is very healthy for people but not as a weight loss tool. The proper LCHF diet should be our first priority. Then the exercise will take care of itself.

Of course if you are not fat and sick, any aerobic exercise is good for you.

I agree Horf, exercise itself won't lead to weight loss but it does improve cardiovascular health. People are overweight for a multitude of reasons, not just lack of exercise. I do feel as a society though, we do lead more sedentary lifestyles ( in general ). It starts at a young age. Look at how many cars are dropping kids off at school in the mornings for instance.

I also agree that exercise itself will not lead to weight loss ..... it is what we put into our body that determines our better health. But exercise should be included in our quest for better health. At a local 'old people's home' they have a weekly afternoon gathering for those in wheelchairs, or with limited movement to get together and enjoy simple movements to music, and some of the movements for some of the folks are not easy but the physiotherapist works very well with the small group. It is good to see.

I do think if we can move our body then we should at regular intervals, and not get too chair-bound at our TV screens or keyboards. I do enjoy a walk and it doesn't have to be a long walk but sometimes we do just have to make that effort.

It is very true these days that so many children are driven or coached to school ...... so any opportunity for exercise should be encouraged. PE at school is not something everyone enjoys(ed) so look for other forms of movement that may suit you better. There is so much variety now from dance, zumba, football, karate, swimming, golf - if money is tight just use those two things called legs.

Why not go for a walk with the dog, if you have one, or just enjoy a walk - sorry if I sound like a broken record, anyone would think I like walking

All the best Jan