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The exercise dilemma is a problem besieging both martial artists and
non-martial artists alike. What’s keeping some people from
starting an exercise program is the thought that if they can’t
stick to it regularly—meaning if they can’t go to the gym at
least three times a week, hire a personal trainer or purchase the
latest exercise machine—they might as well not do it at all.
A research published in the Journal of American
Medical Association said that among the main reasons why Americans
do not exercise is the common belief that only hard physical
workouts can produce benefits.
But even modest physical activity can make a
difference. In his best-selling book RealAge: Are You as Young as
You Can Be? (Cliff Street Books, 1999), Dr. Michael F. Roizen
emphasized that merely boosting a person’s overall physical
activity can make one substantially younger and healthier. He wrote,
“That doesn’t mean hard-sweat exercise, just anything that uses
your muscles. In fact, I don’t even use the term exercise,
preferring the term physical activity. Physical activity-just
boosting your overall activity level is the key component of age
reduction.” Roizen further adds that sustained physical activity
affects an individual even at the cellular level boosting one’s
capacity to ward off diseases like cancer.
Then came the argument of how to graft exercise
into your daily routine. If one will look at fitness advocate
Jhannie Tolbert’s approach to exercise, it will become clearly
evident that it is just a matter of will and creativity after all.
Tolbert uses common household items to tone her body-a tool box as
an impromptu aerobics step, soup cans and bags of groceries as
weights to name a few.
Needless to say, injury can be avoided by using
common sense and listening to your body’s warning system-if it
feels good, do more. If it hurts, stop.
Man was not designed to be a sedentary animal,
therefore, physical activity is as necessary as eating and drinking
in the maintenance of one’s well being. Dr. Roizen sums up the
value of pursuing a healthy lifestyle with the following words,
“You are buying time to do more and be more.”
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