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Can you be Healthy but not Fit?
By Michael Carrera, MSc.
You have been consistently exercising for weeks, months or even years and yet your body is stubborn about changing. But, while you may not see the physical benefits of exercise, it is likely that your health status has dramatically improved—you may not see a dramatic difference in your body, however, because of how you exercise. If you focus on health without providing enough stimulus to promote fitness benefits, you may be healthy, but not necessarily fit.
How much exercise is enough?
A very important study published in 1995 changed the way exercise is perceived and endured. The old “no pain, no gain” vigorous exercise sessions were strategically changed to 30 minutes of light to moderate intensity exercise accumulated on most days of the week. In other words, physical activity in the form of walking, cycling, swimming and light resistance training helps promote many health benefits and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This new way of exercising also led to healthy changes in blood lipid profile, body composition, resting blood pressure in borderline hypertensive patients and insulin sensitivity. All of these risk factors can be improved simply by expending a minimum of 200 calories a day, with greater health benefits coming with increased activity. The average person should aim for a total expenditure of 2,000 to 2,500 calories per week. Use the Truestar Calobrator to calculate your total energy expenditure for different activities.
Understanding human movement
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Physical health is present when certain measurable physiological factors, such as the ones described above, are within a normal or healthy biological range. Feeling good is not enough, since ill health can sometimes be present without a visible sign or feeling.
When discussing movement it is important to keep in mind that all movement is good and beneficial to health. Even standing for 30 minutes burns more calories than sitting for 30 minutes. In order to appreciate the type of movement you engage in and the inherent benefits of the movement, it is important to understand the definitions related to physical activity:
Physical activity includes all daily routine activities, such as household chores, work-related movement and shopping, that result in energy expenditure.
Exercise is planned and repetitive movement designed to facilitate improvements in health and overall fitness.
Physical fitness is a set of attributes, such as muscular strength and endurance, cardio-respiratory fitness and flexibility, which are related to a person’s ability to perform physical activity.
The paradox between health and fitness
The paradox is that health benefits can be achieved by regular participation in physical activity or exercise as long as light to moderate activity is carried out long enough to expend a minimum of 200 calories per day. However, physical fitness, or more specifically strength, endurance and aerobic fitness, can only be improved by challenging the body to adapt to higher levels of efficiency with consistent moderate or vigorous exercise or physical activity performed three to five days per week.
I generally advocate improvements in physical fitness through structured exercise since it is unlikely that daily physical activity, chores or work-related movement is vigorous enough. Even if your occupation was demanding or vigorous, according to the overload principle your body would eventually adapt to the stimulus and further increases in frequency, duration and, most importantly, intensity would have to be made to promote further levels of adaptation. Unfortunately, most work-related movement is repetitive and of the same level of intensity.
What is the bottom line?
Our bodies have been engineered with health promotion in mind. It is nice to know that many important life-enduring health indices, such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels and overall cardiovascular health, can be positively impacted with a very minimal amount of physical activity or structured exercise. A minimum commitment of walking briskly around your neighborhood for 20 to 30 minutes most days of the week, gardening or spending active time with your family can all accumulate to help reduce your health risks.
On the other hand, our bodies need to be pushed for fitness benefits. You cannot prepare to run a marathon without training for distance; likewise, you cannot expect to gain lean muscle mass without challenging your muscular system with heavier weight or more repetitions and you cannot improve your lower back health without committing time to effectively training your abdominal and lower back muscles and maintaining a stretching program. We have to work for benefits.
Phase-based training
The reason we designed our exercise programs with phase-based training is to constantly challenge your body to improve in both heath and fitness. Phase-based training constantly alters your training program to promote rapid gains in strength and endurance before the onset of boredom. My goal in the next article is to discuss the many variables that can be frequently manipulated in training to promote adaptation and visible physical changes. These changes can all be achieved by exercising 20 to 25 minutes per day, five to six days per week.
If your regular exercise program makes you feel happy, healthy and vibrant, congratulations—you’ve discovered the secret of optimal health. If an improvement in physical fitness is your goal, next week’s article will help you get started on your program and get you fit.
By Michael Carrera, MSc.
You have been consistently exercising for weeks, months or even years and yet your body is stubborn about changing. But, while you may not see the physical benefits of exercise, it is likely that your health status has dramatically improved—you may not see a dramatic difference in your body, however, because of how you exercise. If you focus on health without providing enough stimulus to promote fitness benefits, you may be healthy, but not necessarily fit.
How much exercise is enough?
A very important study published in 1995 changed the way exercise is perceived and endured. The old “no pain, no gain” vigorous exercise sessions were strategically changed to 30 minutes of light to moderate intensity exercise accumulated on most days of the week. In other words, physical activity in the form of walking, cycling, swimming and light resistance training helps promote many health benefits and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This new way of exercising also led to healthy changes in blood lipid profile, body composition, resting blood pressure in borderline hypertensive patients and insulin sensitivity. All of these risk factors can be improved simply by expending a minimum of 200 calories a day, with greater health benefits coming with increased activity. The average person should aim for a total expenditure of 2,000 to 2,500 calories per week. Use the Truestar Calobrator to calculate your total energy expenditure for different activities.
Understanding human movement
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Physical health is present when certain measurable physiological factors, such as the ones described above, are within a normal or healthy biological range. Feeling good is not enough, since ill health can sometimes be present without a visible sign or feeling.
When discussing movement it is important to keep in mind that all movement is good and beneficial to health. Even standing for 30 minutes burns more calories than sitting for 30 minutes. In order to appreciate the type of movement you engage in and the inherent benefits of the movement, it is important to understand the definitions related to physical activity:
Physical activity includes all daily routine activities, such as household chores, work-related movement and shopping, that result in energy expenditure.
Exercise is planned and repetitive movement designed to facilitate improvements in health and overall fitness.
Physical fitness is a set of attributes, such as muscular strength and endurance, cardio-respiratory fitness and flexibility, which are related to a person’s ability to perform physical activity.
The paradox between health and fitness
The paradox is that health benefits can be achieved by regular participation in physical activity or exercise as long as light to moderate activity is carried out long enough to expend a minimum of 200 calories per day. However, physical fitness, or more specifically strength, endurance and aerobic fitness, can only be improved by challenging the body to adapt to higher levels of efficiency with consistent moderate or vigorous exercise or physical activity performed three to five days per week.
I generally advocate improvements in physical fitness through structured exercise since it is unlikely that daily physical activity, chores or work-related movement is vigorous enough. Even if your occupation was demanding or vigorous, according to the overload principle your body would eventually adapt to the stimulus and further increases in frequency, duration and, most importantly, intensity would have to be made to promote further levels of adaptation. Unfortunately, most work-related movement is repetitive and of the same level of intensity.
What is the bottom line?
Our bodies have been engineered with health promotion in mind. It is nice to know that many important life-enduring health indices, such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels and overall cardiovascular health, can be positively impacted with a very minimal amount of physical activity or structured exercise. A minimum commitment of walking briskly around your neighborhood for 20 to 30 minutes most days of the week, gardening or spending active time with your family can all accumulate to help reduce your health risks.
On the other hand, our bodies need to be pushed for fitness benefits. You cannot prepare to run a marathon without training for distance; likewise, you cannot expect to gain lean muscle mass without challenging your muscular system with heavier weight or more repetitions and you cannot improve your lower back health without committing time to effectively training your abdominal and lower back muscles and maintaining a stretching program. We have to work for benefits.
Phase-based training
The reason we designed our exercise programs with phase-based training is to constantly challenge your body to improve in both heath and fitness. Phase-based training constantly alters your training program to promote rapid gains in strength and endurance before the onset of boredom. My goal in the next article is to discuss the many variables that can be frequently manipulated in training to promote adaptation and visible physical changes. These changes can all be achieved by exercising 20 to 25 minutes per day, five to six days per week.
If your regular exercise program makes you feel happy, healthy and vibrant, congratulations—you’ve discovered the secret of optimal health. If an improvement in physical fitness is your goal, next week’s article will help you get started on your program and get you fit.