Geelong's Gym

When did we lose our ABILITY to be active?

We used to go to the gym just to get fitter and stronger for a sport.  Then we used the gym to help with rehabilitation of injuries.  We discovered body shape could be altered through exercise.  And of course, we are constantly told to exercise consistently for better health and well being.

Isn't it great to see kids running around and enjoying the outdoors?!

But now it seems that gyms are playing a very important role, which we didn’t foresee, starting with children as young as 7 years…  Gyms are teaching children the importance of simply being active, something that we all took for granted when we were growing up.

I’m sure you remember how we all played outside with our neighbours, hung from trees, played games of footy, soccer and chasey.  Now it’s no longer safe or we live in a housing complex with no trees or there’s no open space to even think about playing a ball sport.  Children today have much fewer opportunities to test their bodies and understand the potential of their muscles.

How then, as adults, are they going to know how to exercise for health and well being?  How are they expected to know how to combat lifestyle diseases, like cardio-vascular disease and Type II Diabetes?

As for the ever-growing obesity epidemic…

Sobering, isn’t it?

So, going to the gym is all about re-abilitating ourselves into the world of activity.  It’s giving us back childhood opportunities to learn about how our bodies move.

How then, can the gym not be part of your life?

I read a line in a book the other day that said, “I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active and moving. I am being a verb”.

We have a knack of taking a verb that is alive and turning it into a dead noun.

For example, I have a gym membership. Woop-de-do!  Doesn’t get you any fitter or healthier does it, just because you have it?  You have a noun… a membership, nothing more.

Try being an active gym member who exercises regularly; it’s got a lot more potential than just saying you have a membership.  The verb of exercising takes you away from the noun into something dynamic and exciting.

Maybe we could all put some more “doing” into our workouts and into our lives.

And no, this isn't what I mean!

We all know that exercise is the key to greater fitness and losing those few extra pounds or gaining that muscle mass you’re looking for.

But did you know that exercise actually decreases the risk of some major health issues?

I’m not talking the common cold here, I’m talking about some major health concerns.  Here are just a few that exercise can make a huge difference to…

Hands up who would like to avoid these!

Exercise decreases the risk of a Heart Attack - exercising regularly, combined with healthy changes in your diet, lowers your cholesterol and blood pressure which greatly reduces the chances of having a heart attack.

Exercise decreases the risk of Osteoporosis – exercising regularly, especially weight-bearing exercise, greatly diminishes the risk of osteoporosis and can even reverse it by building bone tissue!  That’s pretty good incentive to start getting fit and healthy.

Exercise can reduce the risk of developing Breast Cancer by up to 60% – sounds far fetched right?  But estradiol and progesterone, the two ovarian hormones linked to breast cancer tumor production, are lowered in the body by… you guessed it, exercise!  This is because a woman’s body is most susceptible to these hormones between ovulation and menstruation, but habitual exercise can delay ovulation until later in the menstrual cycle, thereby reducing the time a woman must fight these hormones.

Not only that, but fat is a catalyst in the production of estrogen (estradiol) and, as we know, regular exercise burns body fat, thus decreasing the rate of estrogen production.

There are so many other types of illness that exercise helps reduce or prevent, so how about adding some regular exercise into your routine.  After all a long, happy and HEALTHY life is what we’d all love to have.