Introduction
Numerous scientific studies have revealed that people who are actively involved in physical exercises have lower chances of suffering from some of the common forms of limitations associated with lack of exercise. Physical exercise is a comprehensive intervention strategy that is aimed at minimizing functional limitations that result in diseases. Physical activity helps in fighting health problems such as obesity, kidney problems, coronary diseases, and many other chronic diseases.
Physical activity interventions in pregnant women have been shown to reduce pregnancy complications as it enhances baby development. People’s lifestyle in terms of physical exercise defines some of the limitations they encounter in life and productivity. When a comprehensive physical exercise program is carried out for potential victims of functional limitations, the intervention plan can play a significant role in addressing the common health care concern. The main advantage of physical exercise is lowering the risk of suffering from diseases by regulating body fats. However, physical activity can have detrimental effects on the health of individuals especially when intensive exercises are undertaken with little or no consultations. This paper will support the claim that regular exercise prolongs and improves the quality of human life.
Exercise lengthens human life because it lowers the risk of suffering from diseases
The health benefits of physical exercise are well documented with substantial evidence showing its role in preventing a range of maladies including chronic diseases, cardiovascular disorders (CVD), metabolic syndromes, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and various types of cancer. Leading a sedentary lifestyle contributes significantly to the development of the above and many other diseases. Health experts attribute sedentary lifestyle-related diseases to the accumulation of adipose tissues on the simple premise that energy intake exceeds its expenditure. Numerous researchers have also attested that physical activity (PA) can reduce the accumulation of the adipose tissue as it increases energy consumption in the body.
In addition, physical exercise increases blood flow because it improves its lipid profile that in turn promotes cardiovascular health. Since one of the leading causes of colorectal cancer is the behavioral pattern that people assume in their lifestyle, integration of an intervention plan such as physical exercise as part of the comprehensive healthcare is necessary to reverse the trend. According to Reimers, Knapp, and Reimers, who are lecturers at the Technische University of Dortmund, “physical activity reduces many major mortality risk factors including arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer” (108).
The authors argue that physical exercise is known to be one of the factors that may help in suppressing most of the lifestyle diseases. For instance, since most of the old people rarely engage in physical exercise, colorectal cancer is very prevalent among the elderly. Engaging in physical activity can help alleviate preventable health disorders. Scientific studies have shown the behavior of skeletal muscles when individual’s take up physical activity. This study forms the fundamental basis of the argument that physical activity contributes to good health. Upon contraction, the skeletal muscle, which is a highly metabolically active organ, produces myokines that exert numerous effects that have been deemed beneficial to the physiques of the individual and other organs including liver, heart, pancreas, adipose tissue, and the cardiovascular system.
The study of the metabolic features of the skeletal muscle was regarded a medical milestone in disease alleviation. Physical activity promotes the inducement of skeletal muscles whose contraction produces myokines. This secretion has beneficial physiological effects. Therefore, behavioral factors can be addressed if the affected person is willing to embrace continuous physical exercise. Proposed and developed by Dr. Nola Pender, the health promotion model is critical in facilitating achievement of high and desirable levels of well-being through physical exercise (Sweeting 38). In relation to the interventional plan for reducing colorectal cancer, the health promotion model comprises regulated physical exercise to ensure that the activity of the body functions at an optimal level. The underlying goals assist the patients to change behavior through physical exercises with a view of fighting colorectal cancer and offering alternatives that patients can exploit to pursue ideal health.
Exercise lengthens human life because it helps in the regulation of fat in the body
Moreover, obesity is a common health problem that stems from eating habits. According to the WHO, the number of people affected by obesity exceeds 500 million worldwide. Obesity has been regarded as a prerequisite to other complex disorders including metabolic syndrome (MetS), cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep disorders, and chronic inflammatory diseases that present major health concerns in many countries all over the world. However, health physicians assert that regular physical activity can help alleviate obesity as it has the potential of regulating fats in the body; hence, reducing instances of obesity. Obesity is a health concern that is characterized by excessive accumulation of body fat that affects the health of a person adversely. In the US, “a body mass index exceeding 30 kg/m2 is considered obese” (Sweeting 36).
Obesity is considered as the primary cause of other health disorders such as heart diseases, cancers, and diabetes among others. In a research done by Schuna, Johnson, and Tudor-Locke, it was established that cases of obesity have significantly increased (415). This situation is a health disorder that is caused by consumption of a high-fat diet. The authors noted that “adults reporting compliance with physical activity guidelines (≥ 150 minutes/week of MVPA) accumulated more objectively measured physical activity and similar amounts of sedentary time relative to those reporting not achieving guidelines” (Schuna, Johnson, and Tudor-Locke 415).
Obesity arises when the weight of an individual increases to the point above a body mass index of approximately 28 (Pribis et al. 1083). When individuals consume foods that have higher amounts of fat, then they are likely to gain weight. Obesity does not arise from a higher percentage of calories consumed from fat. The condition is caused by calories that are related to the high caloric content of fat when compared to the other micronutrients. Pribis et al. affirm that obesity is the considered as the key cause of other health disorders such as heart diseases, cancers, and diabetes among others. Since physical exercise aids in burning the excess fats that are associated with obesity, it is has the potential of keeping the body healthy through balancing the amount of fat that is stored in the body (Pribis et al. 1079)
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), people with disabilities have higher chances of developing physical activity related limitations including obesity. The report indicates that people who lead a sedentary lifestyle are likely to develop obesity. In this regard, it is worth noting that physical exercise is paramount to alleviating weight-related complications. Physical exercise such as physical education in schools has been shown to be very effective in promoting a healthy living among children. Given that students spend more than six hours of sitting from the time they travel to school, learning hours, and back home, chances of being obese remain high.
Therefore, physical education helps counter the effect of prolonged sedentary lifestyles. People entering the retirement group have been shown to have a sedentary time usually referred to as TV viewing time. For this reason, most of the retired people are commonly associated with obesity and other related disorders. Those who play games associated with retired people such as golf stand a lesser chance of developing obesity as they have a way of expending energy besides burning any little fat that they accumulate.
According to Zaccagni, Barbieri, and Gualdi-Russ, physical exercise is significant in balancing the body composition to ensure that excessive fats are eliminated from the body in a continuous process (239). In an experiment that was carried out among Italian university students, the authors established that physical exercise reduces cases of obesity by 70% since it keeps the activities of the body at optimal performance level.
In a rejoinder, Pribis et al. observed in a similar experiment among college students that physical exercise is important for balancing the body mass index since the elimination of excess fats translates into physical fitness (1080). The authors established “a significant decline in the average fitness levels measured as an estimation of VO (2max) for male and female students” (Pribis et al. 1081). This situation is an indication that lack of physical exercise among college students in a threat towards the possibility of being obese.
Exercise lengthens human life because it reverses the effects of aging
Physical inactivity is strongly correlated with depression, anxiety, and low thinking capacity. A study that was conducted by the WHO out on Iraqi immigrants to Sweden revealed an empirical relationship between inactivity and stress, depression and anxiety (Helgadottir, Forsell, and Ekblom 8). According to the report, the immigrants are deemed not to engage in physical activities due to socio-economic factors such as unemployment, lack of social support and ethnicity. They spend most of their time in an inactive state. Mental- ill-health related issues such as psychological distress, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies have been indicated as common particularly among the young unemployed populations. According to the report, there were more cases of mental illness and related issues among the Iraqi immigrants than the Swedes.
Mental ill-health problems are highly associated with cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and diabetes that result from physical inactivity. By the year 2030, according to world health organization (WHO), depression will be the two leading factor leading to mortality in the world. This projection, hence, can help one gauge the adverse impact of sedentary lifestyle. Furthermore, depending on the degree of severity of symptoms, depression and anxiety can have detrimental effects on the victims’ quality of life, interpersonal relationships, pedagogical processes, and productivity particularly at work.
A study carried out on Norwegian populations reveal varying prevalence of acute depression (3.8-7.2%) and general anxiety disorders (1.2-2.0%) and panic disorders ranged between five percent and twelve percent. This trend can be reversed if the Norwegian populations implement apt physical exercise programs. It is a saddening revelation that people can succumb to disorders related to inactivity when it can be preventable. Physical fitness not only improves our health status but also influences the rate of productivity. This argument is the basis of having breaks in every learning program. Learners are allowed time to play as they temporarily break from long sitting session in class. As the saying goes “work hard play hard”, productivity rate can be lowered by long hours of work with little physical exercise.
When learners engage in some physical activity during break time, their brains refresh and allow them to learn effectively upon return to class sessions. Physical health has been promoted in many ways as people have invested heavily in it to offer people professional training and body fitness programs. Some of the effective exercises that have been empirically proven effective in alleviating depression and anxiety include aerobic fitness training, running, and yoga among others. These exercises have a significant moderate to high anti-depressive effects on those who indulge in them. According to a study conducted on Norwegian participants, individuals with high levels of leisure time physical activity have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety (Helgadottir, Forsell, and Ekblom 9).
Physical Exercise attracts negative effects on individuals
While physical activity (PA) is good for a healthy living, it is associated with undesirable effects such as pain, injury, heart problems, and eating disorders besides being time consuming and expensive especially when people seek professional PA. Research reveals that individuals who undertake intensive physical activity programs report cases of pain. Although it is said that there is no gain without pain, some form of pain is not worth the gain. A study conducted on Australian youth indicate that a considerable proportion of them indulge in intense workout programs without prior consultations with their physicians.
Pregnant young women are advised not to undertake any intense PA without physicians’ knowledge as the situation can adversely affect their pregnancy. Limitation of physical activity despite its documented healthy benefits is that it is selective. People with particular conditions such as chronic pain, disabilities, and the elderly cannot gain from PA. This fact calls for alternative health promotion strategies for these disadvantaged groups. In addition, people who take exercise without proper preparation can suffer exercise-related injuries. Injuries range from mild to life threatening such as muscle injuries and compartment syndrome respectively.
People who have been sedentary for a long period can suffer injuries and pain if a careful guidelines and care are not provided during physical activity. They require experienced trainers or are part of a supervised group for them to prevent such cases of injuries. Training is not offered free. In fact, physical fitness is a commercial business for many people who provide supervision and professional training to people. Numerous studies have shown that many physical fitness centers charge high prices that the majority of individuals cannot afford. This state of affairs forces people to improvise their ways and homemade equipment to enable them practice fitness. Improvisation of some equipment such as weight lifting machines can cause massive injuries in the event of accidents.
Working out can sometimes lead to fatal heart conditions. For instance, excessive physical exercise can cause fibrosis, ventricular arrhythmias that refers to the scarring of the heart tissues and irregular heartbeats respectively. Unsupervised physical activity can have more loss than gain. The losses indicate that physical activity does not always lead to improved health. Elderly people are deemed inactive and associated with old age problems that cannot be resolved through physical exercise. Therefore, other methods can be applied in improving the health of the elderly people. This phenomenon renders physical activity an infective method of exercising fitness for such groups.
My Stance
I support the fact that physical activity (PA) contributes to good health because of the available evidence that supports this claim. In addition to the underpinning assertions abovementioned, people can gain many other diverse benefits from engagements in physical exercises. Besides the obvious notion that physical exercises reduce the body weight, many related benefits such as alleviation of disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers among other maladies arise. Such ailments have adverse effects on the human health (Legrand 360). Teachers in all learning institutions and programs support this claim.
This situation forms the basis for introducing physical education programs in schools. An infinite number of activities can involve people in leisure. They range from luxury to domestic activities such as playing with children and/or pets. Such activities cater for the demographic diversity including children, youth, older people, and the elderly people. People should be encouraged to take embrace these activities as a strategy to prevent the diverse disorders associated with sedentary lifestyles.
Physical activity improves brain functionality and memory retention levels. Many researchers have affirmed that physical activities are contingent on a number of factors including socio-economic status, behavioral traits, age, gender, health conditions, disability, and pregnancy among others. Regardless of the conditions, physical ought to be encouraged as it can help stop preventable diseases and mortality rates. On another perspective, the government cannot underestimate the effects of encouraging the integration of physical activities into both schools and organizations. The overall effect of supported physical exercising is the alleviation of particular diseases that are associated with sedentary lifestyles. This set of circumstances improves the economy of a country significantly, as the government spends less money on funding the treatment of particular health-related issues.
Conclusion
Physical activity is the surest way to a healthy living. As aforementioned, the benefits that individuals stand to gain from physical exercise interventions are many and unquestionable (Klein and Hollingshead 164). No one would wish to succumb to obesity knowing that a daily exercise of running a few meters every day can reverse the condition. One does not need to indulge in heavy weight lifting to be healthy or burn fat.
Even playing with children or your pet is an important exercise whose effects to your health are unimaginable. This article outlines the advantages of physical activity (PA) that support the claim that physical activity can lead to good health. Credible empirical evidence shows the correlation of many health disorders including mental ill health such depression and anxiety, heart diseases, liver diseases, and obesity (Brown and Fry 300). Physical exercises range from mild to intense, depending on the objectives that individuals focus to achieve. People can form groups where exercise training is provided by experienced trainers. There exist diverse physical fitness programs ranging from those offered by physical education (PE) in primary and secondary schools. However, physical excise can have detrimental effects when undertaken without prior knowledge of the procedures and extent of involvement. Effects encompass pain, injuries, and diseases among others. This limitation can be prevented when consultation with physicians or experienced supervisors is made.
Works Cited
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Zaccagni, Luciana, Davide Barbieri and Emanuela Gualdi-Russ. “Body composition and physical activity in Italian university students.” Journal of Translational Medicine 12.120(2014): 238-244. Print.