Sports, fitness and health

There is never a universal formula for the benefits of exercise and fitness on health. Its core value is to reduce the risk of chronic diseases and improve the quality of life through regular physical activities based on individual tolerance, rather than pursuing high-intensity and high-frequency training standards. This is the most profound conclusion I have come to after working as a fitness coach for 7 years and contacting nearly a thousand users of different ages.

Two years ago, I met a 42-year-old manufacturing executive. His physical examination revealed fatty liver disease and high triglycerides. He paid 30,000 yuan for private lessons and said he would train with me six times a week. He would run 5 kilometers and then exercise for an hour each time. He also had to strictly control his sugar and oil. As a result, I complained of knee pain just after two weeks of training. I tossed and turned in bed at night and couldn't sleep. A review also revealed a slight knee joint effusion. I quickly adjusted the plan for him. He didn’t need to go to the gym. I would walk around the neighborhood with my wife for 40 minutes after dinner every day. I would meet up with friends to play badminton for an hour on weekends. If he wanted something sweet, he could occasionally have a piece of cake. After persisting like this for three months, he came to see me again and said that the fatty liver had changed from severe to mild, his triglycerides had dropped by more than half, his sleep quality had improved a lot, and even the migraines he often suffered before rarely came to his door.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the "standard issue" that has been debated in the fitness circle for many years. One group is the strict "standard-compliance group", which ignores the exercise standards announced by the WHO: adults must do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobics per week, combined with more than 2 times of large muscle group resistance training, to be considered "effective exercise". Those who do not meet the standards are just busy work. The so-called moderate intensity is also easy to judge. It means that you are a little out of breath when exercising, but you can still chat with people normally without having to stare at the heart rate monitor to count numbers. The other group is the "micro-motion group" who has become more and more popular in recent years. They feel that there is no need to make up the whole time. Stand for 10 more minutes every day, do two more squats when collecting water, and walk home two subway stops early from get off work. These scattered activities add up to much higher health benefits than sitting for a long day. In fact, both sides are right, but they are suitable for different people. For young people in their twenties and thirties, if they get off work early and have enough energy to do a standard amount of exercise, whether they are building muscles or losing body fat, they will definitely have the highest benefits. ； But if you get off work at 9/9 every day after 10 o'clock, or you are too busy to spare the whole time, forcing you to squeeze in time for exercise will increase your psychological burden. It is better to seize scattered opportunities to exercise, which is more sustainable.

I myself have fallen into the trap of overexercising before. In order to compete in an amateur bodybuilding competition two years ago, I practiced twice a day for three months. I ran for 40 minutes on an empty stomach in the morning and spent two hours in the gym in the afternoon to work out. I controlled carbohydrates to only 100 grams a day. My body fat was indeed reduced to the lowest 7.8%. When I wore the competition uniform, my lines were so beautiful. But during that time, I had a bad temper. I would get angry at the slightest thing. I postponed my pregnancy for two months in a row. I also caught colds three times in a row when the seasons changed. My immunity was extremely poor. After the competition, I immediately adjusted my plan and practiced three times a week. After each practice, I would buy ice cream on the way. I gained 5 pounds in two months, but when I went for a physical examination, all indicators were normal, and even the previously low albumin returned to the normal range. To put it bluntly, exercise serves your life, not to make you a slave to exercise. A study published by The Lancet last year also confirmed this: when the duration of exercise per week is less than 300 minutes, health benefits are positively correlated with the duration. After 300 minutes, the benefits will stagnate, and the immune system and joints may even be damaged due to excessive fatigue.

There is another controversy that everyone asks the most, which is "does running hurt the knees?" There was a lot of quarrel on the Internet. Some people said that they had injured their menisci after running for half a year. Some people said that their knees were better than those of young people after running for ten years. A meta-analysis published in the "Journal of Joint Surgery and Sports Traumatology" last year made it very clear: Regular joggers who maintain a reasonable running volume and correct running posture for a long time have an incidence of knee arthritis that is about 32% lower than those who sit for a long time. What really hurts the knees is those who are overweight (BMI over 28) and run hard as soon as they start, hit their feet on the ground with incorrect running posture, or suddenly increase their weekly running volume by more than 30%. I used to have a student who weighed 190 pounds. At first, I didn’t let him run at all. He first rode the elliptical machine for 40 minutes every day. After his weight dropped to 160 pounds, he slowly started to increase the amount by running 1 kilometer at a time. Now he has been running for a year and a half, and has completed a half-marathon. There is no problem with his knees at all.

Really, don’t be kidnapped by the fitness anxiety online. You don’t have to apply for a fitness card worth tens of thousands of dollars, wear professional running shoes worth thousands of dollars, and develop eight-pack abdominal muscles to be called exercise and fitness. There is a 62-year-old aunt in my community who has never been to a gym. She does Tai Chi with her sisters for 40 minutes every morning. In the afternoon, she walks to a vegetable market two kilometers away to buy groceries. After dinner, she walks around the community for half an hour. This year, her bone density was higher than that of many office workers in their 30s. Her blood pressure and blood sugar are very stable, and she rarely catches a cold.

In the final analysis, the relationship between exercise and health has always been "what suits you is best." If you enjoy the feeling of pumping iron, then go to the gym and pump iron ； If you hate sweating, it would be good to take two more steps every day. ； Even if you just love square dancing, as long as you persist, you can still gain health. Don't compare your exercise intensity or body fat percentage with others. It's better to feel comfortable, sleep well, and eat well after you exercise.