Whenever I hear the words 'energy crisis' my thoughts invariably turn to higher gasoline prices, depletion of oil supplies and unsavory political maneuvering. While of course the term can mean all of these things, there is another energy crisis going on and this one is right in our own backyards. Or rather, for the majority of us, right in our living rooms. On our sofas to be exact.
I'm referring to worldwide supplies of human energy, as evidenced by a global lack of exercise. Here in the U.S., insufficient exercise contributes in a big way to four of the six leading causes of death: heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes...leading to a shocking 250,000 premature deaths every single year...deaths made all the more tragic because they are preventable.
Even though scientific studies conducted over the last fifty years have throughly documnted the beneficial effects of exercise, fewer than 25% of Americans get the exercise we need. So if we have this information, why don't we exercise?
There are no simple answers. Much of our exercise, which used to come from human labor, is now no longer necessary, due to industrializtion. The average U.S. adult spends 170 minutes a day watching TV and movies, 101 minutes a day driving and a scant 19 minutes exercising. Many of us were scared away from exercising by the aerobics revolution, that made it seem like we had to exhaust ourselves several times a week in a gym jumping around like mad to deafening music. But new research shows that moderate exercise produces great benefits...benfits that are remarkably similar to a harsh aerobic regimen. In addition, the guidelines are confusing. Is it 30 minutes three to four times as week or forty-five minutes a day? And what kind of exercise and at what intensity?
Dr. Harvey Simon, the author of The No Sweat Exercise Plan: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, and Live Longer (McGraw-Hill, 2006) advocates a simplified system of CME points, rather than the conventional number of minutes of exercise per week. His guidelines suggest aiming for 150 points daily for general overall health or 1000 points a week. And points can be earned by activities that we do not classify as formal exercise. For example, thirty minutes of digging in your yard at a moderate pace earns you a whopping 190 points. Even dusting, when done at a moderate pace for thirty minutes, get you a respectable 75 points. Plus, those activities that most people classify as exercise, such as walking, can be done at a moderate pace, rather than walking as fast as you can.
For those people who want to lose weight, Dr. Simon advocates cutting back on calories and/or aiming for 300 CME points a day. By the way, CME stands for cardiometabolic exercise, which takes into account all physical activity, from raking leaves, mowing lawns, dusting, sexual activity, walking, playing golf, aerobics class and everything in between. The point system concept has been very successful in at least one well known commercial weight loss program. I am hopeful that Dr. Simon's system will take exercise off most folks' least favorites list and make this life saving activity into something fun. Think Simple Simon..
Now if only that other energy crisis could be solved so easily!
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