Fitness and COVID
We are all realizing the negative impact that Covid (whether you have had any strain of it or not) has had on every mental and physical aspect of our lives and health…
We also know the benefits associated with proper fitness that help protect us from more serious Covid-related issues…
If ever there was a time to start and engage in a sound fitness and exercise program, now is the time to end your procrastination and get moving, especially if you are in a high-risk group…
Here are some helpful, educational and hopefully motivational tips and bits of information that you can learn from to help better protect and insulate yourself…
BENEFITS
First and foremost, is how exercise has such a positive impact in strengthening your immune system. It can increase blood flow, help clear bacteria out of your airways, cause a brief elevation in body temperature that may be protective, strengthen antibodies to help fight infection, and reduce stress hormones. Exercise also helps to improve your cardiovascular system, lower your body fat percentage and body weight, increase muscle mass and improve overall mobility, combat arthritis throughout your entire body and help relieve back issues and improve your balance.
Don’t overdue it though… as studies show that moderate-intensity physical exercises stimulate cellular immunity, while prolonged or high-intensity practices without appropriate rest can trigger decreased cellular immunity, increasing the propensity for infectious diseases.
And, physical activity does more than improve your physical health. It releases endorphins that boost your mood and reduce stress. It also helps you focus on every task, physical or mental – allowing you to start and finish all projects and chores that you attempt. And best of all, becoming fit allows you to be more active and enjoy your favorite leisure or competitive sport – injury free!
None of this information should be shocking to anyone given the environment that we are all living in today on a daily basis - especially those that live in cities where space and options for activity/sports/exercise are extremely limited. Although our daily diets can be improved, it is the dramatic decrease in our movement that has caused our massive weight gain across the country and world for that matter.
WEIGHT LOSS
We are moving 90% less now than pre-Covid times. As our diets stay the same while our activity declines, we gain weight. When we stop moving, causing our BMR (known as our Basal Metabolic Rate) to slow down, we gain weight.
And remember, we can’t just lose weight through dieting long-term. For every pound we lose through dieting alone, nearly 75% of that pound comes from muscle and conversely; by losing a pound through exercise and making our portions a bit smaller, 75% of that pound of weight loss comes from fat. They both weigh the same but fat takes up 3.5X the space of muscle, so focusing on losing fat will make you lighter and a lot smaller as well. That's why people who lose a lot of weight through any type of extreme dieting alone look sickly and gaunt - because they have lost an enormous amount of muscle with all that weight loss..
Remember, weight loss is not difficult if we choose a path and techniques that can be maintained not just for weight loss but for everyday wellness.
WHO IS MORE AT RISK
Aside from the immune-compromised individuals, some elderly and other small groups, it is really the sedentary/obese patients who contract COVID that are 74% more likely to end up in the ICU and 48% are more likely to die.
The medical community has known now for years that obesity is a major risk factor for just the common flu complications. It actually makes the common flu vaccine less effective in obese recipients. Even with the vaccine, obese patients are twice as likely and to be more precise; have a 10% chance of getting the flu, as opposed to the 5% probability of contracting the cold for those non-obese vaccinees. So, this “new news” is not really new, because it follows the same pattern - but now we're not just talking about a bad cold here, we are talking about life or death…
Also, COVID is especially more deadly to certain ethnicities where obesity is also high. Deaths related to Covid-based on Race/Ethnicity - from Most to Least: Indigenous Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Whites, Asians. And, if you were to categorize the highest obesity percentages based on Race/Ethnicity, other than the first two groups swapping places, they are almost identical in nature!
We need to start making steps and changes in our lifestyle behaviors to not only lower our risk of dying from COVID but also to lower our risk of all the preventable diseases associated with obesity.
SOLUTION
So how can we better our situation? Although it’s true that today we are more educated on the BENEFITS of proper fitness and eating sensibly, we are not more educated on the PROCESS of making these two elements part of our daily lives, despite any constraints that may hinder us in doing so. We are substituting activity for fitness and medically-wise, they are not the same and cannot yield us the same health, fitness and aesthetic gains that we long for and desire. Our mindset and attitude must improve - as we have become a culture that “if we don’t like to do it, then we don’t have to do it.’” A cultural and mental shift is in order.
The most effective way to lose weight and to keep that weight off is to choose an eating/diet plan and fitness regimen that you can maintain today, next month, next year and years from now – with of course some minor tweaking and adjusting.
And, whether you are currently thinking of exercising at home or if you don’t feel safe or comfortable exercising in any public gym or health club, don’t worry - Exude works with you in the privacy of your own home with a minimum of fitness equipment needed either in-person or with our Exude Virtual Programming. Click here to contact us and get moving! Add contact us button here…
HERE IS A SIMPLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND MEDICAL ARTICLE ON COVID AND EXERCISE…
