We're constantly hearing about how good exercise is for you, especially heavy cardiovascular exercise that gets the heart going fast for 40 minutes. It's all over popular media, advice columns, the advice of doctors. And this is buttressed by the scientific literature. Exercise and especially cardio increases longevity, endurance, mental acuity, ability to handle stress and mood. It causes the genesis of brain cells, prevents depression and all kinds of psychological issues. It produces endorphins and makes you feel good. It produces an attractive body, which is good for one's self perception. So it must be good for you. But that's the wrong way to look at it. The correct way to look at it is that not exercising is bad for you. Living a sedentary lifestyle devoid of regular heavy cardio should be seen as being equivalent to smoking cigarettes or a habit of heavy drinking or a diet deficient in important essential nutrients. By doing exercise, you're not "treating" or doing your body a favor. You're giving it something it needs and expects. Likewise, our body needs and expects 9.8m/s^2 of gravity, along with an environment rich with oxygen. Put someone in space and his body begins to decay. Muscle comes back when he returns, but bone mass never completely comes back. Living in zero gravity is terrible for one's health. Living without oxygen is also terrible for one's health. In fact, you die pretty quickly. So many problems that plague modern society go away or are ameliorated with regular heavy cardio. In particular, depression and ADHD. Exercise is like naturally giving your brain Ritalin, Prozak and Paxil. After you exercise, you feel good and everything functions much better. Life is great. That's how humans are supposed to feel and be.
Yeah. About 90% of the time when I have some emotional problem it goes away after I've been to the gym and thrown metal around like a she-monkey for an hour. I find sitting down for long periods without recess not only gives me ADHD-like symptoms (when I don't actually have ADHD) but makes me feel a little sick. I don't know how people can work in sedentary jobs all damn day and feel ok.
After a good bowel movement I feel exacly the same way, all is good with the world! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Exercise is something people do at their leisure or when they want to. If someone demands it then the fun is taken out of it.
*It is well documented that for every mile that you jog, you add one minute to your life. This enables you, at age 85, to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5,000 per month. *My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60. She is now 97 and we don't know where she is. *I joined a health club last year, spent about $400. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to show up. *I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I am doing. *I don't exercise at all. If God meant us to touch our toes, he would have put them further up our body. *I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. *I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them. *The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier. *If you are going to try cross country skiing, start with a small country. {like Switzerland??} **And last, but not least, I don't jog - it makes the ice jump right out of my glass or the salt fall right off the rim of that margarita!
I think his point is that exercise is not simply good for you, like a supplement for example, it's actually a NEED. Saying it's good for you is like saying cortisol or oxygen is good for you. It's not a supplement or a treat, it's necessary for health.
you can't. you can spend hours at the gym after work trying to make up for it, but i'm not sure it does. for me, there's something physiologically and psychologically disturbing about having to sit at a desk all day. "our way of life doesn't meet our needs" is an understatement i think. it's perverse. i've been an accountant, and a waitress at a high volume restaurant. i can make about twice as much money being an accountant, but if i can afford it, i would rather spend 8 hours a day exercising than sitting behind a desk. there are other things to consider. being a waitress doesn't do much for your psyche a lot of times either, but other things being equal, having a physically active job is very valuable imo.
I think he was attempting to sound philosophical, but it ended up being an Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
No, he is making a valid point. To say something is good for you, makes it sound like an extra, rather than a need.
Bingo. The good news, though, is that people are smartening up about health and exercise. The body is an easy thing to take for granted because it works so well, especially when it's young. I think it just takes a while for the information of the health benefits of exercise to sink in. Heh, sadly, a lot of it is due to vanity and the want to have a good body to have a hot girlfriend boyfriend or whatever. Oh well.
I used to be like that. I just wanted zero body fat. Then I found out how liberating it is to be able to go for a walk or run without fighting for air after 20 metres.
I disagree. People do live sedentary lives. Exercise is an extra, not a necessity. Anyway, the guy contradicted himself.
It's actually not a need, but I understand the use of his "rhetorical device." It still isn't a built-in need, though. People can do without it. They just won't do as well. This is one of those rather pointless threads. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
true that!!!! i used to just "not eat" if i wanted to lose weight, and it wasn't until i was in my mid 20's that i actually got smart about how to lose weight. I now eat more than ever, and manage to keep a nice weight. I did used to get fit for vanities sake..and to get a hot boyfriend..but now i couldn't care less about that, i just love the benefits of being fit- the energy. It is so important to have a healthy mind and healthy body. Good post Francois.
Then, like irony, rhetoric seems to be a device many do not understand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric
