Active body, healthy heart

Regular workouts keep disease at bay.

"I don't exercise. If God wanted me to bend over, he'd have put diamonds on the floor."
— Comedienne and talk show host Joan Rivers

If you have a similar take on exercise, you would need Rivers's sense of humour and a team of medical professionals to help you deal with the effects of a lifestyle sans exercise and proper nutrition.

Exercise is considered the panacea for almost all ills. In addition to its anti-ageing benefits, countless studies show the link between exercise and lowered risks of heart disease, blood pressure, cancer, depression and obesity.

However, all this information is hardly breaking news. Why then should we pay more attention to exercise? The alarming rates of obesity, diabetes and stress-related cardiovascular diseases in the UAE hold the answer to that. The fact that cases of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes are also growing is another strong reason.

Sedentary lifestyle

Ben Thomson, Operations Manager, Nautilus Academy, says, "The reality is that today we are far more sedentary than any of our predecessors.

This combined with an excessive calorie intake through processed and fast foods have culminated in a society that is becoming increasingly obese. The number of health disorders linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle is well documented and many of us need to begin to take responsibility for the health and well-being of both our family and ourselves. In fact, it is crucial to set a good example for our children, who follow our lead."

Thomson says we often use the excuse — 'I would love to exercise but just don't have the time' to avoid incorporating exercise into lives, especially since our fast-paced urban lives wear us out. "However, we can all find the time to perform some form of physical activity, it just comes down to prioritising it. When all is said and done, nothing can ever be regarded as important as your health. So prevention will always be a preferable option than cure," he says.

So what's the key to getting fit? Thomson, says it has been determined that significant health benefits can be obtained and maintained by including a moderate amount of physical activity (for example: 30 minutes of brisk walking, 15 minutes of running or 45 minutes of volleyball) on most if not all the days of the week. "Additional health benefits can be obtained through greater amounts of physical activity and incorporation of resistance training, with all physical activity being defined as 'bodily movement that is produced by the contraction of the skeletal muscle and significantly increases energy expenditure'," he says.

Catherine Williams, a certified personal trainer, nutrition and lifestyle consultant and group fitness instructor also endorses physical activity (with cardiovascular benefits) and weight training (resistance training) exercise as two of the main fitness components in improving your health.

"The cardio vascular element focuses more on training the heart while an effective weight-training programme complements this benefit and helps tone the body's muscles. Exercise is all about giving your body a challenge to overcome, which, in turn, provides greater fitness and improved health. When the body is healthier, it can then detoxify efficiently which helps maintain a purer, nutrient-enriched state and this offers a multitude of health benefits, including keeping the ageing process at bay," she says.

The right mix

So how much exercise does an average person need? Bernadette Abraham, a certified fitness professional, says that to strengthen the heart and maintain optimum body fat levels, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends three to five days per week for most exercise programmes for an adult.

In general, those who are beginning weight bearing aerobic exercises, such as traditional floor aerobics, jogging, or step training, should have at least 36 to 48 hours of rest between workouts to prevent overuse injuries and promote adequate recovery. This is especially important for people who are overweight.

"It is a good idea to alternate cardio and resistance training to allow adequate muscle recovery. It also helps prevent boredom. For example, weight training can be performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and cardio activity on Tuesday and Thursday. The duration or amount of time that is required to achieve cardiovascular benefits is dependent on the exercise intensity itself. In general, beginners should begin with 10 to 20 minutes of aerobic conditioning. However, those who are unfit would be better suited to try multiple sessions of short durations, lasting five to 10 minutes. For average fitness levels, durations should last between 15 to 45 minutes, and those who are fit can exercise between 30 to 60 minutes," says Abraham.

Cardiovascular benefits from exercise are linked to the intensity of the exercise, and there is a correlation with the heart rate. Abraham says that the average exercise intensity for healthy adults is usually between 60 and 85 per cent of their maximum heart rate (MHR). The maximum heart rate is roughly 220 minus a person's age.

Most exercise machines are equipped with sensors to monitor the heart rate while exercising, and a heart rate monitor can be a worthwhile investment, however these are not necessities. It is possible to estimate the exercise heart rate by simply placing the fingertips of the index and middle fingers on a pulse site or by using the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale.

"The pulse can be found either on the inside of the wrist, in line with the base of the thumb, or on the side of the neck just to the side of the larynx. The pulse should be recorded for 10 seconds, and then multiplied by six to get the number of beats in one minute. For example, a beginner who is 30 years of age should be exercising between 60 and 70 per cent of the recorded maximum heart rate. The heart rate range should be between 114 and 133 beats per minute (for example: 60-70 per cent multiplied by (220 minus 30). The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a personal measure to determine exercise's intensity on a scale from 1 to 10 — one being no effort at all and 10 being very strenuous. In general, one can aim for an exercise intensity between three and five (moderate to strong level).

Keeping track of your fitness level is also easy, and is linked to your resting and recovery heart rate. Abraham says that the resting heart rate is often used to determine a person's fitness level; the slower the resting heart rate, the greater the fitness level. However, a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed that endurance training had minimal effect on the resting heart rate.

Therefore, the recovery heart rate is a more dependable measure to test your fitness level.

"The recovery rate is the time taken for your heart to come back to its normal pace of beating after exercising for at least ten minutes at full capacity. If your heart rate does not slow down by at least 30 beats per minute in the first minute, your fitness level is low. If your heart rate slows down more than 50 beats in the first minute, your fitness level is high. The recovery pulse rate is a good tool to check fitness improvements and can be done every four weeks," she says.

You can also judge a person's degree of cardiovascular fitness by using VO2 max values, which is the highest volume of oxygen (measured in millilitres) that an individual can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight. Fitter people have higher VO2 max levels.

Research shows that you can increase your VO2 max by exercising regularly, and by increasing the intensity that picks the heart rate up to between 65 and 85 per cent of its maximum for at least 20 minutes, three to five times a week.

Fitness levels

While you are improving your fitness levels by working with weights or doing cardio activity, there are certain other factors that also need consideration. Williams, says while strength and cardiovascular work improve performance, flexibility prevents injury.

"It is vital to stretch out tired, knotted muscles after exercise. This will also help reduce pain in the following days. Repeated exercise can result in tightening the muscles, which in turn can affect the joints and even lead you to the doctor. Don't ignore exercises that promote flexibility at any cost," she says.

Yoga helps improving flexibility and also to de-stress. "Yog
a helps a person attain good health and relief from various psychosomatic ailments brought about by our highly competitive surroundings and situations," says P.K. Sanjeev Krishnan, Director-Trainer, Oriental Yoga Sanctuary.

Krishnan also emphasises the importance of training your breath to revitalise your body and mind through 'pranayama' techniques which, he says, can be divided into categories: one of which is aimed at energising the body and the other at purifying the internal systems.