The Nation Newspaper

Tag: exercise

  • Benefits of exercise

    Everyone likes a person who is bright, cheerful, helpful, energetic, in summary beautiful. Good health necessarily results in beauty of body, mind, and spirit, and of relationships. We all need to make effort if we want to become our best.

    We need healthy minds to solve problems, to be innovative, to make progress, and to be successful. Our bodies need to be functionally fit in order for us to work well, to deliver the best goods and services, and to profit from everything in life. Our spirits need to be fit to gain goods and overcome evils.

    Effort in one aspect: body, mind, or spirit, results directly or indirectly in good health in all aspects of our being and living, especially in relationships. Nobody is really ugly, bad, or useless. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We all need effort to be our functional best, to be fit to cope with the dynamics of living and even to thrive in life.For many of us, the physical effort we put into exercise is a stimulus of our innate capacities, a path to better life.

    Life can sometimes be strangling in the sense that we do not have a set aside or protected time for physical exercise. There are many ways we can grab brief and good exercises during the course of the day if we want to. When you need to take that file upstairs, climb the stairs with vigour and feel your heart beat faster and your breath panting by the time you reach the top. When you need to walk across to another building, try going at a pace that is quicker than your usual pace. These little bits of exercise can add up to significant fitness by the end of the day.You will take exercise seriously if you know what it does for you.

    You will lose excessive weight and look and feel your confident best. This does not mean you cannot be fat if you are genetically fat. A fat person can be good looking and healthy. You should know what is excess weight for you, what can precipitate heart or other health problems, and what you find embarrassing.

    You will work better when you are fit. If you find yourself procrastinating, lackadaisical, escaping tasks and challenges, lacking drive, opting out, unambitious, negative, un-achieving, you are at a low point and you need to stimulate your life. Use physical exercise to animate your body and when your heart, blood circulation, breathing functions, and body metabolism pick up, your mind too picks up and you may marvel at yourself, a new creation. Exercises that are good for stimulating ourselves are: walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and using the skipping rope. Sports such as lawn or table tennis, football, golf, squash, and badminton help us to loosen our joints, strengthen our muscles, make us walk or run, and stimulate our senses, body functions, and metabolisms.

    These exercises stimulate the heart and drive blood throughout the body more effectively to deliver oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste products. These exercises burn calories and lower fats (triglycerides and cholesterol) that can be deposited inside blood vessels (arteries) to clog them and make them less functional. Though blood pressure may rise transiently during exercise, regular exercise lowers blood pressure in the long term because of a better working heart and healthier blood vessels.

    Because exercise makes our organs, muscles and joints strong and efficient and we are less easily fatigued at work. We are better able to face challenges and better fit to carry out exerting duties.

    Exercise alone cannot lead to better life. Other factors are important; for example, good nutrition. Whether rich or poor, we can always have some good nutrition. Rest and sleep are also important components of our efforts to reach better life. Sleep is important for the body and mind to recuperate and reinforce. Our social networks and relationships are also important for our sense of identity, our psychological well-being, and the all-important aspect of living: to love and be loved. Ofcourse, we do need to relate everything to our origin and end so we need to keep the spirit fit too. All these factors plus the effort we make to exercise are a recipe for good living.

     

    Your questions

    Some of you wanted to know how much a treadmill costs. Here is Lagos, I know there is a fitness shop at Ikeja Mall (Shoprite) but I have not been inside it and you may like to see if what they have is affordable for you. Good luck and keep fit.

    Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910.

     

  • Ncpc begins Easter pilgrimage exercise February 25

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara, has said that 2013 Easter pilgrimage exercise would kick off on February 25.

    Mr. Opara disclosed this in his office recently while addressing newsmen during a press briefing.

    He stated that one of the setbacks witnessed by the commission was the flood incident that prevented 10 states from taking part in the 2012 pilgrimage exercise, adding that arrangement has been put in place to airlift them during the Easter exercise.

    He said about 2,650 pilgrims are expected to take part in the exercise and provision has been made for other self-sponsored pilgrims to join in the exercise.

    The NCPC boss also affirmed that 2012 Christian pilgrimage was a huge success as the commission recorded zero abscondment. He stressed that the success recorded was possible because of the thorough screening procedure the commission introduced.

    He further stated that the aim of the exercise was to enable Christians who go on pilgrimage to encounter God personally which should in turn transform their lives morally and spiritually. In his words: “We want people to go and they will come back spiritually and morally transformed which they will in turn impact on the lives of the people for a better society.”

    The NCPC helmsman equally stressed that pilgrimage is not for leisure where comfort is assured, but a spiritual exercise where pilgrims are given the essentials and are allowed to experience life as Christ did as much as possible. According to him, “our pilgrimage is not tourism. It is not a journey for comfort, but a spiritual journey to remind us of whom we are , where we were coming from and where we are going to.It is a journey of a life time.”

    The Executive Secretary regretted the death of a pilgrim from Adamawa which he said was most unfortunate. He further stated that but for the loss of one pilgrim, the commission would have recorded a zero-mortality rate during the last pilgrimage exercise. However, he assured that the medical team would always do their best to ensure that zero mortality of our pilgrims is maintained and sustained.

    While fielding questions from newsmen in the course of the press conference, Mr Opara spoke on the need for Christians to understand that luxury and comfort are not the basis for pilgrimage exercises, but rather an opportunity to encounter Christ. He was reacting to issues raised regarding a dissatisfied self-sponsored pilgrim during the last exercise. He stated that the issues raised by the complainant were being looked into. He added that looking at the nitty- gritty of pilgrimage package, minimal comfort is all that is needed as the exercise is a spiritual journey and not tourism.

    The NCPC boss assured intending pilgrims that the government of Nigeria and Israel would do all within their powers to ensure the safety of pilgrims during the Easter exercise and would not put them in any situation that would endanger their lives.

    He called on journalists to partner with the Commission in creating awareness on the importance of embarking on pilgrimage exercise and the positive impact on the people.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Health equipment for exercise: The bicycle

    Health equipment for exercise: The bicycle

    Sometime is 2006, I was in Amsterdam for a scientific conference. I marvelled at the Dutch culture of cycling. Bicycles were everywhere. Streets were clean, calm, and beautiful and people, cars, and bicycles moved here and there with harmony.I imagine everybody in that country has a bicycle and uses it. In developing countries, perhaps new cities, towns, or villages will be planned with bike lanes. People can take short trips on a bicycle from home to their neighbourhood post office, bank, supermarket, clinic, etc., and not necessarily go driving in a car.

    We have all wasted time in traffic jams caused by cars that cannot advance. The health effect of traffic jams is difficult to assess but can be imagined. If you spend 1-2 h in a traffic jam with your car windows open, you spend 1-2h breathing exhaust fumes. If you are there with your car windows closed and the inside of your car is not exactly clean and your air conditioning filters have not been changed for a long time, you can spend 1-2h breathing bad air. This plus the effect of frustration on our psyche is certainly not holistic health. Examine how often you develop a headache after a long traffic jam. Biking is an alternative easy and healthymeans of transport for short distances where there are convenient paths for cycling.

    For some time in 2004 when I did not have a car in the US, I was cycling to work every day until I could afford the better alternative for a long distance. If you are able to cycle to work, then you would be incorporating a daily exercise into your schedule. If you do not use a bicycle as a means of transportation, you could have one at home as an instrument for exercising.

    Cycling can be used to keep fit and to lose weight. If you cycle outdoors at a steady speed, you can burn about 300 calories in one hour and if you are more vigorous you can burn about 600 calories in half an hour. The calories lost are not as much as when you run for exercise but cycling is milder than running on your joints particularly if you have over-weight difficulties. Cycling allows most of your muscle masses to get toned and strong. It also allows your hip and knee joints to improve in mobility without much strain. Overall, your heart and lungs are stimulated too and your body transports oxygen more efficiently.

    There are different kinds of bikes such as mountain bikes, road racing bikes, touring bikes, and hybrid bikes. Whatever the kind of bike, you may need to take it easy at first before you become daring with it. In my childhood, I once watched a boy eagerly doing a stunt by racing down a slope on a bike but he was catapulted headlong into a bushy hedge. He never became a world cycling champion.

    There can be casualties thereforeyou need to take care of a few basics such as having a head gear (helmet), and knee and elbow pads; doing maintenance work on your bike; carrying basic tools and spares; and wearing bright clothes so that you are visible to motorists.

    Bicycles are needed in populous places. They are easier to manufacture than cars and bike industry can easily add to the economy of a country, including providing manufacturing jobs.

    Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910

     

  • Health equipment for exercise

    Exercise can be very strenuous. Mental stress or disaffection plus exercise may not result in better health. Our mental disposition is important for effective exercise.Exercise is something that should be enjoyed to make it most effective. In many gyms round the world, the managers add music or television viewing to accompany exercising. Many aerobics video guides are accompanied by exciting or sweet music.

    Walking and jogging are good and easy ways of exercising. However walking under compulsion because there is no transport may not give a psychic satisfaction and rather may be depressing for some walkers. Walking as a desired exercise is best in streets with sidewalks and clean air. Walking as a necessity can become enjoyable if you listen to music with an ear piece or from a pocket gadget as you go along. More and more streets in developing countries are becoming conducive for walking. Walking is one of the easiest exercises we can do. Walking in the cool air of early morning or late evening can be very satisfying and calorie burning.

    An interesting environment is an incentive for us to walk for a long time. The beach, a park, a shopping mall, or a nice estate, for example, can be good for sight-seeing and we may forget for how long we have been walking. To make it a good physical exercise, the walk should be brisk or fast, not strolling. To make it a mental relaxation or to unwind from the hustle and bustle of life, the stroll is best.

    Your staircase is a useful exercise instrument. Again, going up the stairs under compulsion because the lift is not working does not give the mental satisfaction and overall health derived from taking the stairs by choice.

    Elders in places where elders are highly respected readily send younger ones to do everything for them. The Elder should however not forget to exercise the joints and muscles with those little trips around the house. A short flight of steps is a very useful and safe gym for mild and brief exercises.

    For everyone, if you do not have time to go walking, jogging on the spot at home is a good way of getting mild exercise. Count to a certain number, sing a song, or recite a poem while jogging on the spot. You will be making your lungs push out bad air and freshen up your breath. This is a useful early morning exercise that costs only a few minutes.

    Carrying small weights while jogging on the spot makes the exercise more calorie burning.

    A better exercise to stimulate the cardiovascular system, particularly the heart and blood circulation is using a skipping rope. No, they are not just for kids. They are also for adults who want to remain healthy. For those who live in crammed conditions at home, for those who do not have nice streets to walk or jog on, for those who do not have enough time to go out walking or jogging, jumping rope is an easy exercise solution. A few minutes jumping does not need much space and you end up with fresh breath, a bit of sweat which removes toxic waste from the body, a better functioning heart and circulatory system, and a happier psyche.

    The exercise done should be compatible with any disease condition or any therapy a person is undergoing and should be discussed with one’s health care giver.

    A healthy person can hardly give a cogent excuse for not exercising. Jogging on the spot and skipping rope need very little space and very little time and very little money. From fat dames and pot-belly daddies to lazy kids, these are actually exercises that can give you a lot of fun and laughter, so have fun and keep fit and snap a few photos while you are at it.

    Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910