EXERCISE PROGRAM - KEEP IT SIMPLE
Try to find an exercise that is rewarding and fun for you. Exercising with family members or friends makes it more enjoyable Your exercising program should not become highly competitive. There are many types of exercise that exist, but not all bring health for the mind as well as the body. There are many amusements that over-stimulate the nerves of the brain, and actually cause a following depression. True re-creation is to restore any imbalance of our physical, mental and spiritual powers. Do not exercise when you're not feeling up to par. It is better to do vigorous exercise before a meal than right after a meal; although a leisurely walk is excellent after eating.
Light exercise calls for a four-fold increase of blood to the working muscles; and strenuous exercise may require a ten fold increase. But exercise produces heat and so considerable blood is shunted to the skin for cooling. As the surface vessels dilate and fill with blood the face gets flushed and hot. The heart itself also requires more blood. This increased demand is met by a reduction of blood flow to the kidneys, the abdominal and miscellaneous organs. Thus it is not wise to do vigorous exercise right after eating. Most of the indoor occupations exercise only certain muscles of the body. But for the best health, we need all around exercise, to keep all the muscles strengthened. Ideally, exercise should be done in the temperature range of 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
The preferable type of clothing would be loose fitting cotton clothes, not polyesters or synthetic as this would be synonymous to wearing a plastic bag and not letting your skin breathe. Clothing should be of proper weight. A good pair of walking shoes is also important, preferably leather or cloth rather than plastic. There are more sweat glands on the foot than anywhere else on the body and our feet need to breathe. Our feet contain 26 bones, and we will walk an average of 65,000 miles in a lifetime. Forty percent of all American children have flat feet. Women have four times as much trouble as men with their feet - could it be because of high heels? Buy shoes in late afternoon when your foot is largest. If shoes are too tight, don't wear them.
Exercise in the best gym or health spa, however, just can't take the place of exercise in the fresh air. Outside exercise, such as walking, gardening, or washing the car etc. are the best. Most gyms are so il -ventilated that it would be like exercising in a dirty tennis shoe! One authority on natural health stated that exercise outside in the fresh air and sunshine is ten times more beneficial than exercise indoors. I strongly agree with this statement. Choose a regular time of day to exercise. Most people prefer the early morning hours. Start slowly and progress gradually; don't try to overdo it at first.
You will find that fitness improves as you exercise regularly. It would be best to exercise a minimum of 1/2 hour per day 4 days a week; although 45 minutes per day 5 or 6 days a week would be best. Exercise improves the quality of life at every age. If you have succumbed to sedentary habits and would like to upgrade your physical fitness, you can do it if you will adopt a program suited to your individual need and ability. The type of exercise you engage in is less important than that you exercise.
HOE HANDLE MEDICINE
It was a bright, pleasant summer morning and the young man, silk scarf around his neck and a woebegone look on his face, had ventured to ring the bel at the doctor's house. The lady answering the door directed him to the garden behind the house where he found the doctor hoeing sweet corn.
"Well , sir, what's the matter?" the doctor asked after the young man stated that he needed medical advice and assistance.
"Doctor, I feel poorly all through. My head has spells of aching, my appetite is poor, my food does not set well , and I am very weak. Really, I need help."
"Yes, I see," the doctor smiled kindly at the young man. "Let me see your tongue.
Ah! yes. Now your pulse."
"Very well . I'm sure the work here won't hurt you, so go on with it until I come back." With that the doctor trudged off, and the young man went to work hoeing. He hoed to the end of the row, and there removed the light scarf from his neck. Then he went at it again. Halfway down the second row he stopped and looked up, but no doctor was in sight. At the end of the row, as the absent doctor had not yet appeared, he pulled off his coat.
The third row he hoed more slowly, stopping several times before he reached the end; but he finished it, and after a good rest, he attacked the fourth row. There was but one more row after this, and the fancy seized him to have it done before the old fellow got back. It would be a surprise to him. The thought quickened his pulse and gave him renewed vigor. He had just completed the last hill of the last row when the doctor came back.
"Well , well , my young friend, how are you feeling now?"
The patient really had to think. He had been looking to see what medicine the physician had brought with him, but he had brought nothing; his hands were empty. "The work hasn't hurt you, has it?"
"Oh, no sir." he replied, his face glowing from the exercise.
"I thought not. Let me feel your pulse again." He held the young man's wrist for a few moments.
"It has worked like a charm. Now, sir, you go home and repeat this dose twice a day, every morning and every afternoon. Do it faithfully, be honest with your diet, and don't use tobacco and if that doesn't work a cure, come and let me know. My fee, sir is $1.00."
"One dollar?" gasped the astonished youth.
"That's all I charge when patients call at my door."
"But, sir, what is it for? Where is your prescription? What have I taken of yours?"
"My prescription, my dear young friend, I gave you before I left; the medicine you have been taking in my place - a health giving potion that I should have enjoyed had I not given it up to you. And now, dear sir, I will tell you frankly, you are rusting out, literally tumbling to pieces, for want of exercise of both body and mind. That is all , sir. You can follow my prescription and be cured, or take your own way."
The young man paid the dollar and went his way. Not then could he be cheerful; but afterward, when he had allowed reason fair play, and had come to prove the lifesaving and the new life-giving virtues of the doctor's prescription, he came and thanked him.
IN CONCLUSION
Walking is the simplest type of exercise and the best all -around prescription of healthful living. It is free, requires no expensive equipment, and is suitable for all ages. It can be done at your own convenience, either alone or with a companion. The best way to keep fit is to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk.
(1) Arthritis Today, May-June 1989, pg. 36-40.
(2) E. S. West and W. R. Todd: Textbook of Biochemistry, New York, Macmillan Co., 1961, pg. 1195.
(3) Nutrition and Physical Fitness (1984), pg. 530.