The growing trend of obesity, disease and premature mortality in the United States is a crisis, and the U.S. Government is working to change that trend. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, produces a report called “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans”. The purpose is to educate Americans on the health benefits of increasing physical activity.
According to the report, “Today, about half of all American adults—117 million people—have one or more preventable chronic diseases. Seven of the ten most common chronic diseases are favorably influenced by regular physical activity. Yet nearly 80 percent of adults are not meeting the key guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity, while only about half meet the key guidelines for aerobic physical activity. This lack of physical activity is linked to approximately $117 billion in annual health care costs and about 10 percent of premature mortality.” The report is based upon the recommendations of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, a group of 17 nationally recognized experts in physical activity and health who were appointed to serve on the committee.
Are you part of the 80% of American adults that aren’t getting enough physical activity? What about your children? Demands upon our time and attention are extraordinary these days. It’s far too easy to simply avoid taking care of one’s health. It’s even harder if you’ve never been active, healthy or serious about training for fitness before. Many people stop training, learning and being students far too early in life. They get jobs, have children and increased responsibilities and give up learning new skills, or maintaining old ones. Most Americans eat out instead of cooking at home and eat far too much. Weekends are filled with more eating out, running errands, taking care of the house and endless other distractions. Vacations, if they happen at all usually don’t meet the definition of “vigorous physical activity” for many people. It’s easy to fall into bad habits, and incredibly difficult to create good ones, but physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to maintain overall health.
Committing to a life of increased physical activity isn’t out of reach. One easy way to begin- start walking. Almost everyone, no matter what your circumstances are (assuming no injuries or other conditions that prevent normal walking), can begin walking for exercise today, right now. Your kids can go along with you, at whatever age they are. Walking for 30 minutes a day may interfere with something else that you “have” to do, but it will be an important first step in making a commitment to your health. And it must be a commitment. Special Operations personnel, professional athletes and outdoor guides maintain high levels of physical fitness and individual capabilities because it’s can be the difference between life and death, their career or client’s lives. The seriousness with which health and fitness is viewed by individuals like this something that becomes part of who they are for the rest of their lives. Your daily job may not require you to jump out of airplanes, be a world class sprinter or use an ice-ax and crampons to climb a mountain, but your fitness and health should be taken just as seriously. That’s right, I just said you should take your fitness just as seriously as an Army Ranger or Mountain Guide does. You’ve likely never heard that before, or if you did, you probably didn’t believe it. It’s obvious to me as I travel and observe people both in the U.S. and abroad, that most people don’t believe in making their health and fitness a priority. It’s time to change that.
The household chores will always be there. Your stress from work will always be there along with everything else that you can think of to justify another day of not living an actively healthy life. The ugly truth however, is that years and decades of not being healthy, of eating and drinking too much, of being overweight, chronically dehydrated and the cumulative effects of high blood pressure and stress, will only weaken your ability to continue to live an enjoyable life. A sedentary life will yield exponentially poor results at times when you are least ready for it. A sedentary life will reward you with declining energy, increasing and expensive visits to doctors. Once you are on the pharmaceutical train it’s difficult to get off.
Why not take bold action now, and change the course of your life? You can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the U.S. by achieving the minimum recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week. Increasing physical activity further reduces your risk. Improved mental acuity, weight loss and better sleep are also positive aspects of maintaining an active lifestyle.
Key Guidelines for Adults
“For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2hours and 30 minutes)to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week.” Physical Activity Guidelines for America
Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits. If you are reading this and are not actively following a program of physical activity, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to change course and take the initiative to begin today.
If you have children it’s your responsibility to instill in them a healthy life. The best way for parents to teach children is by example. Children and teenagers growing up in the current time are especially at risk of not developing a normal and balanced life in terms of physical activity. Constant connectivity to devices and digital stimulation is a fact of life, and one that parents must actively manage. Giving children an appreciation for the physical word, physical activity and adventure must be deliberate. Children and teenagers aren’t able to regulate the time they spend online versus physical activity in most circumstances.
Check out what the guidelines say for children:
Children and adolescents (age 6-17) should do 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. The majority of the activity should be moderate to vigorous aerobic activities but should also include muscle strengthening activities at least 3 days a week.
Chances are, many people reading this on Adventure Operations Group are nodding in agreement. Maybe you are a former special operations veteran, outdoor athlete or already following an active lifestyle who already knows all of this. Awesome, but it’s more than likely that you know someone, probably many people who are not. Please share this with them, and when you do include some words in your own voice about why you think it’s important to get moving.
Let’s raise the volume in this country on physical activity, and help everyone live a better, healthier life.
Beyond Normal Limits.
Brad