In the San Marcos Daily Record July 28 edition there was a cartoon by Jeff Koterba that had a “humorous” look at the present level of fitness in the United States. The cartoon showed two middle aged men jogging down a road and looked to be struggling with the effort. One gentleman said, “Now they say we shouldn’t take a daily aspirin to prevent a heart attack.” His jogging partner gasped a response with, “I wish they’d say we shouldn’t exercise!”
Having been in the fitness field almost all of my life, the cartoon highlighted what part of the problem is with the health of today’s population. With two out of every three people being overweight and obese (more obese than overweight) and a very critical epidemic of opioid addiction, the cartoon related to the fact that a majority of people would rather take a pill to solve a problem than go for a run. It seems like pill taking is the answer to almost everything bothering us. We take pills to lose weight, to go to sleep, to wake up, ease aches and pain, to feel better, and give us energy and many other reasons. I have seen people I know with a pill case that has close to a dozen different pills to take every day. A few are necessary, but many are to counteract the side effects of the others. Too many people think that a vitamin pill will give them better health. Instead of a multi-vitamin pill they take a pill for every vitamin and mineral listed on the label of the bottles. Some vitamins, like vitamin A, can be toxic and result in serious problems if the recommended dose is too much.
Most health benefits can be attained by eating a variety of food sources. Meat such as fish, chicken and beef, vegetables, fruit, and pasta will provide almost every vitamin and mineral the body needs. Vegetarians can meet the protein requirements by combining a few foods. It seems too many people would rather swallow a vitamin C pill than eating an orange. Others would rather drink a protein solution than eat a nice baked salmon, or catfish meal.
I have to admit that taking a pill has fewer calories than a source of food for combating overweight problems. The benefit is that the food source probably has numerous other beneficial healthy products other than the one pill that a person takes. The key is to understand portion size and preparation of food. Most restaurant servings are too large. I have seen many people ask for a container to take the left over portion of their order home. A few older people grew up with a parent that said they had to clean their plate and think that they must eat all that is served. It took me some time to understand that when I am full, I can stop eating, and leave some of the food on the plate without feeling guilty about hurting my mother’s feelings about not finishing my meal.
Exercise, whether it is lifting weights, running, walking, or doing pushups on the floor, can actually eliminate many of the problems that people take pills for. I had a textbook that had a list of exercises that a person should not do. Included in the list was the neck roll, the trunk roll, leaning forward, leaning backward, twisting the trunk, and not bending the knee past 45 degrees. Remembering back to my early physical education days, it is amazing that I am able to walk today. In the military, and at football practice, we did a leg exercise called the ‘duck walk’ where we were squatted down and walked around the field. Then the ultimate knee destroyer was the ‘jump squat’ for explosive power. I think most of these exercises are now on the banned list in most fitness exercises. What these exercises did was strengthen the muscles that support the body. I used to use the example of a baseball or softball coach, coming up to a young athlete and telling them. “I am going to destroy your knees for when you are an adult, and maybe cause a lot of knee pain, but I need a catcher for the team. Can you sacrifice your knees for the good of the team?” Talking with catchers after their career, most of them say that their legs were so strong that they do not have any knee problems. Most of the injuries came from collisions at the plate, tagging a runner out trying to touch home plate.
Not bending forward, or backward, or twisting the trunk, doesn’t give the muscles supporting the body much strength to do the job required to stand up. It makes for weak muscles and weak muscles lead to back problems, neck problems, and limited mobility. Strong muscles in the back keep the vertebrae in alignment. Strong muscles also help when you forget correct lifting technique and try to lift an object all twisted around and off to the side. You might have slight muscle soreness for a few days, but no serious back damage that a weakened muscle in the back might cause.
And a good long run, or walk, can do wonders for any stress relief or problem solving. The buildup of stress can lead to serious problems unless it can be released. I had a stressful week one time and at the time I could run a mile for fitness. That night I ran six miles before I found the answer to the problem and was able to eliminate my stress.
The key is to give exercise a try before you get too caught up with taking so many pills to solve problems, aches and pains, and gaining weight.
