“One of the first laws of being is that of action. Every organ has its appointed work, upon the development of which depends its strength. The normal action of all organs gives vigor and life; inaction brings decay and death.” –The Youth’s Instructor, February 27, 1902
There are many definitions and states of being that encompass physical health. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes a widely accepted definition of health, which states that “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Lately, this statement has been modified to include “the ability to lead a socially and economically productive life.” As we can see by this statement, health includes our physical health. And physical health includes physical activity.
From last month’s article we learned that God gave physical activity and labour to mankind as a blessing. Even before man’s fall, God gave Adam and Eve the instruction to take care of the garden that they were placed in. After sin entered into the world, physical labour became even more important, to prevent sin caused by idleness.
For thousands of years, men and women engaged in tough, physical labour to provide for their families. But, what is the problem now, in the year 2020? Do most of us work with the “sweat of our brow?” Worldwide there has been a large shift towards less physically demanding work. This has been accompanied by the increased use of mechanized transportation and a greater prevalence of labour saving technology in the home. Much of the tasks that our ancestors had to do by hand are now done by machines. How much easier it is nowadays to wash our clothes, our dishes, clean our houses, and travel from place to place. Most of the items that we need have been built by machines. No longer do we have to build our own houses, our own furniture, etc. Much of the objects we have in our homes have been made by machines, on assembly lines, not requiring us to physically tax ourselves to produce. Then, in providing food for our families, how many of us have to plow our fields, plant our gardens, grow and harvest our own food? We do not need to gather wood to heat our houses, wash our clothes by hand, etc.
Most of the world has an abundance of food, and no effort is needed to produce it. We travel to the grocery store, which supplies us with all our food. Technology has evolved to the point where most of us do not tax our physical strength to provide for our daily needs.
The increase in technology that speeds up all the tasks needed to survive has led to more free time to engage in activities outside of work—but, what are people doing with all this extra time? Some people engage in various physically active recreational pursuits. However, the majority of people spend their free time in sedentary activities. Is all this increase in technology a blessing or a curse? If we lived even 100 years ago, we would not be talking about how to get enough exercise, but it is a product of the time that we live in that we need to make a concerted effort to get the exercise that we need to keep our bodies healthy.
For those of us who live in cities, the opportunities that we have for physical exercise is limited. Since it is no longer a vital or even necessary part of our lives to get daily exercise, we need to seek out opportunities for exercise. Those who live out in the country have more opportunities for physical exercise as a normal part of life. Studies have shown that farmers have a level of physical health that most other people do not. Many of the physical tasks needed to run a farm takes care of all the exercise that a person needs. But, if we do not do those tasks, we need to consciously exercise to get the health benefits that our body needs. Many people do not know what types of exercises are needed to ensure healthy functioning of every part of our body. And, those of us who live in cities, who do not even have room for a garden, have very little opportunity to get exercise as part of our daily living, and we need to go out and consciously “get exercise” in whatever way we can. Many people have gym memberships, and work out on treadmills, elliptical machines, and weights to improve their physical activity. Many people have exercise machines in their homes.
How has the decrease in physical activity impacted the world population? The impact of all the aforementioned variables is that the majority of the world is physically unhealthy.
At least 60% of the world’s population does not get sufficient exercise. Statistics notes that 70% of North Americans do not exercise on a regular basis. More alarmingly, teenagers are spending all of their time indoors, neglecting to get outside and exercise. This can have serious health consequences, not only during adolescence, but throughout life. According to one recent study, children aged 6–7 tend to get an average of 45 minutes of physical activity per day. By age 12, that number declines to 30 minutes, and by age 16 many children do not exercise on a regular basis at all. Childhood obesity, which is a direct result of lack of exercise, is a serious problem throughout the world, and it affects teenagers as much as children of any other age. Poor physical health is starting at a much younger age now than it used to in the past, which means that the life-long implications of lack of exercise is that much worse.
These exercise trends are contributing to the rising rates of chronic diseases, attributed in part to an increase in obesity, and also in general poor health. Each year at least 1.9 million people die as a result of physical inactivity, which makes inactivity one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide.
“The living machinery is not to be allowed to rust from inaction.” –Daughters of God, p. 172
For those of us who are Bible students, we know that physical labour was a blessing from creation. Even in the secular world, the benefits of exercise have been known since antiquity. Marcus Cicero, around 65 B.C., stated: “It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor.”
Then, the Spirit of Prophecy, in 1886, stated, “The human body may be compared to nicely adjusted machinery, which needs care to keep it in running order. One part should not be subjected to constant wear and pressure, while another part is rusting from inaction. While the mind is taxed, the muscles also should have their proportion of exercise. Every young person should learn how many hours may be spent in study, and how much time should be given to physical exercise.”–Healthful Living, p. 127. Not only did Sister White expound on the benefits of physical exercise, she mentioned that a balance needs be present between the amount of time spent in mental labour and physical labour.
In modern times, the link between physical health and exercise (or lack of it) was “re-discovered” in 1949 and reported in 1953 by a team led by Jerry Morris. Dr. Morris noted that men of similar social class and occupation (bus conductors versus bus drivers) had markedly different rates of heart attacks, depending on the level of exercise they got: bus drivers had a sedentary occupation and a higher incidence of heart disease, while bus conductors were forced to move continually and had a lower incidence of heart disease. This link had not previously been noted and was later confirmed by other researchers. This research initiated the thinking that physical activity produces a level of fitness that can resist diseases.
One famous quote states, “Some exercise is better than none, more exercise is generally better than less, and no exercise can be disastrous.”
People have varying degrees of health, based on many factors, some of which are listed on the following figure. In fact, it would be too simplistic to state that one is either healthy or unhealthy. The figure at the top of the next page shows that health can be defined as running along a continuum. At the one end of the health continuum is “sickness”, and at the other end is “fitness”. In the middle, we have “wellness”. The assumption made by this figure is that if everything that we can measure about health will conform to this continuum, then sickness, wellness, and fitness are different measures of a
single quality: health. Those individuals who are the healthiest are those that have a level of fitness to their health.
For example, a blood pressure of 160/95 is “sickness”, 120/70 is “wellness”, and 105/55 is consistent with an athlete’s blood pressure, or “fitness”. Body fat of 40% is “sickness”, 20% is “wellness”, and 10% is “fitness”. We observe measurements for bone density, blood pressure, triglycerides, muscle mass, flexibility, HDL or “good cholesterol”, resting heart rate, and dozens of other common measures of health to determine an individual’s level of health.
Therefore, physical health is vital to our overall health, and having physical fitness is considered the optimal level of physical health. Let us look at what defines physical fitness. What exactly is meant by physical fitness? What is the definition of a “fit” person? Is there a difference between and well person and a fit person?
In previous years, fitness was commonly defined as “the capacity to carry out the day’s activities without undue fatigue.” However, as automation increased leisure time, changes in lifestyles following the industrial revolution rendered this definition insufficient. These days, physical fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases (diseases arising from a sedentary lifestyle), and to meet emergency situations.
“Health-related fitness refers to the state of physical and physiological characteristics that define the risk levels for the premature development of diseases or morbid conditions presenting a relationship with a sedentary mode of life.” –Bouchard and Shepard, 1993. In other words, fitness is the ability of the body to resist disease that arises from inactivity.
Done right, fitness provides a great margin of protection against the ravages of time and disease. Fitness is and should be “super-wellness.” Sickness, wellness, and fitness are measures of the same entity. A fitness regimen that does not promote wellness does not work.
How is this fitness achieved? Physical exercise increases one’s fitness level. This gives you the ability to go through each day with less relative energy expenditure. This enables a “fit” person to have more energy left at the end of the day and to get more accomplished during the day with less fatigue.
Physical fitness allows you to perform daily activities and face physical and emotional stress during moments of increased intensity. Being physically fit helps people to perform exercise well in all circumstances despite of age. Therefore, fitness can be explained as a state that allows each and every person to feel, look and perform well in every action they do. Physical fitness trainers often describe fitness as the capability to carry out day to day functions energetically and vigilantly, and keeping extra energy to do other leisure-time activities and dealing with emergency needs.
Therefore, physical fitness is more than just physical health. By its definition, it considers not only the ability to function on a physical level, but to fight disease and to react to emergencies effectively.
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations).
When we look at specific fitness, physical abilities can be separated into a number of abilities and skills Peak physical fitness is when an individual is able to perform the following efficiently and effectively. I will use examples from sport, as they are easily identified by most readers.
Muscular Strength: Muscular strength is the ability of a muscle to exert a maximal force through a given range of motion or at a single given point. This component is present when the person has the ability to lift a heavy box, examples from sport include weightlifting, and javelin and discus throw in track and field events. This component can also include “power”, the ability of the muscle to apply maximum force in minimum time.
Muscular Endurance: Muscular Endurance refers to the capacity of a muscle to exert a submaximal force through a given range of motion or at a single point over a given time. Endurance refers to the ability of a muscle to carry a less than maximum weight, but to carry it for a length of time, such as carrying a lighter box but carrying it for a longer period of time. This component can also be defined as stamina, the ability of the body to process, deliver, store, and use energy over a period of time. Sports that require endurance and stamina include skating, skiing, and long-distance running.
Cardiovascular Endurance: Cardiovascular Endurance is the ability to continue training the cardiovascular system (heart and lungs) for a period longer than twenty minutes (on average). This can be shown when someone can run or play a sport continuously for at least 20 minutes that puts stress on the heart, often indicated by an increase in blood pressure, pulse, and breathing. This is also defined as the ability of the body to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
Flexibility: Flexibility is the ability of a joint to move through a full range of motion, to move one’s joints freely. Those who do not have good joint flexibility can easily be hurt when trying to use their joints. Throwing a ball, swimming, and gymnastics are examples from sport.
Coordination: The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a single distinct movement, using different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently. Coordination applies in sports such as tennis and racquetball.
Balance: The ability to control the placement of the body’s centre of gravity in relation to its base of support; an even distribution of weight that enables one to remain upright and steady. This would include activities such as standing on one foot, walking on a balance beam, or surfing.
Agility: The ability to minimize the time it takes to go from one movement pattern to another; able to move quickly and easily. An example of agility is in team sports such as soccer, where a person must quickly respond to the movement of other players and the ball.
Reaction time: The ability to respond quickly to a stimulus. Table tennis (ping pong), baseball, and badminton are some examples. Quick reaction times are vital in emergency situations, such as jumping away from a car coming towards you.
Speed: The ability to minimize the time it takes to do a repeated movement. This could include running, or skipping a rope.
Accuracy: The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. This is useful in sports such as basketball, bowling, and archery.
The final item to take into consideration is one’s body composition. Body Composition is the ratio of lean body mass to fat body mass. The more lean body mass a person has is a better indication of their overall fitness. An obese person cannot be fit as he has too many limitations in being able to perform the components listed.
You are as fit as you are competent in each of these ten skills. The essence of this model is the view that fitness is about performing well at any and every task imaginable, even unfamiliar tasks, and tasks combined in infinitely varying combinations. This model suggests that your fitness can be measured by your capacity to perform well at these tasks in relation to other individuals. Nature frequently provides largely unforeseeable challenges, and fitness prepares for all eventualities.
“In the children and youth an ambition should be awakened to take their exercise in doing something that will be beneficial to themselves and helpful to others. The exercise that develops mind and character, that teaches the hands to be useful, that trains the young to bear their share of life’s burdens, is that which gives physical strength and quickens every faculty. And there is a reward in virtuous industry, in the cultivation of the habit of living to do good.” –Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 147
NEXT MONTH: HEALTH BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE