Has Modern Day Living Contributed To Sedentary Lifestyle?

Sept. 13, 2009 - PRLog -- Author: Maribeth Bunch, Pedorthist
Founder http://www.walk2bfit.com
All Rights Reserved Sept. 2009

It’s amazing to me that primitive man walked as a way of transportation and did not suffer from most of the diseases we know today.  Albeit, they didn’t have many options back then since there weren’t cars, buses, bikes — just feet.  They worked, hunted, walked across continents to get ahead of seasonal weather conditions — and they were healthy.

In many parts of the world today in modern aboriginal tribes, this type of lifestyle still exists.  Researchers have reported that diabetes, cancer, obesity and a gazillion other health issues do not exist in these tribes.  They don’t have Tylenol or Advil and many do not even wear shoes, and yet they are very strong and healthy, living a simple life without the conveniences of modern day living or the stress that comes with it.  They don’t eat Hot Pockets out of the freezer, they feed from natures resources.

Let’s be honest for a minute, we KNOW that poor eating and sedentary lifestyle is the culprit to most health issues that are compounded generation after generation.  We've becomed so conditioned as a culture, we are learning to accept obesity and diabetes as part of our hereditary through our genetic makeup.  We have conditioned ourselves to believe that most of our ailments are a predisposition at birth or part of our DNA.  How many times do you hear people say, "My mother is overweight and I got it from her" or "obesity runs in my family."  This may be true  to a certain extent, but you don’t have to be the next generation.

Studies indicate that certain genetic characteristics may increase an individual’s susceptibility to overweight and obesity related diseases and illness. However, this genetic susceptibility may need to exist in conjunction with contributing environmental and behavioral factors (such as a high-calorie food supply and minimal physical activity) to have a significant effect on weight. Genetic factors alone can play a role in specific cases of overweight. However, the rapid rise in the rates of overweight and obesity in the general population in recent years cannot be attributed solely to genetic factors. The genetic characteristics of the human population have not changed in the last three decades, but the prevalence of overweight has tripled among school-aged children during that time.

What if we were to decide to take control now and teach our children, educate them to take control so they can teach their children and so on and so on.  Do you think we can reverse the damage by reconditioning and retraining ourselves to genetically evolve back to healthier days of our ancestors in modern day times for the sake of generations to come.

Over the next week I’ll be posting lots of research findings on my blog (at http://www.walk2bfit.com/blog) to help educate readers that WE CAN BATTLE the bulge, WE CAN BATTLE and PREVENT diabetes.  Walking is the key to good health for all of your body systems ( if you visit http://www.walk2bfit.com and click on Walking you can see a long list of benefits that walking provides).  Not only is walking good for your physical well-being, it’s also great for your emotional well-being.  Walking relieves stress, depression, changes your personality type, helps with insomnia, provides mental clarity, well, the list goes on.  Good health is no secret, you can find information on-line, in line at the grocery store (as you read magazine headlines, “Walk the pounds off!”, “You are what you eat!”), on television — just about anywhere you go, you can tap into a plethora of health and fitness information.  Isn’t time to take control and make changes?

Walking The Best Way To Get Back Into Shape

Many people looking to get into shape and lose weight choose walking as a way to do so.   It makes sense:  It is low-impact, pleasurable, and manageable for most fitness levels, making it far from intimidating.  Further,  it has been widely accepted that walking three times a week for 30 minutes each time can help bolster your cardiovascular health.

If you haven’t exercised regularly for a long time, walking is a good way to start getting back into a regimen.  But to make it really work for you, remember the following:

1. Are you strolling or are you pushing yourself?  More than the exercise itself, getting your heart rate up into a zone of 65-85% your maximum heart rate is important to making the activity beneficial.

2. Walk on a treadmill to pace yourself. You should try to walking between 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour. This will ensure you are getting some sort of cardiovascular workout. (If you don’t have a treadmill, get a pedometer and try to steadily increase the number of steps you take within the 30 minutes, every time you walk). Once you are able to walk in this range for 30 minutes comfortably, challenge yourself. Try jogging. If not, try to walk faster and longer. As you become more fit, you will need to work harder to get the same benefit.

3. Try to incorporate some strength training into your workout.  It will help you to build muscle and raise your metabolism…which will burn more calories…which will help you lose weight.

4. Make sure you are eating properly. Even if you were to walk an hour a day, every day of the week, but you continued to eat poorly, you would not see results.

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