Who Needs Exercise, Right?

You’ve got kids, work deadlines, work stress, dinner that needs to be made, baby butts to wipe, errands to run, a business to look after… yada, yada, yada, who’s got time for exercise anyway?

Lately it has become more and more apparent to me that there are a lot, and I mean A LOT, of unhealthy, immobile, limping, unbalanced, overweight, crotchety and fragile women out there. It’s like invasion of the old body snatchers, every one is aging before their time. As a personal trainer, it’s really starting to get to me. I’ve come in contact with so many women who have accepted the fact that they can’t run, can’t lift a weight or can’t find the time to exercise. Some even think that they will forever have to put up with certain pains, aches, and imbalances because they believe exercise will only serve to create more pain. Ugh, really? If that truly is the way it is, then why do so many women complain about not working out, or not being able to lose any weight? It’s an endless battle for so many and it shouldn’t be. That’s why I’ve come up with a list intended to get you so freaked out that you’ll run, not walk or drive, to the nearest gym or yoga center and sign up. (Don’t be mad at me, I really am only trying to help!)

What Happens When You Don’t Exercise?

• Your muscles atrophy and become weaker. (Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body.) It’s like you’ve voted that part of your body off the island, except it stays with you, turning into some flapping appendage because of under-use.
• Your bones weaken and osteoporosis kicks in. Try not to slip and fall here, it will cost you big time.
• Cardiovascular functioning diminishes, so your heart and lungs become less and less effective. Remember, the heart is a muscle that can become stronger with regular exercise, thus circulating blood throughout your body more efficiently. (But who needs that, right?)
• More toxins remain in your body since they are not being flushed out through sweat. Imagine then your body as a total wasteland; no wonder you don’t feel good, you’re drowning in waste and toxins.
• Premature death can and most likely will occur. Let’s say you’re turning 50 this year, which is a huge milestone, but without exercise your body may have just turned 80.
• Joints deteriorate so aches and pains can be felt, even when doing the smallest of moves. Muscles attach to your bones at the joint and since they’re atrophying, your muscles are not helping to keep your joints strong.
• Your metabolism slows, so you put on weight. Plain and simple.
• Your immune system weakens, making you more susceptible to debilitating and deadly diseases like obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and a plethora of other deadly diseases.
• There is less and less of the feel-good hormones swimming around in your brain and body, which can result in an increase in stress hormones and can lead to depression.
• Being sedentary weakens back muscles which can, and will, ruin your posture and spine health. Just think, the spine is the body’s super-highway that carries all sorts of signals from your body to your brain. If there is a roadblock, your body will suffer tremendously; it would be like a 35 car pile up.

I hope I’m not coming across as a party-pooper here. I really am concerned about the health of women and I’ve just seen too many times how the body reacts to years and years of sedentary living; it’s difficult to climb out of that pit. Proper diet and exercise are the foundations of a healthy body and immune system. They really do make up the fountain of youth and no one should be making silly excuses to further avoid it. Exercise, it does a body good… real good!