Why Exercise Is Not Enough

Exercising is not the same as being physically active. Many people exercise but very few people are physically active and that's one of the reasons for high rates of obesity, joint problems, balance issues, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease, and chronic pain. ​

Exercise is good...

...being physically active is better.

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles. Types of physical activity include formal exercise, sports, occupational activity, and household activity. 

Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and done for the purpose of maintaining or improving physical fitness. Common types of exercise are cardiovascular exercise (running, swimming, aerobics class), strength training (lifting weights, pushups, pull-ups), flexibility (static, dynamic, and ballistic stretching, and active range of motion). 

Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are health or skill related and can be measured with specific tests. Common tests of physical fitness include VO2Max, Cooper 12-minute run, sit and reach, 40 yard sprint, vertical jump, and sitting-rising test. 

To understand the difference between exercise and physical activity and there impacts on health look at the image below from the American Institute for Cancer Research. GREEN represents time spent exercising, YELLOW represents time spent being physically active, and GRAY represents time spend being sedentary. 

Notice how Joe, Kim, and Mike all spent the same amount of time exercising, but the amount of physical activity between them was very different. The amount of overall daily physical activity is what matters the most when looking at cancer risk indicators. You can even imagine someone who exercised twice a day but spent no other time being physically active who would have higher cancer risk indicators than someone else who spent no time exercising but was physically active for most of the day. 

​Most people who are not athletes but are trying to stay healthy focus on exercise as the path to health. They have heard exercise is important and try to exercise most days of the week. Let's use Bob as an example: Bob enjoys cycling and spends 45 minutes 4 days a week cycling at the gym and most of the rest of his days he is sedentary. While this is a good start, cycling only works a couple muscle groups in a limited range of motion and level of demand while neglecting many other muscles groups and ranges of motion. How could Bob improve his routine? 

Bob could:

1. Do a variety of cycling workouts (intervals, longer spins, speedwork)
2. Do a variety of cardiovascular workouts (cycling, running, swimming, aerobics class)
3. Introduce other types of exercise besides cardio (weight training, flexibility, agility, balance)
4. Become more physically active (walk at lunch, hike on weekends, get a standing desk, play sports with his kids, take breaks every 30 minutes to do several quick exercises - jumping jacks, pushups, lunges)
5. Do all of the above.

Bicep curls strengthen the biceps but does little for arm bone density.

Bear crawls build arm bone density but do little to strengthen the biceps.

We must remember that the human body is a stimulus response organism. To maintain health we need specific stimulus for each muscle, bone, nerve, blood vessel, tendon, ligament, etc throughout the body. Cycling creates increased blood flow and muscle activity in the legs but not the upper body. Cycling uses most of the leg muscles but only in flexion not extension. Cycling puts very little load on the leg bones and almost no load on the upper body and spine. 

Health comes from stimulating our entire body and all its systems and parts in a variety of ways on a regular basis (ideally daily). What's the best example of what this would look like?

• Well looking at hunter gathering societies are a good place to start and will give us ideas as to what our bodies are designed to do. Walking 5-8 miles a day. Running including short fast sprints occasionally. Digging. Pulling. Pushing. Climbing trees. Scrambling up and down steep hills and over rocks. Carrying things in our hands, on our backs, and on our heads. Swimming. Throwing. Bring active much of the day and resting the rest of the day.

• Another great example that is even closer to home is watching children between 2 and 6 years old. They crawl, roll, climb, run, jump, squat, balance, grab, carry, throw, push, pull, kick, dance, and move. They are active much of the day, but only do a certain thing for a limited amount of time and then do something else. Variety. Lots of variety. Play. It's all play. Fun.

Using these examples of healthy active people can help us find ways to change our lifestyle and daily habits to be more physically active throughout our day. Increasing our physical activity can dramatically improve our health. 

When we become more physically active we can/will experience:

1. Increased energy
2. Improved mood
3. Decreased pain
4. Improved flexibility
5. Better agility
6. Improved balance
7. Increased bone density
8. Strengthened immune system
9. Improved cardiovascular health
10. Deeper breathing
11. Increased physical strength
12. Decreased stress
13. Improved relationships
14. Being happier
15. Improved brain function
16. Peace of mind

Remember exercise is not the same as physical fitness. Physical fitness comes from how we move all day long. For help figuring out how to improve your physical fitness and achieve improved health, contact me today for a free consultation. 

Related articles/videos:
Exercise vs Play: Fun is the key
How to stop or reverse aging: never leave the playground!
The magic of motion: bear crawls
Exercise is medicine
8 laws of physical health