The Sedentary Spiral

By Edward S. Pratt, M.D., M.B.A.

As we age the percentage of fat in our bodies tends to rise and the percentage of muscle tends to drop. Since muscle is the tissue that burns most of our dietary calories, as we lose muscle mass, we become less able to burn the calories in the food we eat. Excess calories are turned into fat, and we gain weight. This slows our ability and willingness to exercise, which decreases the percentage of muscle which lowers our ability to burn calories, and so on. This downward sedentary spiral can rob years from our lives, place huge additional loads on our spine by adding weight and weakening supportive musculature, decrease bone density, decrease cardiac and pulmonary function, and dangerously increase low density lipoproteins (LDL) and cholesterol while lowering protective high density lipoproteins (HDL), increasing our risk of stroke and heart attack.

The key to staving off the sedentary spiral is exercise. Older individuals should have a thorough physical exam before beginning a new program. Such a program should be started with the long term in mind. In other words, think of it as a change in the way you are going to live from this point forward, not as a way to get fifteen pounds off by summer. It should include components of weight training to build muscle mass, aerobics to maintain heart and lung function, and stretching to achieve optimal joint balance and function. From the nursery to the nursing home, the benefits of exercise are available to all who wish to partake. Exercise has the following benefits:

1. Burns excess calories
2. Increases muscle mass to improve strength, endurance, and ability to burn calories
3. Stresses bone to help maintain bone mass and prevent osteoporosis
4. Increases heart muscle strength and pulmonary function
5. Lowers blood pressure
6. Stimulate and optimize gastrointestinal function
7. Promotes circulation to muscles, joints, and spine
8. Lowers cholesterol and low density lipoproteins (LDL)
9. Releases endorphins reducing signs of depression, promoting sense of well being.
10. Improves muscle balance and spinal alignment preventing excess spine loading
11. Suppresses appetite which allows one to choose more healthy eating habits

With all that is good about exercise, why are we getting so overweight as a people? Is it TV advertising? Is it junk food? Is it our busy lifestyles which rob us of our discretionary time? Are we just lazy? The problem is not a simple one, and the reasons are likely different for each of us. Ultimately, it is we as individuals who are responsible. Over the last few decades, we Americans have developed a culture more attuned to immediate gratification. Working today for benefits tomorrow has become more difficult for many of us. With our busy, lifestyles where we must balance many responsibilities within a limited period of time, very few things can be done on a regular schedule, 5 days per week. Many of us believe therefore, that since we cannot exercise an hour at a time, regularly, there is no point in starting at all. We all hesitate starting something when we feel we are likely to fail. This with a little dose of denial, and we are content to simply come home from a hard day’s work and sit in front of the TV, while our toes simply disappear from view.

Exercise is not an all or nothing phenomenon. Even a little exercise now and then can do wonders for your health. Our bodies crave it. Studies have shown that even taking the stairs instead of the elevator can make a difference. If everyone in the Mid South reading this Wellness addition were to start an exercise program hundreds of lives would be saved each year! The bottom line? Grab a friend or significant other and “just do it”!