Weight Loss and Fitness – Facts not Fiction
The world of weight loss and fitness is certainly vast, and the American consumer can absolutely get lost in the thousands of easy effortless and mostly useless ads if not careful. With my books and research I want to clear the air about the various myths and false statements regarding our health and fitness that have clearly muddied the waters for many Americans.
What I want to stress in particular is that there is no magic answer, potion, or diet pill that is going to make everything better. The ad on TV where the pretty lady says "it’s easy. you’ll love it", is appealing to our need for instant gratification with no effort. We don’t want to hear the facts so we continue to look for the instant solution. If there was a magic diet pill, or diet plan, over 60% of Americans wouldn’t be overweight, in spite of spending over $35 billion annually on diet products.
You Don’t Have to Strain for Cardio Fitness Gains
Quantity may beat quality when it comes to exercise and heart health. Adults who engage in mild exercise such as walking briskly for 12 miles or exercising moderately for 125-200 minutes over the course of a week can improve their aerobic fitness significantly and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in Chest.
"The classic exercise regimen has a component of intensity up to 80 percent of someone’s maximum for health benefits," says lead author Brian D. Duscha of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.
"Our study demonstrates that you can exercise at an intensity much less than that and still achieve fitness benefits," he notes.
The Fitness Principles
Almost everywhere you go today, you are approached in some manner about health and physical fitness. The fact that a large percentage of Americans are considered obese has helped increase the marketing of diet, physical fitness, and health products. You’ll be reminded of health and fitness on TV, in magazines, on the radio, the news, at work, almost everywhere you go you’ll see something about physical fitness.
With all this commotion about fitness, have you joined the team and started your path to total fitness? If not here is a brief description of the standards of physical fitness and what you may do about your current fitness level.
Most experts agree there are five basic components of fitness. They are:
