Is exercise really good for you?

[Fnaar]

Is exercise "Raleigh" good for you?
Is exercise "relay" good for you?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Two folk in my circle, one in his early fifties, the other in her late forties, both in excellent general health, both active and athletic, the first a regular cyclist, the second a committed fun runner, have "dropped dead" this month and I have two funerals to attend before 31/10.

I've decided to (try to) stop bitchin' about the small stuff in response.

 

[G3CWI]

Cycling certainly helps











me to get to the pub quicker

 

[ayceejay]

Any analogy that compares the human body to a motor car misses the point in my opinion as we are all different and what is oil for one is clogged arteries for another.
The human body is capable of adapting to most things asked of it unless there is an existing fault. So those who have to work hard physically on a less than ideal diet adapt to that and the same is true of a lorry driver living on food from a greasy spoon and so on, sometimes this adaption will shorten a life or lead to a sick old age. Those who realize that they are living in an unhealthy way part way through their lives and decide to change are in a different position from those who have always lived this way and someone who is fat and fifty and decides to get fit is likely to carelessly do harm to themselves. Conversely the body of someone who was once an athlete/bodybuilder/manual labourer who drops this but continues to eat in the same way while idling instead of working will change in ways evident from Eddie Mercx to Diego Maradonna.
I think what I am trying to say is that fitness is a process and you have to start from where you are. If you are unfit and worry about it you will probably improve your situation if you stop worrying or if you do something about it or both.

From the pulpit of ayceejay Jour de l'Action de grâce

 

[swee'pea99]

We are all different, but we are also all essentially the same, and there's no question that other things being equal, eating fruit & veg and getting plenty of exercise are good for you. Other things aren't equal, of course, and some very fit & healthy people will die young, while Winston Churchill lived to about 126 on a diet of brandy & cigars - but the fundamental 'sameness' remains. Along with the importance of avoiding golf.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Avoid golf- I do still play, although as a youth, I saw a fellow die on the driving range due to a chip shot that hit him in the temple.
Winston Churchill was almost killed in the early 1930's while on a book tour in America, I think in New York.
I believe he was hit by a car while getting in or out of a taxi or something like that.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

I avoid golf. Not for health reasons I might add, but simply because I'm sh*te at the game!

 

[tyred]

I woke up today, and apparently with no medial problems so that is a bonus.

I will aim to enjoy today, just incase I don't wake up tomorrow

I have no idea if living the "healthy" lifestyle will make me live longer but I remember the bad old days when I woke feeling like death warmed up with hangover and smokers cough, struggling to button my huge 38" waist trousers due to my huge belly and now I wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Even if I don't live longer, I will feel better whilst I'm alive.

 

[Dayvo]

Even if I don't live longer, I will feel better whilst I'm alive.

Exactly. It's the quality of life that counts, not the quantity.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 3327455, member: 259"]Me too. I can never get the hang of how to hold the bat.[/QUOTE]

I can't play because my outfitters don't stock plus-fours.

 

[Ganymede]

I woke up today, and apparently with no medial problems so that is a bonus.

I will aim to enjoy today, just incase I don't wake up tomorrow

I have no idea if living the "healthy" lifestyle will make me live longer but I remember the bad old days when I woke feeling like death warmed up with hangover and smokers cough, struggling to button my huge 38" waist trousers due to my huge belly and now I wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Even if I don't live longer, I will feel better whilst I'm alive.

Million recommends!

I believe very strongly in pleasure. People have been known to snigger a bit when I say that, but that's a relic of the awful puritanism of the past when pleasure was frowned on so we now equate it with mere "naughtiness". Real pleasure is about feeling good doing all sorts of things: yes of course sex, but also all the other pleasures which can be intellectual or physical or emotional (and not just emotional to do with romantic love - the satisfaction of doing the right thing by a friend, or standing up for yourself for example - maybe that's actually a moral pleasure) - and if you are conscious of your pleasures and seek them out, then you are less likely to end up ill, hungover, overweight etc. I find getting really drunk unpleasant and I've had one properly horrible hangover in 20 years, but boy I have a lot of fun. And one of the words for depression is "anhedonia", ie unable to experience pleasure (hedonia - hedonism..). And we all know depression is bad for the health.

Pleasure is the fount of all health!

 

[Chromatic]

Exactly. It's the quality of life that counts, not the quantity.

Many years ago my dad was in with the doctor discussing his health problems and was told something along the lines of 'Dave, you need to stop eating blah blah blah, start eating blah blah blah, cut down on blah blah blah, stop doing blah blah blah blah, start doing blah blah blah....'

To which he said 'so, what you're saying Nick, is I'm not really going to live any longer it's just going to seem like it'

 

[swee'pea99]

My old man was given six months if he didn't quit drinking red wine. He said bugger that, life without red wine is not worth living, I shall carry on popping the corks and take my chances. He lived another seven or eight years, glugging all the way. Cheers!

 

[tyred]

Million recommends!

I believe very strongly in pleasure. People have been known to snigger a bit when I say that, but that's a relic of the awful puritanism of the past when pleasure was frowned on so we now equate it with mere "naughtiness". Real pleasure is about feeling good doing all sorts of things: yes of course sex, but also all the other pleasures which can be intellectual or physical or emotional (and not just emotional to do with romantic love - the satisfaction of doing the right thing by a friend, or standing up for yourself for example - maybe that's actually a moral pleasure) - and if you are conscious of your pleasures and seek them out, then you are less likely to end up ill, hungover, overweight etc. I find getting really drunk unpleasant and I've had one properly horrible hangover in 20 years, but boy I have a lot of fun. And one of the words for depression is "anhedonia", ie unable to experience pleasure (hedonia - hedonism..). And we all know depression is bad for the health.

Pleasure is the fount of all health!

Absolutely. As someone with a traditional Ulster Presbyterian upbringing, I was brought up to feel guilty for daring to have fun. Life is supposed to be all about work, work work according to my family. All to earn money that you can't spend because it would be an extravagance!!!

It's taken a lot of effort to lose that attitude but fark it, I intend to enjoy myself. My brother likes to look down his nose at me and tell me how useless I am and he has better car, more money, etc. But I have friends, a social life, hobbies and get proper enjoyment from my life now that I have gradually been able to change my viewpoint. I used to dread every day, now I look forward to each new day.

And I've found my diet has got better without even trying as I don't usually comfort eat rubbish and although I do occasionally still feel like smoking or drinking if I'm with others who do so, I never actually feel genuinely tempted to do so as I know it would make me feel worse, not better. Occasionally I may have perhaps 1 or 2 pints of Magners cider simply because I like the taste of it, not because I feel the need to get drunk to cope with a social situation like I did in my late teens. I wouldn't be remotely tempted to drink any other alcoholic drink because I don't like the taste of them any more.

 

[Gravity Aided]

You see, @tyred , you were predestined to be one of the elect anyway.