Fifty years ago, even twenty-five years ago, when I started this practice, most people had a more active lifestyle than they do now. Take, for example, automatic garage door openers: we take them for granted now, but back in the day when you didn’t have one, you’d have to stop your car and get out, open the door by hand, then get back in and drive your car into the garage and then get out and close the garage door by hand. Quite a difference in activity compared to pushing a button. And about fifty calories, in case you care about that kind of thing. Or, what if you weren’t driving at all? Fifty years ago, most families owned one car(or none at all), so that many of us walked to school, work, the grocery store, or the bus stop; now in my neighborhood even most of the grade school students are dropped off by car in the morning and picked up in the afternoon. In the office workplace, things have changed: less paperwork to file, less getting up to carry a document to someone else’s desk, even less walking down the hall to meet with a colleague: it’s all handled via computer while we sit glued to our chairs. And there are thousands more examples of how our day to day activities require less and less exercise.
Many studies have been done to explore the differences in the well being of individuals based on their lifestyles, including exercise levels. One study, probably six or seven years ago, was testing individuals for indicators of inflammation in their blood. They found that overweight people had more of these indicators, leading them to believe that the overweight individuals had a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases associated with inflammation, for example type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or certain types of cancer. They started part of the study group on an exercise program, and two things happened: they lost weight, and their blood chemistries showed lower levels of the indicators of inflammation. But, when the exercise program concluded, and the people were re-tested, even though their weight remained decreased, their inflammation indicators went back up. This was not the expected result. More studies followed, and showed that more exercise, all by itself, leads to less inflammation.
There have also been studies showing that moderate exercise helps with health problems such as depression, sleep disorders, and elevated blood pressure. There are likely many ways that exercise is good for us that are not yet known. In my opinion, even if the slight increase in metabolism and muscle tone that 30 minutes of daily exercise provides were the only benefits, I would still recommend it to all my patients.
The kind of health care we provide at Wellness Chicago is designed to keep you moving by preventing, reducing or eliminating joint pain. Additionally, we will help you to work within your individual constraints—schedule, budget, mobility, energy level—to progress safely into a higher level of activity. We can introduce you to personal trainers, stretching programs, core exercises, yoga classes, and all kinds of additional resources to assist on your personal wellness journey.