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"Exe rcise of the muscles is a s
essential to the health of man as
is eating, sleeping and the use
of the bra in."
- Dr. Paul Dudley White
disease in the United States during the
same period.
Other nations of the world discover
similar facts as their people begin to
exercise their wealth.
An
increase in liv–
ing staodards always includes an increase
in fats, in refined foods and in food
additives with the resultaot problems.
Fat people the world over have
swarmed to thc myriad expensive,
ineffective "guickie" programs, worth–
less gadgets and "fad" diets in an
attempt to solve their problem and lose
weight the easy way.
There is no easy way. You are what
you eat and it takes character to control
your eating habits.
If
you have a serious
weight problem, seek adeguate counse1.
Don't go on a crash program of sorne
kind which could harm your health.
Just remember if you tend to be over–
weight, your body weight is directly
proportional to the number of calories
you eat. The only way to get rid of
them is to either not take them in or
balance them with the proper amount of
activity to help burn them up.
Third: EXERCISE!
Exercise seems a noisome expediency
for most people. It is work and most of
us don't want to expend any more
energy than necessary. We don't have
time to exercise, and besides, isn't it
bad to overwork your heart?
Yes, it's bad to
overwock
your heart.
We aren't talking about sorne sudden
crash program where you immediately
begin to run six or eight miles a day, or
where you strain away at weights to
build bulging musdes.
It
is criminal for
an individual who isn't in good physi–
cal condition to attempt sorne of the
physical exertions or feats accomplished
at twenty.
We are talking about a much broader
concept when we speak of physical fit–
ness. Good muscle tone for adequate
strength and Rexibility is only a small
part of the whole picture. Fitness
involves conditioning to develop max–
imum efficiency of the heart, lungs, cir–
culatory system - as well as other
bodily systems. Real fitness takes into
account the ability of these systems
to
respond to everyday demands as well as
rising to unusual stress.
Dr. Paul Dudley White has said,
"Exercise of the muscles is as essential
to
the healtb of man as is eating, sleep–
ing and tbe use of the brain.
A
helpful
result of maintaining an exercise pro–
gram
is
psychological. . . . It would
seem that in sorne way not yet
adequately investigated, a vigorous
muscular metabolism acts bio-chemically
to retard the 'rust' on the inner walls
Ambouodcw- Col/ege Photos
of the arteries"
(Fitneu for the Whole
family,
White and Mitchell, p. 6,
12) .
Why Exercise lmportant ?
The importance of exercise is multi–
faceted. If you are on a good exercise
program, you are expending sorne of the
unwanted calories which help to make
you a heart attack candidate. An auto–
matic increase in food intake does not
necessarily follow. Hypertension also
tends
to
lessen under the influence of
proper exercise.
"Whenever you can get enough phys–
ical effort, say a minimwn of an hour a
day, then you counteract stress. The best
definitíon of stress l've ever heard is
that stress is life and you'd better enjoy
it. I wrote a prescription once for a
patient and the prescription was 'two
punching bags' - one at home and one
at the office'' (
Your Heart,
p. 3
L).
It
is important to realize that if the
muscles of the arms, legs and abdomen
are Aabby and soft, it is very likely the
heart and other vital organs are in a
similar condition.
Your 1ife is in your blood.
lt
is a
vital liguid tissue flowing through the
arteries, veins and fine hair-like capil–
laries. Food and nourishing chemicals
leave the blood and diffuse into the
individual cells. Waste products are
then carried off by the same blood. In
the lungs, the blood cells absorb oxygen