The Truth About How Much Exercise You REALLY Need (英文版)

~jack~

The Truth About How Much Exercise You REALLY Need                        
By Tom Venuto


What ever happened to, "Get some exercise every day because it's goodfor you?" You hardly ever hear that anymore.
Instead, we now hear about "Revolutionary, breakthroughs" that allowyou to train once a week and presto! - overnight muscle and instantabs! We also hear advice and instruction such as:
"Don't do too much cardio, or you'll lose your muscle and get weaker."
"Watch out for catabolism, and beware of cortisol!"
"Be careful not to overtrain..."
"Train don't strain..."
"Long workouts are out... short workouts are in"
"Train less to gain more..."
"Your muscles don't grow while you're training, they grow while you'reresting"
This is all well and good and there's some true and sensible advice inthere, and don't get me wrong - any amount of exercise is better thanno exercise, however...
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO EXERCISING EVERY DAY BECAUSE IT'S A POSITIVEHABIT THAT'S GOOD FOR YOU?
Do you remember when fitness trainers used to recommend dailyexercise? Have you noticed the "Achieve more by doing less" themegetting worse these days? (and being taken to ridiculous extremes?)

Have you noticed that a tiny core of fitness professionals stillpromote daily exercise, but their voices are seldom heard today amidstthe marketing cries of 21st century Madison Avenue and slick big citypublishers?

~jack~

So HOW MUCH exercise do you REALLY need? What are we talking abouthere?
I'm not talking about training two hours a day like Jack Lalanne hasfor the last ¾ of a century, or doing hours of high intensity weighttraining like a competitive bodybuilder, or an hour and a half ofcardio a day like an endurance athlete, unless that's called for toreach a certain goal, or unless that's what you enjoy.
I'm not talking about lifting weights every day. You need recovery timefrom intense forms of training.
I'm not talking about never taking an entire week off for rest andrenewal.
And I'm not talking about never taking any days off.
What I AM talking about is doing some form of moderate exercise -enough to break a sweat, get you breathing heavy and bring your heartrate up - almost every day of the week, most of the year.
It could be the popular six day program alternating weights and cardioevery other day with Sundays off. It could be two days a week oflifting weights, two days of aerobics classes and two days of hiking ormountain biking (six days total with one rest day). If it's fat lossyou want, then cardio every day with a few days of strength trainingworks like magic.
It could be virtually anything! Choose what you love to do - just dosomething every day, include both strength training and aerobictraining each week and do it on a regular schedule at the same timeeach day.
Ultimately, the amount of exercise you REALLY need is the amount ittakes to give you the results you want.  
However, there are some very compelling reasons to exercise everyday...
Why every day? Because that makes it a HABIT.
Anything you do repeatedly (especially daily) will eventually become ahabit, and your habits, positive or negative, will control your resultsand ultimately, shape your destiny.
Habits can be harnessed to your advantage, propelling you downstreamtowards your desired destination, or they can become your worst enemy,forcing you to paddle fruitlessly upstream against their powerfulcurrents.
Ninety-nine percent of the things you do each day are done on"automatic pilot" - without consciously thinking, deciding, choosing orexerting willpower. That is the power of habit and exercise is one ofthe most positive habits you will ever develop.
Why else is daily exercise a good idea? Because you develop METABOLICMOMENTUM.
Your metabolism is like a spinning top. You twist the top and it startsspinning at maximum velocity, but not long after your fingers leavecontact with the top, it's already slowing down.
Eventually, the revolutions decrease and the top starts to wobble. Youhave to spin it again before it loses all its momentum and topplesover. By spinning it more frequently, the average rpm's stay higher andthe top never slows to a wobble.
Your metabolism is the same way. Exercise "spins" your metabolic rate.Many factors affect metabolism, but nothing else cranks up andmaintains your metabolic speed like frequent exercise of sufficientintensity.
In Dr. Michael Colgan's book, "The New Nutrition", Dr. Colgan writes,
  "At The Colgan Institute, we have found that for fat loss, five daysa week for 30 minutes is much superior to three days weekly at 70minutes even though the total weekly time of the three day people is anhour longer. In order to keep the metabolic rate churning, frequentexercise is the key."
Amen Michael.
In "The Metabolism System For Weight Loss" Exercise Physiologist GregLandry of www.greglandry.com writes:  
"You won't find many people telling you to exercise daily. In fact,most "diet" programs or weight loss books you read will not emphasizeexercise and that's simply because so many people have a negativereaction to exercise. You have to start thinking differently about it.Exercise can be fun. The key is finding something you can enjoy doingon a daily basis. Many people think an hour of exercise every day ismore than their body can handle, but keep in mind that our bodies weremade for and are capable of many hours of physical activity a day.DAILY exercise is absolutely critical to losing weight! DAILY exerciseis also very effective at changing a sluggish metabolism into asuper-charged metabolism!"
Bravo Greg.
Yes, I hear the grumbles and groans from the peanut gallery... "Youmean 3 days a week isn't enough?" But how am I supposed to find time toexercise every day? That's impossible because I have kids, a job and alife, you know!
Impossible???
Here's a novel idea: Get your butt out of bed 30 minutes earlier!
Are you really concerned about quality time with your family? If so,then you OWE IT TO THEM to take the time to take care of yourself soyou'll be around long enough to enjoy their company.
We live in a society with more demands on our time than ever before.But if you don't make time for exercise now, you'll lose time tosickness and immobility later.
Psychologists tell us that most people will almost never take action toPREVENT a problem, only take action to GET RID OF a problem after ithas already occurred. So true isn't it? Unfortunately for many, thatmay be too late.
Your body is remarkably forgiving, but there's only so much abuse itcan take. Abuse includes negative actions like smoking, drinking, druguse and eating refined junk food. But sometimes that abuse comes in thesimple form of neglect - it's what you don't do that hurts you themost.
Can you exercise too much? Certainly. Is there a point where you becomeovertained? Of course. Is there a point of diminishing returns? Sureis. Can training become an unhealthy obsession? Absolutely. Do you needto take time off for recovery and renewal? Most definitely! Should youmaximize your workout efficiency to get the most benefit in the leasttime? A resounding YES!
However, if I were you, I'd be far more concerned about getting toolittle activity than getting too much.
So, my friend, if you want to go on believing in the hype you read inthe magazines and best selling books these days about minimalisttraining, once per week workouts, (or less), or the diet that doesn'trequire ANY exercise, just eat these special food combinations, takethese supplements or cut out all the carbs and get the body of yourdreams, that's your choice... it's your body, your health and yourlife... let your results be your guide.
But when you're unhappy with your results, and when you stand in frontof the mirror scratching your head trying to figure out why you don'tlook and feel the way you want to look and feel... and when you startto feel the downward pull of gravity and body parts are sagging... andwhen the aches and pains strike, and the doctor's visits become morefrequent..
..AND, when you see that there are others the same age as you, in thesame circumstances as you, with the same number of hours in the daythat you have, who have remained lean, healthy, and muscular...
..THEN GET OFF YOUR GLUTEUS MAXIMUS AND GET SOME EXERCISE EVERY SINGLEDAY. YOUR BODY WANTS IT, NEEDS IT AND IS LITERALLY BEGGING FOR IT.

~jack~

People DO judge a book by its cover and publishers know that. Typicalmagazine articles and books in the health and fitness section todayhave titles that sound like this:
Massive Muscles in Minutes
Instant Abs! How to sculpt six pack abs in 3 minutes a day
A few minutes in the morning
The busy executive's two-minute workout
"Sprint": The revolutionary program to Lose Fat and get in shape 5minutes at a time
The "Indulge" Program: Enjoy delicious dishes while losing all theweight you want, without exercise...
The power of one: How to transform your body and your life with oneworkout a week
The 30 minute fitness revolution: How to Achieve your perfect body injust 30 minutes a week
The 11 minute total body workout
All these pitches appeal to your lazy side. Inside, the authors coddleyou like a helpless infant, saying, "Poor baby, It's not your fault, weunderstand... we know you don't have any time... no one does... Don'tworry, it's okay, OF COURSE you don't have to workout for hours andhours - who ever gave you THAT idea?? Awwwww... there now...Working outtoo much is bad for you anyways... breaks down muscle, suppresses yourimmune system, causes oxidative damage and releases cortisol... Followour easy 5 minute program and you'll be just fine."
Do you think it's a coincidence that obesity is at an all time high,rising in lockstep with these lackadaisical attitudes?
Even with all these "new" exercise programs, training routines,scientific "breakthroughs," diets, books, websites, and of course, allthe "cutting edge" supplements, AMERICANS ARE FATTER AND UNHEALTHIERTHAN EVER BEFORE IN HISTORY!!!!
And if you're not from the U.S., don't laugh at us, because yourcountry is probably not far behind!
I'm not implicating laziness as the sole reason for obesity. That wouldbe over-simplifying a complex problem with multiple causes. However,laziness and aversion to exercise are certainly major contributingfactors.
Human beings are capable of reaching breathtaking heights, but theyalso have a lazy side hard-wired into their natures. We need a push toovercome inertia. We need motivation. We need to be inspired to look upand reach for the stars, instead of settling for a little clod of dirt.
And now, the very diet and fitness industries that are supposed to behelping and motivating are actually making it worse by making sillypromises in the name of getting the sale and appealing to our inherentslothfulness.
BUT WAIT! It goes even deeper! Could it be possible that even theworld's most respected health, fitness and medical organizations arereducing their recommendations so as not to discourage the public fromeven trying? Lyle McDonald, Diet guru and Author of the Ketogenic Dietthinks so. In Lyle's forum, he wrote:
"From a public policy standpoint, there's that huge tradeoff: Get asmall improvement in health (and presumably decrease health-costs) bygetting folks to do something, or risk a much larger dropout rate bytelling them to work harder. They keep scaling back theirrecommendations and they still can't get the majority of people to doit. Something is going to be better than nothing, I suppose."
Just how far has this down-sizing of exercise trend gone? All the wayto zero in some cases: Some "experts" tell you that you don't need ANYexercise at all...
Just take this youth-restoring hormone therapy, a once per weekinjection, rub on some crème, take a handful of pills, get a nip hereand a tuck there, have some fat suctioned, drink a few speciallyformulated shakes three times a day, eat these special foods, staplethe stomach, stick on a patch, and there you have it: A perfect bodywithout almost no expenditure of energy!
Many people who have been struggling with weight loss want to believethese claims so desperately, they take the bait every time, even whenit sounds too good to be true and defies common sense.
Remember that classic courtroom scene in the movie "A Few Good Men"when Jack Nicholson says, "You want the truth? ... YOU CAN'T HANDLE THETRUTH!!!"
Well, if you can't handle it, then stop reading now because here is thetruth that almost no one else wants to tell you:
Your body is BEGGING for DAILY exercise.
The human body-mind is the most remarkable creation in the universe andit was designed and engineered to be used often and vigorously. Themind and body atrophy and weaken if not used frequently.
Your body isn't going to fall apart by getting your heart pumping everyday - YOUR BODY WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!!!!!
In some cases, using material things wears them out faster. Your caronly has a certain number of miles on it, right?
Your body is the opposite: It wears out when it's NOT used.
Have we forgotten all the incredible benefits of REGULAR exercise -both strength training and aerobic training - to keep us young, vibrantand healthy?
Have we forgotten that exercise can feel good and give you a naturalhigh that's better than drugs or alcohol?
Have we become so vain and ignorant that all we want is to look good onthe outside for a short while and do it with the least amount ofeffort, using the path of least resistance?
Do you realize that you grow against resistance - physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually?
Why not have a helicopter fly you up to the summit and drop you off?You'd get the same view as those blokes who risked life and limblugging 60-pound rucksacks up the steep mountain side for days,wouldn't you?
Why do CHAMPIONS climb?
The answer is: There's no personal growth without the journey. Reachingthe top without the climb leaves you unfulfilled. The journey is thegreatest reward, not the destination. Champions understand this. Theother 95% of the world hasn't figured it out yet, so they remain stuckin self imposed bogs of quiet desperation.
Do you really want to go to the store and just buy the trophy withoutthe competition? How would you feel seeing it on your mantelpiece? Itwould make great conversation at a party, right? Your friends andfamily would be so proud of your "bought" trophy... (or would they?)

If you would stop for a minute and think about the great rewards oftraining and understand that the training IS the trophy, then theentire attitude of exercise avoidance would disappear, obesity anddisease would plummet, you would be working out and loving it, and yourhealth, your body, your attitude, your energy and your outlook on lifewould shift so dramatically, your friends and family would hardlyrecognize you. They would be inspired by you too, so the "exercisefever" would spread.