In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released the results of a new National Nutrition Health and Examination Survey that indicates that over one-third of all American adults are currently obese. Anyone who is 30 or more pounds over their healthy normal weight fits in the obese category and has an increased risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and a variety of other health problems. A major factor leading to a lack of regular exercise is that so many people have unrealistic expectations and misconceptions about the nature and benefits of physical fitness, and if they do workout at all, they say they don’t see any real results from it.
The reason many of those people aren’t seeing any results from their infrequent and half-hearted attempts at fitness is probably that they simply don’t do enough of it. According to exercise guidelines published by the United States Department of Health (DOH), simply performing two and a half hours of exercise per week, or about 30 minutes per day, will significantly improve a person’s health. The department’s exercise guidelines address the concern that most Americans spend too much time sitting down and it recommends regular workouts to both combat obesity and improve overall health.
Many of the obstacles to getting fit involve common misconceptions about exercise, and one of them is that you have to separate your physical fitness routine from your normal daily life. This is false, as all exercise is good no matter what form it takes and taking walks, mowing the yard and working in the garden can all provide health benefits. Another misconception is that weight lifting will make women’s bodies big and bulky. In reality, exercising with moderate weights will make a woman’s muscles smoother and tighter, not bulky. In fact, when women build muscles they will burn more calories because muscle burns more calories than fat. Performing a million sit-up and crunches won’t burn much fat either. They might strengthen the abdomen, but you also have to burn calories in order to flatten a stomach. Another common excuse for a lack of exercise is when people say it hurts to work out and if you aren’t experiencing any pain when you work out, you won’t get any gains either. This is obviously false as pain is a sign that something is wrong and you may be exercising too much or doing it wrong, which could be dangerous. Although almost everyone can benefit from moderate exercise, people over age 40 should probably get a medical exam to learn what exercises would be appropriate for their particular medical profile before they begin working out regularly.