The Win On Purpose Podcast

11. Embrace Movement: How Physical Activity Can Transform Your Health

• Adam Kelley • Episode 10

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Can you imagine transforming your health with just a few simple changes to your daily routine? On the Win On Purpose podcast, we promise that by the end of this episode, you'll be equipped with all the knowledge you need to make movement a natural part of your life. We tackle the alarming rise in sedentary habits post-COVID and reveal how physical activity is far more than just hitting the gym—it's about embracing movement in every form. Listen as we dissect the American Heart Association's guidelines and uncover the truth behind perceived versus actual activity levels.

The statistics are shocking: only 24.2% of adults met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines in 2020. We address these findings head-on, discussing how physical inactivity poses serious health risks, from heart disease and type 2 diabetes to mental health challenges and even certain cancers. Our discussion underscores the broader benefits of staying active, highlighting the importance of maintaining cardiovascular health, reducing cancer risks, and boosting mental well-being. We emphasize that the journey to a healthier life goes beyond aesthetics—it's about longevity and quality of life.

Our conversation doesn't stop at just highlighting the problem; we offer actionable solutions, too. Discover a range of moderate to vigorous activities, from the joyful rhythm of ballroom dancing to the invigorating challenge of hiking. We'll guide you through practical strategies to weave more movement into your daily life, ensuring that you're not just thinking about physical activity but actively incorporating it. Whether it's for yourself or the younger generation, learn how to enrich your health through regular physical activity and seize the day with purpose.

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Speaker 1:

Hey guys, welcome back to the Win On Purpose podcast. In episode 10, we are talking about the importance of physical activity. So we covered, you know, the definition of physical activity, why it's important, some of the health risk of inactivity and the recommendations based on the American Heart Association on how active we should be to promote good health for ourselves and also for our children. All right, so you guys check it out and I hope you enjoy.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Win On Purpose podcast From health and fitness, business, personal development, relationships and more. We promise you will find inspiration to help you win on purpose in all areas of your life journey.

Speaker 1:

Now for your host, adam Kelly purpose in all areas of your life journey. Now for your host, adam Kelly. What is up? Everybody? Hope you guys are having a fantastic day today, making the most of every opportunity, putting yourself in a position to win on purpose.

Speaker 1:

Guys, thank you for tuning back in to the Win On Purpose podcast. My name is Coach Adam Kelly with Transformed Health Initiative. My name is Coach Adam Kelly with Transformed Health Initiative and we are so glad that you decided to join us today. So we are now on episode 10 of the podcast, so hitting that benchmark number. So super excited about that, guys. I hope you guys are enjoying the content so far. Hope you guys are enjoying some of the subjects that I've covered and, guys, just stay ready, all right, because we've got some good things planned coming in the future with this podcast. So, like I said, guys, I appreciate you for just supporting, for downloading and for commenting, for giving five stars or however many stars you think we deserve. It's definitely appreciated and it goes a very long way. So thank you, guys, for the support and the love. Share this with your friends, share this, send this to somebody that you know to help them, to give them basically just free information. That is I would like to say incredible. I've done my work, I've done my research, I've spent the time. I have the experience and I just want to be able to help other people the best that I can. And this is a huge avenue because I can reach people that I would never see in person, that would never come into my facility, and it's just a great opportunity. So you guys share it with someone that you love and that you care about, and I would greatly appreciate it. So let's get to the episode, guys.

Speaker 1:

Episode 10, we are talking about the importance of physical activity. So I'm going to basically break down what physical activity is and then we're going to go through a bunch of statistics and just kind of see where we're at as a nation when it comes to physical activity, if we measure up to the recommendations and some things we can do to increase physical activity in our life, because it's going to be a huge game changer in our health. All right, we know that the amount of sedentary people in our society has gone up tremendously, especially post COVID. Covid did horrible things for us. It locked us all up in the house and made us afraid to go anywhere. Things for us. It locked us all up in the house. It made us afraid to go anywhere. Everything was closed, nothing was going on in the world.

Speaker 1:

So so many people made it a habit to, you know, download all of these streaming apps that they have now you know, like Disney Plus, and you know all the different movie streaming apps, and Netflix has really stepped up their game. So we have every reason to just sit around and do nothing. And it's a tragedy because physical activity you just can't really state the significance of it and how important it is to us as humans and as living, breathing creatures in general, because unless you're a plant that's planted into the ground, you are made for movement, and especially us as human beings. So it definitely cannot be referenced enough Sorry guys just how important it is. So I want to dive into this a little bit, because sometimes we think that we have more physical activity than we actually do. Sometimes we think we're more active than we are and when we just really sit back and look at what our daily life looks like some different things like tracking our step count, things like that it can really be an eye-opener to just how little activity we do or how short duration of activity we do compared to the amount of time we spend driving and sitting, rather, if it's eating or watching TV or playing video games or just sitting around in general, you know, and it's something that we definitely need to address and we're going to see why here in some of these statistics, guys.

Speaker 1:

So let's start with the definition of physical activity. All right, physical activity can be done at any skill level and for enjoyment. It can also be categorized as occupational, sports, conditioning, household or other activities. I'm assuming that means housework. Sorry, guys, I took this off of a website. So this is their definition. Physical activity can be done. Sorry, that's repeated. Exercise is just a type of physical activity, but all physical activity is not considered exercise. All right, so you know, if you go to the gym, if you go for runs, if you do any type of working out, yes, that's physical activity, but we're not limited to just working out or running or doing cardio or going to the gym to have a high amount of physical activity and benefit our health. Okay, so all things that involve moving your body around is considered physical activity and we definitely all need more of it. So there's kind of just a little definition of it.

Speaker 1:

Again, it can encompass so many different things, you know, and one thing I really like to emphasize with people when it comes to the importance of physical activity is you know, we always tend to focus on diet like nutrition. We just really hammer that down and you know, everybody's always concerned about what am I supposed to eat, how much am I supposed to eat? You know how do I need to eat to lose weight, but we don't always think about how active we are and how this affects, you know, our calorie expenditure and our rate of loss and all that. So you know, just like you can't out work a bad diet, you also can't out diet health issues associated with low activity levels. So there are health issues and diseases and conditions that are directly related to the lack of physical activity that affects sedentary people. And you know, like I said, you can't out work a bad issues and diseases and conditions that are directly related to the lack of physical activity that affects sedentary people. And you know, like I said, you can't outwork a bad diet. It doesn't matter how much you work out, it doesn't matter how hard you go. In most cases, if your diet is trash and you're way over consuming calories, you're going to damage your health, you're going to gain body fat and all those things. So it's the same way when it comes to improving our health. Yes, diets can do a lot to improve our health and to increase our longevity, but without physical activity, a lot of those benefits just you're not going to see because there's so many negative things that come with having, you know, low activity levels or physical inactivity that it can really cancel out a lot of those benefits that come from our diet. So, when it comes to statistics, we're going to look at the average physical activity levels in America as of 2020. So in 2020, and this is right when COVID started kicking off, so I would assume that these numbers probably got worse and maybe have improved, but maybe not If people didn't, you know, go back to activity and they just stayed in these same habits that they accrued during the shutdown and all that. So hopefully it's improved.

Speaker 1:

But in 2020, about one quarter of adults age 18 and over met the physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities. So only one fourth in 2020 of adults met the physical activity guidelines. And guys, I'm going to just spoil alert the recommendations for physical activity is not all that high Like it's not that of reach. The fact that only one-fourth of us, on average, meet both of those is a little bit disheartening. Among all adults age 18 and over, 24.2% met the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities, 22.7% met only the guidelines for aerobic activity and 6.8% met only the guidelines for muscle strengthening activity. And I'm just going to highlight that right there because I want to come back to that, because that's crazy. And 46.3% did not meet the guidelines for either type of activity.

Speaker 1:

Before I go on to the next point, I want to touch on that we're looking at one-fourth when it comes to aerobic activity, which would be like your cardio, that kind of things, but that 6.8% met only the guidelines we aerobic activity is very important for heart health, cardiovascular health. It doesn't mean necessarily that you need to go running and doing that type of cardio. There's lots of ways to get into that aerobic range of heart rate, but definitely something that we should be considering heavily. All right, so from there, among all adults, 46.9% met the guidelines for aerobic activity, with or without meeting the muscle strengthening activity guidelines. Of total adults, 31% met the guidelines for muscle strengthening activity, with or without meeting the aerobic activity guidelines. So only 31% of people are involved in adequate muscle strengthening activity and this is detrimental as well because we know the importance of having muscle tissue.

Speaker 1:

It's directly related to the lifespan of a person. So typically the more muscle mass somebody has throughout their life and keeping that throughout their life, the longer they tend to live and the higher quality of life they tend to have, because just all of the health benefits that come with having more muscle, including just being stronger, more resilient, more or less likely to trip and fall and break something, and there's lots of chronic diseases that can be avoided whenever, you know, our metabolism is running well due to the amount of muscle mass we have. So lots and lots of benefits to strength training outside of just getting jacked and having big muscles. And unfortunately strength training gets kind of condensed into just the benefit of, you know, like the superficial benefit, like physique goals, rather than the actual internal health goals that it promotes by strength training regularly. So some interesting points there when it comes to adults.

Speaker 1:

So some key points about the health risk of physical inactivity. So now we're getting into some of the health risk you know we may. When we think of not being physically active, we typically think of the positive benefits that we're not getting. But sometimes we may not actually think about or even know about the negative health effects that come from physical inactivity. So let's cover those guys. Cardiovascular issues, and this means an increased risk of heart attacks, coronary artery disease and stroke due to poor blood circulation and high cholesterol levels All right, metabolic diseases. So we're typically at a higher likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes due to impaired glucose tolerance.

Speaker 1:

So the more muscle mass you have, the more tissue you have that is uptaking the glucose that's in your blood system. So, for example, you eat a bunch of carbs, right, it's going to spike your blood sugar. That sugar, that glucose, which is what sugar is converted into into the body. That sugar, that glucose, which is what sugar is converted into into the body, it goes into your bloodstream and it's either shuttled into your liver to create glycogen or it's shuttled into fat cells to be stored for future energy. Or, best case scenario, it is shuttled into the muscle and in the muscle and the liver glucose is converted into glycogen and that's the storage, that's the storage form of sugar, of carbohydrates, in the muscle, and this is very, very good thing. So the more muscle mass you have, the more muscle tissue, you have to uptake this glucose that's in the bloodstream. So it's less glucose that's just floating around your blood or being shuttled into fat cells around your blood or being shuttled into fat cells, and so it's just a better overall effect for preventing type two diabetes.

Speaker 1:

Also, we have cancer risk. So some studies link lack of physical activity to increased risk of certain cancers like colon, breast and uterine cancer. All right, so you know physical activity, strength training, cardio, things like that can actually help curve the risk of cancer. Medical health concerns Physical inactivity can contribute to depression and anxiety symptoms and we know there's lots of mental health benefits from strength training because of the endorphins, because of basically the hormones that are released by the body as a response to physical activity and a response to strength training. That really help regulate our emotions and our mood and you know our anxiety and depression and things like that.

Speaker 1:

Bone health is another big one. So we tend to see reduced bone density, increasing the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures. So we know that weight-bearing exercises, strength training, it strengthens our bones. It actually builds more bone. Mineral density, increases our bone mineral density, so we have stronger bones, because one problem with aging that we typically see is not just muscle loss but bone mineral density loss, and this is where bones become fragile. So not only are we so weak because muscle you know rather, if it's muscle loss or just inactivity we're super weak. So we can't catch ourself when we're falling, we can't regain our balance because our muscles are too weak to control our body. Then when we do fall, we tend to break bones much easier because of low bone mineral density, and then this leads to a cascade of other health issues that usually does not end well for people. So strength training, physical activity super important for bone health.

Speaker 1:

Weight management also Difficulty maintaining a healthy weight due to reduced calorie expenditures. So you know, the more muscle tissue is very calorically expensive. So in other words, it requires a lot of calories to maintain muscle mass. So the more muscle mass that we have, the more calories our body will burn at rest, which means the higher our metabolism is and also the more food that we can eat. So if our body at rest is naturally burning more calories every day because we have more muscle, it's going to be easier to maintain body weight. It's going to be easier to diet because we can diet on more calories than if we had less muscle mass.

Speaker 1:

And then the last point I have is cognitive decline. So some research suggests a potential link between physical inactivity and cognitive impairment. So definitely believable. Just, you know, from a lack of proper blood flow throughout the body, you know all of the hormones that are released from physical activity that our bodies are made to do because we're made to be active. So definitely will tie into that for sure. Be active, so definitely we'll tie into that for sure.

Speaker 1:

So, when it comes to physical activity recommendations, that's the next point I want to touch on. So, like I said, we just went through, you know, some of the negative effects that we see of physical inactivity. And it's crazy because a lot of people wouldn't attribute all of these different things to their activity levels. They're going to attribute it, especially in today's climate. We're going to attribute it to diet and chemicals and food dyes and artificial sweeteners and everything else we want to blame when we have lots of data linking a lack of physical activity to a lot of these metabolic and chronic diseases that we see ravaging our country and our world. And it's not a surprise when, on average, Americans just do not move their bodies enough. All right.

Speaker 1:

So physical activity recommendations some practical things that we can aim for Now. This is based on the recommendations of the American Heart Association. So for adults they recommend to get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week. So you don't need to go out and do 150 minutes of jogging, you can break that up throughout the week. Or you don't want to go do sprints for 75 minutes of a day because you probably wouldn't make it. Break it up over the week and it'll be a lot more beneficial there. And then add moderate to high-intensity muscle strengthening activities such as resistance training with weights on at least two days per week. I agree with this as well. We do know through studies that training any given muscle group at least twice per week produces really good growth, keeps the muscle longer, makes it easier to maintain that muscle mass. So that's a really good recommendation.

Speaker 1:

Another recommendation is spend less time sitting. Even light intensity activity can offset some of the risk of being sedentary, and this is where things like taking daily walks come in or keeping your step count high. So we see in studies that if we average around 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day. We tend to see a lot of chronic disease and different ailments be lowered in those populations, so it's super easy to do.

Speaker 1:

Going for a walk is not difficult for most people. If it is for you, there's other things you can do, but that includes doing things like laundry, cleaning the house, taking care of the yard, mowing the yard, playing with your kids. There's so many different things you can do. That's light intensity activity that just you know, lowers how sedentary you are. Maybe instead of having phone calls all day at the office at your desk, you get a cordless, or you, you know, you just walk around your office and have those conversations. You know there's so many different ways that we can stay moving when normally we would just stay seated if we weren't thinking about it. All right, moving when normally we would just stay seated if we weren't thinking about it All right, gain even more benefits by being active at least 300 minutes or five hours per week, which if you add, you know, the recommendation for aerobic activity and for muscle strengthening activities, you know that pretty much sums up that total.

Speaker 1:

Five hours over a seven day period is not that aggressive, guys we're talking. You know what is that? Like 30 minutes a day basically would cover that very well. So you don't have to go spend an hour or two in the gym or an hour or two doing whatever workout. Just 30, 45 minutes a few times a week, you're going to be golden, guys. And also they say to increase the amount, and intentionally, gradually, over time, which is good advice as well, because you don't want to jump all in and get too sore to where you can't continue or you get burnt out or you get hurt so you really can't be active. So just, you know, start with what's manageable. You don't need to try to jump right to 150 minutes or 75 minutes of vigorous or, you know, 300 minutes per week. Start where you are, guys. If you, if you aren't doing any type of exercise, start with 30 minutes a week one time and then just build from there. Start with a 10 minute walk per day and then bump that up, you know, next week to 20 minutes and the next week to 30 minutes, and just see how high you can take it and manage that same thing with the gym. You know, start with one day. Then, you know, once you get used to that it becomes normal, go to two days and so on and so forth, so gradually increase that over time.

Speaker 1:

So now we have some recommendations for youth. Okay, this is very important, guys, because our youth is suffering due to a lack of activity and terrible eating habits. So, for youth, children three to five years old should be physically active and have plenty of opportunities to move throughout the day. Totally agree with that. That should be, you know, a. That should be just a given. But it definitely does not happen for that age group, especially with electronics and tablets and phones and everything that's constantly in their face making it to where they don't have to move around very much.

Speaker 1:

Um, kids six to 17 years old should get at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, mostly aerobic. Now, I mean, I personally don't agree with that mostly aerobic. That makes it sound like that's the most important thing and that strength training for that age group is not important. But it's very important. It would be very beneficial for them to be doing some sort of strength training. So that would be kind of my only slight objection there. But definitely agree with the aerobic activity. And they say 60 minutes per day. Guys, how many kids are actually getting 60 minutes of aerobic activity per day or any kind of physical activity. It's not a lot. Maybe they play sports and so they're pretty active there, but for the most most part the majority of kids do not get anywhere near that in a day. You know recesses are like 20 minutes now, so that's a problem. We should increase that at lower class time, if anything. Anyways, I digress, that's a whole nother subject.

Speaker 1:

And then also include vigorous intensity activity on at least three days per week. Include muscle and bone strengthening here we go. Weight bearing activities at least three days per week. Include muscle and bone strengthening here we go. Weight-bearing activities at least three days per week. I think that's very sufficient for that age group. A very good starting point. Build that foundation and increase the amount and intensity gradually over time.

Speaker 1:

Again, so don't just throw your kids in a bunch of activity and think they're going to want to do it. You're probably going to steer them away from being active if you have them doing too much. So just start small, start where they're at and increase it over time. And a little side note it's very beneficial if you're involved in that with them. So don't just stick them outside and be like all right, go run around. All right, dad's going to sit here and watch this show. Get out there and play with them, take them to the park and swing with them and push them and run around with them. Like it'll be good for both of you. Both of you will be meeting your activity guidelines and improving your health as a family, which is awesome, all right.

Speaker 1:

So point number three and I believe this is my last point on the subject and that is exercise intensity examples. So we talked about, you know, 150 minutes of moderate intensity. We talked about 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity for adults. We talked about, you know, 60 minutes per day for six to 17 year olds of moderate to vigorous intensity. You know, include vigorous intensity activity three times per week, so on and so forth. So what does that even look like? Like you hear that and it's like, okay. Well, what does moderate activity look like? What is, you know, a high and vigorous intensity look like? Well, here's some examples for you guys. So examples of moderate intensity aerobic activities would be like a brisk walk, so at least 2.5 miles per hour is what's suggested. Now, that's like a very quick walk. So you're not jogging, you're not doing like that weird sorry, I shouldn't say weird, because some of you may actually be involved in that sport and I apologize, but you know the speed walking sport where, like they're on the track and they're like walking extremely fast but not quite jogging. So yeah, not maybe that intensity but a brisk walk where you're getting your heart rate up. You know that is a good example.

Speaker 1:

Water aerobics another really good one. Dancing so ballroom or social dancing, great activity. Guys, dance with your family, go out dancing, you know, take some dance lessons, like, talk about some great cardio that you can actually enjoy and benefit your life and your relationships. Gardening is another example. Tennis, you know, probably playing more like with doubles rather than singles. So if you're playing singles that's going to get pretty vigorous because you're constantly running, but with doubles you don't have to move a whole lot. So that's a pretty good option to biking slower than 10 miles per hour. So more of just kind of like a casual to a little bit higher than casual bike ride, not just going super all out aggressive, all right. So there's a few examples of moderate intensity aerobic activities. Now some vigorous intensity aerobic activities we have hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack, so that's very intense. If you've done it before, you know your heart rate is through the roof.

Speaker 1:

Running is another one. So you know, beyond the brisk walk, actually running swimming laps. So not just you know doing aerobics in the water, but actually the powerful swimming, heavy hard work such as continuous digging or hoeing. If you guys have ever done any type of digging, um, or hoeing, gardening, or you know chopping trees, chopping firewood, you want to talk about some cardio boy. Go out there and chop some fire logs for like 30 seconds and you're gonna be out of breath unless you do it all the time. That's hard work, guys. Digging is very hard work. Uh, tennis like singles. So again, like I said, you know, doubles, you don't have to move around as much, but singles, where it's just you versus your opponent, you guys are running and booking and cutting and juking and driving the entire time, cycling 10 miles per hour or faster. So really getting after it on the bike and jumping rope is another really good option. That doesn't take much space or money because jump ropes are cheap and if you can jump, then jump rope is a great option as well.

Speaker 1:

So don't just stop with these examples, guys. It just kind of gives you an idea of like you know how you can see how, what you can compare to these different activities that I gave you and figure out where they fall. So you know, if you're doing like the Stairmaster at the gym and you have it on a very low setting where you're just kind of casually taking steps, yeah, your heart rate's getting up some, but it's not very intense, that would be moderate. And then if you have a, you turn it up and you're getting after and you're dripping sweat and you can't even carry on a conversation, that would be vigorous, all right, and you can just kind of compare that to anything. You know some things can be vigorous and they can also be moderate, depending on your intensity level.

Speaker 1:

So strength training is another one.

Speaker 1:

It can be moderate to where you're just you know you do your sets, you rest in between, everything's cool.

Speaker 1:

Or it can be vigorous where you cut your rest breaks and you're doing supersets and drop sets and down sets and you know all these different training techniques to where you cut your rest breaks and you're doing supersets and drop sets and down sets and you know all these different training techniques to where you're keeping your heart rate up or you're doing like peripheral training, where you're training upper body and then lower body right afterwards, or so many different ways that you can get your heart rate up super high and get your cardio in through your strength training.

Speaker 1:

So you don't have to do any of these, you don't have to go running. You can just lift faster, less rest breaks and still get that vigorous intensity activity in there. All right. So, like I said, don't let these don't just stop with these examples. You know there's numerous ways you can include regular physical activity into your routine and all areas of your life will benefit when you do, guys. So I really hope that you guys use this to your advantage, guys. So I really hope that you guys use this to your advantage.

Speaker 1:

Like I said, share it with somebody who can benefit from you know, maybe they just don't even think about their activity levels, or maybe they just don't prioritize it, or maybe they think it's not that big of a deal, or maybe you do, and then this is for you. So, whatever you guys do with this information I appreciate you guys for tuning in and listening Please do something good for yourself, do something good for your health, do something good for those around you and, whatever you do, make sure you win on purpose. Talk at you next time.