Exercise for a long happy life

This is a very funny image, but it points out the obvious: Exercise is good for a healthy heart. There are other claims about exercise, and many of them are true, proven by research. Exercise is also good for our brain and our mood. Many people say they do not have time to go to the gym. Well, I do not like the gym anyway. My favorite exercise is walking in the park, and even gentle walking can lower the risk of getting Alzheimers.

The Centers for Disease Control recommend 150 minutes of  moderately intense aerobic activity, like brisk walking, every week. That sounds impossible to add to our list of things to do, especially if you try to find thirty minutes five days a week. How about just finding ten minutes at a time? Ten minutes three times a day is just as effective as a thirty minute stint. If you sit at a computer most of the day like I do, taking a walk will actually make you more productive, and improve your creativity.

If you can increase the intensity of the exercise, you can decrease the amount of time spent. Vigorous intensity aerobic activity is things like jogging, swimming laps, riding a bike fast, or playing basketball. One minute of vigorous activity is like two minutes of moderate activity. Since I like walking in the park, I can combine my walk with climbing the 150 steps in the park, and get twice as much exercise. In fact, interval training, which combines different levels of intensity in one workout, is very popular. A walk in the park is free, does not require special equipment, and is a great stress reliever. It is time to get off this computer and go for a walk!

The recent article in the New York Times about Lisa Bonchek Adams’ fight with cancer certainly stirred up some emotional comments. It is no wonder. We all have strong emotions and values about the way we want to live until we die. Some of us want any and all heroic measures to keep us alive in a “battle” with a terminal illness. Others want to be pain-free, allowed to live through the natural course of the illness. For me, the good thing about  media of this sort is that it spotlights the choices we have in our society. But we do have to speak up and be heard.

Everyone has some ideas about how they want to live until they die. Unfortunately, we are not very good about speaking up for ourselves, even when we are completely lucid. If I am in a car accident, or have a stroke, or just senile, I better make sure that I have already made it clear to my loved ones, what kind of life I want before I die. We all have a choice. Every state now has laws about patient’s rights. We just need to speak up.