We're constantly hearing about how good exercise is for you, especially heavy cardiovascular exercise that gets the heart going fast for 40 minutes. It's all over popular media, advice columns, the advice of doctors. And this is buttressed by the scientific literature. Exercise and especially cardio increases longevity, endurance, mental acuity, ability to handle stress and mood. It causes the genesis of brain cells, prevents depression and all kinds of psychological issues. It produces endorphins and makes you feel good. It produces an attractive body, which is good for one's self perception. So it must be good for you.
But that's the wrong way to look at it. The correct way to look at it is that not exercising is bad for you. Living a sedentary lifestyle devoid of regular heavy cardio should be seen as being equivalent to smoking cigarettes or a habit of heavy drinking or a diet deficient in important essential nutrients. By doing exercise, you're not "treating" or doing your body a favor. You're giving it something it needs and expects.
Likewise, our body needs and expects 9.8m/s^2 of gravity, along with an environment rich with oxygen. Put someone in space and his body begins to decay. Muscle comes back when he returns, but bone mass never completely comes back. Living in zero gravity is terrible for one's health. Living without oxygen is also terrible for one's health. In fact, you die pretty quickly.
So many problems that plague modern society go away or are ameliorated with regular heavy cardio. In particular, depression and ADHD. Exercise is like naturally giving your brain Ritalin, Prozak and Paxil.
After you exercise, you feel good and everything functions much better. Life is great. That's how humans are supposed to feel and be.
But that's the wrong way to look at it. The correct way to look at it is that not exercising is bad for you. Living a sedentary lifestyle devoid of regular heavy cardio should be seen as being equivalent to smoking cigarettes or a habit of heavy drinking or a diet deficient in important essential nutrients. By doing exercise, you're not "treating" or doing your body a favor. You're giving it something it needs and expects.
Likewise, our body needs and expects 9.8m/s^2 of gravity, along with an environment rich with oxygen. Put someone in space and his body begins to decay. Muscle comes back when he returns, but bone mass never completely comes back. Living in zero gravity is terrible for one's health. Living without oxygen is also terrible for one's health. In fact, you die pretty quickly.
So many problems that plague modern society go away or are ameliorated with regular heavy cardio. In particular, depression and ADHD. Exercise is like naturally giving your brain Ritalin, Prozak and Paxil.
After you exercise, you feel good and everything functions much better. Life is great. That's how humans are supposed to feel and be.
