We are always dismayed when our friends say they don't want to exercise because of the fear of injury. We were equally upset that some people blamed Howard's hernias on his working out despite clear data to the contrary. As we will explain, the risks of inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle vastly outweigh the risks associated with resistance or aerobic training.
So that we don't bury the lead here...
Current physical activity (PA) guidelines by the WHO recommend that adults perform an equivalent of moderate-intensity aerobic activities for at least 150 minutes and muscle-strengthening activities for at least 2 days weekly.
Fewer than half of people do the minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity, which includes walking. Fewer than 25% of people achieve the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity and 2 days of resistance training. We are witnessing the dramatic downsides associated with this.
Sedentary behavior is highly prevalent in the United States (US) and is a substantial public health issue. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicates that US adults spent 7.7 hours per day on being sedentary. And these figures were from 2016... it has only gotten worse since then.
Reduced or insufficient physical activity is associated with loss of muscle mass, lower insulin sensitivity, and increased risks of physical dysfunction, frailty, and loss of functional independence. Furthermore, a lack of physical activity impairs heart, brain, vascular kidney, and lung function. Simply put, it's not kind to our present-day health, future health, or our ability to remain a functionally and cognitively intact viable entity during our later years.
Below, for our paid subscribers, we are going to explore how poor humans are at assessing risk, the risk of injury associated with training, the risks associated with not training, and strategies you can utilize to minimize the risk of injury.
