Savings, Longevity, and the Year in Fitness

I was camping and blissfully media and gadget free (gasp!) when this excellent article,  "Savings, Longevity, and the Year in Fitness" was first published by the New York Times a month ago.  Through algorithmic magic, it resurfaced and crossed my screen yesterday, compelling my commentary today.***  

The NY Times author, Gretchen Reynolds has written a simply perfect summary of numerous scientific research reports proving why you should incorporate regular exercise into your life, and I’d highly recommend reading it.

If you don’t want to read the article in full, here’s the key points in a simple list:

1. There is a 42% chance of premature death for people who are out of shape. People who are unfit face roughly the same risk of early death as heavy smokers!
2. Americans would save on average of $2,500 per year on cardiac related healthcare costs by walking 30 minutes 5x per week.  That’s $10,000 every 4 years!
3. In animal studies, mice that ran regularly developed cancer-fighting properties (sedentary mice did not)
4. Exercise improves brain function and mood and helps fight off depression
5. Not only does exercise help metabolize fat, it changes metabolically inactive white fat (does not burn calories) into metabolically active brown fat (does burn calories).  
6. In animal studies, mice who were genetically predisposed to being obese and who did not exercise became obese.  However, mice who were similarly genetically predisposed to obesity and who did exercise matured into lean adults.  
7. Exercise helps prevent sarcopenia (age-related muscle wasting)
8. (Not mentioned in this article, but worth adding to the list….exercise helps prevent dementia)

Wow!  That’s a compelling list of reasons to exercise, isn’t it?  And that’s not my opinion or the Times author Gretchen Reynolds’ opinion...that’s a summary of peer reviewed research coming from the certified super geniuses at Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Baylor, University of Florida, University of Missouri, University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), King's College in London, McGill University (Canada), Queensland University of Technology (Australia) and published in an exceptionally wide range of prestigious medical journals around the world.

So while all of this compelling research from all of these super-smart scientists, researchers, and editors clearly and convincingly makes the case to get up and get moving because it will a) extend your life, b) improve the quality of your life both mentally and physically and c) save you enough money every year to buy yourself something really nice...or put your kids through college, or take an amazing  family vacation every 4 years or help fund your retirement….the question still remains:

“What type of exercise is right for YOU to give you the maximum benefit from your time and effort in the gym”?

That’s where our FitnessGenes team of certified super-geniuses comes in.  If you are really trying to change your body composition, lose weight, gain muscle, get lean, or just get fit and stay healthy, you will need to do more than walk for 30 mins 5 days per week.  You will need to eat the right type of foods and you will need to put in some more intense physical effort.  However, the rewards will be worth it:  You will look better, feel better, be happier, be more confident and these characteristics most often have positive correlations to  other areas of your life:  how attractive you are to other people, the health of your relationships, and even how much money you make!

Time to Get Moving!

It is now the middle of January.  80% of the population of the English speaking world has made a health or fitness related New Year’s Resolution, and FitnessGenes would really love to help you achieve your goal.

As with anything in life, you will be more inclined to take action if you think you will succeed.  No matter how many motivational quotes you see on your social media feeds, nobody likes struggling and nobody enjoys failing.  

At FitnessGenes, we believe that providing useful information about the inner workings of your body, plus precise, actionable advice on how you should eat and exercise, will increase your likelihood of success with a healthy lifestyle.  

Once you start to see positive momentum in your physique, your energy levels, and your overall health and fitness, you’re well on your way to maintaining that new healthy, active lifestyle.  

If you are so busy that you can only take 1 hour per day 3x per week to dedicate to the gym, don’t you think you should be armed with best possible information to get maximum impact from that investment in time?  And if you see and feel progress, you’ll continue, right?  

So who do you think is going to get a better result: the person who goes to the gym 3x a week and does the wrong thing or the person who goes to the gym 3x per week and does the right thing?  And I don’t mean the right thing in general….I mean the right thing specifically for YOU based on your DNA?

Science has now advanced to the point where DNA Analysis is affordable to virtually everyone, so why guess and get it wrong, when you can get tested, get it right, and get results?

Happy New Year….and we hope to see you in the gym, the pool,  or out on the trails or road in 2017, and we’d love to help you enjoy the benefits of exercise-The Smart Way-with FitnessGenes.

For further reading:  FitnessGenes was featured in the New York Times in July 2016

***This commentary reflects my own opinions and not the opinions or endorsement of the New York Times or their writer, Gretchen Reynolds.