don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

There are many facts good to know for special occasions, such as when dinner guests prove less interesting than you had hoped. When you find yourself in a conversational lull, the fate of the evening might rest on your wits. At such a time, it could be useful to unleash a bit of arcane information for which there is no other practical use. For example, you could go on a rant about the number of moons known to orbit the giant gas planet Jupiter. Do YOU know how many moons Jupiter has? If not, take a guess. The answer is 58, though some astronomers think 100 or more will eventually be found. All of Jupiter's moons are very small, as moons go, measuring about a mile across.

Wouldn't such a revelation make YOUR dinner party a success? This topic has even richer possibilities. In discussing the moons of Jupiter, you could note that most revolve at tens of millions of miles distant in a direction opposite that of the planet's rotation. No other planet in our solar system has so many moons; more are being discovered (18 this year alone.) The largest four were found in 1610 by Galileo. Given the hostility of the powerful Catholic Church in Galileo's time to teachings that did not seem to complement Church doctrine, we're fortunate the moons were recognized at all, and not named for popes, saints or angels. The largest moon, with a diameter of 3,260 miles, was named after Ganymede. I have no idea who Ganymede was -- maybe a dinner guest of Galileo. (I'm kidding -- Jupiter's moon Ganymede is named after a Trojan boy of great beauty who Zeus carried away to be cup bearer to the gods.)

Unlike the details about Jupiter's moons, there are facts that are very good to posses for all occasions. Oddly, and not so fortunately, a lot of people have ideas at odds with important facts. Let me give you five examples within the skill area of exercise and fitness.

1. Concerns by many women that strength training with weights will cause them to look like men. It always amazes me to hear this concern. Where did that idea come from? Even women who devote themselves to body building AND use dangerous hormones do not look like men. Of course, they don't look like most women, either, but they sure as heck do not in any way look like men. With less bone and muscle than men and more risks of iron-deficiency, women need strength training on a regular basis (as do men.) Strength training entails lifting weights or using fitness machines three times per week at a resistance level that permits no more than eight to twelve repetitions. As muscles become stronger, the thing to do is add weight but keep the number of reps at twelve -- maximum. Don't worry about big muscles -- women are testosterone-challenged (from a body-builder's perspective), so females are not going to develop bulky, masculine frames from enlarged muscle mass accretion. What muscles develop will accent femininity. That's a fact that all wellness-seekers ought to have all the time.
2. The idea that certain exercises will enable spot reductions. This amazes me, also. (Lots of things amaze me. I'm just an "amazeable" kind of guy, I guess.) You cannot eliminate fat from one area, such as your butt. Men do contortions to firm their abdomens and women do highly undignified things on bizarre machines for hip shaping -- "all vanity," as Ecclesiastes would say. Alas, abdominal and hip exercises strengthen and tone muscles but only endurance training enables total fat reduction. Even endurance (aerobic) exercise returns are limited by genetic boundaries -- some people will not get slim even if they run marathons. Life, you may have heard, is not fair. Do not waste your time or money trying to work specific muscles buried underneath subcutaneous layers of flab. This is the second fact wellness-seekers ought to have all the time.
3. The idea that the main benefits of exercise are burning calories or, for the overweight, losing pounds. These are modest benefits, but are relatively inconsequential in the long haul. Exercise itself does not burn a lot more calories than are consumed staying alive. However, the more exercise you do, the more fit you'll become -- and being more fit increases calorie burning rates. The main benefits of exercise come from being fit. When fit, your muscles adapt to using an enzyme that oxidizes fat. Fit bodies oxidize fat better than fat bodies do. A few other benefits, more consequential than calories burned during exercise or the weight lost from exercise, are lower risks of diabetes (by improving the ability of insulin to enter cells) and heart disease (by better blood clotting mechanisms, lower triglycerides and higher HDL) and, of course, multiple gains in quality of life (improved sleep and appearance, less anxiety, etc.) Consider this one more fact for wellness-seekers to have at all times.
4. The idea that weight gain is inevitable as part of the aging process. It IS true that most people get heavier as they get older, at least until extreme old age when frailty sets in and rapid declines begin. This is not due to aging; it's caused by the same dynamic that leads to weight gain at all ages, namely, decreased physical activity and attendant lower metabolic rates. Exercise science leaders suggest losses of about eight percent of muscle mass per decade without vigorous exercise, including weight training. Thus, this is yet another worthy fact for wellness-seekers.
5. The idea that gains in fitness come only after suffering and duress or, as "they" say, "no pain, no gain." Not true. Exercise benefits are realized from other than gruesome high intensity or long duration intervals. For the out of shape person with risk factors, moderate intensity, shorter exercise is also safer. Brisk walking, for instance, is an effective route to all the benefits of fitness. At the Cooper Aerobics Center, clients are encouraged to walk at a pace of three to four miles an hour. Health status increases can be seen after a single brisk walk or run. In the latter instance, positive changes occur in terms of blood sugar, triglycerides and blood pressure. This is my fifth and final example of important facts always good to have on hand, that is, in your head.

The bottom line in all of this is make the time for exercise or you will surely require time for the treatment of medical problems like heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis or something, such as an early death. Of course, the positive returns of fitness are the best reason to make time for earning it, daily.

These are facts of importance, but they may not be as interesting as the fact that Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system with a diameter of 5,262 km (3,280 miles) and, if it orbited the Sun instead of Jupiter, we would consider it a planet. It has a rocky core with a water/ice mantle and a crust of rock and ice. Ganymede has no known atmosphere, but recently the Hubble Space Telescope detected ozone at its surface.

Again, these not-so-important facts are really cool conversation items for that certain dinner party, but the rest of the time, focus your factual energies on an up-to-date understanding of exercise science. Most important of all, live accordingly -- and try always to look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of exercise and fitness. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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