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Exercise and Health (II)
What is the right amount of exercise? Does exercise help a person to lose weight? Can drugs increase an athlete¡¯s performance? Dr. Mirkin continues to give answers to theses questions.
Q. It would be difficult for many people to do the amount of exercise you prescribe.
What about a softer schedule? Is it worthwhile, for example, to jog for 10 or 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes?
A. Any exercise is worthwhile. Some people are in such bad physical shape that it might take them years
to work up to the levels I suggest.
My recommendation would be to start at a level you can maintain and try to increase it.One way a weekend exercise
can measure whether he or she is training the heart is to check how rapidly the pulse rate drops after a workout.
If the rate begins to drop more quickly, that is a good sign.
Q. What should a person do to guard against the dangers of over-exercising?
A. The single most important thing is not to exercise at an intensity greater than your heart can stand.And this can usually be determined by a stress electrocardiogram.
You should also allow your body a proper recovery period after vigorous exercise.This recovery period will depend on your condition and your sport.Runners,for example,usually allow themselves a 48-hour recovery period between hard runs.So if you were to go out and run hard for 4 or 5 miles, the next day you should run at a more relaxed pace. Swimmers don¡¯t need as long as a recovery period ¡ª perhaps 24 hours. But there are people who might require a five-or six-day recovery period.
Q. What are the warning signs that you are overdoing it with your exercising?
A. The three most dangerous signs are chest pains during exercise, heart palpitations¡ªa sudden fast heartbeat¡ªwhen you¡¯re idle,and unexplained dizziness.If you feel such symptoms,you should stop your exercising and check with your physician.
Q. Does exercise help much in taking off weight?
A. Definitely.Exercise burns calories. But it also goes beyond that. When you exercise, food passes through
your intestinal tract much faster, and as a result you absorb a decreased percentage of your food. For example,
a meal passes through an average person in about 24 hours. But marathon runners have a food transit time of 4 to 6 hours.
Even after you stop exercising, your body continues to burn increased calories for 5 or 6 hours a day¡ª and tests
show that can account for a 5-to-10-pound weight loss in a year
Another way exercise helps is that it curbs hunger. When you exercise, fat is released into your blood-stream and your blood-sugar level does¡¯t drop. And low blood sugar is the single most important stimulus to make you hungry. So when people exercise, they are likely to eat less.
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