A little exercise goes a long way

By Moe Johnson

San Marcos June 27, 2009 03:08 pm

— A last minute reminder for local and area runners that the Firecracker 5K race is this Thursday evening in San Marcos. The race is a little different as it is on a Thursday and in the evening.
This gives an excellent chance for most runners to take advantage of this time and date. Put a check mark on Thursday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. out at River Ridge Business Park for a 5K run that will be a great way to enjoy the holiday weekend.
Early registration can be found at the San Marcos Activity Center and day of race registration starts at 6:30 p.m. out at the race site.
This past week there has been a number of publications out that have focused on the benefits of fitness.
Time magazine (June 22 issue) had an entire section on why medical doctors are beginning to stress the values of fitness instead of always dealing with people that have some form of illness or sickness.
The July issue of the Harvard Health Letter also had a good article on the benefits of exercise and fitness and strength training.
One fact that was pointed out was that 75 percent of our health care costs are attributable to chronic, preventable diseases. Another fact mentioned that 40 percent of premature deaths in the United States are caused by lifestyle choices — smoking, poor eating and inactivity.
Our system rewards pills and procedures and nurtures a clinical culture in which the goal is primarily to fix what goes wrong.
One doctor stated that, “We are in the sickness business. We need to get in the health business”.
Key words in those statements are “preventable” and “lifestyle choices.” These are items that are up to each person and can be a very important step in being healthy.
The federal government offers guidelines by recommending that American adults get at least two and a half hours of “moderate intensity” aerobic exercise a week. Walking at a fast pace of three to four miles per hour (three is brisk, four can feel downright fast) is often held up as the ideal of moderate intensity.
The exercise bouts can be in 10-minute allotments for those that feel they do not have time during the day to put an hour or so aside to exercise.
The multiple benefits of exercise — lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes, protection against some forms of cancer (notably colon cancer), deflection of depression, important assistance in weight control — show there could be a more-effective medicine.
One statement that came out this week said, “If exercise were a pill, it would be the most expensive drug in the world.”
While this seems to be the solution for all to many people of looking for that magic pill to change things and get healthy at any cost the best thing about exercise is the exact opposite.
While it’s walking, running, riding a bike, swimming in the river or lifting weights, it is inexpensive.
There is no special training needed and a gradual progression takes place as the individual starts out in poor shape with limited amount of exercise and very quickly finds that fitness lets them go farther and faster and they feel better in a very short time.
Companies that have instituted fitness programs for their employees have started to see the benefits in a monetary sense.
An example is Cleveland Clinic that anticipated employee premiums in health care of between four-to-eight percent each year anticipate that these costs will not increase in the year 2010. The company lets their employees join the program for free but others and late registration costs the person $1,500.
Companies are willing to pick up that tab when the estimate is that they will save between $5,000 and $10,000 a year per patient in claims they would have otherwise filed for treatments such as dialysis, angioplasty or bypass.
A side benefit is that the rate of absenteeism for sick days drops considerably and there is a boost in productivity.
Companies are finding out that paying for fitness programs is much less expensive than paying medical costs.
Is this a reason to run the Firecracker 5K this Thursday evening? One race may not be the answer to all of the problems but it sure is a good starting point for a person.
Whether you walk or run, it is a good chance to come out and see how many people are actually out there trying to make the prevention option to health a good choice.

Dr. Maurice Johnson is a professor at Texas State University in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. His column appears every Sunday in the Daily Record.