It is said that physical fitness is the need
of the hour ; in fact it is the need of all hours and for
all of us. The reason is that ‘homo sapiens’
has become more and more ‘homo sedentarius’
with the passage of time. In all human endeavour,
efficiency is an essential requisite ; and efficiency
includes physical efficiency. Physical efficiency depends
upon physical fitness. A current best seller on this
subject points out that whereas efficiency of an electric
motor of the best make is 80 per cent, and of a steam
turbine 40 per cent; that of an average human body is
only 16 to 27 percent; this however, can be improved up
to 55 percentby regular exercise. The manual also points
out that the heart has to do unnecessary extra work when
a person is not fit. For example, if a healthy heart at
rest beats 60 times, the unhealthy one beats 80 times ;
if the same healthy heart beats 88 times in climbing
stairs; the unhealthy heart beats 155 times.
Physical fitness is a twenty-four hour job. What, when
and how you eat; what work you do; how much and how you
rest and sleep; how you manage your emotions; how you
hold your posture in walking and sitting ; what outlook
you have on life; all these reflect in physical fitness
or lack of it. Here we shall confine our attention to the
most important condition for fitness, and that is
physical exercise.
Research has shown that people who exercise regularly
have a death rate lower than average ; regular exercise
also prevents mental slumps and increases sexual vigour
in the middle-aged. And talking of middle-age, it is
worth noting that the inactive person’s physique
reaches ‘middle-age’ physiologically at about
26, and not after 35 to 40, as should commonly occur.
For attaining the acme of physical fitness, one requires
45 minutes or more of a varied programme of exercise.
Few, however, have the time or the inclination for a
lengthy schedule of exercise; hence we have planned a
programme that takes just ten minutes of your busy day.
Apart from this short spell of exercise, if you take care
to talk at all opportunities, to climb stairs instead of
using lifts, to be on your feet rather than your seat as
often as possible, and to stretch the abdominal and back
muscles whenever you can, a degree of fitness will be
achieved in no time. There is something like physical
morality, you must remember; there is a physical
‘dharma’ , which depends upon good bodily
habits of which regular exercise is one.
In an article titled ‘Man’s Best Medicine’
Dr. Paul Dudley White, the world-famous Cardiologist, the
physician to past and present Presidents of the U.S.A.,
who at 84 years of age, practises what he preaches, says:
"Vigorous sport often renders laxative medicine
quite unnecessary, and a long brisk walk in the evening
may help more to induce sleep than any medicine, drink,
or television show." "... a five-mile walk will
do more good to an unhappy but healthy adult than all the
medicine and psychology in the world. An intense mental
worker needs exercise to keep his mind clear. Mental
concentration should be alternated with exercise or even
accompanied by it, as was the custom of peripatetic
philosophers of ancient Greece. They had doubtless
discovered that their minds were clearer when they kept
moving to bring more blood to the head and more oxygen to
the blood.
"In the case of someone who has coronary thrombosis
but who is free of its symptoms, exercise is usually an
important part of the treatment. Even where the symptoms
exist, some sort of exercise is generally advisable, if
only short walks, light gardening or deep breathing. "...
It is important for us, at all ages, to be more than
spectators of sports. We should expand our activity
beyond that of getting into and out of cars, buses, and
planes. A return to the use of our legs is highly
recommended."
Speaking in the same vein as Dr. White, the American
Medical Association’s magazine "Today’s
Health" says, "Many doctors have recommended
running in small dosages - like a pinch of salt - as one
method of recovery for patients suffering from heart
disease. In a novel experiment conducted at a heart
sanitorium, one group of patients was allowed to walk and
climb a hill every day. A second group was permitted
little physical activity. In a year’s time, the
active heart patients had suffered 70 percent fewer
casaulties."
You will see, therefore, that all the discerning
physicians are agreed that " Exercise is a master
conditioner for the healthy and a major therapy for the
ill." From the simplest cold to the fell disease
cancer, many states of ill health can be prevented by a
judicious practice of exercise; some of these ailments
can even be cured by exercise. You must insist on
exercising every day as much as you insist on eating
every day. You are given here only five exercises ;
whatever your age,you must do them regularly. Proviso;
you do not have any disease condition in which exercise
is generally prohibited.
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