Exercise Stress: What Is Too Much?

Bruce Stapleton, President of Elan Vital, Inc., and founder of the Lifegevity Program offered at Vital’s Lifegevity and Sports Conditioning Center in Centerville, Ohio, says that “Dieting and over-exercise can create more harm than good. Individuals that overdo it in certain areas may have a higher chance of cancer and heart disease because of the constant wearing out of their bodies. Relaxation and stress-management skills are sometimes even more important to maintaining good health.”

Hard Body & Health
Reports are now showing that having a hard body and sleek looks do not automatically correlate to good health. Elan Vital conducted an eighteen-month study that suggests it is possible for people to reduce the effects of aging by an average of 8.1 years in six months time. Stapleton will be the first to tell you that weight reduction and exercise are only two components of an overall lifestyle program in order to achieve an improvement in health and to maintain positive results in appearance long-term.

In the study, 250 individuals underwent changes and, after their assessment, the average person’s Lifegevity Score improved by over 24%. “The standard fitness improvements, such as weight reduction and blood pressure reduction were seen, but the best news was that even individual’s who considered themselves to be in good shape, saw significant improvements in their Lifegevity Score and Body age,” says Stapleton. The secret of their reversing the effects of aging by an average of 5 days were basic, he claims. “It just isn’t enough when exercising induces stress instead of relieving it.”

According to Stapleton and his cohorts, exercise, both aerobic and weight training is fundamental, but they are not the only tools. Nutrition, relaxation, assertiveness, managing life’s changes, and identifying goals and values—having a focus and purpose in life—are what makes up the complete, healthy individual.

Individual Assessment
Stapleton says the exact formula for each individual must be identified and implemented according to each individual’s need. The sequence and intensity should be based on an individual’s profile. Where one person might benefit from lower weight numbers and stronger muscles, another individual may need nutrition consultation and a lifestyle change, or a self-assertiveness class.

Zen Lifting
In addition, a recent article in Newsweek, makes note that going super slow with weights may actually be more beneficial than doing dozens of reps with heavier weights. It’s not the number of times a muscle lifts or the amount of weight that stresses the muscle, but results are often better, with less time involved, if weight training follows a more studied course. By concentrating in a zen-like state, thinking about the muscles contracting and growing, coupled with super slow lifts timewise, the muscles respond with a tension and growth in a safer, less-stressful way, and without all the hours put into it.

The Diet Truth
And no matter what the latest diet craze or fad, “load up on carbs.” “no fat-high protein,” “grapefruit with every meal,” “digestive timing”—it’s all cheap baloney when it comes to the fact that those who follow these restrictive, ill-conceived diets are simply taking in less calories and will lose weight regardless. But at what risk to health? Anyone who is worth listening to has come to a kind of consensus. Just eat everything in the food pyramid, but depend upon dietary balance of food groups, exercise, and eat in moderation. It’s portion control and the right choices of foods that will, in the end, make a difference in terms of diet.

Reference:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/22400/ (sleek body)