Physical Fitness

The evil twins of Diet And Exercise (Keystone Habits). There are Mental Health components as well.

Why? What are the goals?

• longevity, with health (not 30 years of creaking around)
• feeling Bright Eyed And Bushy Tailed: having energy, sense of well-being
• not get winded when have to climb some stairs or walk with extra load (heavy bags, a kid, etc.)

Simplest Thing-s to do:

• For Good Diet, aim for Three Food Rules, and minimize snacking. (Diet is primary determinant of weight, you can't compensate with exercise. And JunkFood is a negative that nothing compensates for.)
• Body Weight Exercise every 2 days, even for just 7 minutes. Or whatever else you'll stick with.
  • Interval Training (Walk-Back Sprinting) on alternate days
• If you sit all day, try a Standing Desk. And do more Walking.
• Meditation, even if just 2min/day

How do we define/measure Fitness?

• subjective: are you feeling Bright Eyed And Bushy Tailed?
• Kenneth Cooper's group define fitness level based on cardiorespiratory fitness levels (CRF) as measured via a maximal treadmill exercise test
  • this page hints An excellent measure of fitness is a maximum treadmill test. The treadmill starts at the pace of a slow walk and gradually increases in speed and incline until the subject reaches the limit of their physical fitness.
  • this page provides a detailed protocol. It also frames it in terms of estimating the person's V O2 Max.
    • Michael Pollock supposedly said Maximum oxygen uptake testing is not a test of anything. Any variable data from this test is almost entirely a genetic aberration.
• contrarily, Ken Hutchins in his exercise vs recreation article defines Six Factors of Physical Fitness: 1.Muscular Size, Strength and Endurance; 2.Bone Strength; 3.Cardiovascular Efficiency; 4.Enhanced Flexibility; 5.A Contribution to Body Leanness; 6.Increased Resistance to Injury... Realize that the only efficient route to working the vascular system is to find the best method to strengthen the muscles. The vascular system exists primarily to service the muscles. Improved muscular strength should strongly correlate with improved vascular efficiency.
  • And in an interview he says I do not believe that so-called cardiovascular Exercise - more accurately denoted steady-state activity - is an efficient way to improve cardiac health.
  • and this Consider this: Dr. Kenneth Cooper (author of Aerobics, The New Aerobics, Aerobics for Women), the U.S. Air Force Cardiologist who coined the term "aerobics" (meaning a form of exercise) (Aerobic Exercise) and has promoted their use for over 25 years now admits that he was wrong! According to Dr. Cooper, further research has shown that there is no correlation between aerobic endurance performance and health, longevity, or protection against heart-disease. He will admit, however, that such activities do carry with them a great risk of injury. Further, he admits that gross-overuse activities such as running may be so damaging to the body as to be considered carcinogenic.