If You Are Fit, You Can Take It Easy

Mohammad Hasan AlAbandi

Reference:

Reynolds, G. (2010, Dec. 29). If You Are Fit, You Can Take It Easy. The New York Times, Retrieved on (Feb.13,2011) from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/phys-ed-if-you-are-fit-you-can-take-it-easy/

Summary:

The article was talking about several studies that showed the motivations to exercise and how we can get its benefits by doing a little bit of exercise. The first study was done with a group of retired athletes, some of whom stopped doing exercise, another of whom remained physically active. The study was done to determine how long the benefits of exercise can be useful; the results were as expected. The sedentary group was more likely to get more diseases; consequently, retired athletes do not get the benefits of exercise if they stayed the whole day on the couch.

Another study was done with two groups of adults. One group was in their 20s to 30s, the other group was in their 50s to 60s. All the volunteers took a four-month program and had acquired strength and big muscles. After four month the researchers divided the groups. One stopped their exercise completely; therefore, they lost all their new muscles, strength, and aerobic capacity. The second group visited the gym only once a week. This study showed that those people were able to keep their newly acquired muscles and strength; in addition, the younger people had gained more muscles during this program while the older people had not gained any more muscles and they had lost some of their strength too.

Based on these studies, the human body can get the benefits of exercise if it is used to exercise; therefore, if you are tough enough to maintain your strength, you can reduce the number of visits to the gym.

Reaction:

I would definitely agree with this article; all that it contains makes sense. The first study showed that no matter how much you exercise, if you do not stick with it, you will lose the benefits of it; for example, athletes who stop exercising off-season usually lose some of their strength and aerobic capacity; consequently, they will not preform as well as the athletes who stayed active.

The second study showed some interesting facts; the group of people who quit their exercise completely had lost all their newly acquired muscles; it is similar to the first study’s results. That gives us more proof to keep going with exercise; otherwise, you will lose everything. The second group of people showed some remarkable results. It showed that you can stay away from being out of shape by doing a little bit of if you adjust your body to maintain strength. This could be useful for people who have time problems; for example, high school students can visit the gym 4 to 5 times a week on the summer vacation to adjust their body for the new routine. After exercising regularly, the body will be able to maintain the muscles and strength for longer periods of time; therefore, the student will be able to reduce his visits to the gym by 1 or 2 times a week when he is back to school. As a result, the student will be physically and mentally fit with less work at the gym; furthermore, he can focus more on his education and future.