The Exercise Challenge

CEBU, Philippines – Cardiovascular diseases, strokes and respiratory illnesses claim the lives of many Filipinos every year. Filipinos tend to be less health conscious nowadays. It seems that people no longer care as much about proper diet and regular exercise, matters that are necessary to stay fit and healthy.

Lifestyles have changed. The population prefers the wrong kind of foods and has now become sedentary, for the most part. Junk, processed and instant foods are popular favorites. And people procrastinate eternally on exercise.

In this age of computers and television, it has become hard to find time for real physical activities. Video games and internet surfing keep people, especially the young, to their seats for long stretches of time. Even factory jobs nowadays require only minimal movement to perform.

With regards to the need to exercise, another hindrance is that the activity really takes some effort to do and often leaves the person tired afterwards. So, part solution perhaps is to make exercise fun and interesting. New ideas need to be incorporated into the usual exercise routines.

It works for many to add music to their exercise. While doing the usual bends and stretches, they play music to give a feel of a dance routine. Now, it becomes fun because there's a musical tempo to go along with. Music also diverts their minds from the physical effort, such that it is not as difficult to finish a set.

Many fitness gyms, for example, are also trying to outdo one another in the kind of fun fitness activities they offer. They brag of activities such as mini boxing bouts, water workouts, and of course the current craze Zumba - both on the ground and in the water.

According to fitness trainer Kenneth Benton, "[Exercise] could help people live longer." This is the reason why he has devoted himself to help people get to exercise and stay physically fit.

Amid the incredible boom in the fitness industry - health clubs, home exercise equipment, workout clothes, high-priced "training" shoes, and a multitude of video workouts demonstrated by stunning bodies - the average modern person is less fit than ever. Many people get no regular exercise at all. If the exercise craze were a parade, most people are on the sidelines watching it go by. One major problem persists in the subject of exercise: It's easier to fail than to succeed. In fact, a good percentage of those who buy workout equipment and outfits, or enroll in expensive gyms, only try it for a while and then drop the issue for good. Well, a larger percentage would not even try in the first place.

Health authorities affirm the extreme importance of physical activity to health. But they also acknowledge that it is so hard to get people moving. Not having the time or being too busy are the common alibis. Curiously, a quick visit to the nearby workout gym or health club would reveal that the busiest people in town are working out. Why? Because exercise makes them even more productive, because exercise produces energy. It appears that the Filipino saying is right: "Kapag gusto, may paraan. Kapag ayaw, maraming dahilan." If something is desired, there's always a way; if it's dreaded, there's always an excuse.