It seems that there are many benefits to not exercise rather than to exercise. Getting me to exercise is like starting a bonfire in a rain storm, it is a hopeless endeavour. It does leave me concerned about all those I know who are doing Tai Chi and taking exercise classes. A recent Gallup poll shows that only about 53 percent of people exercise, compared to 55 percent in 2012. There may be hope for them yet!
Sure, exercising can be a good means to burn a few calories, but there are hidden dangers and drawbacks to exercising that should be explored before making a truly informed decision about this whole business. I feel Paul Terry had it right when he said, “Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.”
One huge benefit is that not exercising prevents body injuries over time. Exercising is strengthening but it’s really tough on joints and ligaments. Sports injuries can be even worse. In the longer term, many athletes, and others who work-out, see the effects later in life, with their knees and joints especially. I know many people who needed knee and hip replacements. I met one lady in the drugstore who said she was waiting for an appointment to have her knee done. I said, “This predicament must be contagious!”
I have made it a practice to not use repetitive motions, lift heavy objects and jog when I can walk. I also avoid those exercise machines that are dangerous and cause higher injury rates. Besides that, these machines are mind-numbing to use and not worth the trouble. People need to learn how to just take it easy… they’ll be thankful for it in later life. So far, I still have my body parts and common sense intact.
I love this one – by not exercising you don’t smell as bad. I admit I do some minor exercise: putting on my socks each morning while standing with no support and heel-to-toe walking across the floors. As for snow-shovelling and grass-cutting, I haven’t found anyone to take over.
People who do not exercise have certain advantages. They are less likely to obsess about body image since they spend less time per day chained to a routine aimed directly at improving the body image. Exercise is dangerous to self-perception since it requires long work-outs which are focused only on themselves. Strange, but there is valid science to back it up. If there was an easier way of improving my body image I have never come across it so far.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology researchers from Denmark reported that people who push their bodies too hard may essentially undo the benefit of exercise. In fact, those who ran at a fast pace more than four hours a week for more than three days a week had about the same risk of dying during the study’s 12-year follow-up as those who were sedentary and hardly exercised at all.
Another large benefit is that not exercising saves you money and time. Saving money as there is less laundry to do and no special clothing is needed. And since time is very valuable and most people don’t have enough of it the couple of hours a day that is typically spent exercising, can be reserved for focusing on natural things throughout the day, even moving around.
A good example of someone who does not exercise is sitting comfortably nestled in front of the television with a bag of chips. Distracted by TV and eating, the person is distracted and is not actively engaging with the self and is thus not concerned, at least for the moment, with body image.
In a study published by Dr. Kaycee Sink, a director at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and her colleagues, came to the somewhat surprising conclusion that exercise doesn’t help the elderly to maintain their brain function. When Dr. Sink and her team put the idea to the test with a group of 1,635 elderly sedentary people aged 70 to 89 years, they found that exercise didn’t provide the benefits they expected.
Personally, exercise is the tipping point of routine and standardization in life I can do without. The choice to not exercise after due diligence is not a trivializing one.
