With the COVID Delta variant completely taking over in the US, the people at the top seem to be ignoring one of the biggest variables in having a good or a poor outcome with this disease.
That variable is our overall physical condition. As a client of ours said recently, “My health is MY wealth!”
Why aren’t we being encouraged to pursue the improvement of our physical condition? It’s been almost entirely ignored by all of the “experts” out there.
Here are the facts on the rise of COVID cases and our risk factors associated with it:
- The CDC reports obesity increases risk of hospitalization from covid-19 by OVER 700%
- Poor cardiovascular fitness is an increased risk factor
- A study from the University of Virginia found exercise reduces a person’s risk of even contracting covid-19
- Exercise is known to impact and improve the immune system in positive ways
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a top cause of death from covid-19. Research has shown that there is an exercise-induced antioxidant that can protect against this
- There’s now an abundance of evidence that Vitamin D reduces covid-19 infection, severity, ICU admission and mortality
- Collectively, studies show vitamin D is a far more effective basal covid-19 treatment than any additive pharmaceutical available to date
Maybe this is our fault. The fault of the fitness professional.
There’s an overwhelming attitude that we are just about looks or aesthetics. Fitness has become a synonym to these things. That we are just about “pecs, guns, butt and leg day.”
But the fitness profession is about so much more than this.
It’s about strength, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, mobility, mental health and much, much more.
There’s an ABUNDANCE of scientific evidence showing the benefits of exercise on the following:
- Cardiovascular disease
- High blood pressure
- Cancer
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Heart disease
- Stroke recovery
- Osteoporosis
- Sarcopenia
And the mental health benefits of regular exercise? There is more research in this area now more than ever.
I’m a cancer survivor who went through over 2 years of chemotherapy and treatment to go into “remission.” If it wasn’t for fitness, I probably wouldn’t be here.
Yes we can help athletes perform better and people to look better.
But I truly believe that we do so much more. We change lives. We have the ability to reverse health conditions that otherwise destroy the body. Nearly 40% of American adults aged 20 and over are obese. 71.6% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight, including those that are obese. These numbers are really unacceptable. We can do more.
Exercise is medicine! But the problem is, it is not the doctor’s job to “prescribe” exercise. We get it, this is not their “job.”
This is our “job” – this is our “why.”
We all have the ability to choose a better health outcome. Once we realize that it starts with YOU, that is when change can occur.
I will leave you with this powerful quote from F.M. Alexander:
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and it’s their habits that decide their futures.”
We all have the power to choose what to do next. As fitness professionals, we will choose to continue to be the place where our clients improve their health outcomes 1% better than yesterday.
Ready to decide to make fitness and health a part of your daily habits? Check out our VIP Experience below to learn how to make your next month your best month of the entire year!
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