Some time ago, I received the following question: “I am a 35-year-old female and enjoy good health. I am very busy as a mother, wife, and schoolteacher. I don’t get to exercise much and have a family history of breast cancer. Does exercise really reduce the risk of breast cancer?” From my interaction with clergy, the same letter could well have been written. Does exercise really reduce the risk of chronic disease?
Why should I?
Simple answer, yes. Regular exer-cise is not only a preventive measure; it also works to maintain health at its best, is protective, and provides many bene-fits. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PAGA) Advisory Committee, comprising 13 leading experts in the field of exercise science and public health, summarizes the benefits of exercise in the table opposite.
What should I?
Exercise is a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed with the goal of improv-ing health and fitness. Regular exercise has been shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer in women. More than 150 years ago, counsel was given, “Walking, in all cases where it is possible, is the best exercise, because in walking, all the muscles are brought into action Burden of Disease Study, not only was the protective effect of regular exercise confirmed for breast cancer, it was shown that there is benefit in even the lower activity level groups (150 minutes of walking per week). The protection increases in the moderately and highly active groups. A similar pat-tern emerged for the benefit of exercise in protecting against colon cancer, diabetes, and coronary artery disease and stroke.
Health Benefits Associated With Regular Physical Activity |
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CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS |
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Strong Evidence |
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When should I?
Compelling evidence continues to emerge proving that people who are physically active for approximately seven hours a week have a 40-percent lower risk of dying prematurely than those who are active for fewer than 30 minutes a week. There is substantially lower risk of premature death when people do two and a half hours of at least moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week. The findings of the studies that have led to these rec-ommendations are applicable across nations and ethnicities.
“Choose ye this day”
We are victims of the tyranny of an overfilled schedule. Despite all our time- and labor-saving devices, we struggle to find time to care for the fitness of our bodies and, even more sadly, the well-being of our relationship with Christ—both of these activities require time and intentional planning. Our wholeness of body, mind, and spirit depends on the priorities we choose.
A pastor complained to his spouse about the bitter medicine his doctor had prescribed and the restrictive regime he was now compelled to endure. His wife said to him, “Either you go to the gym or you go to the hospital. You choose your medicine.” Unless pastors intentionally embark on an exercise regime, they will succumb to the pressures of pastoral life. Take time to exercise—it could mean life or death. Choose your medicine.
1. US Department of Health and Human Services, 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, October 7,2008, 9–12, https://www.health.gov/paguidelines /pdf/paguide.pdf.
2. Ellen G. White, “Experience,” The Health Reformer, July 1, 1872, 219.
3 World Health Organization, “Physical Activity, “ February 23, 2018, http://www.who.int /news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity.
