Men’s Health month is observed in the month of June, and Men’s Health Week is particularly celebrated as the week leading up to and including Father’s Day. This year the dates are June 9-15, 2014. This week heightens awareness of preventable health problems and encourages early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.
St. Maarten Medical Center Dietician Jeshneila Carti talks about an important lifestyle choice for men, physical activity.
The top causes of death among adult men are:
1. Heart Disease
2. Cancer (Lung, Prostate, Testicular, Colorectal)
3. Stroke
4. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
5. Diabetes
But one aspect of the body WEIGHT is connected to virtually all. The good news is that a few lifestyle changes can significantly lower your risk of these common killers. Several health conditions can lead to heart attack, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease depend on the factors that can be managed and others that are genetic. Understanding and managing your risk factors can help you avoid diabetes and heart disease and live a longer better life.
Regular physical activity can help prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression and certain types of cancer, arthritis and falls.
Cardio Exercise and Weight lifting
What is the difference between cardio-exercise and lifting weights and which one is better for you?
Glucose Metabolism: When the body can't produce insulin and blood glucose properly most commonly due to obesity, the blood sugar goes up and can result in diabetes. Both weight-lifting and aerobics improve insulin sensitivity and reduce overall insulin levels. But aerobic exercise gets the nod because it uses more calories and increases the clearance of glucose from the blood.
Bone Strength. Both forms of exercise help your bones stay strong, but the increases are site-specific. So if you run, your lower-body bones stay strong, but that doesn't do anything to beef up the bones above the waist. On the other hand, total-body weight training strengthens all bones. So lifting weights is the best way to bone strength.
Strength: Young, old, healthy, frail all can see dramatic increases in strength from lifting weights.
Blood Pressure: Studies on the effect of resistance training on blood pressure are contradictory. But cardio training is more effective at building up the heart, so it can pump out more blood with each beat. As a result, blood requires less pressure to travel around the body.
Blood Lipids: Only strenuous weight lifting program (tough exercises, heavy weights) lowers cholesterol. But aerobic exercise does all these. It's all down to the fat you burn. Fatty foods cause a residue of cholesterol. But when you exercise for 30 minutes or more, the body burns fat for energy, and uses cholesterol with it. Lengthy bouts of exercise such as running or rowing are better at depleting cholesterol. Short, aggressive bursts of exercise, such as weight training, aren't long enough to have an effect.
Aerobic Fitness: Of course aerobic exercise increases aerobic fitness! Improvements in cardio-respiratory endurance have also been linked to increased longevity.
And the winner is…Both are winners. If you want the longest, healthiest, most active life possible, do both exercise and lifting weights.