The Staff Strikers Football Club
Established 2003

Message Board

by Kunle Odetoyinbo MSc BSc CN Med.
Sports Physiologist Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

We all recognise that our health is our biggest asset but how can we go about protecting and enhancing this vital resource? The aim of this short report is to provide some direction towards protecting your health and improving your physical condition in the lead up to a holiday. These articles aim to provide a more realistic vision for health and direct your energy towards an activity that puts a smile on most of our faces, the holiday season.

If you do not exercise regularly, we recommend you seek medical advice before embarking on any exercise/activity related program. If you have cardiac, pulmonary, or metabolic disease, you should begin your exercise/activity in a medically supervised environment.

Our general fitness and physical condition declines with age, and this means that our flexibility, muscle strength, speed, endurance/stamina and bodily functions are on a downward trend. From middle age this decline becomes more rapid. For instance it has been estimated that our physical strength declines at about 10% per decade from the age of about 30 yrs of age until about 60 yrs of age. What we choose to do through life influences the rate at which these components of health decline. The bottom line is that order to age well, we need to exercise!

In addition to exercise, we need to consume a well balanced diet in terms of quantity and quality. With our busy lifestyles it is of course not always possible to eat healthily, but our health in this regard is dictated by what we eat the majority of the time. Therefore simple changes like for example substituting fruit for sugary snacks each day can make a remarkable difference.

So, what should we do that will realistically move us in the right direction? The aim is not to eliminate all unhealthy aspects of our lifestyle in one swoop, but to find through gradual change, a healthier balance between the things we enjoy in life, like trips to the pub and takeaways, and eating well and exercising regularly. Starting an exercise habit can usually be done with little risk or expense; the biggest risk is not starting.

All of the exercise and health tips over the next few pages have a strong scientific base, which separates them from the anecdotal type suggestions, which are abundant in society at large. Try them out and seek further help if you want to progress. Here are ten recommended moves you can make to enhance your physique and shape up for the beach. Most are designed to be completed in the comfort of your own living room, so there’s no need for busy, sweaty gyms or miserable runs around your neighbourhood.

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