Getting Fit = Weight Loss??

For those who are new or recent ‘exercisers’, failure to lose weight through exercise can be highly de-motivating and may even put a premature end to even the best intentions to exercise regularly. A recent article in The Advertiser got me thinking about this further as it talked about a recent research conducted by the University of SA showing the ‘fitness age’ of previously inactive participants improving by an average of 13 years over the course of a 40 day exercise program.

The key concept for us all to understand is that aerobic fitness is an important measure of good health in the same way as other more well known indicators such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure or blood sugars. Further to this there is a link between increased aerobic fitness and improvements in many of these other health indicators.

The take home message – aerobic exercise needs to be a regular part of your week to maintain or improve your fitness and ultimately your health (regardless of whether you are losing weight!)

-Kristin Lewis