Exercise and mental health

Human beings weren’t created to be sedentary creatures. Men were originally hunters and women were gatherers. Today, we spend most of our time sitting around, at desk jobs or at home. As a result, we gain weight, our bodies become inflexible and we develop medical issues like heart problems, diabetes, liver and kidney problems, just to name a few. We need to respect our bodies and their need to be active.

It’s important, though, not to just exercise, but to choose the right kind of exercise. The standard view is that 45 minutes of exercise, three to four times a week, should be enough. But, everyone’s body is different. We have different needs and different temperaments. Some of us love the gym but there are others who hate the monotony of walking or running on a treadmill.

I fell in love with the gym at my university in Canada and became a total fitness buff. I would work out religiously every day, for an hour or so, except on Sundays. I thought I was sorted for life. For the past three years, I have been training with Jack a brilliant personal trainer. Six months ago, my joints started aching and I developed shin splints. With the body aches, I could barely get to the gym two days a week. I was miserable.

When I complained, a friend recommended ‘Yoga Fly’. I rolled my eyes and said yoga was for wimps. But she just smiled and told me not to be negative about something without having tried it.

Thinking this was yet another hokey yoga gig, I went in for the trial. Let me tell you I haven’t slept so well in years. Not only am I feeling better but I am back in the gym again four times a week. You see, the key is balance and the right mix of exercise.

My point is not just to emphasise the importance of exercise. All of us go through different emotional stages just like we go through different physical stages. And how we look has a lot to do with how we feel inside. In other words, it is important to exercise not just for the sake of physical health but also for the sake of mental health.

Women, in particular, tend to forget about the importance of exercise as they become mature. In some ways, that’s not surprising because girls go through radical changes as they hit puberty. For most women, puberty means not only a whole bunch of new physical issues but also social issues. Not surprisingly, exercise is often put on the back burner by women who have their hands full trying to cope with other issues.

The problem with men and women who don’t exercise is that not only does it affect them but it also affects their children. In Western countries, not only are cities more open to pedestrians but children get pushed into more physical activity through school-sponsored sports. By comparison, very few Pakistani schools have sports facilities and most upper-class families don’t let their kids walk anywhere. The result is that Pakistani kids (and yes, I am talking of children of a particular class) need to be pushed into exercise. And if their mothers don’t think exercise is a big deal, neither will the children.

What we sow in our children’s lives is what they reap for the rest of their existence. If we want our kids to have happy and healthy lives, we have to teach them about the importance of exercise. And if we don’t believe in the importance of exercise ourselves, we will never be able to teach them that.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2013.

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