80% of women too unfit to be healthy?

[FlowerArranger]

I listened to Women's Hour while doing my workout today. In a segment on women in sport, one contributor stated that research shows that 80% of women are too unfit to be healthy.

I Googled and found a reference to a Canadian study from 2007 and CDC research from 2013:

A new (US) government study estimates that nearly 80 percent of adult Americans do not get the recommended amounts of exercise each week, potentially setting themselves up for years of health problems.

www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-80-percent-of-american-adults-dont-get-recommended-exercise/

I don't suppose British women do much better? If this is indeed true, it is is shocking.

I remember when my children were little and I was working full-time, there was little or no time to exercise in a formal way - though I'm sure all the running after them and running up and down stairs and housework and gardening kept me fit enough!

If this is you, you are excused......... but what about all the years before and after looking after children? Why don't women exercise enough to keep themselves healthy? Which the CDC defined as:

at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or a combination of both

Personally I (in my 60s) work out most days and I feel so much better for it.

YABU - I don't see the need to exercise regularly
YANBU - regular exercise is vital

I like your post. Its a good reminder that I need to do better! I like the idea of weight training as per your post above.

I have very small children and also work but I do make space for other hobbies and spend hours reading novels after bedtime so that's probably no excuse. I guess, for me, my other hobbies are far more interesting if I'm honest!

I love running outdoors in the summertime but do nothing in the winter apart from walk to get places. Can't remember the last time I broke a sweat. I've never been so out of shape and it's been weighing on my mind.

Haven’t read the full thread but there are a lot of excuses on the 1st few pages. It really is non negotiable about exercising. It doesn’t have to be a gym or a long run. I do walk the dog every day but when my DD is in my I do a YouTube workout or Pilates while watching tv. I always feel better for it, even if it’s for only 10-15 mins.

This is a really interesting thread. DH and I were discussing exercise recently and the irony of how people have to go and expend energy in an expensive gym nowadays whereas our parents’ generation often did more physical jobs that met their exercise needs. Mine certainly did whereas I sit on my bum all day in front of a PC.

I never liked gyms etc but after a heart illness two years ago at age 56 I needed to do something andI discovered Annie Deadman training online videos so now I happily exercise at home - a combo of weights, HIT and Pilates. It’s part of my after work routine each weekday (my DCs are at uni so it’s easier than when they were little) but I see it as a compulsory investment in my future and I feel much stronger for it with very few of the aches and pains that I used to have.

I just never feel it's 'for' me. My body never gets stronger or better at anything. It never gets any more enjoyable. (I did couch to 5k and thought 'ah, maybe now it gets enjoyable'. It didn't.) The idea of just trying to progress by lifting heavier weights each time, or whatever, is not remotely motivating. It is a chore, and has to be fitted in above other chores that are even more tedious.

Yes I acknowledge that I’m a bit evangelical about exercise but I’m not going to apologize for this.

I think it’s really sad that some women would deliberately jeopardize their future health.

The thing is, short and gentle can work, if it’s done every day and as an addition to regular walking.

Also, once in the habit of exercising, many people will naturally progress to more challenging workouts.

But it’s up to you. Feel free to ignore 🤗

@herbaceous I related to your 5k comment and thinking it would get enjoyable but it didn't. I felt the same way when I did a 10k a few years ago It just made me realise running wasn't for me. Yoga, dancing, weights and walking work for me instead. Anything where I can have music (or curl up on a mat and rest!).

Just trying to point out that when you enjoy something it can be impossible to see the point of view of someone who doesn’t and preaching about it probably isn’t going to make any difference.

it’s not excuses, it’s choice, priorities, reasons. All valid even if they don’t align with yours.

I get nothing out of it other than pain, discomfort, frustration, feeling demoralised, humiliated, demotivated. Why would anyone feeling any of those things go back for more?

I cycle to work and back 5 days a week, 4 miles each way. I have to go as fast as I can too (tbf, I’m hardly Bradley Wiggins) as I only have 25 minutes between DD’s breakfast club starting / afteschool club finishing and work. I’m kind of glad I have to do this, whatever the weather and however tired I am, as I’m pretty sure I’d have zero energy and motivation to exercise much beyond that (2 kids, full time job, weekend volunteering gig). DH gets up at 6 on the weekends and goes for 10 mile runs. I’m full of admiration but I like my bed too much!

Are you the exercise police? I take very little exercise as I have never enjoyed it and it just makes me miserable. There is nothing I hate more than running outside and classes are nearly as bad. I walk the dog and that is it. I’m not unwell or fat I get my pleasure from curling up with a book or the odd cocktail or two. I actually feel that those who go on and on about it are just heaping more pressure on those of us who hid from games as teenagers and have hated exercise ever since.

Sure but I can do those when my kids are present or in bed. I can go for walks when my kids are awake and do but they're more ambles than aerobic exercise. I very much enjoy going for a jog but I'm a single parent and can't leave the kids sleeping to do it.

How old are your kids? Could they scoot or cycle if you want to up the pace while you’re put and about with them?

Imo people don't exercise unless they a) have to (eg walking to work), or b) find a sport they love.

I do a and b and would say I'm pretty fit. I've been fitter though.

But if you said I had to drive to work and the only sport I could do was running on a treadmill, I'd have zero motivation.

I think I feel I HAVE to sometimes as well because I'm sat at a desk 9hrs a day and can't get up to walk around etc
Obviously I can stand up but there's no moving about going on!

I enjoy exercising and mostly get up early to fit it in, easier now the kids are older. We have a gym at home which also makes it a lot easier although I also love running outside. I play a sport and walk miles with our dogs as well. I like that I look and feel healthy but really I do it mostly for my mental health.

I'd just rather do other things in my free-time. I already have to do chores and exercise is basically another chore. Why would I want to do a YouTube exercise session when I could be in my PJs with a tea watching TV or reading a book?

No, @Astrabees , I'm not the exercise police. I merely listened to Women's Hour this morning and was shocked by the percentage of women who apparently do not exercise enough to be healthy.

I have no idea how accurate the 80% quoted is, but clearly it must be a very large proportion of women. Even if it's only 50% it would be serious, both in terms of resulting ill health and impaired quality of life for the individuals concerned, as well as the economic impact on society as a whole.

At the moment, 4 out of 5 of those who voted seem to agree that regular exercise is vital. In response to some posts I have made a few suggestions of online trainers that some may find helpful. That's all - no policing involved.

I've never liked exercise, being honest. At various times during my life I've tried one thing or another, but never stuck with it. Now I have a bad back and cannot do any. I think I've had a degree of hypothyroidism all my life, so have never had enough energy and tire easily.

Why? Because of the long term health implications of not exercising? This is what this thread is about...

What are the long term health implications of not exercising OP?

from what I can tell the NHS advice is focus is really in maintaining a healthy weight.

if I don’t smoke, drink in moderation, am a healthy BMI - what is the major impact?

cancer doesn’t seem to care, I know plenty of real fit people who dropped dead of strokes and heart attacks. What is it going to do for me? If the answer is increase my life expectancy from 84 to 87 I’d rather have cup of tea & read my book

When do the years of chasing your own tail end?

You get past the years of being up all night woth them and spending all day stopping them from killing themselves climbing bookcases and move on to schlepping them to sports and clubs in the evening, organising them for school, shopping and cooking and doing laundry, while trying to hold down a job (or two, or three).

The stats, if true, are yet another indictment of our society's failure to take the needs of mothers into account. We're apparently happy to pay real money to maintain the status quo.

Seriously? A quick Google can you tell you what benefits of exercise are.

Have you been to a doctor about your hyperthyroidism?

OP keeps going on about the long term implications of not exercising- what are they? Point my to some research I can read

a quick google gives lots of weight loss/mental health short to medium term stuff which isn’t my question

I am curious about what you mean. What do you mean by "the years of chasing your own tail"? And "happy to pay real money to maintain the status quo"?

Bloody hell. www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-can-boost-your-memory-and-thinking-skills