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

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/

I read recently that the "7 minutes is enough" has been debunked. It was tested on very fit participants who also did 20 min warm up before that 7 min HIIT.

@IntentionalError

When my DCs were small there wasn't internet as we know it now. I was a SAHM. Still no chance to exercise apart from walking slowly with toddler/ baby.

Babies and toddlers keep you up at night. This tires you out and makes you fixate on sleep. They demand attention during the day, and there are a gazillion things on your To Do list that take precedence over exercise. Speaking personally, being in the company of completely dependent small people with no sense of personal boundaries whatsoever made me crave the time and quiet in which to finish a thought. I craved exercise for my mind and snatched a half hour here and twenty minutes there to read.

Gyms near me are pricey and don't have childcare except sometimes as an add on you pay for as you go.

The only women I know who are able to take regular, meaningful exercise after having a baby are able to afford childcare either outside or in the home - nanny or creche. Or they have a partner who prioritises making time for the mother to exercise. This is a small minority.

I also know women whose partners will say 'Sure, I'll manage with the kids, go on out and run or go to that zumba class - have fun!' And the woman comes back to a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play, and there isn't even time for her to take a proper shower before the mess gets cleared and the children re-bathed because their father has allowed them to eat ice cream with their hands. You ask what the fuck he was thinking and he gets all hurt. And it gets to be so much of a hassle that you just say forget it.

You've used study from 2007 and research from 2013...of AMERICANS and generalised that the UK must not much better? What a wild mental leap that was!

It can reduce your risk of some stuff - nothing to suggest how much by, or incrementally over just not smoking, not drinking too much and not being overweight. Most of it is exactly the same benefits as for weight loss.

if I’m going to waste a year (based on 20-30 mins a day) of my life doing something I hate I’d want a better sales pitch

@rosewater20
Chasing your own tail means doing all that is necessary in your home daily during your second shift, and at your workplace on your first shift in order to get everything done that needs to get done daily so that the family functions.

Society is happy to pay to keep the status quo - regardless of whether the Healthcare system is based on private insurance or on the NHS model, everyone pays more when one part of society is unable to take steps to improve health. The lack of exercise catches up later in life and women's health problems start to cost money.

Treating adequate childcare as some sort of luxury means women are stressed, burned out, and unfit. All of thst leads to expensive healthcare later.

it's not death i fear it's infirmity. infirmity that could be preventable. being bed or chairbound for 5+ years before death is no way to live if a few minutes of exercise helps you live a longer period whilst healthy.
osteoporosis, spinal fractures when seniors cough, fractured hips that lead to pneumonia and such things.
being a retired nurse i've seen so much in my career that a bit of exercise would have prevented.
but the info is all out there.
personal choice and all.

I think exercise really important, it doesn’t have to be running through a park or working out at the gym. It could be 30 mins total of dancing daily split into 3 so ten mins each time And then making sure you’re not sitting for longer than an hour without getting up for a few minutes. The human body is not made to be sedentary so I don’t even think an hour of exercise is enough if you’re just sitting down for the rest of the day but it’s definitely better than nothing!

I have huge sympathy for those who don’t like exercise, or who feel self conscious doing it. Thankfully I actually enjoy exercising when I get going. I became really unfit starting from the first lockdown and I’m still WFH but I’ve got back into it. I wonder if this has affected other women too as many opt for WFH? Currently aiming for 30 mins of exercise 6x a week which I’m gradually building up alongside making sure I’m not eating too many calories. I Swim, follow YouTube workouts and walk on the treadmill at the gym.

I love walking outside but don’t find it that relaxing sometimes as in the local parks there’s increasingly off lead dogs running up or dodging dog poo on the pavements everywhere, but I try and do brisk walks along the high street library regularly. I used to live in East Asia and felt a lot safer & nicer walking around late at night there. I don’t live in a particularly grimy area but generally I do wish there were better cleaner & safer walking spaces in the UK. The weather doesn’t help either. I think people get more active in spring/summer weather.

The idea that exercise is not important is laughable. Maintaining strength and mobility through 40s, 50s and beyond is crucial to quality of life.

i hated PE / games, forced myself to do gym classes in my early 20s, walked into an Ashtanga yoga class at 25 and never looked back. 20 years later I’m stronger and more flexible than I’d ever have believed possible, despite two kids and a career. Yes, DH helped me find time when they were tiny; as soon as I could I started getting up before them (4ish) to practice before anyone else woke up. game changer.

If you want to you’ll find a way, if you don’t you’ll find an excuse. We all live with the consequences of our decisions so be happy with yours.

I was fit before kids. I used to run about 25 miles a week, swim a couple of miles and do weight training 3 times a week. I also walked all over the place.

Then I had kids, got injured, pulled another muscle while compensating for the first injury and ended up getting one injury after another even though I followed physio instructions. I wasn’t sleeping and I lacked energy. I kept trying, but couldn’t get back to anything like where I’d been. When my kids turned 3 my gym stopped doing a crèche so I stopped going. My DH would have been happy to look after his kids in the evening after work while I went but I was just too knackered by then. I walked everywhere, but it was damaging my shoulder pushing my kids in the buggy. I only stopped trading one injury for another when I started driving everywhere instead of walking.

So it was basically a matter of injury after injury, lack of support to exercise when it was convenient, and utter exhaustion from lack of sleep.

But now I am really unfit. I’ve lost some of the weight I had gained, but not enough as I hit menopause and even though I’m eating a lot less, I just don’t seem to burn calories at all and I still seem to pul muscles really easily.

Thank you for explaining, that makes a lot of sense and I agree with your points.

This is exactly how I feel and I appreciate you providing this information. When we are talking about exercise it's not just to prevent earlier death, its to provide a higher quality of life. I have relatives who have been a healthy weight their whole lives (on the bottom end of BMI) who are now having bone issues from lack of working out. They were active in terms of walking daily, working in the garden, etc. but a bit of weight training would have prevented the mobility issues they are having now.

@rosewater20 not that many years ago (myself included) HRT was not often offered. HRT prevents bone loss. Great for women now who can access, not so great for those of us 60+ who are 10 yrs plus past.

@greenspaces4peace that is really good to know and something I will keep in mind for the future. Thank you.

I didn’t exercise enough in my 20s; I had a gym membership, but I sort of just went halfheartedly. I feel it was never instilled in me as that important. I’m now mid thirties and I average 90 mins a day - I feel so full of energy, I’m constantly bouncing about; I eat better; I sleep better; I rarely get ill. I wish I’d known how good I’d feel a decade ago.

I must caveat by saying don’t have kids, so I have space for home gym equipment to be permanently set up and ability to commute most places by bike. At the weekend, DH and I do full day hikes/bike rides, etc. I imagine that would be pretty challenging with a few kids in tow.

I would say there’s a bit issue with people not valuing exercise though. I have plenty of young colleagues (without children) who drive a very walkable distance (20mins max) to work each day and never workout.

It hurts. And I know people will say it gets better etc I have never found that so it's pretty bloody hard to motivate yourself when you know it will hurt.

I am hypermobike and have a damaged knee. Yes I've seen many a dr and physio about this. The exercise I like (running and swimming) and yoga) all make my knee worse. When combined with a 50-60 hour working week and 2 kids, it is easy to not do it and frankly it feels like yet another thing I'm failing at doing.

That said I know it's not ok and I am setting myself up for an unhealthy old age if I do nt get back into the habit. I've set myself a steps challenge for this month and I've actually joined a new local gym due to open in the next couple of week.

But when it hurts, you don't feel better after it, you can't do what you enjoy and you are stressed and verging on burnout it's very easy not to do it even though you know you should.

I am knackered, I know I probably should exercise but I'm done.

I have a 6 and 3 yo. I havent had more than an hour's constant sleep for 6 years now. I work 50 hours a week. I try to exercise by walking the DC to school and back most days but honestly I take the car sometimes because I have meetings at 9am and can't be sauntering along a country lane on the way back from school.

At Xmas I asked for some fun exercise things I could do with the DC, Zumba and a game on Nintendo switch but Ivd had no time to actually use them, I've not even got them out of the box because I work all day, DC back from school/nursery means dinner and bed routines (5-8 is therefore a whirlwind of food, teeth brushing, stories, whinging, homework, me sitting in a darkened room to get Dc2 asleep etc) then I work 8-11, then I drop.

I would dearly love to be one of those mums who jogs away from the school gate clearly off on a sprint round the park for an hour but I just don't have the time right now.

My story is not unusual.

I was terrible at PE at school, so treated badly by the PE teachers. As an adult, I recognise that I have severe coordination and spatial awareness issues, and I wonder if I have developmental coordination disorder (DCD). It's too late to seek a diagnosis - free as a child on the NHS, £1k as an adult privately - but I can't shake the feeling of being let down, and judged for something that was out of my control.

I did try running as an adult and badly injured myself several times (mostly by tripping over my feet - doesn't the DCD seem even more likely?).

I feel fat and self-conscious, and due to my history of accidentally hurting myself, I wouldn't feel confident working out without an instructor. And due to feeling self-conscious and being terrible, I would need an expensive one-to-one personal trainer and private gym - I don't have that sort of money to burn.

I've also suffered from burnout and exhaustion from my job and I just don't know where I'd get the energy to even try.

I don't want to be like this, @FlowerArranger. But I don't see how I can change.

A McDonalds delivery app came up while i was reading this...

Having a meaningful level of fitness takes TIME & ENERGY. It can also be costly- especially during the winter months as outdoor activities are very limited.

Exercise also needs to be done regularly to have the health benefits....

I think it's easy for keyboard warriors to point out that everyone has this magical 30-60 minutes in the morning, afternoon or at midnight. Just pop on some video and off you go!
The truth is, when you have a family/ children and a full time job, you need the support from a partner or plenty of money to get going and keep going.

You need to make sure you eat well and at the right time to keep your energy levels up.
You need to find the type of sport/ exercise that is enjoyable in order to be motivated and keep it up.
And then there is all the other stuff that is competing for our time and promising health benefits & relaxing time: having a drink with friends, watching TV, Internet and other less active hobbies.

YANBU

Exercise is vital for physical and mental health. We should prioritise it and not try to shoehorn it into our lives.

The DDs are late primary and I finally have time for consistent exercise and making my fitbit happy (it measures the stats OP mentions).

I walk the DC to school several times a week, and walk to town where I previously drove, do a real life yoga class and a couple of youtube ones (yoga with adriene), do a weekly park run, and a weekly aerobic dance class.

I think the idea of motivation is over used in exercise it’s mostly discipline. Not many people feel motivated at 6am when it’s minus 5 to go the gym, discipline and habit carrys you through the bad times.

everyone knows exercise is good for you. But it’s hard. If you’re struggling mentally and hold a lot of mental pain it might be hard to find capacity to add physical discomfort exercise brings and do what a lot of people here are doing demanding reasons to do it. Make excuses. Attack people doing it etc. often unconsciously.

There needs to be much more understanding of how poor mental health (not necessarily anything diagnosed) affects people physically. When someone goes to the doctor, that doctor telling someone to lose weight without trying to understand why they’re overweight and not exercising is likely to make the problem much worse not better for the vast majority of people.

we need to start helping people with their mental health first, for most they will then want to look after themselves physically naturally. It’s hard to get people to look after themselves if they don’t really like themselves/think they’re worthless etc.

society has broken down and systems like religion, close extended family, life long friends which used to buffer people and give them a sense of worth have disappeared and replaced with things which aren’t healthy for body mind or spirit.

if you can’t exercise for any reason. Start slow

modern life disconnects us from our bodies it’s about reclaiming that connection first

While that's true, exercising isn't as instantly accessible as TV watching or phone scrolling.

First you need to get changed, then depending on activity you might need to drive somewhere (swimming pool, running route) then actually do the activity, return home, shower or bath, get changed again.

It's a faff. I run from my front door and I do weights at home, I've made it as 'easy' for myself as possible as I work out every day, but it's still time consuming and I'm lucky to have lots of free time.

If I worked longer hours or had kids I know I wouldn't do half as much as I do now.

As humans, we're wired for short term rewards. So your brain will want you to choose doing nothing over going for a run, it's less energy, easier, safer.

You have to constantly remind yourself of the long term benefits (healthy weight, fitness, good mental health, less illness etc) to keep motivation up.