Women not doing enough exercise

[spokette]

According to this report on the BBC.

I walk as much as I can, plus I try to run 3 miles twice a week plus I go the gym plus I work out to DVDs plus I run round after 3yo DTS.

I would like to do more as exercise featured highly on my pre-children life but now, I just fit it in when I can and try to incorporate it in everyday activities.

Do you exercise enough, like to do more, too much or do none at all? If you don't do any exercise, why is that?

"Only a fifth of women in the UK are doing enough exercise to be healthy, a report has found."

That is the first paragraph out of the report on the BBC website. So are they saying that if you don't do "enough" exercise you are unhealthy? Who says what is enough exercise? Did people 150 years ago run round the block in their Nike trainers? I am sorry, but I feel so cynical about all this clap trap that the BBC seems to peddle.

I think that the gist of the article really is trying to get young girls interested in sport - so why put such a sensationalist headline? My dd2 swims nearly every day of the week, the other one likes painting - surely each to their own. I don't like being told what to do by the BBC.

(sorry to rant)

I exercise enough, but that's because I don't have a car so I walk everywhere.

You've only got to look around you to see that the 'experts' have a point!

And that's putting it mildly.

Well, exercise is good for your health. Better for your cardio vascular system, your weight control, your mental health and your muscles and skeletal system.

How much? I'm working from memory here (I'll get the references asap) but the government's recommendation of 30 minutes a day of moderate activity (anything that raises your heart rate and leaves you slightly out of breath), five times a week is a good start. However the evidence is that the more you do, the greater the benefits from a health point of view.

Apart from all that though I think there is a really, really important point about doing some physical activity where you can master a new skill or compete at some level. It gives you an entirely new relationship to your body.

It no longer becomes 'what does my body look like?' it is: 'what can my body do?'

It changes your view of yourself as somebody that is observed to somebody who can do stuff. Vastly better for your self esteem, IMHO.

Which is why the news that girls don't like the way they look when doing sport makes me want to cry

There was something on this of Woman's Hour on Tuesday. I do exercise quite a bit and I know it makes me feel 100% better than when I don't, so they are preaching to the converted in a way. But what riled me was their constant emphasis on sport as a way of exercising. Apparently there is about an equal gender split when it comes to gym membership but a hugely increased % of men play sport. So what? I don't enjoy sport - I am not competitive, I cannot get excited about chasing a ball in to a net, over a net or into a hoop. I simply don't care enough . So why not just let women run/walk/do yoga or whatever floats their boat. I do not need to get sweaty with a load of other people to get fit thankyou very much!

I wonder if it's connected with schools, OmIrian? They only seem to offer competitive sport, which may deter some women from all exercise.

I don't have a problem with competitive sports myself, but I know they don't motivate everyone and if the government wants to get the population more engaged in exercise then it will have to look more closely at what it takes to get kids involved in 'activities' not just sport.

I'm 100% sure you are right about that gizmo. I spent the first 25 yrs of my life convinced I hated exercise (although I was always happy to walk for miles). And only started to enjoy it when I discovered step aerobics - and then the gym, yoga and then running. I think the emphasis should be on learning to keep your body healthy by taking enough exercise daily, rather than on competing.

All I know is that someone started a thread here a while back asking what you would improve about your body.

There were about 600 responses and everysingleone was about making ourselves look different. No one was interested in doing anything with our bodies

I concur with the gizmo. I run because I love the sense of acheivment and power it gives me. Because it helps to keep my athsma under control. Because it gives me some time to myself, to clear my head and think. And because at the end of it I feel fantastic.

Since I've been running regularly I've also toned muscles and lost inches. But that is a happy side effect. Our bodies are amazing things and should be appreciated and valued because of that, not because they look a certain way.

I'm not immune: if there was a magic wand I guess I might change the appearance of a few bits of my body.

But you know what? I'm 37 years old and I've never been seriously ill. I've had two beautiful children, four marathons, miles and miles of dancing and cycling and rowing and walking and laughing, many nights of good loving and moments of pure joy from this body. I don't really feel it owes me anything, because I use it.

I think instead of reading the BBC link I shall take this as a reminder that its a sunny day and my dog would love a brisk walk

Would agree with the sport - I hates sport at school and would still rather chew my arm off than do team sports now. But I enjoyed going to the gym (back when I had time - sigh) and running (ditto) and now I walk as much as possible. Time is a problems: juggling working 4 days a week plus looking after av active toddler on other days means an hour to myself to go for a run is a luxury I don't have .

It is a struggle effie. I have to wait till DH gets home and then rush out the door. Only manage 3 days a week though.

you see, I WOH and DS workds from home (and looks after DS when I'm at work). So as soon as I get in the door I'm doing the childcare - bedtime routine etc. The at the weekends it's getting housework done, going out as a family so not much free time then either.

that shoul dbe DH works from home. DS 13mo so a but young to be earning a wage

I work too effie but I'm lucky in that I finish at 3 so can get quite a bit of housework/cooking etc done after I get home. But it's like a military exersise - everything has to run like clockwork so that kids are fed and our dinner is on the way to being ready when Dh gets home at 6ish. So DH can grab a shower and put the finishing touches to our dinner while I'm out running.

Get DS out there looking for a job! Kids are such scroungers

I think your ds should be cooking tea for you while you go for a run, Effie - best to teach them independence skills as early as possible

But I feel your pain: I also work and time for a run has to be stolen from my employers (lunch hour) or DH (after kids have gone to bed, or on the couple of nights a week he takes on parenting duties to give me a break).

However, I'm not sure we're the sort of women the report is worrying about.

I like what exercise does with my body, especially when I am working out with weights. Working out with weights makes you stronger, more firm and the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn when you are sedentary. Girls are mistaken if they think that weights equal big muscles. You only get big muscles if you take a lot of testesterone and/or additional anabolic steroids.

I love the way weight training pioneers like Jocelynn Pigeonneau and Rachel Mclish used weight and cardiovascular training to sculpt their bodies to express the feminine form. All I need to do now is shed about half a stone of fat to show off my muscles!

Similarly, when I have been running, I feel really rejuvenated and that is why I tend to do it first thing in the morning.

If girls could experience the high that one can get from in engaging in a physical activity, they would do more exercise imo.