Exercise and Fitness For Living Well

Part three of my interview with a very healthy octogenarian:

Q. There is a study that came out – oh, it’s been several years, I think, the China Study that sort of indicated that when they took some different populations in China, you know, and watched those that were on meat or the standard diet of meat and potatoes, and cheeses, dairy, and then versus those folks who were more into a plant food, vegetarian style with lots of fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables, that there was such a huge difference in terms of their health after a period of years.  Well, if diet plays such a key role, what – what are other things here that come into play?  For instance, what – what about this idea of – the fitness idea of exercise?  Is there a piece of that or can you do this with just diet alone or do you need to have more than just the diet as part of the regimen?

A: George Malkmus, who is the person I talked about, who wrote a book called God’s Way to Ultimate Health.  And he also wrote a pamphlet called A Message of Hope and Healing, indicated that you eat – to eat the plant foods, but you also need to exercise.  And as many other authors have said, his say exercise is a very serious problem and we’re not getting enough exercise in this country.  Many, many years ago when most of the laborers were hard workers, that isn’t the case today because we’ve got so many people that are computerized. In this modern society, is a desk job and so, you know, you become a couch potato if you’re not very careful.  And so you have to do the exercise, it’s very important.

And it’s – that they know now that if you don’t use it, you will lose it.  And that is about many factors of your physical body, you just have to exercise it and there are many, many ways to do that.  And you can do it at home, you can spend a lot of money at gyms, but you have to exercise.  And one of the best forms of exercise, as I have read many, many books about exercising, the simple condition of walking is what will keep you in as good a condition as most people need to be.  And you have to get a regimen of walking, and you have to walk at a fast rate of – fast rate.  Because if you don’t, then you don’t really exercise your heart muscle like it should be.

Q: What’s a good – what’s a good pace for a senior?

A: About a 15-minute per mile pace then, I think that’s about right.  And you can do three miles in 45 minutes, that’s a good exercise.  And probably, as I read the different literature from different doctors, there are not too many exercises that do much more for you than that.  And you only have to do it three, four days a week.