Nagpur: Modern busy lifestyle has both positive and negative impact on individual well-being. Negative impacts, of course, are more hazardous and stay for long. Most crucial but silent sufferer of modern lifestyle is our endurance. We are losing our ability to work hard for prolonged period of time and the ability to resist fatigue.
November 16 is celebrated as International Day for Endurance. On this day, TOI spoke to doctors and experts in the fitness field who shared basics about endurance, which level of endurance is up to the mark, and strategies to boost it.
“Endurance is a measure of fitness. It includes muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance,” said consultant physiotherapist Dr Pratiksha Gadpal-Gadkari.
Cardiovascular endurance refer to the ability of an individual to perform large muscle dynamic exercises such as swimming, walking or biking for long period of time. Muscular endurance refers to the ability of the muscle group to perform repeated contractions over a period of time.
“There are several reasons for reduced endurance. The leading one is lack of physical activity due to sedentary lifestyle or bed rest without any accompanying disease,” she said.
Due to less active life, muscle mass decreases. As a result, people start experiencing decrease in exercise tolerance and decrease in bone mineral density which may lead to osteoporosis.
“To become physically fit, individuals must participate regularly in some form of physical activity. Consistent and carefully planned exercises can result in higher levels of fitness for healthy individuals, slower the decrease in functional capacity of the elderly and recondition those who have been ill or have chronic disease,” said Dr Gadkari.
According to cardiologist Dr Amal Amale, 30 minutes of brisk walking for five days a week is basic to maintain cardiac well being.
“Most of us are not athletes but performing endurance training builds up cardiac and skeletal muscle metabolism which makes the body ready to avoid cardiovascular events,” he said.
According to Dr Amale, endurance exercises, in short, work as a medicine in cardiology and should be incorporated in treatment plan by all physicians.
Retrospectively, in patient who had already suffered heart attack and is in heart failure, endurance exercises have proven to improve quality of life and avoid further events and hospital admission.
Fitness trainer Allan Morde said one should always aim for progress while incorporating endurance exercises into fitness routine. “You can increase distance, time or difficulty when comfortable. A lazy lifestyle always ends up in poor endurance, so put on your shoes and start exercising for your better health,” he said.
Pain medicine specialist Dr Sunita Lawange said that physical activity, especially aerobic exercise, raises pain tolerance and decreases pain perception. Moderate to vigorous cycling program significantly increases pain tolerance but has no effect on pain.
According to the doctor, yoga mixes physical positions and postures with breathing exercises, meditation and mental training. They have more gray matter in parts of the brain related to pain processing, pain regulation and genes, too, can affect how one perceives pain.
“When it comes to gender, for unknown reasons, females report longer-lasting and higher pain levels than males. Physical activity such as aerobic exercise also raise pain tolerance and decrease pain perception,” said Dr Sunita. In short, the experience of pain is complex. It involves both physical and emotional pain. Although one can’t always change the source of pain, there are ways one can alter your perception of it to help manage it.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISES
Walking | First choice to start exercise, good joint problems, at least 30-40 mins of walking everyday can boost endurance
Stair climbing | Can improve cardiorespiratory performance, but should be avoided by people having severe knee and hip problems
Cycling | Both stationary or on road cycling increases cardiovascular fitness, improves muscle strength and flexibility, joint mobility and coordination
Swimming | Good for enhancing endurance
Running | Any amount of running, even once a week is better than no running
Aerobic dance | Great fitness activity. Not for those with any orthopaedic problem or shortness of breath