Stay in shape and live longer 1

We all want to stay alive and stay healthy as long as we can. There is research that shows muscle-strengthening exercises may lower the risk of death, according to an article in Medical News Today written by death Written by Erika Watts on March 3, 202,2 and fact-checked by Jessica Beake, Ph.D.

The authors of a new meta-analysis of prior studies wanted to determine how much time adults should spend doing muscle-strengthening exercises each week.

The study, which appears in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, took data from existing studies to learn more about how these exercises affect health.

The findings showed that adults who do 30–60 minutes of muscle-strengthening exercises each week have a 10–20% reduction in mortality risk, alongside a reduced risk of other health conditions.

Although the health benefits of aerobic exercise are well-established, there has been less research into the health benefits of muscle-strengthening exercises.

Being physically active is important for maintaining good physical and mental health.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)Trusted Source recommends that adults participate in 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week to ensure “substantial health benefits.”

Aerobic exercises including swimming, cycling, walking, and rowing help improve your heart. Other types of exercises that strengthen the muscles include weightlifting, using resistance bands, and doing bodyweight exercises, such as pushups, sit-ups, and squats.

The researchers used data from 16 relevant observational studies published between 2012 and 2020 to determine the health benefits of these exercises. They focused on studies with participants who did not have any major health issues.

According to the authors, “All studies focused on muscle-strengthening exercises such as resistance/strength/weight training and callisthenics, but not on muscle-strengthening activities such as carrying heavy loads and heavy gardening.”

 After analyzing the data, the authors determined that muscle-strengthening activities were associated with a 10–17% lower risk of all-cause mortality. There was also a similar risk reduction for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, total cancer, and lung cancer.

Although the authors found that doing 30–60 minutes of muscle-strengthening exercises each week provided health benefits, they did not find evidence that going beyond 60 minutes provided additional benefits.

Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Did you ever second guess yourself, many of us do and we end up worrying and losing sleep over what we could, or should have done differently. What if every single decision you ever made, was the right one?

Way back when I was a nineteen-year-old, first-year university student, I ran for Student Council on a whim. I never expected to win, but I did, which put me in a difficult position as I had no plans or idea on how to run the office I had just won. I was elected to a new council in a new position. That gave me the freedom to set precedent and create a new path. It also did not give me any precedent to go by.

Remember everything lasts forever on the Internet. Recently one of the decisions I made as a 19-year-old, was brought to lite in an Instagram and Facebook Post and I was surprised by the traction it received. The Post on Instagram was by Simon Fraser Alumni Association and the post said,

We are reposting an item that we shared in one of our first Instagram posts. In this letter addressed to Royce Shook, Simon Fraser Student Society Cultural Director, Martin Luther King Jr. politely declines an offer to speak at SFU in the spring of 1966. Beyond documenting this decision, the letter records in King’s own words his activities at the time to “grapple with the problem of racial injustice that the Negroes still face in this country.”

The letter is located with other correspondence of the SFSS Cultural Director in the Simon Fraser Student Society fonds (F-74).

So back in 1966 just after being elected I decided to reach out to Doctor King and invited him to come to speak to us about issues that were facing his people. Doctor King did not come to speak; was my decision the right one? Yes, it was even though it did not bring the desired results. 

I never doubted the decision to ask, and a few years later when I needed an international speaker to help a society I was running gain traction, I reached out to another famous person and this time they came. The decision to ask gave me the confidence to do it again, with better results. So never second guess your decisions they were the right ones based on what you knew at the time.

Dr. Kings' letter is below.

Why worry?

 A recent survey by Pollara, a Canadian public opinion and market research firm, found that there were three main life events that Canadians worry about the most, The first is saving enough money for retirement: men: 41 percent; women: 28 percent said they were worried.

The second event is the health of their partner. 23 percent and 32 percent of women were worried about the long-term health of their partner.

The third event that weighed heavily was the concern about job loss or your spouse/partner’s job loss? 33 percent of men and 19 percent of women had this worry.

The good news is that most Canadians know the value of having a financial plan, however, sometimes the plan targets are set too low. Your plan should be able to withstand a major decline in the market or have a fallback strategy to account for major life events such as death, divorce, or a major disability/illness.

These are the three “Ds” to stress test your portfolio, disability, death, or divorce

A disability or illness could have a huge impact on your long-term financial plans. Often times people are forced to retire earlier than they had planned to cause a loss of future income and impact to their savings strategy

Divorce is the third item that can blow up your financial plan, typically having a double shock effect of unplanned spending and loss of income. In Canada, the only age group that is seeing a rise in divorce rates are people over 50, now referred to as the “grey divorce group.”

There are, of course, many other events that could have significant financial impacts on a family. Career failure, bankruptcy, whatever life throws at you; try to reduce the monetary distress by proactively planning. Don’t dwell on things you can’t change, focus on the things you can, and never become a slave to your self-doubt.

Anticipation

 Anticipation can be a terrible and wonderful thing. Anticipation is the emotion that can cause us to find pleasure on the one hand or to be anxious on the other. Anticipation is an emotion that seeks us out when we are considering or awaiting an expected event.

Anticipatory emotions include fear, anxiety, hope and trust. When the anticipated event fails to occur, it can result in disappointment or relief. When the anticipated event does happen it brings joy, relief or hope.

When we are anticipating an event, time slows down for some and for others it speeds up. If time is slowing down for you think about this, what if it takes a long time? So, what if it's already taken longer than you thought? So, what if it will still take longer?

The event will happen. The day will nevertheless arrive, as it always does, when all your prior efforts, determination, and persistence will seem a paltry price indeed as you are lifted irrevocably higher, as if by chariots of fire, into realms previously unimagined, and then you'll think to yourself, "Wow, that happened so fast."

I can hear the music now as you celebrate the anticipated event with a wonderful display of pride and enjoyment. As one of my friends reminds me, life is good as it sure beats the alternative.