By: Oladipo Eddo, Ph.D., CSCS, USAW, ACSM EP, Assistant Professor in Mason’s School of Kinesiology
Aerobic exercise can strengthen your body and mind in ways that increase your overall well-being. The evidence is clear that aerobic activity offers powerful health benefits. Running and walking are two simple ways to start enjoying the well-being benefits of aerobic exercise.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being – not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. However, the absence of health is marked with detrimental consequences and accompanied by comorbidities. Physical fitness refers to a person’s ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure pursuits and meet unforeseen emergencies, according to American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines. Physical fitness is associated with optimal body composition, aerobic fitness, musculoskeletal strength, endurance, and flexibility. Other benefits of engaging in regular physical activity include decreased anxiety and depression, improved cognitive function, and enhanced feelings of well-being, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports.
Current guidelines suggest that you should accrue a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity weekly. You can meet weekly exercise recommendations with incremental bouts of activity that are not shorter than 10 minutes. Additionally, guidelines recommend resistance training twice a week, focusing on muscular strength and endurance.
Despite these recommendations, the prevalence of obesity has steadily increased over the past few decades. As of 2017-2018, 42.5 percent and 73.6 percent of the U.S. adult population were classified as obese and overweight respectively. Physical inactivity report in the Unites States suggests that 51.6% of the adult population meets aerobic activity guidelines, 29.3 percent of adults meet resistance training guidelines, and only 20.6 percent of adults meet both. These statistics are all related.
The benefits of physical activity/exercise are not just attributable to physical fitness. They are also associated with improved health. Exercise is Medicine (EIM) is a recognized solution for improved health and patient outcomes, to lower healthcare costs for the patient by linking available preventative and treatment resources. EIM creates a network and allows for access and continuing communication between the individual, his or her physician, and fitness professional. The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity cannot be ignored. Results from an international online survey reported that there was a 33.5 percent reduction in weekly minutes of physical activity and a 28.6 percent increase in sitting time when pre-pandemic lifestyle behaviors were compared to habits during the pandemic.
Walking and running are common forms of physical activity/exercise that are associated with minimal cost and require no equipment or special facility. These modes of physical activity/exercise are especially effective as we continue to adjust to our new normal. While both are recognized for their benefit to cardiorespiratory fitness, they are associated with numerous other health and fitness benefits.
Practice: Participate in a 5K or Fun Run/Walk
The Mason Nation Thriving Together 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk provides a perfect opportunity for you to adopt new lifestyle habits or renew your current ones. So, plan to participate with us on Mason’s Fairfax campus each year. Then, take advantage of other opportunities to participate in 5K or fun run/walk events in your community, as often as you can. That will help you stay motivated to exercise regularly. Enjoy how regular aerobic exercise strengthens your well-being!
Additional Resources
Register for the 2024 Mason Nation Thriving Together 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run Walk and plan to participate on Saturday, October 19, 2024 on Mason’s Fairfax campus.
Register for Mason BurnAlong, which offers the Mason community free access to hundreds of on-demand well-being classes online — including many fitness classes.
Learn more about the well-being benefits of walking in this Thriving Together article.
Learn more about finding a fitness community in this Thriving Together article.
Write one of these Thriving Together Series features! We’re looking for contributions on all topics related to well-being. Read other Thriving Together Series articles here and contact us at [email protected] for guidelines. Thank you for helping our Mason community thrive together online!
