We sometimes hurt ourselves by wanting to do good. If the properties of physical exercise, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), are indisputable, certain beliefs too well anchored, on the duration, the conditions in which our sessions must take place, the disciplines for which to opt or on our physiological state, mean that we do not fully exploit its virtues. To “sport” without a false note, we therefore put things in focus with Dr. Jean-Marc Sène, sports doctor.
What are the benefits of physical activity? Conducted and published by a group of American researchers from the universities of Arkansas, Kentucky and California on animal models (22-month-old mice, which is the human equivalent of 73 years), a study published in December 2022 in the scientific journal Journal of Physiology shows that practicing physical activity alters gene expression and rejuvenates muscle fibers. If it reprograms them and makes them lose a few years, including in the last decades of life, it is because it corrects the dysfunctions induced by age on methylation, an organic phenomenon which allows, among other things, the maintenance, repair, manufacture of our cells and exchanges between them.
Practicing regularly and for a long time is the absolute key to its effectiveness.
FAKE. We are convinced that, in order to keep in shape and in shape, it is necessary to favor three or four moderate weekly sessions rather than one or two training sessions which would be more sustained. And that forty-five soft minutes are better than a quarter of an hour at a very active pace. But that’s not completely true…”Intensive activity, split and short, will solicit our reserves in a different way. We do not draw directly from fat, but from sugars. However, to reconstitute these, we will look in the lipids. And intensive efforts further develop the muscles, which are the body’s boiler. The more they are present, the more we will increase our energy expenditure at rest”explains Dr. Jean-Marc Sène.
You have to take ten thousand steps a day
FAKE. Installed in the collective imagination, this notion is not scientific since it results from an advertising campaign launched by a Japanese manufacturer of pedometers in the 1960s. In reality, the threshold that should be reached daily would be, according to a study published in 2022 in The Lancet Public Health, between six and eight thousand steps per dayat the pace that suits you.
Read also: Do you (really) need to take 10,000 steps a day to stay in shape?
If you get hurt often, it’s the fault of bad equipment
FAKE. This type of technopathy exists. But other phenomena can be at the origin of our lesions. “This can be due to a lack of warm-up, recovery, insufficient hydration and/or nutrition, bad training dosage or incorrect gestures, confrontation with opponents who are not at our level or to unfavorable environmental and climatic parameters, such as a very cold temperature“, explains our expert.
Better not to do “real” sport when you have osteoarthritis
FAKE. The act of indulging on the contrary, limits the occurrence of osteoarthritis attacks and their virulence. But it must be adapted to the state of our joints. “I therefore advise to discuss it with your doctor to determine which activities it may be wise to choose. If you can’t run, for example, you can, on the other hand, do Nordic walking to enjoy the fresh air and solicit your cardiovascular system.“, notes Jean-Marc Sene.
To preserve your nights, you must avoid having them in the evening
FAKE. There is no general rule. For some, it will actually be easier to fall asleep when calm and with a low body temperature rather than after an adrenaline rush. “But it depends on the sport. Yoga or swimming is not the same as boxing“, insists Dr. Sène, who also specifies”that it has been discovered that there is a rebound effect in the body, a mechanism which makes it possible to lower the body temperature from 38 to 36.5 degrees and can therefore promote sleep.“