Like millions of French people, you have decided to start exercising again. You have spoken to your doctor about it, but it is likely that he has neither really motivated you nor given you detailed information. This is normal, French doctors have a problem with prescribing physical exercise. A report has confirmed this… and it is a shame.
- Physical exercise helps fight obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even depression.
- For each individual, there is a different type of exercise and above all a different program.
- Be aware that short daily sessions are less effective than three to four good weekly sessions.
The assessment of a system introduced in December 2016 by decree, which allowed a treating physician to prescribe physical activity to a patient recognized as having a “long-term condition” and to entrust them to specialized sports instructors, shows a failure.
The project was ambitious and involved nearly 20 million people, including hypertensive and overweight people, whose physical exercise is known to be important for improving their health.
A good idea, not followed up. Without going into details, for two reasons: apart from the first consultation, a lack of funding by Health Insurance and above all a lack of support from general practitioners, which may seem incredible given the most recent knowledge on the subject.
Physical exercise, a universal, free and effective medicine
The drug that works in obesity and cardiovascular diseases, in diabetes and depression, that slows down aging and prolongs youth, exists! What’s more, it’s free… But unfortunately, often not prescribed, or badly prescribed by too many doctors. This truly miracle product… is physical exercise!
Many of you are probably disappointed by all these tempting promises and the banality of this proposition. However, if you knew what a few dozen minutes of daily exercise could bring, it is likely that you would not even wait until you have finished reading this page to rush to your sneakers. But you would be wrong to do so without preparation, because there is also the expression “universal medicine”, the word “medicine”, which implies a whole series of indications, precautions and contraindications. This is where your doctor should intervene and it is probably through ignorance that he does not address the subject as often as he should. In his defense, it must be said that, even if they seem banal, all these notions have only been verified and published in major medical conferences very recently.
This is a real prescription
Who says medicine says prescription. Because for each individual, there is a different type of exercise and especially a different program. We will spend this week detailing them.
Why does physical exercise make you lose weight and inactivity make you bloat? Quite simply because our genes are not very far from those of the caveman whose main concern was hunting. Try chasing a hare and you will understand why they were skinny and why they had developed a savings gene that allowed them to store up for times of famine. Modern man has sought remedies for the diseases of poverty. He had forgotten that he still has this savings gene – and probably for a long time. A gene that, far from protecting him like his ancestors, now puts, on the contrary, his very existence in danger. Survival now, for hundreds of millions of inhabitants of this planet, involves fighting against the pathologies of opulence and the stress of modern life.
Few contraindications
Who is forbidden from exercising? Almost no one… But be careful! At no time do we talk about sport. It is our heartbeats, their speed, that define the zone from which we move from one to the other. If sport can sometimes be dangerous, physical activity with an upper limit to the heart rate has never killed anyone… This is precisely what your doctor must explain to you. Just as, depending on your morphology, your age and your tastes, he must advise you on the type of activity to practice.
45 minutes, 4 times a week
Then, as in any good prescription, the doses are important. Be aware that small daily durations are less effective than three to four good weekly sessions.
To verify the accuracy of these tips, which may make you smile or shrug your shoulders, there is irrefutable proof: blood tests. In less than three months of regular activity, for example 1 hour three times a week, all those who are borderline in blood sugar, or cholesterol or triglycerides, will be able to see the exceptional effectiveness of this prescription.
