Rules concerning Exercise   

Exercise is as essential to healthy living as  a sensible diet. Sedentary lifestyle is the root cause of many systemic illnesses known today. Modern Allopathic physicians hold sedentary lifestyle as the cause of such diseases as Diabetes and Coronary Artery Diease (CAD). Exercise has a great role to play in the prevention of disease but much more than that it has a great role in increasing vitality, strength, stamina and longevity.

Strength and stamina are the pre requisite to the accomplishment of all worldly tasks. The various types of enjoyments available to mankind can only be availed of if strength, stamina and health are good. Exercise as a health maintaining and vitality enhancing regimen has been extolled by every medical school. 

Regular exercise helps to maintain the body weight at the optimum level, it keeps digestive organs and processes sound, it keeps stamina for working at a high level; it maintains facial beauty by preventing lines and wrinkles. Regular exercise develops endurance for heat, cold, hard work, thirst, and hunger. Ageing does not affect a person who takes regular exercise. The ageing process is in fact slowed down in such a person.

The above benefits of regular exercise are known to us for thousands of years. In today’s life exercise appears to have become more of a commercial fad, a fashion more than a health maintaining regimen. People begin to take physical exercise only when severely afflicted by overweight, diabetes, heart disease, rheumatism etc. Healthy persons do not appear to feel the necessity of exercise. Especially so is the case with youngsters. Children pass more time in front of TV than playing on the field. Physical exercise has taken a backseat in the development of the youth. 

The result is there for all of us to see – sharp increase in the incidence of chronic desease and decrease in longevity manifesting itself in fewer persons living beyond eighty. The situation is far worse in developing countries in comparison with the developed ones. In this context some basic rules concerning exercise need to be taken a fresh look at. Let us jot them down and see the significance of these in the context of modern culture and lifestyles.

1. Exercise is especially beneficial for persons who take lot of highly seasoned and oily food as well as sweatmeats.
2. The best seasons for exercise and deriving maximum benefits from it are winter and spring. The thumb rule for properly performing exercise is – during exercise do not strain your body beyond half its strength and stamina. Excess of exercise is harmful for health. It causes vitiation of ‘pitta’ and ‘vata’ doshas and leads to such disorders as fatigue, cough and breathing troubles.
3. Exercise is not recommended for those who take simple bland diet consisting preponderantly of fruits and raw vegetables.
4. It is not advisable to eat or munch anything while exercising. (It is a common sight to find young girls munching chewing gums during group exercise sessions.)
5. Gym exercises as being widely performed these days are not all good. Some of them are risky, jerky and posture spoiling. Treadmill running strains the legs unnaturally and is harmful for knee joints.
6. Breathlessness, drying mouth and profuse sweating from the armpits and joints are sure signs of depleting strength resulting from exercise. As soon as these signs appear, discontinue exercise.
7. While walking or jogging, one should take natural steps and try to walk at natural pace, except when running.
8. Males, while exercising, should be particularly careful to keep their testicles tied and not allow them to dangle otherwise it can lead to hernia.
9. After strenuous exercise, it is advisable to have a brief walk or stroll. Indulgence in work or shower bath are ill-advised following exercise.
10. The following categories of persons are unfit for exercise and they should avoid it completely— persons suffering from Asthma, cough and blood disorders, persons who have just indulged in coitus and those persons who have just finished meals.

We frequently observe people having a quick cold water shower bath after exercise. At least for half an hour following a round of strenous exercise, no bath should so taken even if there is profuse perspiration resulting from exercise.