|
BMI, the NFL and You
At the end of last week, Thomas Herrion, a lineman for the
San Francisco 49ers died after a preseason NFL football game.
He was 23 years old and 330 pounds. His Body Mass Index (normally
below 30 or so for athletes) was 41. He was morbidly obese.
The doctors say that arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) was
the probable cause of his death.
I'm a football fan, so I watch the game all the time. For
those of you who don't and only watch the Superbowl at a friend's
party, it is not difficult to confirm that most NFL linemen
are just plain fat.
What's scary is that if someone came to me for training and
I measured their BMI and it was anywhere close to Herrion's,
I would prescribe no more than 20-30 minutes of walking a
day to start. Even if he was an NFL player. I would not even
suggest he play in a pickup game of flag football.
Regardless of how "fit" someone may be underneath their fat
they are still carrying extra weight, fatty acids and probably
excess glucose.
There's another sport where you'll find similar levels of
obesity and here is the prognosis for those athletes as well
from and article by Dr. Eric S. Freedland,
"Japanese sumo wrestlers are a good example of how exercise
can only do so much for so long to offset the harmful effects
of obesity. Competitive sumos carry most of their abdominal
fat subcutaneously with relatively little visceral fat (which
is more strongly associated with insulin resistance). They
are able to maintain insulin sensitivity until after they
retire when they develop large amounts of abdominal visceral
fat, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease
and premature death."
Now let's step away from athletes for a moment. I've only
used them to make a point.
Do you know how much extra weight you are carrying? You could
be in worse condition than some of these athletes because
you do less activity than they do. If your BMI is around 30-35
and you don't do any physical activity, your health is being
compromised tremendously. You practically have the same prognosis
as the Sumo Wrestlers without the "after retirement." All
those diseases and instances have started already and it is
up to you to start working out to reverse them.
This might be the most incredible thing about exercise...
you can reverse the decline of your health!
How can you calculate BMI? For someone who is not mathematically
inclined, you can do this at our site! I've just added a page
with a calculator and I think you should consider finding
out just what your BMI is, because it can give you an idea
of what you may need to do to help keep cardiovascular disease
and other nasty aliments at bay.
If you find your BMI is over 30, do yourself a favor and
consider going for a walk tonight. Just 20 minutes or so.
Don't get too crazy. When you're walking think about how good
it feels to be outside. Think about how the breeze brushes
against your face and how the sounds of nature call to you.
When you get back, sit down and take a moment to scan your
body and see how good it feels to get your heart moving and
your body jump started. After you do this for a few nights,
I know you'll begin to enjoy it.
Make it a habit and the quality of your life will dramatically
increase. You'll have more energy, be more productive and
be able to spend more time doing the things you want to do
because you'll have a clearer mind!
So go calculate
your BMI and see where you stand. Then regardless of the
numbers, take a walk tonight anyway and enjoy the weather!
Best,
Kevin
Back
to Newsletter Archive
|
