Fitness & Exercise

It is never too late to enjoy the health benefits of exercise; Men who became very physically active beginning only at age 50; can cut their risk of dying early by 32 percent…Reader’s Digest, Dec 2009

            The Above statement is real to me.

I am glad that, as compared previously to my office sedentary life-style; driving a public bus is all about physical moment. The limbs did the most of the motion, but the entire body is working in unison to support it. The output is that, I did have some 7 to 8 hours to aerobic fitness exercise been done daily. 

Now, I can feel that my cardiovascular system is now much stronger than 2 years ago. My body is much trimmer and lean now. My previous 2 over-sized love-handle is almost disappeared from my mid-riff.

Previously, while walking up the staircase step to my 5^th floor HDB house; I needed to stop mid-way to catch my breath; now, I can talk and walk all the way to 5^th floor without much pending. I guess I have benefited much form this aerobic exercise of driving a public bus and I am grateful for that.

From medical literature,

 aerobic activity builds the most important muscle in your body, the Heart.

I found out that, while driving the bus, I could achieve a heart rate of something close to the target heart rate of my age; that is about 100 beats per minute. This is equivalent to about 60% of my maximum heart rate of my age today.

I graduated from Republic Polytechnic with a Specialist Diploma in Sport Science and Exercise; in year 2009. I am one of the 1^st batches of student for this programme. In the course of the study, I was told that the Aerobic Exercise’s Formula is – FIT:

F –frequency, this is not a problem with driving public bus; it is a 6 days a week job

I – intensity, driving a bus is about 60% of my maximum heart rate. The recommended heart rate is somewhere from 65% to 85%, in order to give my heart the Best Benefit!.

T – time, the recommended minimum workout time is 20mins of sufficiently intense and continuous in activity; this is certainly not a problem with driving a public bus; as each trip is easily more than 20mins of workout!.

To quote some benefits of Aerobic Exercise (AE) from literature:

Increased endurance – your ability to use oxygen efficiently

Lower blood pressure – in a well-conditioned cardiovascular system, the blood vessels remain healthy and unobstructed

Reduced cholesterol level – AE reduces deposits on the wall of blood vessels

Stronger heart – a stronger heart pumps more blood with less effort

Boost metabolism – the body burns calories at a faster rate

Reduced body fat – AE burns body fat

Improved muscle tone – as muscles become more fit, they increase in size and definition too

Reduced stress – AE creates changes in the body chemistry that reduce the symptoms of stress.

In conclusion, if you care about your health; and now you are in your early 50s, and then why not join this industry as Bus Captain. You will be paid for exercising daily…. What a good deal, hurray!!