Why sport is good for your body

Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie

Sport is the most practical way to stay physically fit. It is no longer a fable or an idle kind of chatter to nudge people to act in a way that should keep them fit.  Till this day, sport is in the curriculum of many schools. As for the schools which specialise in grooming children only for academic excellence, there are obvious health repercussions. Sport has many beneficial effects on the muscles and bones. It keeps the muscles tone and lean and fit. They respond briskly to an emergency situation by contracting protectively or in a manner that prepares you for flight. By doing so, it helps to assure the entire body of the right kind of balance and ensure also an economy of movement. The lean muscles which develop as a result of regular physical exertion through sport make for a well-integrated individual. Movements are graceful and with minimum energy, thus the power packed into the muscles is assured. As the muscles gain in strength, they also consume more oxygen, but all of that helps make it a more efficient engine. Contracting muscles increase the flow of blood through its sinews. The more rapid supply of oxygen also helps to more efficiently remove carbon dioxide and lactic acid from the system.

As one is engaged in sports in over a long span of time, there is a gradual build-up of physical strength and reserve energy. The blood flow through the muscles becomes well developed and there is little or no build-up of cholesterol in the contributing blood vessels. The sinews of the muscles gain in size, length and sometimes also in number, to the extent that the muscle bulk is often in an inverse relationship with the amount of body fat people go around with. It is an important component of good health and it has enormous benefits for the cardiovascular status of any individual. It acts to regulate the rhythm of the heartbeat, its amplitude and forcefulness. In a highly trained athlete, the heartbeat may be no more than one half of that of an untrained one. That happens because even the heart muscles increase in bulk and strength because of sporting activity.

During such sporting activities, the heart pumps out blood more forcefully than normal and is therefore able to perfuse all the tissue systems of the body very effectively. Even the tiny blood vessels at the level of the tissues open up and contribute to the evacuation of toxins from the body. As such exercise goes on, the body releases endorphins, a kind of innate pain-killer which helps the body handle the pounding it takes while being engaged in the respective sports. A combination of these products in the circulation together with an improved blood supply to the tissues tunes up the brain in remarkable ways. It is then able to engage quickly in things which are mental. The brain more easily navigates complicated problems and the response time in matters of emergency becomes much sharper. Partly in response to all these changes, life expectancy tends to improve as well.

It is also said that memory and the residual strength people have tend to improve with sport. Regular sporting activities over a long period of time often mobilises fat and carbohydrates from their various stores and use them for energy. As a result, undue weight gain is unknown among this group of people. The transportation of these compounds through the portal vein is said to be an effective check to eating soon after a sporting activity because it suppresses the appetite. This is one of the complicated ways in which sport helps to regulate body weight.

Sport also plays an important role in helping to regulate breathing. The pattern becomes more even while the amplitude and depth improve. This is a direct result of the intensity of the exercise engaged in. A better breathing pattern keeps insomnia away and helps the person wake up the following morning feeling truly rested. Our muscles are like batteries; if a battery is activated, it is irrelevant whether it is connected to a gadget or not. It will discharge its current over time. So it is with the muscles. If they are used actively or sluggishly, they burn energy as is suited to the stress but when the usage is constructive it means that more energy is burnt, but it is effectively replenished. As a result, exercise trains the respiratory system properly so that the regular pattern of breathing which develops also improves sleep.

The total package of benefits is endless. A leaner weight, with a more active heart and reduced blood pressure, helps to keep the blood vessels functioning well so that they in turn supply more oxygen to the brain and other tissues. The heart and the brain benefit from this and the individual responds more effectively to crisis in both physically and mentally beneficial ways. He is also able to learn new tasks with relative ease and the memory and sleeping pattern improve. The final result is an improved life expectancy. However, this final benefit usually comes at a price and that price is consistent activity in the sporting arena over a long time. Intense sporting activities that occur once in a while are unlikely to produce similar benefits and may indeed be harmful.

Finally, it is now known beyond a shadow of doubt that good sport also has a very positive bearing on good sex. The lithe features which sports helps either sex to develop, the work rate of the various muscles, especially among the men, and the added benefits for the penis, add up to spice up that aspect of many marriages. It is a useful and additional value which no man can deny. Sex too is another avenue for obtaining all the positive benefits of exercising that have been described above.

Ask the doctor

Dear doctor, I must confess to you that your SUNDAY PUNCH column is one of the best free health service I have ever come across in a print media! I appreciate your genuine and up-to-date write-ups every Sunday. God bless you sir. Please I need your sincere opinion urgently. I am 73 years old with an enlarged prostrate since 14 years ago. Prostatectomy was done in LUTH in 2002.  PSA values carried out since 2007 is 3.0, but it is now 14. A biopsy was done seven times in LUTH, Mecure and a private hospital, which showed benign conditions. I have been on Finasteride 5mg and Contiflo XL 400mic, which I take once daily. I also attend my clinic once in three months to see the consultant urology at LUTH. I am not diabetic, but I am hypertensive, but the condition is well controlled with Nifecard XL 30mg, which I take twice daily, alongside a low dosage aspirin daily. I always carry out tests once a year the latest was done in February this year:

PSA

Fasting blood sugar

Lipid Profile

Full blood count

Abdominal pelvic ultrasound scan

Serum testosterone

Electrolytes urea/ creatinine

E.C.G.

The results have been given to my consultants who confirmed that there is no major problem. My main challenge is that I urinate many times at night and this disturbs my sleep at this age. I don’t wish to depend on sleeping tablets because once I use it, I may not urinate more than twice at night. The continued growth of the prostrate is another major worry for me. In your opinion, do I go for another operation to remove the prostrate? What else do I do to reduce the frequent disturbance of urinating at night? Do I come to you for another opinion? Am I having adequate attention?  [email protected]

I greatly sympathise with you sir, particularly with respect to the fact that good sleep has been eluding you. I also wish to thank you very much for your kind words. I am sorry I am just responding to your mail. There are simply too many of them to respond to. You did mention that you were sending me the same mail for the second time. I never got the first one. I see in this thread that it was sent to a wrong email address and was not delivered as a result.  Now, if you had your surgery in LUTH, I would advise you to continue to attend the urology clinic there because the level of attention you get in a teaching hospital will always be of the highest quality. I am sure there will be a reassessment of your current condition. A second operation called a repeat prostatectomy may be the solution that prevents you ultimately from taking these medications while still being unable to enjoy your sleep. You just have to discuss this with your doctors and arrive jointly on what needs to be done.

Source - The Punch