HEALTH FOR ALL: Time for Action

The above title is the theme for the Universal Health Coverage Day 2023. In an ideal world, every individual would genetically be blessed with good health and could breeze through life without any aliments. Unfortunately, in the real world, the process of death starts immediately after birth! Coronary angiograms in still birth children and newborns have revealed the presence of early damage of the arteries of the heart even at that tender age. If one is darkly philosophical, life is nothing but a constant struggle to stay alive. Life is a dead-end street and none of us is getting out of here alive. However, we can make life more meaningful and extend it by a few simple hacks that are easily available and applicable to all.

As Dr Homo Shapien, an Evolutionary, I am committed to help you evolve and shape up into the best possible version of the Homo Sapien species – The best possible version of yourself. Do not ever strive to be like someone else, which is unrealistic; but instead strive to be your best possible self. The process to reaching this very achievable goal is simple: Maintain the ideal Work-Life-Health Balance. Everyone talks about Work-Life Balance but it is not possible to do this without having good health as the strong base on which Work-Life can balance comfortably. By good health I am primarily referring to avoiding or controlling lifestyle diseases like Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Obesity, etc. They have been renamed NCDs – Non-Communicable Diseases as opposed to infectious diseases like Tuberculosis, Malaria, Typhoid, COVID, etc. NCDs are the major killers of humanity these days and can be prevented as well as controlled by lifestyle changes.

The Two Excuses

If we want to aim for “health for all”, then now is the ‘time for action”. Get off that couch and get into action. Exercise is the first and most crucial step towards lifestyle modifications. Sitting is the new smoking. Devote a fixed amount of time every day towards exercise. The two most common excuses people give for not exercising are “I do not have the time as I am very busy” and “I do not have the motivation as exercise is physically painful”. A very busy and very fit person once said “My day has just 23 hours, not 24 hours – 1 hour is for exercise”. That should take care of the first excuse.

As for the second excuse, yes exercise is painful but only if you think of it as exercise. If you can tweak your mind a little and think of exercise as a fun activity, it will help you get more motivation. That's why you should always club exercise with a fun activity. If you are a music lover, exercise while listening to your favourite tunes and think of it as “music time” not “exercise time”. If you like watching TV or movies, watch these while on the treadmill and call it “TV time” or “Movie time”. This little hack will make you look forward to exercise and motivate you.

Music weds Exercise

Before I sign off, a little insight on music and exercise. Research has conclusively shown that one can exercise better and for longer while listening to music. The reasons proposed for this are myriad:

1. Music keeps your mind occupied so you not feel the discomfort of exercise.

2. Music with a rapid beat inspires you to keep to the beat thus increasing the pace of your steps.

3. Music lends a feel-good factor and helps you exercise longer and so on.

What I have discovered about the effect of music on exercise during my fitness journey is something that has not been mentioned anywhere and has been researched by me at a personal level. I realized that the biggest demotivating factor during exercise (apart from the pain) is the sound of your own breathing. The brain receives two signals while exercising that tells it you are distressed and need to stop:

1. Body pain

2. The sound of breathing or gasping

If you can eliminate the signal of breathing sounds while exercising, you can fool your brain into permitting you to exercise longer. I have conducted my own research on this and tested my endurance levels at different volumes of music. I found that at high volumes of music; where the stimulus of the sound of my breathing was masked; I had higher endurance levels. As the volume of the music was progressively lowered and the sound of my breathing became more audible to myself, my endurance levels were significantly lowered. I had the least endurance when there was no music.

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My advice to those that follow me is to always give yourself what you deserve because you are the best investment you will ever make. If Work - Life - Health Balance was able to help me in the past, I have no doubt that it can help you even more. So get into action and get healthy. Keep lifestyle diseases at bay and become the best possible version of yourself. Live a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life.