This Is Not Good News

Yesterday as I was leafing through our local newspaper I came across an article discussing obesity and the effect it has had on military recruitment. According to the statistics 75% of Americans between the ages of 17-24 are too unfit and uneducated, or both, to pass their physical readiness exam. Which consists of 42 push ups in 2 minutes, 52 sit ups in two minutes, and running 2 miles in 15 minutes and 58 seconds, for men. This is not freak fitness stuff. Anyone in the prime of their life should be able to complete this with ease. But, we can't anymore.

These are kids in the prime of their lives and they are too unfit. What's is going to happen to these same individuals in 10, 20, 30 years from now? We are already at a point were there are more people in our country classified as obese (~33%) than there are as overweight (~32%). Fast forward 20 years and who knows how high that number is going to be.

Our lifestyles are way to sedentary. We play video games for entertainment, or watch TV. Take the elevator to get to the second floor, instead of the stairs. Drive around the Walmart parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a parking spot by the door. We aren't allowed to lift anything over 50 pounds for fear we may hurt ourselves and sue.

Add to that the fact that we have trained ourselves and our kids to stop as soon as something gets uncomfortable or we get an ache for fear we may get hurt. When in reality you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of aches and pains and being very uncomfortable because of being so overweight.

Then we have the abundance of processed foods that we feed to ourselves and our kids that provides them with nothing but empty calories and chemicals. But, at the same time we are worried that we should only be eating organic produce and meats for fear of chemicals and hormones. It's the processed sh*t that's killing us.

I know this is somewhat of a rant, but when are we going to realize that we need to exercise, we need to eat healthier, we need to get uncomfortable and challenge our bodies in order to live a long and healthy life.

Live Fit,

Josh

www.defined-fitness.com