General Health Indicators
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A recent issue of The Straits Times indicated that the amount of fat an individual has accummulated around his/her organs like the Liver and the Heart is a better and more accurate determinant of the individual's health status.
The article also mentioned the shortcomings of the BMI, saying that it is no longer a good and accurate indicator of one's risk of health problems. (Instead, the Waist-Hip Ratio was touted as being a more accurate indicator of cardiac health.)
Here's an article from the Oct 2006 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology :
Dangerous Fat Around Organs
Accumulates In Couch Potatoes
Its official: a new study finds that being a couch potato can help pack on unwanted fat, specifically the dangerous "visceral" fat that can build up around internal organs.
Experts warn that visceral fat shows strong links to insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic problems.
"We believe that these results shine a clear spotlight on the high costs Americans are paying for their continued inactivity. I don't believe that people in general have gotten lazier -- it's more that they are working too hard or are at their desks working on computers with fewer opportunities for exercise. The situation is out of balance," lead researcher Cris Slentz, of Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.
The study of 175 sedentary, overweight men and women also found that a moderate exercise program can help prevent the accumulation of visceral fat.
"In our study, the control group that did not exercise saw a sizable and significant 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat in only six months," Slentz said.
"We also found that a modest exercise program equivalent to a brisk 30-minute walk six times a week can prevent accumulation of visceral fat, while even more exercise can actually reverse the amount of visceral fat," Slentz said.
Study participants exercising at the highest level -- the equivalent of 17 miles of jogging per week -- had a 6.9 decrease in visceral fat. The actual exercising was done on treadmills, elliptical trainers or cycle ergometers.
The findings appear in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
OK, let's organise more walks and outings that require a lot of walking, shall we?
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i'm doomed
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Mustafa centre!!!! Late night shopping!Originally posted by Rhonda:OK, let's organise more walks and outings that require a lot of walking, shall we?
Or east coast park carpark. bring pail to toliet. Take water to wash car! -
All the more reason to go jogging.
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-guilt-
i was supposed to go bukit timah hill today...
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forget about it.. come makan with us next saturday
talking about makan, i'm hungry
Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:-guilt-
i was supposed to go bukit timah hill today... -
In case some of you are interested in the Waist-Hip Ratio, here's some information on it!
"Waist-hip ratio or Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is the ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips. It measures the proportion by which fat is distributed around the torso.
"To calculate the ratio, use a non-stretchable tape. Make sure it is level around the body, parallel to the floor, and tighten it without depressing the skin. Measure the waist at its narrowest point width-wise, usually just above the belly button. Measure the hips around the widest part of the hip bones. Then divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement.
"A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men have been shown to correlate strongly with general health and fertility.[citation needed] Women within the 0.7 range have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and ovarian cancers.[citation needed] Men with WHRs around 0.9, similarly, have been shown to be more healthy and fertile with less prostate cancer and testicular cancer.[citation needed]
"WHR is a better measure of assessing a person’s risk of heart attack than Body mass index (BMI)[2]. If obesity is redefined using WHR instead of BMI, the proportion of people at risk of heart attack worldwide increases threefold.[3]
Extracted from :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-hip_ratio
Or, for a simpler way of calculating the WHR, use the online Waist-Hip Ratio Calculator -
What are you doing during dinnertime today?Originally posted by the Bear:forget about it.. come makan with us next saturday
talking about makan, i'm hungry -
*growls ......Originally posted by fudgester:All the more reason to go jogging. 
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i am thinking abt my second breakfast.Originally posted by the Bear:forget about it.. come makan with us next saturday
talking about makan, i'm hungry
after my first breakfast of chee cheong fun, some bun thing, and milo
Hmm.
=guilty= -
jogging bad for the knees fatumOriginally posted by Fatum:*growls ......
err.. with all tt water in ur area
swimmign better
what i love abt swimming is
it doesnt feel like exerciseee... -
swimming lehchey lah.
have to shave the down south so the hairs wont poke out from his speedo. -
I wear bicycle tights when I go swimming.Originally posted by viciouskitty74:swimming lehchey lah.
have to shave the down south so the hairs wont poke out from his speedo. 
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how did you know about my speedos ? ....Originally posted by viciouskitty74:swimming lehchey lah.
have to shave the down south so the hairs wont poke out from his speedo. -
I have been stalking you.Originally posted by Fatum:how did you know about my speedos ? .... -
That's one sure way to accelerate the wear-and-tear in your knees that'll hurt like hell when you grow older! Pilates will be much better!Originally posted by fudgester:All the more reason to go jogging.
But exercising our jaw muscles when we eat is strictly also exercise, isn't it?
Yay, let's feast every single week I say! -
well ... actually, I think sex is one of the best aerobic exercises of all ....
you get a shapely trimmed waist from it, not to mention the post coital endorphin rush ....
maybe that's why females are biologically conditioned to look for guys with great abs .... abs are an indication of a male's ability to ...ermm .... "see-saw" .... eh ? ...
happy people live longer, healthy people live longer ... and healthy, happy people live the longest ...
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My busted knee in 2004.
reasons why i can no longer jog.
ligament was torn and 1/2 snipped away. -
how did u get that busted knee?
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Hmmm I think yoga is a very good exercise and also must add some cardio exercise.... Yah must start to exercise more also.
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Yup! YOu guys are on the right track! The Straits Times article did say that looking thin / skinny doesn't mean that there's no fat build-up around the vital organs. Rather, it's one's level of exercise and then one's diet, that is the determinant of health.
So, ah bwee may live longer than ah san!
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Yeah!! How did you?!Originally posted by stellazio:how did u get that busted knee?
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looks like a road traffic accident
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Looks bad
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OK, a word of caution about jogging / running - you are actually putting a lot of impact on your joints each time you run / jog because each time your foot hits the ground, your joints have to absorb an impact equivalent to FOUR TIMES your body weight!
I've been telling kops this forever but he wouldn't listen. Anyways, here's an excerpt from a website :
For an example, a person walking normally and weighing 63 kg. (140 pounds) will hit the ground with their body weight plus 20 percent or 75 kg. (168 pounds) per square inch of impact force. The same person running well, but not sprinting and not jogging will land with an impact force of about three times that of their walking force or in this case 225 kg. (504 pounds) per square inch of impact force. When a person jogs slowly they reduce the body's ability to handle impact and at the same time has increased the amount of weight bearing impact it has to handle. Jogging slowly has a loading force of about four times that of walking or in this case 300 kg. (672 pounds) per square inch of loading force. A training error is running slowly to warm up. Overtime it will create degenerative changes to your knee, pelvis and spine.
Extracted from : http://www.globalhealthandfitness.com/stretching.htm