Keystone Habits

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The ultimate challenge for an athlete is finding the balance between exercising too much and not exercising enough. Most elite athletes are known to exercise too hard, which can lead to serious injury. On the other hand, athletes who do not exercise hard enough or keep in shape can also develop a serious injury. Most opinions on this matter are based on whether he or she is a person who enjoys exercise or if they are one who just does enough so as not to feel guilty for the lack thereof. Usually people who exercise are also very health conscience. They watch what they eat, and they keep track of fat and cholesterol content by reading nutrition labels. Arguments can be made for both sides of the spectrum. By reviewing the evidence concerning …show more content…

Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives. These are “keystone habits,” and they can influence how people work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything. Keystone habits say that success doesn’t depend on getting every single thing right, but instead relies on identifying a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers” (Duhigg 100-101). Exercise is also what is known as a “keystone habit,” which will lead to many benefits in all areas of their lives when incorporated into their routines. More and more, research is demonstrating that people who begin to exercise regularly will also develop better eating habits, smoke less, accumulate less debt, be more productive workers, and be less stressed. The overwhelming majority of science points to the fact that exercise is one of the most important roads to a better and healthier life. Beginning an exercise program does not have to be a major change. Start out small and work up to more intensive exercise as ability increases. Philipe de Souto Barreto is quoted, “Getting inactive people to do a little bit of physical activity, even if they don’t meet the recommendations, might provide greater population health gains” (Oaklander). It’s not an all or nothing affair: even minor shifts can help …show more content…

Susan Dawson-Cook in The Harmful Effects of Excessive Exercise, states, “Two recent studies published simultaneously in the online journal Heart indicate a reverse J-shaped curve for the health benefits of exercise, showing that, while there is a “sweet spot” somewhere in the middle, too much can potentially be just as dangerous as not enough . . . The Mayo Clinic report reviewed about 50 studies published between 1991 and 2012 on the health effects of extreme endurance training and competition. One study showed that an estimated 12% of apparently healthy marathon runners had evidence of patchy myocardial scarring. The coronary heart disease rate during a two-year follow-up was significantly higher in marathon runners than in controls . . .When people partake in excessive endurance activities multiple times over the course of many years, scar tissue can form in the heart and weaken the muscle or cause a rhythm disturbance. This damage is believed to be most profound in individuals over 40” (Dawson-Cook 27). “The Mayo team of doctor authors tentatively concluded that one hour of daily aerobic exercise is healthy for the heart and anything beyond that has diminishing returns and may cause adverse effects in some individuals . . . Fitness professionals should continue to urge their clients away from the couch. Most people get too little, rather than too much exercise. Working out is

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