Keeping fit

Interviewer: Could you tell me how we should keep fit?

Dr Davis: Well really what we should do is to try to keep fit all round. Now what do I mean by that? I mean such things as keeping up our strength and our suppleness and our stamina. Now you may say why do we need all three of those things!? Well, strength is useful really just so that we don’t strain muscles or pull ligaments and tendons when we suddenly have to do something a bit energetic like lift a heavy suitcase or perhaps shift a wardrobe or even get out of a chair or a bath. Suppleness is important obviously so that you can bend and move freely and reach things, again without injuring yourself. And sta­mina is particularly important so that you can sort of keeping going without losing breath so you have endurance.

One other great plus about developing stamina is that if you maintain your stamina over a period of years, it actually has an effect of protecting the heart against heart disease.

Interviewer: So out of those three, which is the most important?

Dr Davis: Well, it depends who you are and what you want to do. I mean, the reason for keeping fit is to keep fit for your way of life, the life you choose. Now, you may say "Well, if I chose to sort of flop about in an armchair all day watching telly, I do not need to keep very fit, do I? Well, that's unfortunately not true because there are always times when you have to make a little bit of extra demand on your body. By force of circumstance you may have to suddenly lift something heavy or may have to run for a bus or whatever. In which case you could do yourself an injury and you may even actually harm something important, like your heart. So it is important actually to try to keep your fitness a little bit ahead of the sort of way of life that you have. Just to give you to push yourself just those little bit harder and get yourself just that little bit fitter.

Interviewer: So how do you do it?

Dr.Davis: Well it doesn’t have to be all grim and irksome. I mean, people have this view of fitness freaks you know, who sort of are jogging grim-faced round the park you know, or who are working weights, doing all sorts of horrible exercises. It doesn’t have to be like that. To keep yourself fit, or get yourself fitter, which is really what it’s about, you just have to do a little bit more each day or even every other day for that matter. By a little bit more I mean, for instance just walking a bit more often, a bit further, perhaps getting off the bus a stop or two sooner. Perhaps doing a bit of cycling instead of travelling by public transport. Using the stairs instead of going up in the lift. It's surprising the number of people that I see on the London tube who are actually standing on the escalators going down, just standing there slowly going down. And the same with lifts. People who take the lift down I mean, that's ridiculous. You should at least walk down, but preferably walk up, because by walking upstairs you actually perform really quite a useful aerobic exercise, that’s an exercise that develops sta­mina, and that's having a beneficial effect on your whole body, toning you up and helping to protect against heart disease.

Interviewer: So it isn't necessary to play squash three times a week or go swimming three times a week?

Dr.Davis: It isn't necessary. Actually swimming is a rather good way of keeping fit because it's particularly excellent for all three of the S-Factors if you like, the strength, the supple­ness and the stamina. It helps to develop all three of those rather well, and it's also a very pleasant and relaxing to keep yourself in shape. Three times a week would be just about right actually, or even twice a week, or even once a week. Squash though is not a good way to get fit. You have to actually get fit to play squash. Squash is a very demanding game. A very energetic game, and in fact you could do yourself a lot of damage by playing squash if you’re not in good physical shape to start with.

Interviewer: I have a lot of friends who play sport, and they always seem to have bad backs and pulled tendons, so what would you say to them?

Dr. Davis: I'd say to them they’re going about it the wrong way. They're forcing themselves into sports, perhaps before they're ready, before they've got themselves in shape first. You have to get in shape to play these sports. And also for people who force themselves into these things generally. That's bad. Mustn't do that. Whenever you're exercising, or just carrying out some physical activity, never push yourself beyond comfort. Anything that's uncomfortable, don't do it. Stop. Slow down. It's basically got to be fun. I mean, to keep yourself in shape you've got to carry on exercising week in week out, month in month out, year in year out. Now that sounds awful, but if you choose something which you enjoy doing, it's fun, then you will keep it up. You see you can't put fitness in the bank as if were. If you don't carry on exercising, all the benefits that you get from exercising will all disappear within about 6 to 8 weeks. All go and you'll be back where you started so you have to keep it up, and to keep it up, it has to be something you enjoy, it has to be fun. So choose something which you get a lot of pleasure out of, and that way it won't seem irksome at all.

Interviewer: What do you do to keep fit?

Dr.Davis: Ah well, I'm glad you asked me that question. Actually, what I live in London and I work in London, so what I what I do to keep fit is to certainly do quite a lot of walking. I certainly walk upstairs a lot, but also I do a fair amount of cycling, and as I'm dashing round London I use the bike. I find it the fastest way to get around town and it's really good for keeping in shape. I’m a little worried about the traffic fumes I have to admit, but actually it makes me feel very good to cycle around there and I get there on time!