According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only half of adults get the exercise they need.
“I believe, as a lot do, that physical inactivity is the major public health problem of our time,” says Sallis.
Sallis is co-director of The Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, CA, clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine, and chair of Exercise is Medicine Health Advisory Board. It shouldn’t be surprising that exercise is the first form of medicine that Sallis prescribes to his patients—still!
“I feel, as a longtime practicing family medicine physician, that [physical activity is] absolutely the most important medicine that I could prescribe to my patients,” he says.
We think so, too—the writing is on the walls. Physical activity can:
Not to mention, all the other amazing mental, emotional, and overall health benefits of exercise.
“COVID-19 has just so vividly exposed our unhealthy lifestyles,” says Sallis. “And it really is people who follow unhealthy lifestyles who are at risk for COVID-19…You go through the list of risks for COVID-19, especially dying of COVID-19 or being severely ill from COVID-19; those are the diseases of inactivity.”
Referring to the CDC, some of the diseases of inactivity that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 include:
The pandemic has drastically decreased the level of activity among U.S. adults and children. An Evidation survey with more than 185,000 participants reports that between March 1 and April 8, activity levels declined by 48% among adults.
“Whatever it takes to get places where people exercise and can be active to open, we have to do it. It’s an essential part of life.”
Robert Sallis, M.D., Co-director of Sports Medicine Fellowship Program
Kaiser Permanente – Fontana, CA
It’s disheartening—to say the least—that so many people miss the value of exercise. “We’re all sitting in our houses huddled, waiting for a vaccine for COVID-19 instead of going out and being active and exercising, when we know that’s the best vaccine we have right now,” says Sallis.
How do we fix the issue of inactivity during a pandemic?
“We need to get people to take charge of their health. That is the best protection they have against COVID-19,” says Sallis. “This virus is going to be here for a while, we need to figure out how to start living with it, or we’re going to all die related to the avoidance of it.”
Lawmakers are incorrectly labeling health and fitness clubs as high-risk businesses to visit during the pandemic. Even with increased cleaning protocols and safety guidelines as well as data and research proving that fitness facilities are not spreading COVID-19, some lawmakers simply will not change their decision. To this point, Sallis says, “They’re not listening to the evidence.”
He added, “We’re allowing people to go on airplanes, we’re allowing people to go into Costco, we’re allowing them to go into their doctor’s offices, [and] we’re taking precautions with [all these businesses]. Why can’t we do the same for gyms, which I consider to be really essential to many people?”
Health clubs have been putting in the work to make their facilities more safe—and cleaner—for members, staff, and the community. It’s truly up to the collective fitness industry to get the message out that these facilities are:
“Prevention and treatment [are] just essential…the risk factors for COVID-19 are all improved by doing regular exercise,” says Sallis.
MXM check-in data proves just how safe and valuable clubs are. As of August 7, the data, compiled from 2,877 health and fitness locations with over 49 million member check-ins, shows an occurrence rate of just 0.002% or a 42,731:1 visit-to-virus ratio. Out of the 49 million check-ins, only 1,155 people have entered these locations and tested positive for coronavirus.
Sallis says, “Virtually everyone who died from COVID-19 has some chronic diseases, diseases related to physical inactivity, and why we would not consider [gyms as] essential to try to prevent cases and lessen the impact of them, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
If you’re contemplating visiting a gym, Sallis advises the following:
“It’s a mistake to discount the importance of a gym to some people’s health,” he says. “Those who are most at-risk of utilizing [gyms] have the most to gain from it…Whatever it takes to get places where people exercise and can be active to open, we have to do it. It’s an essential part of life.”
For information on how health clubs can operate more efficiently during and after a pandemic, check out IHRSA’s Key Considerations and Risk Assessments Tools.
Reference: {https://www.ihrsa.org/improve-your-club/doctor-says-gyms-can-prevent-covid-19-lessen-the-impact}
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