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Nine years ago Ken Cooper, M.D., first published Aerobics, a book dealing with a particular physical exercise program designed to strengthen the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. A fitness program, if you will, that works you hard but always in the presence of free oxygen (without making you feel "out of breath"). Naturally that was appealing!

Since that book (and two other equally successful volumes, Aerobics for Women and The New Aerobics) hit the stands, some sixty million Americans have taken to running, cycling, walking, jumping rope, and swimming their way to better health. The death rate from heart disease has decreased ten percent. And the typical American (whoever that might be) has increased his or her life span from 70.9 to 72.0 years.

Important statistics . . . but still statistics. This short excerpt from The Aerobics Way by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., MPH. (copyright © 1977 by Kenneth H. Cooper and reprinted by permission of the publisher, M. Evans and Co., Inc., New York, New York 10017) turns those statistics into something that most of us can more readily understand by dealing not so much with the number of our years . . . but how we use 'em!

I KNOW IT'S GOOD

A patient asked me this question not long ago, and followed it up with, "Will l feel better?"

For a moment I was going to say, "What do you mean? Of course you'll feel better!" But then I saw his point.

He wasn't talking about feelings in his body.

It's common to separate the mind, or the spirit, from the body. Perhaps that's one reason why some of us neglect our bodies, even when they hurt, and still feel as if we were doing something virtuous: "carrying on", without "giving in".

Yet I can assure you that there is an interrelation between the body and the mind.

To begin with, chemical substances taken in through the body have a measurable effect on the mind. Alcohol, glucose imbalance, and vitamin deficiency all change one's mental outlook and performance, just as do the prescription chemical stimulants and depressants, the "mood elevators" and "tranquilizers".

Likewise, positive or negative thoughts from the mind affect the body, as countless studies of psychosomatic illness have shown—not to mention the many instances in our histories and legends where people have grown ill and died from the emotional wounds we call a "broken heart".

Yet what about the reverse? Supposing we strengthen the heart, improve cardiovascular fitness: Will that affect the mind just as surely as a chemical stimulant or depressant? Both our theory and—our research evidence indicate "yes".

In the first place, improving cardiovascular fitness—through diet, exercise, weight control, and proper rest—has a direct chemical effect on the brain. The increased circulatory flow to the brain makes available more oxygen and more glucose, both of which are necessary for the mind to function. A man whose oxygen supply is cut off will "black out" quickly, just as will a man whose glucose supply is lowered during insulin shock.