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As Nigeria endures a punishing heatwave, the habit of the \u2018gentle stroll\u2019 has come under fire. Joel Uzamere, a fitness expert and director at IREP, warns that while most believe they are keeping fit, they are actually just \u2018gambling\u2019 with routines that offer zero physiological gain. <\/p>\n
In a candid interview, he explains why the difference between activity and exercise is a matter of life, death, and the health of the nation.<\/p>\n
The morning is often defined by the sight of fitness enthusiasts hitting the streets for their daily walk. But according to Joel Uzamere, many of these well-meaning joggers are merely moving, not training.<\/p>\n
Appearing on Channels Television, Uzamere was unsparing in his critique, suggesting that without \u201ccalculated pressure,\u201d the body simply remains at a standstill.<\/p>\n
Uzamere insists that the greatest myth in the local fitness scene is that any movement counts as a workout. He describes the gap between a casual dance and a scientific regime as a \u201cchasm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a big difference between physical activity and exercise,\u201d Uzamere explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysical activity is what you do: you stand up, you sit down, you dance, you eat. That\u2019s level one. But there is no physiological benefit; you are not increasing your cardiovascular system, your posture, or your general fitness. To see real gains, it has to be something prescribed and repeatable.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those who boast about taking the stairs at the office as their primary form of fitness, Uzamere offered a swift reality check.<\/p>\n
\u201cA staircase is not an exercise. If you want to make it an exercise, we will talk about the speed at which you climb,\u201d he said on Sunrise.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou use activity as a tool for exercise, but the intensity must be designed for you. Most people get discouraged after six months because they\u2019ve been doing physical activity and not proper exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hydration as a Metric<\/p>\n
With the current heat index reaching dangerous levels, Uzamere noted that the greatest threat to the Nigerian \u201cfitness enthusiast\u201d is a fundamental misunderstanding of water.<\/p>\n
He argues that the national habit of drinking water only when \u201cthirsty\u201d is a physiological failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of us don\u2019t even hydrate in the first place. We drink water when we are thirsty\u2014that\u2019s just the mindset. But your brain is 80% water. Men should drink roughly four litres a day and women three litres,\u201d Uzamere added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not because you\u2019re thirsty; this is what you should drink normally. When you\u2019re exercising in this heat, that figure should rise toward seven litres.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also moved to debunk a persistent local myth regarding water temperature during workouts.<\/p>\n
For him, the school of thought that says people shouldn\u2019t drink ice water when exercising is not research-based.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrow it away. Put ice in your bottle; it will bring your body temperature down and give you the stamina to go ahead,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n
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Dodging the Heatstroke<\/p>\n
For those without the luxury of an air-conditioned gym, Uzamere suggests that the clock is now the most important piece of equipment. In a season where the sun can be a predator, timing is everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is dynamic. You should choose very early in the morning and late at night. It\u2019s just natural sense: 5:00 am to 7:00 am is the window. If you don\u2019t have a controlled environment, you must be cautious. Professionally, we recommend you reduce your intensity by 20% during heat times like this. Just the ambient heat alone makes your heart beat faster, so you have to bring that intensity down to survive the workout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Women Need the Weights<\/p>\n
Turning to the \u201cMothering Sunday\u201d weekend, Uzamere addressed the specific health challenges faced by women in their midlife, particularly the \u201criot\u201d of erratic hormones. He described the endocrine system as a chemical engine that only stays stable when it is worked hard.<\/p>\n
However, he was particularly scathing about the \u201cpink weight\u201d culture\u2014women who avoid heavy lifting for fear of looking \u201cmasculine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hear people say, \u2018I have a 3kg weight.\u2019 What are you trying to do with that? Are your children 3kg? No. You\u2019re not lifting \u2018old people\u2019s weights.\u2019 Strength training is for functionality. It\u2019s for the ability to carry things and move. By the time you are 50, arthritis shouldn\u2019t know you. Yet, research shows that out of every ten women, eight have arthritis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expert concluded with a provocative challenge to grandmothers across the country, urging them to embrace the weight rack over the treadmill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen run from strength training and run to cardio because they think it\u2019s \u2018for men.\u2019 But we both have muscles and bones. In fact, women use them more. Grandfathers read newspapers, but grandmothers still carry the grandchildren and move through the house. Who needs the training most? It\u2019s the women.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 \u00a0 As Nigeria endures a punishing heatwave, the habit of the \u2018gentle stroll\u2019 has come under fire.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":["post-536668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}