Last Tuesday, along with some 50,000
other fans, I sat in the magnificent Old Trafford football stadium waiting for
the Rolling Stones to come on stage. Somewhat ironically, Richard Ashcroft was
the support act. He played with the band the Verve, and wrote their biggest hit
‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’. I say ironic, because that song used a sample from the
Rolling Stones 1965 song ‘The Last Time’. Although the Verve had negotiated the
use of this legally, it was claimed that they had used too much. The Verve were
forced to give 100% of the royalties to the Rolling Stones, and Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards were added to the song writing credits. Ashcroft ended his set
with the song.
Over the past 50 years, I have
seen the Rolling Stones on a number of occasions, and I was really pleased we
got tickets for this concert, as I don’t think they will do too many more. They
have a combined age of 294, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are 74; Charlie
Watts is 76; and Ronnie Wood, just 70 years old. They also have a reputation of
a hedonistic lifestyle involving excess alcohol and drug consumption, which
makes me wonder how on earth they keep touring. Their secret appears to be a
determined approach to living a healthy lifestyle. None of the band take drugs
(except Keith Richards who it’s said likes to start his day the Californian way
– with a joint) and they are all teetotal.
They all eat well, Mick Jagger
starts the morning with serious super-juice smoothies, and along with Charlie
Watts and Ronnie Wood they all eat macrobiotic, low carb and high protein small
meals. Keith Richards likes his meat. However, what I found more fascinating
was that they all regularly take part in physical activities that range from
tennis, kick boxing, ballet, jogging, yoga and walking long distances. Mick
Jagger runs up to eight miles a day, and when on the stage it’s estimated that he
runs some 12 miles over the two hours of the show! Although the UK tour spans
just eight dates, that is some serious exercise.
So these guys, age wise, are 10
years in front of me, I understand their chosen life style choices. I think we
could all learn from their example. I don’t smoke, have never done drugs, but
probably drink too much alcohol. What I do for exercise is #WalkEveryDay. Now,
walking is the cheapest and most accessible type of physical activity that the
majority of us can get involved in. If we walk instead of using our car, we
also reduce our carbon emissions, contributing to a healthier world. The rub
is, that despite most of us knowing this, research outcomes from a study with
over 700,000 participants revealed the average user of smartphones with built
in accelerometry was that they walked just 4,962 step a day – less than half of
what the World Health Orgnisation recommend, which is 10,000 steps a day.
Of course, other studies have shown
that the environment we live in will have an impact on whether we want to walk
or not, Access to green space, a sense of safety from crime and traffic are
powerful elements when folk think about walking or not. Likewise, many of my
friends think nothing of getting in their car to drive to the local supermarket
to get that desperately needed pint of milk. In most cases they could have
walked there. So walking can also be thought of as a social behaviour, probably
influenced as much by people around us as it is by personal motivation. Interestingly,
walking is the most popular form of physical activity in the world. Studies
from the US and the UK reveal that the prevalence of walking is two to three
times higher than those of the next frequently reported activities.
However, to truly reap the health
benefits, walking has to be of moderate intensity – in terms of walking this
should be around 100 steps a minute, or 3,000 steps per 30 mins. You can test
yourself using the ‘talk test’. If you are doing moderate-intensity activity
you can talk but not sing during the activity. If you are doing vigorous- intensity
activity you are unlikely to be able to say more than a few words without
pausing for breath. As noted above I #WalkEveryDay. This week sees me pass the
#NHS1000miles target of 1000 miles walking. In fact I still have today’s walks
to add to my weekly total, but I am already up to 1,018 miles walked since
January 2018.
The World Health Organisation set
up the ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
which has at its heart the provision of universal health coverage and the
reduction in health inequalities for people of all ages. As part of this
strategy, regular physical activity is recognised as being a protective factor
for prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, breast and colon cancer. It also contributes to reducing
other risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and is associated with
improved mental health, a delay in the onset of dementia and improved quality
of life and well-being.! With emergency admissions to hospitals continuing to
rise, it is unfortunate that nearly 1.5 million people last year could have
avoided an admission if hospitals, GPs, community services and social care had
worked together more effectively. Equally, with the right kind of investment in
keeping people healthier earlier and for longer, a reduction in the use of all
health care services is clearly possible. As Hippocrates once said: ‘Man’s best
medicine; walking is humanity’s path to a better world’.
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