Your Muscles

A Journey
By Muffet Dolar Villegas
May 25,2008

MOVE THOSE MUSCLES



As the dawn breaks, a handful of early risers hike along our boulevard to catch the sea breeze and do regular exercise. The tired balut vendors at night are slowly replaced by wide eyed, brisk walking regulars who barely missed their daily routine. At noontime, the boulevard is an oasis where people seek refuge from the heat.
A mixture of different culture from the east and the west thrive in this side of Dumaguete city where food is as varied as the people who linger and finally stay.
Families love to watch the sea and the moonlight at dusk while eating tempura, peanuts, pizza or chicken barbecue. Others prefer fine dining in restaurants with international cuisines fronting the shores.
The boulevard never sleeps. During late evenings, some lonely souls are waiting for someone to come along. This has become part of the scenery even on hot humid nights and cool stormy weather. For what purpose, its between them and God.
As the century old acacia trees form canopy laces against the reddish gold horizon, the boulevard comes alive with people from all walks of life, all ages, moving, walking, jogging back and forth.
Exercise is a healthy habit. New research shows that exercise can help protect girls from breast cancer especially when they start exercising as early as 12 to 22 years old. Middle aged women are also advised to get physically active to lower the risk of the disease.
Lauran Neergaard, wrote that those who start exercising at an early age really pays off.
Researchers found that women who are physically active as teens and young adults are less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than those who lead sedentary or inactive lifestyle, according to the report released recently in the Journal of National Cancer Institute in the United States.
Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said that sustained physical activity from a young age through adult years is the best way to get a maximum benefit.
Colditz cautioned that “This is not the extreme athlete.” The report said that three hours and fifteen minutes of running or any vigorous exercise a week can lower the risk of breast cancer and for those who are less athletic, 13 hours a week of walking,”
There are factors that we cannot change like our genes and our environment. Lifestyle is a choice. Exersice takes a lot of willpower. And the hardest part is to start.
Come and move those muscles. Let’s take a walk at the boulevard or bike along the rugged mountains going to Lake Balinsasayao, the twin lakes, or swim in the blue green waters with powdery white sand in other parts of the islands.
Forget those piles of documents you have to read or edit, or stories you need to write. Your computer can sit all day long and won’t miss you a bit as you take a day off in paradise. God made this beautiful world especially for you. The best day is now.