Rebranding Exercise: My Keynote Address for PHE Canada (Video)
A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of delivering the keynote address for Physical Health and Education Canada's annual national conference.
The title of my talk was "Rebranding Exercise" and it makes the case for detaching exercise from weight loss and reattaching it to health.
As to why exercise needs to be rebranded? By preventing cancers, improving blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar, bolstering sleep, attention, energy and mood, and doing so much more, exercise has indisputably proven itself to be the world’s best drug – better than any pharmaceutical product any physician could ever prescribe. Sadly though, exercise is not a weight loss drug, and so long as we continue to push exercise primarily (and sadly sometimes exclusively) in the name of preventing or treating adult or childhood obesity, we’ll also continue to short-change the public about the genuinely incredible health benefits of exercise, and simultaneously misinform them about the realities of long term weight management.
Video's below where you'll also find links to every journal article I mention in the talk listed in order of appearance. The first 28 minutes has me covering the evidence with as much animation as standing behind a podium allows, but if you just want to see me get fired up and explain why rebranding exercise is important, skip ahead to the 28 minute mark where I extricate myself from the clutches of the podium and watch from there.
Huge thanks to PHE Canada and Doug Gleddie for the invite and to Brent Gibson from PHE Canada for recording and posting the talk.
References:
Physical Activity Interventions in Schools for Improving Lifestyle in European Countries
Energy Expenditure and Adiposity in Nigerian and African American Women
Energy expenditure does not predict weight change in either Nigerian or African American women
Maintaining a High Physical Activity Level Over 20 Years and Weight Gain
A Meta-Analysis of Pedometer-Based Walking Interventions and Weight Loss
Effect of Exercise on 24-Month Weight Loss Maintenance in Overweight Women
Weight training, aerobic physical activities, and long-term waist circumference change in men