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Justyn Gray

UWRT 1104-057: Writing and Inquiry in Academic Contexts (I & II) with Studio

Professor Gabrielle Volstad

1 March 2019

Exercise Science: Exercise is Medicine

As an Exercise Science major you may need to know the importance of exercise. These

days not enough people know of the importance of exercise and the long term effects it could

have on your body. Some people do not know that exercise could be beneficial to their bodies in

preventing disease. Some professionals believe that exercise does keep you healthy, but it has no

effects on preventing or treating diseases and other problems. Others are just not educated on the

right amount of exercise as they tend to over workout. Some people have tried to prove the

importance of exercise and others have not begun to touch on the subject. But how important is

exercise and what would be the right amount needed to remain healthy.

The field of Exercise Science is a very interesting one that involves many different fields

of work. Exercise Science majors can range from many things such as Physicians Assistant,

Physical Therapist, Doctors, and the obvious Athletic Training.They learn and study the

functions of the body and and how are bodies functions together. After learning the functions of

the bodies we need to learn how to treat the malfunctions that the body parts have. That is where

Exercise Science comes in. Individuals that choose this field have a genuine interest in the body

and how it responds to certain stimulus. Most athletes tend to be attracted to this profession

because they can connect themselves to the major through sports related incidents. Others who

are attracted to this profession are people who enjoy physical activity. People who have an

interest in the body and they really want to help people when they encounter problems with it.
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This profession will be popular because people are starting to enjoy learning about the body and

honestly have a passion for learning the functions of the human body and that drives them to

help people who encounter injuries of the human body.

Being an exercise science major takes a lot of work. Starting with the basic structure of

the body and what are their specific functions. You learn the basic order of everything starting

with individual cells. After learning that you learn how these structures interact with each other.

How they produce the things we do such as muscle functions, eating, seeing, hearing, etc. After

learning the anatomy and physiology we learn how the body malfunctions and everything that

could go wrong. Malfunctions like breaking bones, tearing muscles, and many diseases and their

effects on the body. After learning those complications we learn how to treat them and and what

makes diseases tick. What steps we take to prevent, treat, cope with the malfunctions of our

bodies. Once you finish the school side of it you start the profession. You can become anything

including a nurse, physician, physician assistant, physical therapist, athletic trainer, and even a

doctor. You have to treat patients and for their illness and then teach them how to avoid them.

Thats where different medications come in. You have to learn what medicine is and how it

affects the body. You need to be able to know how to talk to your patients and coworkers. You

have to work on your personality and social skills to communicate. You have to work on

yourself as a person because you would want to treat people how you would treat your own

family. Knowing what is the best for your patients which means working on your judgement. So

majoring in exercise science to become anything in this field require more work than just

learning the curriculum and dos and don'ts. It requires working on your time management

because it is a very busy profession juggling your workload and social life. It requires working

on yourself and knowing what is best for you and your profession.
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This field also comes with a lot of controversy that no know has had a handle on. It deals

with the discussion on medicines and it effects on the body. Once someone is diagnosed with an

illness or is involved in an injury the first thing we do is give them medication. The medication is

not always the best solution though. Sometimes medicine does more damage on a body than the

actual injury or disease. What if there was a way to prevent and treat disease with little to no side

effects. Here’s a question from Dr. Bob Sallis a family physicians “If there were one drug that

prevented and treated dozens of diseases and taking it had zero negative side effects, would you

take it?(Hannah).” Now think about another question; Is physical activity a better alternative than

prescribed medication? Whether it is an obese individual, adult with inflammation or arthritis,

exercise or physical activity has been used as a replacement for prescribed medication. Resulting

no side effects, exercise has been substituted for prescribed medications by physicians, athletic

trainers, rehabilitation centers, and physical therapist. Dr. Bob Sallis says, “Doctors are able to

refer an obese patient to a specialist for bariatric surgery but not to a fitness professional

(Hannah).” After convincing people that exercise is a viable solution we run into another

complication. Doctors do not believe in the power of physical activity over medication. Once the

problem is taken care of.“The complicated part is how to get people to do it (Russel).”The

Canadian health care professionals are searching for the solution. Every questions comes with

one complication after another. Professional also have to answer the question that how much

exercise is too much exercise. Studies show that too much exercise could be harmful to the body

so doctors need to be educated on this risk to secure the safety of their patients. According to the

physical activity guidelines “30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes a

week of vigorous-intensity exercise…(Eijsvogels)” is the proper amount of exercise. Is exercise

considered medicine and is it a better alternative?

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Works Cited

Eijsvogels, T., & Thompson, P. (2015). Exercise Is Medicine: At Any Dose? JAMA,
314(18), 1915–1916. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.10858

Hannam, L. (2017, May 18). Can Exercise Replace Medication for What Ails You?
Retrieved from https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/health/benefits-of-
exercise/

Russell, E. (2013). Exercise is medicine.(News). CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association

Journal, 185(11), E526. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-4501