In my last blog post, I wanted to explain why exercise is important. Hopefully, I proved that exercise is a great activity to take part in. In this blog post I want to show some sources of reliable information so you can do your own research. Then, you can find out more benefits and figure out what works well for you. I will also be talking about some unreliable sources that would be good to stay away from. As someone who exercises, it has been so important for me to figure out which websites to trust, and which ones to avoid. Here is what I found in my research:
Reliable Sources:
- The American College Of Sports Medicine (ACE) is a fantastic source to find all of the current information on exercise. It is accredited by the NCAA, (The National Commission for Certifying Agencies) which is the widely-accepted gold standard for programs that certify professionals in many healthcare and fitness occupations.
- ACE has a strong commitment to create global impact, and has partnerships with policymakers, fitness industry leaders, community organizations and the Healthcare Industry in order to make a positive impact. Are you trying to figure out how effective Crossfit is? Or how effective spin is? Use this source! The ACE is good for anyone trying to find science backed answers for health questions related to exercise on what are good forms of exercise vs bad forms.
- The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention is another great source to explore the health benefits related to exercise. The CDC is the leading public health institute in the United States and is under the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The CDC contains a great run through of physical activity basics, strategies on exercise, walking tips, worksite physical activity, and general resources that you can use to improve your lifestyle. The CDC is good for anyone trying to find out the health benefits of physical activity.
- The Department of Health and Human Services shows some valuable initiatives that people can follow regarding exercise. They explain the benefits of physical activity, post facts on exercise, and provide many reliable resources that you can go to.
- This website is good for anyone looking to be healthier who is trying to find out more information on exercise. The HHS is accredited by the federal government and is a well renowned source.
Not as reliable:
- Sources that are not as reliable include certain instagram accounts. One example of this is Rob Allen’s instagram. Although his instagram page seems to have a lot of facts and comes across very motivational, it is not backed by evidence.
- Having so many followers, people like Rob Allen have a huge influence over people, and this may be a bad thing if he is not backing up his information from websites such as the ones mentioned in my “Reliable Sources” section. His main focus is on exercise to lose weight. This website might be ok for people to look at to gain inspiration, but it should not be looked at as an accredited source.
- Another unreliable source comes from Divya Chandram’s instagram page on exercise. She posts a lot about fitness and shows a lot of pictures of her body to show how her exercise regime works. She includes free workout videos in her channel as well. However, this is not a reliable source because there is such a thing as over exercising.
- This woman shows signs of over exercising, and viewers should be aware that they should not expect to look the way she looks. Over exercising can be harmful to your body, and keeping a balance is extremely important. Again, this page is great for people looking for motivation, it is just not a realistic tool to base your exercise routine.
- “Home Care Assistance” is another website that needs to be backed up by more evidence. It talks about the dangers of exercising as an older adult. It is clearly not evidence based. Although it has some tips on how to stay safe when exercising as an elderly person, it barely talks about the positive side effects that exercising can have.
- This site is biased towards not exercising, and that is very obvious. This site is good for elderly people to get general information on the dangers of exercise, but it should be taken into consideration with reliable sources as well. I would not want my grandparents to look at this website. It would scare them and make them not want to exercise, which would rob them of such a critical component of healthy living.
Hopefully this will help you on your journey to start exercising! It is important to feel comfortable in the exercises you are choosing, and it is important to be confident in the resources you are using to make this change happen. By looking at reliable sources and avoiding unreliable ones, your path to success gets more and more visible.
Exercise and Stay Healthy! 