Wall Street Journal Is My New Sports Hero

I'm not big on hero worship, but I may have to re-think my position.

"The Hidden Benefits of Exercise," the cover story in the "Personal Journal" section of the Wall Street Journal (January 5, 2010), almost made me swoon.

There it was -- everything our Women's Sports Foundation has been saying for decades: "Even moderate physical activity can boost the immune system and protect against chronic disease." Yes!

Other studies show that exercise

-- lowers the risk of stroke by 27%,

-- reduces the incidence of diabetes by approximately 50%,

-- reduces the incidence of high-blood pressure by approximately 40%,

-- can reduce mortality and the risk of recurrent breast cancer by approximately 50%,

-- can lower the risk of colon cancer by over 60%, and

-- can reduce the risk of developing the risk of developing the Alzheimer's disease by approximately 40%.

Game, set and match. Less colds and flu, too. How can you beat those odds?

I urge you to share your healthy living story with me, because it is important to me to know what you are doing to improve your life. You can write to me at [e-mail] and I will send you a link to the Women's Sports Foundation's new study on health called Her Life Depends on It.

Go for it and happy new year of exercise and health to everyone.

 

Comments

[irasabs]

09:19 PM on 01/10/2010

Your latest post about the Wall Street Journal story is a good one. However upsetting for some left leaning Huffington Post readers to praise anything at the conservative Wall Street Journal, the message is what is important: exercise is beneficial.

We agree...to such a degree that I started exercising regularly at age 68 to grow a six-pack, took up tennis, and created a web site (www.irasabs.com) that shows progress pictures of me and many other people who are devoted to fitness, sports of all kinds and are inspiring readers to be healthier through diet, physical activity and increased awareness.

Your essay in the Zuckerman book, Wisdom—in which by the way you are the only sports celebrity of all 50 people included—also made such good sense that I posted excerpts of your words two different times.

Please check out my site and accept my thanks for all you have done for tennis, women and sports. Now that I am a tennis enthusiast as well—45 hours during 14 out of 19 days in early December—I am also watching, reading and learning more than ever before about this exciting sport and way of living that you have championed for so many decades. Thank you again for all your efforts.

[janetk]

10:33 AM on 01/09/2010

Billie Jean, one of my favorites, thanks! Yes we all know about exercise but I believe there is a fundamental problem that goes far beyond just not finding the time for it. Sometime there IS no time for it. Let's face the facts here; if you are married and have children and/or aging parents and are working outside the home there is still that underlying programmed expectation that the woman should do most of the housework, cooking and shopping and all of the other traditional jobs. So we women are out there working because there is no way most households could survive on a mans salary now days but we are now stuck with both. Fact! I waited until my kids grew up and then just stopped shopping, doing laundry, cooking and cleaned a lot less. My husband figured it out and got off of the son niche he so conveniently carved out for himself over the years (if he wanted to eat or have clean clothes) But I had to deprogram myself. Now I actually have time for me which includes exercise. I had to stop complaining and put a plan in action. It is hard when your kids are small though because you are doing it for them and some husbands just get the benefits by default. Tough to be from the trailblazer generation, as you Billie Jean know but someone had to do it!! Love Ya!

[UnoDosUltraviolento]

08:43 AM on 01/09/2010

I'm amazed by how some mouthbreathing ideologues hate on the WSJ.

[Condi1836]

11:47 PM on 01/08/2010

Just read the blog. Logged in because I am feeling very very very depressed. Billie Jean you have always inspired me and your blog reminded me that exercise is great for mental health also. I am going to start walking tomorrow morning at a local trail. Snow wind rain or whatever!! I am at a crossroads in my life surrounded by four road blocks. Thanks for the lifeline.

[lee4]

09:10 AM on 01/11/2010

Good luck to you. Walking has made all the difference in my life.

[Callyson]

09:48 PM on 01/08/2010

I'm not about to spend my hard-earned money on the WSJ (they actually do sometimes print good articles, but their op-ed policy is stictly for the Reeps), but I am happy that they got this story right. The benefits of exercise are so immense (along with the ones BJK mentions, the stress reduction alone is enough to keep me running) that its importance bears repeating in the media.

[Bitsko]

04:09 PM on 01/08/2010

I'm one of your biggest fans, Ms. King, but the Wall Street Journal???

[alanrsnipes]

01:59 PM on 01/08/2010

BJK-As a man, I have admired you for years! You turned me on to tennis and fitness YEARS ago. The message needs to keep being repeated.
Thanks!

[broncofan]

11:18 AM on 01/08/2010

Great post...you are still the bomblette!
Bongi's mom

[werbenjagermanjensen]

09:18 AM on 01/08/2010

A friend of mine was in a bad car accident (not her fault) and suffered a closed head injury and a broken pelvis. She made a full recovery, much faster than expected, mostly due to her immense capacity for hard work, determination and positive thinking, but her doctors said that the fact that she was so physically fit due to regular swimming and walking also helped a lot.

[Ashkee Colorado]

01:05 AM on 01/08/2010

Billie Jean = Great! WSJ, murdoch rag, not so good.

[sanderson13]

12:49 PM on 01/08/2010

Way to rain on somebody else's parade.

Do you even read the Wall Street Journal?

[roshni]

03:53 PM on 01/08/2010

Agree.
BJK rocks but I will not support Murdoch.

[bushguy]

11:40 PM on 01/07/2010

If the WSJ prints it I assume it is true.

[Converdi]

11:03 PM on 01/07/2010

Not to be snarky, but every how-to-be-healthy article I've read for the past several years has said this. It's good to repeat it over and over and over for sure......but no particular kudos to WJS. It is an absolute (but often unheeded) fact.

[3rdCitizen]

07:47 AM on 01/08/2010

Yeah,with all due respeoct to Billie Jean King, that was my reaction too.

[ftworth4632]

10:55 PM on 01/07/2010

Billie Jean - met you at a World TeamTennis match (loved it by the way) and you looked terrific. So whatever exercise you are doing is working - you've inspired me to get in better shape in 2010!

[ThreeCentsWorth]

09:35 PM on 01/07/2010

You are my hero(ine). The WSJ is just ok. Keep up the inspirational work.

[grdavis1019]

09:19 PM on 01/07/2010

Nice to hear but I wouldn't spend a dime on the WSJ since Murdoch bought it. So much of what he advocates is anti anything else you likely support. Don't sleep with that rag over one article.