I'm not too worried about coronary disease, but I am concerned about my brain, my mental well being, Alzheimer's, cognitive ability, depression etc, esp. considering everyone on this site is at a higher risk for all of these due mostly to the stress of the profession and sedentary lifestyle.
Unfortunately, leg rises, push ups, pull ups etc (strength and resistance training in general) do nothing for your brain. On the other hand brain thrives on aerobic activity, esp. higher end of the spectrum near the aerobic threshold. And this is also great for your mood and general well being.
It also takes a decade to develop your aerobic engine (well there are really 3 - 4 metabolic systems available to you when you do aerobic exercise, but some are so short in duration that are negligible and the others respond to training very well). Developing power at threshold (i.e. put out as much power as you can at a level just at the edge between aerobic and anaerobic) is the slowest to develop.
For more on connection between brain health and aerobic exercise see Dr. Medina's Google talk on his "Brain Rules". It's quite enlightening in general
Unfortunately, leg rises, push ups, pull ups etc (strength and resistance training in general) do nothing for your brain. On the other hand brain thrives on aerobic activity, esp. higher end of the spectrum near the aerobic threshold. And this is also great for your mood and general well being.
It also takes a decade to develop your aerobic engine (well there are really 3 - 4 metabolic systems available to you when you do aerobic exercise, but some are so short in duration that are negligible and the others respond to training very well). Developing power at threshold (i.e. put out as much power as you can at a level just at the edge between aerobic and anaerobic) is the slowest to develop.
For more on connection between brain health and aerobic exercise see Dr. Medina's Google talk on his "Brain Rules". It's quite enlightening in general
http://youtu.be/IK1nMQq67VI