12 Benefits Of A Healthier Sex Life That Have Nothing To Do With The Obvious

 

Saturday mornings, at the first intercession of the flyover bridge at the Arroma Junction Axis, Awka, you cannot help but observe people in different sports gear, getting busy with themselves, sweating profusely. It is always an array of people; fat, pot-bellied, obese, trim, chubby, flabby, weak, frail, firm, and muscular.

Saturdays, unlike other days of the week, attract heavy traffic from these people.

Alone, in pairs or groups are people on the road that leads from the ABS Bus Stop to Alex Ekwueme Square, you find them jogging, running, or engaged in brisk walking, some sing songs in the process while some use recorded music. Their goal; is to keep fit. As the awareness for healthy living increases, the role physical exercise plays in that swells the number of people who come to the square regularly. On a typical Saturday morning, activities at the square peak between 6 am and 9 am.

Alex Ekwueme Square is named after the Second Republic Vice President of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, who hailed from the state. The square is an open-air event centre designed to host government and authorised public functions. It sits adjacent to the Oma Events centre on Okpuno Road, off Anambra state House of Assembly complex-judiciary Road, Awka.

The intersection opposite the square's main entrance, adjacent to Oma Events Center holds more entertainment than any other place at the square. The spot hosts a cluster of people deep in sundry discourses while sipping beverages that they claim are healthy drinks from a vendor who makes a business out of the event with music from a speaker adding zest to the atmosphere. Pockets of vendors of sportswear and other materials scattered around the square's gate, just as people in pairs and groups engage in various exercises on available spaces.

On one of the pavements opposite Oma Event centre, last Saturday morning, two women, perhaps in their thirties, assisted by their guide, sweated it out on tummy reduction exercise. Besides them, a man gives up after some repetitions of press up and pants face down. On the road that leads to the new judiciary complex, fitness seekers in groups engage in different regimens of exercises. This side of the square records the highest number of fitness clubs.

The square houses a fallen hero statue and accommodates two pavilions with spaces scattered around it. Football Biffs take to the pitch at the back of the pavilion facing the State House of Assembly and sometimes, the space available before the monument. The space before the pavilions has top government officials and some professional bodies who deem it necessary to keep fit. For the various groups, the choice of association depends not just on status but on the type of fitness program that an individual wants.

A United States-based criminologist, Emmanuel Agbasi from Amachalla Village, Awka, who was on vacation in Nigeria described the square on Saturday mornings as a wonderful feeling. He is diabetic and believes that exercise is of benefit to his health. "The square is a social fraternity where people come to do a little walking and jogging and exercise to keep their health intact. It is wonderful, I know some people came here to do something else, but others are working hard to keep fit to help themselves health-wise."

                                                               Even little kids join

A businessman  Arinze Okafor, who frequents the square on Saturdays, stated that the square is the place to be on Saturdays if one has no serious engagement. He noted that Ekwueme Square, Awka, is what  Michael Okpara square, Enugu, used to be for fitness enthusiasts in old Anambra State.

"Exercise is good. There is much benefit in doing it. Since I discovered that something good for one's health happens here every Saturday, I come here to exercise. It's fun at the square on Saturdays. If you are not happy at home, you come here and leave in a lighter mood. I feel healthier anytime I leave here on Saturdays. Oma Even Centre has a gymnasium; the point is how many people can afford to register with them,"  he said.

An entrepreneur, Oby Nwosu, concurred that the square has helped people achieve their fitness goals. She commended the effect of the atmosphere on people's well-being. The Awka indigene acknowledged that though people go to Square to have fun and enjoy themselves, others for business but the main event is physical fitness. "Being overweight or unfit is a huge challenge. I can tell you that many came here out of shape but are now fit. If you come here thinking you are too wealthy, you will see people richer than you, and out of shape, you will see people with more pounds of flesh than you are or unfit than you. Before now I had a big tummy, but now it's flat. At my age I feel fitter now," she said.

Though fun to be at the square on Saturdays, it is understandably good to make the body sweat through physical fitness. However, not everyone supports a once-in-a-sports activity to keep the body fit. An insurance executive, Tochukwu Igboanugo, admits that it may not be convenient to exercise the body once a week. "long-term benefit of this is in more than one-a-week exercise. There is every tendency for people to give up after not achieving a deserved result or discontinue since they have achieved their fitness goals. It is helpful if you have a tight schedule to exercise at least two times a week at home, outside on Saturdays."

Organic food promoter, Prince Mbanefo Oranye, maintains that health is the foundation of everything and a function of many variables, more importantly, the variables of exercise and what you eat. If you live on organic food and exercise, you will not have problems with the accumulation of toxins in your system.

"Because of the major problem we have in toxins, the ability to reduce the toxins and how you release them depends on the ability of the food you eat. If you look at the body mechanism, it is a function of the hormone. If the hormone is not functioning effectively then you have a problem, "he said.