Hi All,
I see you’ve come back for more useful information and tips. Today I’d like to talk to you about how easy it is to create the kind of change you need, to begin to take the first steps toward better physical fitness, health, and wellbeing. Now, the next piece of advice I offer is going to sound weird for some of you, confusing to others, and spot on to the rest of you. If you really want to ensure that your journey toward health and wellbeing is a success, then you need to start by looking at the end of your life, and work your way backward to the present you.
In 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 70 yr. old Journalist Billy Noonan, attending a dinner in his honour, was said to have responded to the heaps of praise and expressions by his fellow journalists, the hope that he would live forever, by remarking: “If I had known I was going to live so long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” Imagine! Although he reached the age of 70 years, today, Billy would be looking at quite a few more years to come. Why, he would only be halfway through middle age by today’s standard. Today, you’re not considered old until you’re about 85! But Billy was right. We never know how long we will live but you should assume, or, at best, consider the possibility that you will live to an old age, so start planning now, and now could be 70. It’s never too late to change. It’s much like setting aside money for retirement or your child’s education; you’re pretty sure you’re going to need it. Think of your body in the same way.
Start investing in your body from an early age, ideally from around age 30-35, and the dividends you’ll reap in your ‘mature’ years will be huge; no time like the present, I say. Just pause for a moment and take a virtual look (we’re good at that at the moment) at what you ‘think’ you might look like or function like in your mature years. It’s okay. You won’t jinx yourselves, and in fact, it may be the best gift you’ll have ever given yourself. How do you see yourself? Active or sedentary? Embracing the vibrant, dynamic you, or dreading the old and decrepit you? Both are self-fulfilling prophesies of your choice, and through free choice, you determine the positive or negative pathway your body will take through your lifetime. We do know, if you do nothing, your chances of positively aging will be significantly reduced. So, let’s get your party started!
The often, and appropriate inspirational saying that comes to mind is this one: The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, and is never so apt when attempting to tackle the Beast (no, not Mark Labbett) that is physical aging. But let’s take that saying to its literal conclusion to help motivate you to begin your ‘journey’. Look at this table I devised to illustrate just how little effort it takes to achieve an incredible goal. Assume we will live to be 100 yrs. old, and our goal is to walk 1000 miles by the age of 100. How much effort will it take?
Age Years to100 Miles/yr Miles/mo Miles/week
80 20 52.8 4.4 1.1
70 30 33.3 2.8 .7
60 40 25 2.1 .5
50 50 20 1.7 .4
40 60 16.7 1.4 .35
30 70 14.3 1.2 .3
How easy does that look? It’s incredible how little you would have to walk each day to reach 1000 miles, which, on the face of it, sounds impossible. Most people I know walk an average of 4-5 miles/day, and if we look at a person, average age of 55, and they walk:
5mi/day X 7days/wk X 4wks/month X 12 months/year X 45 years (#yrs to age 100), that =75,600 miles.
That’s the equivalent of walking 3 times around the centre of the earth. So you see, something that would seem impossible becomes very possible. Exercise, fitness, wellness, wellbeing; call it what you like, is so easy to create for yourself when you break the activity down into small, achievable goals, to reach a big goal at the end, and even more effective if you can learn to convert daily life activity into exercise, thus converting that activity into functional fitness. See how easy that was, and you didn’t even break a sweat! But walking, (the easiest life activity converted into exercise), is just a small part of overall fitness and wellbeing. And contrary to what you might think, walking, although initially improves cardio fitness, becomes, the more you do it, less about cardio fitness and more about leg strengthening and general mental and physical wellbeing. So, the first easy thing you can do to get started with your wellness plan, is to just get out there and move- something! Now that you’re moving, start thinking about what basic components you need to build your body foundation.
Remember, fitness is about generating the greatest amount of work using the least amount of energy. The generator is the ‘True Core’, and our bodies are the beneficiaries of that energy, but too often we waste energy by using the body incorrectly. We inhabit these bodies only by an accident of birth, and are inadvertently assigned to be caretakers of this ‘house’ we live in, and as caretakers, it’s up to us to not only mind our house but nurture its wellbeing over our lifespan. Minding a house is ongoing. Just ask anyone who cleans or repairs things that go wrong in the house. They will tell you if you don’t regularly mind/clean, the house; the chore of it builds up to a lot of work. And if you don’t ‘fix’ things that are broken, as they occur, bigger problems appear on the horizon-think small leak ending in complete roof replacement! Our bodies are the same. They need regular minding and nurturing to ensure they work well-all the time, and over time. And something else to think about; the stronger a Foundation, the better that structure will be able to withstand any catastrophe that might befell it. This includes the body. We, in Physio, know that it takes less time and effort for an active, ‘fit’ person to restore levels of ‘fitness’ back to baseline, post illness or injury, than one who is sedentary or who has always been frail.
Start with Posture and the ‘True Core’, get flexible, add a dash of Cardio, and top it all off with Balance.
You can train in all the 4 Pillars through this website or in person in Galway, Ireland.
Thanks for listening. See you next time.
Slan
