Build a Physical Activity Habit

Build a Physical Activity Habit. It’s the most important thing you can do in the mature phase of your life. This is the time to use the wisdom you have amassed to do the most good. Kids want to go fishing with their parents and grandparents. Every youngster needs a fishing mentor.  You have a responsibility to meet that need. Don’t use the ‘I’m too old and stiff ‘excuse.

We have (wrongly) accepted the false narrative that we will become decrepit with age. Even doctors, rather than ask why we age, simply treat the consequences. That’s how cancer was treated in the 60s. Remove the tumor, send you on your way and wish you the best.

But now we know more. We know why cancer happens and we know why aging happens.

A lot of what happens with aging is under our control. Science is ‘catching up’ to what the Greeks knew intuitively. In the right conditions, the body will heal itself!!!

Inactivity is what is making your muscles hurt, making them stiff and inflexible. That didn’t happen until you got older and your muscles started going downhill. You can stop and even reverse that downhill slide.

Two Facts of Biological Aging

1. Muscles tend to shorten, tighten and decrease in range of motion with age.
2. Beginning around age 30, the human body loses 3-8% of muscle with each decade. Inactivity speeds up the process and feeds muscle loss momentum.

The decline of muscle manifests as difficulty getting up from sitting on the floor with children, your dog, kneeling in the garden or, getting in and out of the bathtub. All these moves require the one thing that is in short supply, muscle.

Researchers have found three millennia of data that tell us inactivity is what’s aging us prematurely and ultimately killing us. “Chronic diseases are major killers in the modern era. Physical inactivity is a primary cause of most chronic diseases.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly half of adults in the U.S. are living with at least one chronic illness.

Even though a fitness regimen would reduce disease severity and progression, medical professionals are reluctant to recommend exercise. But, you don’t need a doctor to reduce the severity of disease!!!

Don’t rely on medical professionals (or anyone else) for your well-being. Fitness is not found in a doctor’s office.

Just because you may have some condition or diagnosis, doesn’t mean you can’t get active. Having one or more chronic conditions (even cancer) is not a reason to avoid exercise it’s a reason to dive all-in to exercise. Become your own hands-on personal healthcare advisor. I exercise everyday with my chronic conditions.

Flip the typical doctor-filled retiree life on its head. Bring fitness to the forefront and marginalize disease.

Build a Physical Activity Habit

Most people get this part wrong.

Motivation, willpower and inspiration all come from the same part of your brain (prefrontal cortex) that manages short-term memory, day-to-day tasks and focus—executive function.  It’s a cluttered area that’s draining. We push things aside. The first to go is the new, difficult stuff like building a new fitness habit. You cannot rely on or trust motivation.

Researchers tested three groups. One group read articles that were designed to motivate. The second group read motivating articles and and were advised to ‘get active’ and even asked to exercise. Only 35% of both group participants exercised.  The third group read motivating materials and were required to make a specific commitment to exercise did so at the rate of 91%.

So don’t rely on motivation. Put it on your calendar as a commitment, just like you did for school and work. Schedule it and follow your schedule. Get up and go to it, like brushing your teeth except there’s more to it. This is the most reliable ‘motivation.’ I exercise every day. Not because I am motivated but rather because I’ll regret missing a commitment if I don’t. And remember, small successes create a path for bigger successes!!!

It’s in our best interest to build a physical activity habit. But it’s hard, as there are significant barriers to change. However, if we can do it, evidence shows that you, societies and all the world will be healthier and more prosperous.

The latest research findings suggest that “billions of dollars in global healthcare could be saved by improving physical activity rates. Overall, the models estimate that between (US)$8.7 billion and (US)$11.2 billion in present global healthcare expenditure could be saved by making people physically more active, with those savings rising to between $16 billion and $20.6 billion by 2050.”

Billions, that’s how important movement is……..

Here is a link to measure how you are aging; where you are now and what to do (and practice) to improve your condition and grow healthier as you age.

Download my free e-book Quick Guide to Strength, Sturdiness and Stamina.

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Categorized in: General Knowledge