I have been a bit under the weather this weekend, with a mild migraine starting yesterday evening forcing me to lay down for a half hour. Migraines are rare these days, with the last one being just before I had a stroke five years ago, so it was a bit unsettling to have another one. If I have another stroke, I hope it kills me or gives me a superpower.
I went to the gym today, anyway.
Granted, I kept my workout pretty low-key, lifting no weights, just stretching out my legs, hips and lower back. A few of my workouts each week are pretty light in terms of effort required, but I am pushing myself into the stretches more. I was watching a guy a little older than myself, so maybe early fifties, do some jumps along the mat pictured above, and I don't want to be like that. It was like his knees could no longer absorb the impact so didn't bend, making the exercise terrible for his knees. It was awkward and jerky in motion and it made me realise...
I need to film my own jumping!!!
I didn't do it at the gym tonight, but I will have to find a quiet time to give it a go. Because, I don't want to become one of those doddering old men who is unable to stand straight, walk smoothly, and will fall over in a stiff breeze. Degradation is part of getting older of course, but the speed of degradation can differ a lot between people.
I had dinner with a friend the other night and while we chowed-down on pizza and a glass of wine, we talked about how we could both lose a few pounds. She and I have been friends for over twenty years now and used to often go to the gym together, but our results at the gym were not great, due to the weekends we would have. Still, she was saying that her husband went to the gym three days in a row last week and started to get sick and she told him,
"you are 53, you can't exercise like you used to!"
Of course he can!!! He is in pretty good shape for his age, and as a lawyer, but once we get it in our heads that we need to "slow down" because we are getting older, it is over. In my opinion at least, the slowdown shouldn't be a drop in frequency, but instead a slight drop in intensity. At least from what I have noted through my life, the people who limit the days they go to the gym, tend to have worse results than the people who consistently go to the gym but adjust their workouts to how they feel on the days.
I think this makes sense because a person who goes for example four times to the gym per week, working out hard on three of those days and having a lighter day, is more likely to do very little on the other days. However, a person who goes to the gym five or six times a week, does three hard workouts, a lighter day, and maybe another light day, a stretching day, or another medium day, will end up doing far more. Not only that, going to the gym regularly is probably a good strategy to limit bad diet habits also. Four times a week gives three potential cheat days. Six days with a couple lighter workouts, still leaves just one. People tend to eat healthier on the days they go to the gym, than the ones they don't.
So much of our lives have become sedentary experiences, that we have to artificially schedule movement. But, it is artificial and therefore, unnatural. It is no wonder so many people hate going to the gym, because we aren't really evolved to schedule movement, as it was just part of our lives to survive. For those who have very active lifestyles where they have to move their bodies a lot, going to the gym might not be a great benefit to them, even though eating a healthy diet is still necessary. For most of us though, we aren't active.
Kids naturally jump around and play, until their parents sit them in front of screens and games to keep them busy. Adults used to do this also, as work demanded it. However, I wonder what my movement profile would be like if I didn't go to the gym. How often would I lift my hands above my head, or jump? How often would I carry the kinds of weights required to maintain muscle and bone density? How often would I stretch or strengthen the various bits of my body that would keep me capable into older age?
Rarely.
Are you different than me?
Maybe you are, but I would question how much of people's lives in the modern world have positive effects on their bodies and health in comparison to the time spent doing things that have a negative impact. And "going to the gym" isn't strictly the answer for many people for various reasons either, but couldn't we all be doing something? One of those door jamb pull-up bars and a couple resistance bands and a huge amount of exercises for the entire body can be done. Doing the exercise at home is the challenge most face and it has proven very inconsistent for me. But I also know some people who exercise a lot and hard at home also.
It is funny in some way, because I am in terrible condition given the many physical challenges I have faced since a teen, but I am still trying to improve, or slide back more slowly. It is also funny, because I don't think the future is very bright, nor do I think I will leave far into old age, but I still believe that being healthy is important. But I think the strangest thing is when I meet people who are positive about the future, want to live a long life, but are in terrible condition and have zero interest in doing anything about it.
I have never heard someone say,
"My life is worse because I exercise regularly."
Every day we wake up at the start line.
Taraz
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