Years ago there was no need for intentional exercise programs. Vigorous physical activity was a natural part of life and practically everyone participated in enough movement on a daily basis to keep strong and fit. Modern day technology and labor saving devices have robbed most people of movement time. We are very busy – busier that ever – but unfortunately we move in a few simple repetitive ways that are not enough to meet the most basic requirements of the human body to stay healthy. We sit a lot, in our cars, at our jobs, and back home on the couch maintaining our addiction to television. We are no longer required to run, bend down, lift, carry, reach or stretch like our ancestors, movements the body is engineered to do in everyday life. Our bodies put up with this for a while and we get a period of grace while we continue dishing out long periods of inactivity and endless hours of repetitive activity. But then after a certain point, often after a certain age, our muscles and joints start to stiffen and hurt as we start to lose function. We lose a bit here and a bit there, becoming weaker and less flexible. We stop doing activities and sports that we used to enjoy and our world becomes smaller. For many people this insidious loss of function, the muscle and joint pain and the disability that follows is happening at younger and younger ages - sometimes in the twenties and often in the thirties and forties. For most of us proper exercise is something we should do but choose not to saying we are too busy and do not have time for it. We can live like this for years (or even decades) while experiencing a gradual and barely noticeable decline in overall health. Sometimes we are not fully conscious of the downgrade in our physical functioning until something dramatic happens and we become aware some body part doesn't work as well as it used too. It can take a painful injury, having to be off work, disruption to our daily life or giving up an activity that we really love for us to wake up and take notice. Some of us get a shock and start taking an active role in maintaining our muscle and joint health and begin a proper exercise program. Some of us do nothing believing that this is just part of getting older and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. But in the back of these people's minds however, is there a nagging question "If this is the way things are now, what is it going to be like for me years from now?" And this is where the choices and decisions that we make are crucial to how we are going to manage our physical capacity down the track. Is it fair not to worry about it at all and have the burden fall on other people? Ultimately this burden affects us all; families, communities and our world all pay the price of caring for people who can no longer care for themselves. When we were younger and much more active, we were building the foundation for our future healthy lives. Once we "become of age," we need to continue to work at protecting the miracle we have built so our 'health span' matches our 'life span'. You do have a choice about how you wish to grow older. You could surrender to the downward spiral mainly caused by not enough strength building and maintaining activity… or you can take control, get active and grow strong, fit and energetic with a strength training exercise program. The fact is the older you become, the more you need to seriously exercise so you can say to yourself at any age "I feel strong, fit and really alive!"
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Years ago there was no need for intentional exercise programs. Vigorous physical activity was a natural part of life...
Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook "I've Found the Fountain of Youth- Let Me Show You Too!" here: Physical Wellness For Free Fitness Report here Fitness Weight Loss Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger.
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