In the last few weeks, I’ve had several conversations with people about the fact that they don’t want their age to impact their lifestyles. Now I think this is a very reasonable request as a human being. It’s inevitable that we are going to age, but how we age is still within our control. Today, I want to encourage everyone to think about what you can do to prevent feeling hopeless about the aging process.
The challenges that face us as we age happen slowly overtime. You used to be able to run up the stairs without getting out of breath, and now even walking up them is a struggle. You used to be able to carry all of the groceries in one trip, and now you have to ask your kids for help. You used to be able to do chores around the house with ease, and now you’re worried about throwing your back out for the 10th time.
These are all activities of daily life that we should be able to do for the majority of our lives. So why do these things get harder as we age?
Honestly, because we aren’t training for them most of the time. If you’re in the gym with a regular routine right now, this does not apply to you. But if you haven’t set foot in the gym in years, or even had a regular routine ever, I would listen.
The main stigma is that getting in the gym is about getting big bulky muscles or toning up or using it as an ego boost. But the truth is the type of training you should be doing is the type of training that keeps you doing the necessary daily activities of life for your whole life.
Another stigma is that paying for fitness is an unnecessary expense. But the reality is if you don’t have buy in, you likely don’t have accountability. And that’s when things slip through the cracks.
You don’t need to squat your body weight in plates on your back, but you should be able to squat so you can get up and down from chairs and especially the toilet.
You don’t need to be able to deadlift hundreds of pounds, but you should know the proper form so you can pick things up without throwing your back out.
You don’t need to be able to do a body weight push up or pull up, but you should know how to activate your big back muscles so that when you go to push and pull your lawnmower around, you can use correct technique.
These are the things we should be worrying about. These are the things we should be training for. If you don’t want to lose that sense of independence, then learning even these basic movement patterns could absolutely change your life for the rest of your life.
So if you’re hesitant to start a fitness routine, think about the fact that what you do today could end up helping you years down the line. And to me, that’s priceless.
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