An active lifestyle will keep you young!

Exercise: The Fountain of Youth

Heather Stickney

In a lighthearted way you could say I am pursuing the "Fountain of Youth". For centuries it's location was sought but never found. If youthfulness is considered symbolic of being healthy then I do believe exercise is medicine. I have always been very active and have been able to appreciate the health benefits
associated with the lifestyle.

Therefore, when I retired I asked the staff at the Pulse Generator if they would give me a workout routine that I could use well into the future to help maintain my bone density, muscular strength and flexibility. I was given four strength training routines with subsequent stretching exercises and told to add hill climbing to my long walks to "kick them up a notch". Since then I have also added some basic balance exercises to my stretching routine.

Collectively, this system seems to have kept me healthy

and in good physical condition. What I look forward to most in my daily activities is walking in our river valley.

It's an environment that is constantly changing. It's here that I plan

my days and invariably I find myself humming or singing.

Yes, exercise is good medicine.



Don't Procrastinate, Get To It!

Procrastination is a killer and is one of the leading causes of inactivity!

Procrastination, or “resistance” as author Steven Pressfield calls it in his book The War of Art, is one of the hardest things to defeat on the face of the planet.  But it can be defeated.

Below are some fitness productivity tips that have helped me slay my dragon of procrastination and resistance–and I know they can help you to destroy yours as well.

1. The first 10 minutes are the worst. Read that again, the first 10 minutes of exercise are the hardest to get done. In other words at the beginning of a workout there is a good chance you’ll feel like poo. According to Dr. Mike Stroud, in his book Survival of the Fittest, the poor feelings at the beginning of a workout are due to your body being in a slight oxygen deficit. Once the body balances your oxygen levels, you’ll feel much better and by the end of your workout you will be feeling great

2. Motivation doesn’t always come before action. I learned this one recently. Seriously. If you’ve ever said to yourself “hopefully I’ll be motivated to do that tomorrow”, then you are guilty of waiting on the motivation to take action as well. Often, motivation comes after we begin the task, so don’t wait on motivation to begin your workout.

3. Make working out like taking a shower. I often ask my clients how they would feel if they skipped a week of taking a shower. They always say “terrible” or “gross.” I reply, “Well, you’ve got to make exercise such a habit that you feel the same way when you skip a workout.” Some might argue that taking a shower is much more of a necessity than working out–I might argue that both are necessities.

4. Thinking is your worst enemy. Think too long and procrastination wins. End of story. Your mind will come up with so many excuses why you shouldn’t work out that you’ll have a hard time deciding which one to use. No clean clothes, too tired, and the gym’s too busy. Don’t give your mind a chance to talk you out of what you need to do, take action and get it done without over thinking.

 

Contributed by Matthew Thomas