The human body is an unbelievable ‘machine’, with literally millions of years of evolution bringing us to the present day. We are designed for movement. EVERYDAY. Yet it seems so many of us have forgotten how to move, even that we should be moving at all.
Why do we NEED to move? To stay healthy, to keep our metabolism burning (and weight where we want it), to keep our bones strong, our muscles toned, our heart and lungs working efficiently, and perhaps most importantly for the ‘feel good’ factor and cerebral BOOST that exercise brings.
Lack of movement = problems. Obesity, weak bones, poor posture, weak heart and lungs, low self esteem.
“Once you lose your health, you have NOTHING. It is my firm belief that you can live to 100, and you can live well if you choose to do so…. As hunter gatherers we were designed for movement, but we don’t move any more. We have all these wonderful pieces of equipment that we put oil into and they move for us. So we’ve STOPPED moving and we have to learn to move again, because our bodies were designed for natural food and food that wasn’t always there, and we wonder why we get all these modern diseases”.
Dr Ross Walker, eminent cardiologist, educator and best selling author
Nowadays, with our busy lifestyles, we have a myriad of ‘pulls’ every day, all seemingly as important as the next. Do we go to work an hour early to catch up on that overdue document for the boss, do we grab an extra 30 mins sleep (late night last night out at the kids school play/ drinks with friends), do we tidy the office and pay the bills, do we spend time with the kids – “Mummy/ Daddy is ALWAYS out….”????
OR do we go out for a 30 minute jog/ walk (and soak up the early morning fresh air – nature’s very own superdrug!), add a few push ups and sit ups at the end, and FEEL FANTASTIC for the rest of the day.
That post exercise ‘buzz’ will make you feel like you are UNSTOPPABLE, like you can achieve anything. You will suddenly find motivation and energy for all those ‘I’ll do that tomorrow’ jobs and do them TODAY, time will suddenly be on your side, the traffic lights will all turn green when you want, the children will behave, you’ll feel LIGHTER, STRONGER, BRIGHTER and HAPPIER.
When our team was in a triathlon at Mooloolaba a few years ago, the intimidating surf was trying to sink me, I was pedalling with 100% effort into a wind that was pushing me backwards, I had sore feet and hills stretching away into the distance… Maybe that’s not for you (at least not NOW). Maybe however, 20 lengths of your local pool, 30 minutes cycling through the local park to your favourite coffee shop, 20 mins jog-walking to get a good sweat up (why not take some light dumbbells to work those arms too?) seems more achievable and a good place to start MOVING again!
I say go for it 🙂 you will thank yourself forever….
