The importance of continuing effort to stay healthy and physically fit.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUING EFFORT TO STAY HEALTHY AND PHYSICALLY FIT.

Seniors beware! Do I need to remind anyone that we are in a battle with time?

That’s right folks, we must fight against the mistaken belief that as we age we should start to slow down and take things easier. My personal philosophy is just the opposite. It is a fact of life that time and gravity are conspiring to drag us down as the years stack up. To give in to that reality is to step towards the grave. How do we fight back? By determining to overcome the inertia of inactivity and challenging ourselves physically and mentally.

At age 71 I certainly don’t feel as I did at 17, 27 or even 47. Can you remember what it was like for you when you were 17? We were literally vibrating with excess energy that was always there for our use. We did not need to do anything at all to get it. Ah yes, the glory and great gift of youth. High levels of energy are still available to us but we must and can generate it from within us.

Sweating Seniors know that there is more in us than we are consciously aware of but it will not appear without the effort on our part. That starts with pushing our bodies to do more than we think we can do.

1. If you can walk you can push yourself to walk a bit faster. A little farther. Up some hills. Conventional thinking, I won’t call it wisdom, says that at a “certain age” whatever that means, if walking around the block once makes you very tired then you should walk a shorter distance. If you give in to that advice before long you won’t be able to make it around the block at all. Sweating Seniors philosophy says even though you are tired you should push yourself to take a few extra steps. Keep doing that and you will find that you will be able to extend your walk instead of shortening it. Ask yourself, “Do I want to give in and accept the loss of mobility?” Of course you don’t. The real question is and always will be, “What am I willing to do to prevent that?” The same applies to running as I demonstrate in the following video after I finish swimming.

2. Always important to warm up before doing any physical training. There are many ways to do this and starting with a walk or run are good. Breathe deep and get the lungs expanded. The following video illustrates one of my favorites. This is great for the whole body and is an advanced movement that should only be done if your back and core are already in top condition and injury free. One of the biggest mistakes people make is doing too much too soon. I include this so you can see what can be done if you work up to it. A personal program structured for you and your ability should be set up by a qualified trainer.

WORK CORE AND ABS

3. Many people have back problems. In many cases this stems from poor posture while sitting and standing along with being overweight. When a person is overweight their belly area distorts the shape of the spine. When that happens pain and suffering to some degree will follow. For those of us who have been rather fanatical about our bodies’ abilities and appearance here’s a video of an advanced movement to strengthen the core and allow us to look great. Make the youngsters be envious of us as most of them will not look like this.

BOSU ABDOMINAL BALL THROWS

ADVANCED CORE WORK

4. Pulling a load is another way to develop yourself with a full body exercise. It just feels natural. The human body developed over 2 million years performing specific movements that were essential to survival. The following video is one of my adaptations of a pulling movement. There are many ways this can be done and you should start out light and work your way up over time.

CHAIN DRAG

71YEAR OLD DRAGS CHAIN AND BARBELL

5. Pushing a load is another essential full body movement. Here’s a video of a fun technique to develop pushing strength that will challenge you. You control how difficult it is by the weight you load.

CHAINED WHEELBARREL

YES, THIS IS FUN

6. Here’s something that will have your neighbors wondering what’s going on in your head. They will either emulate your behavior or think you’ve lost your mind. Don’t let what others think control what you do for yourself. This video stems from one of my early life challenges at age 16. My car broke down and being that my friends and I didn’t have much money and I did not want to call my father to rescue us we decided to just push the thing home. Now this is a full body exercise if there ever was one. Start with throwing big rocks to warm up.

PUSH AND PULL YUKON

71 YEAR OLD THROWS ROCKS THEN PUSHES AND PULLS YUKON TRUCK

The world is full of those who don’t believe in themselves enough to be bold and look inside themselves to find their true capabilities. Don’t be one of them. If you are a senior person you have already overcome so many obstacles just to reach your age. Now is the time to make sure you keep moving forward. You have it in you so make it happen.

Jerry Rothouse, www.sweatingseniors.com