Author: Bob McMillan

It all starts with the way you’re thinking. Repeat that: It all starts with the way your thinking. How do you think about your own health and fitness? Do you have the personal energy you want to get you through each day with vim and vigor? Do you have energy left over for more at the end of the day? Or are you just worn out from whatever? Do you feel the stress of the day as if it were a burden, or do you let the stress of the day flow past you as the day ends?

Are you a participant in life, or are you a watcher of life? Do you like to do things or watch things, or both. Do you enjoy exercise, do you enjoy the energized feeling you get when you exercise? Do you dislike exercise? If you don’t like exercise, why don’t you? In short, what is your attitude about health and fitness?

It’s really the attitude that counts. Do you like feeling really good as you age? Is it worth it to follow the principles of good health so you can feel really good, or is it too much of a hassle.Do you take the time to move yourself – you would rather watch someone else do it.

Different people like different things. Some like Yoga. Some like Pilates. Some like bodybuilding. Some like running. Some like calisthenics. Some like attending formal “boot camp” style programs. Some like classes at the gym. Some like to exercise in their living room. Some like to plop on the couch and watch TV. Some like to exercise with weights. Some like to exercise by lifting their forks and spoons. We are all different. We all have different preferences. One size does not fit all.

Except . . . that if we don’t move our bodies the way nature intended, we will deteriorate. Our muscles will soften and atrophy. Our blood will pool and stagnate. Our breathing will get shallow. Our joints and hinges will get rusty and creak and weaken, our bones will get brittle and break, and all sorts of other bad things will happen to our bodies. We will get old before our time.

Our insides won’t function well and our systems will clog up. If we don’t fuel our bodies with the high octane fuel that nature intended for our bodies, such as air, water, good food and sunshine, we will become more susceptible to chronic illness, pain and lack of the material needed to regenerate our basic cellular structure, let alone our major body systems. If we don’t get the kind of rest and sleep that nature intended for our bodies, we will reduce our mental capacities and will not recover as well as we should from not only exercise, but from the normal stresses of daily life.

And if we don’t have a good mind-set or attitude about our own health and fitness, nothing on earth will move us to move.

Doctors don’t do these things for us. Insurance companies don’t do this for us. We have to exercise, eat right and get the rest we need for ourselves. It’s called “Self-Care” and it’s more important than health care and sick care combined.

Thank you for reading.

Our parents always told us to “Stand up straight. Don’t slouch.” They were right. But as you age, you start to stoop over. You look old as you start to walk with a shuffling gait. This can be prevented.

Posture is one of the first things that suffers as you age. It happens gradually and in most cases, you don’t notice it happening. It’s progressive and it reflects a deteriorating body and a depressed attitude. Your posture is one place where the mental and the physical overlap on a major scale: Your attitude affects your body and your body affects your attitude. Posture and bearing are an outward reflection of your internal health.

What does bad posture look and feel like? Here are some of the symptoms:

• Rounded shoulders, sometimes developing into a “hump”.
• Potbelly
• Bent knees when standing or walking. Shuffling gait.
• Head that leans forward.
• Back pain
• Body aches and pains
• Muscle fatigue
• Headache.
• Difficulty breathing due to compressed chest.

What are the main causes of bad posture? Think about it, you slump when you drive and when you work at a desk or computer. You slouch when you watch TV. You sit more than you stand. Your core muscles have weakened from lack of use and your muscular and skeletal systems are generally out of balance from lack of proper use. Your spine gets out of balance and muscle atrophy and bone degeneration set in over time.

Posture can affect, or be affected by your mental state. Charles Schultz drew a well known Charlie Brown cartoon showing Charlie slumped over with his head down saying: “This is my depressed state”. The next panel showed Charlie standing tall, head up, saying something like, “this is my feel good state”. The final panel shows poor Charlie going back to his slumped over posture saying something like how it’s “easier this way.” All too often, that’s how seniors come across.

Your posture is one of the first things people notice about you when they meet you. Your posture makes a statement about you.

Bearing is a term that goes a little beyond posture. Bearing is the way you carry yourself. Bearing is the way you come across to other people. Your bearing includes your posture, but also includes the way you move, your attitude toward life, your energy level, level of intensity and your enthusiasm. Some call this “charisma”.

Other people’s impression of your bearing and charisma is often reflected in their language. Someone who comes across as weak is called “spineless”, and someone who comes across as proud and strong has “backbone.”

Posture can be corrected and will make a huge change in your attitude toward life. How? Here are some suggestions:

• Perform stretching exercises during the day to boost muscle flexibility.
• Exercise regularly to improve muscle strength and tone. Do exercises for your core strength and stability. Yes that includes crunches. But make sure you stretch your stomach muscles by lying on you back with your arms over your head and stretching. If you’ve done your crunches and other stomach exercises right, you’ll feel the stretch.
• Stretch your neck muscles regularly by extending you head and neck forward and back, and turning your head from one side to another. Lift your head and pull your chin in slightly.
• Make a concerted effort to stand taller and upright. It will take effort and time.
• Clasp your hands behind you and pull your arms and shoulders down and back. This is a powerful posture exercise.

If you start now, you’ll start improving right away. But don’t expect results all at once. It took time for your muscles to atrophy and your bones to weaken. It will take time to strengthen your muscles, bones, and underlying infrastructure of joints, tendons and ligaments. .

Your posture is critical for your physical health and your attitude toward life. That physical health and attitude come across to others and affect their impression of who you are. Your posture is not all of who you are, but it certainly is included in the overall “you”. You can improve your posture. Start doing it now. Do what your mother told you: “Stand up straight. Don’t slouch!”

Thank you for reading.

Over a half decade ago, I asked, in this blog, about where you get your health and fitness information. I discussed various places where health and fitness information is available and discussed the inconsistencies and differences among and between them.

It doesn’t really end there.

Most of the information we get from magazines, articles, podcasts, celebrity doctors on TV, personal trainers, etc. assume a couple of things:

1. That we all want bikini or swimsuit bodies.
2. That we are all totally dissatisfied with who and where we are now.
3. We all want the same thing – BUT, in reality, all our goals are different.
4. There is only one way to get to where you want to go – their way. If you don’t do it their way, you are doomed to failure.

I understand that there are many common goals that most of us share. Some of these are

1. Happiness (as only you can define it)
2. Vibrant health
3. More personal energy.
4. Freedom from long term chronic illness
5. Ideal weight, look good, feel good. Be lean and fit.
6. To be fully functional . . . Physically and mentally able to do those things we want to do.

The above items can have different meanings for different people, and our goals and meanings can be different at different ages and can depend on our outlook or attitude toward life in general.

That’s why it’s so important to find out what works for you. One size does not fit all. For example everybody needs upper body strength to be able to lift, carry, push and pull. Let’s use the biceps muscles as an example. These are the muscles that form the front part of your arms. The biceps extend and contract a certain way. But there are numerous ways to cause this extension and contraction. The simplest is to raise a dumbbell from your side to your shoulder with your palm facing forward. That will strengthen your bicep muscle. But there are many ways to contract the bicep. You can do dumbbell or barbell curls. You can do pull-ups. You can do a variety of pulling exercises. You can use free weights, or you can use resistance bands, or you can use a machine. You can even use soup cans and do the exercise in your kitchen.

Each person will do the exercise in their own way. It doesn’t matter which method you use, but you need to do something to strengthen the muscles in the front of your arms so you can lift, pick up and carry things in your arms, like groceries or your infant grandchild.

The same goes for all the other muscles of your body. If you really want to be fully functional, that is being physically capable of doing the things you want to do, there are many different ways to get there and each of us must decide for ourselves what works best for us.

We all have different preferences for moving our bodies, strengthening our limbs, lubricating our joints. Some prefer swimming or water aerobics, some prefer weightlifting at the gym, some prefer running (you need some resistance training too). Try them all and then pick something that suits you. It doesn’t matter what your friends or neighbors do, they have their preferences and you have yours.

The “one size fits all” concept is usually slanted to the lowest common denominator. That’s not you.

Most of you reading this are seniors. We are a stubborn lot overall. But we still have to make our choices daily and do what is right for us. Most of us know what we should be doing to reach the real goals we want for our senior years. Some of us do them; others don’t. It’s hard. We live in a culture where healthy people are outnumbered by unhealthy people and the marketers aim for where most of the money is.

But it’s still our own personal choice and or responsibility to take care of ourselves. One size will never fit all as long as there are at least two people living on earth. Listen to your own body. Set your own goals and make your own choices. Be one of the few, the proud and the healthy.

Thanks for reading.