The Come Alive Project

Author: Bob McMillan

  • Energy Bite 321 – Rational Fitness Goals for Seniors

    What do Seniors really want from their Health and Fitness regimen? Most that I have talked to want to have the physical energy to live their lives the way they want to.

    Most Seniors aren’t interested in being a super marathon runner or super muscular. But they want to be fit for life with smooth running systems and the great feeling of “being alive” with energy and enthusiasm.

    Look at the ads in the AARP and Travel Magazines. The images aren’t of people with huge muscles or who go skydiving or do dangerous stunts. The images are of healthy people enjoying healthy activities, and doing it with energy and enthusiasm.

    These are people who are being themselves in fun environments, not a bunch of supermen and superwomen. They are people who are just like you — all portrayed as people who are healthy, fit and enjoying life.

    AARP and other Travel Ads put YOU in situations where you would like to be. But all too often, you don’t really feel alive or energetic enough or healthy enough to fit in the pictures.

    What’s the answer? How to look like a person in a travel ad? Here are a few suggestions:

    Get off your duff and start MOVING! Exercises should be just a little bit harder than you are comfortable with. Exercise should not be easy, yet as seniors, if you go at it too hard, you are susceptible to injury. There are plenty of excellent exercise classes available at all levels and costs. Give them a try. Or exercise by yourself – either way works. Be careful but don’t be fearful.

    Eat sensibly, breathe deeply and get plenty of rest and sleep. All common sense, right?

    And use your imagination. Put yourself mentally into those pictures. Imagine yourself looking and feeling like the people pictured in those ads.

    Remember, the end result should be to build your health and personal energy to be able to live the life you want, with all systems running smoothly, with you enjoying the feeling of being alive.

    The goal of EXERCISE is energy for life.

    The goal of FOOD is energy for life.

    The goal of BREATH is energy for life.

    The goal of REST & SLEEP is energy for life.

    Keep those goals in mind as you think about how you want to live your Senior years.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 320 – Fitness, Flow and the Mind

    The brain seems to be as much of a beneficiary of exercise as is the body. In his great book, Spark, the author, Psychologist John Ratey says:.

    “Exercise is as effective as Zoloft for Depression”.

    Others have suggested that not exercising is like “taking a depressant”.

    Modern neuroscience is bearing out what others have said for years about the power of exercise and its benefits for the mind. They are discovering that we are literally “wired for movement” and that sitting on the couch looking at a screen is one of the worst things we can do for our bodies, our minds, and our well-being.

    Almost everyone has heard of the “Flow State”. That’s where body and mind are one, time is distorted or disappears, concentration is focused, and the mind and body are in optimal states. It has been variously described as “optimal experience”, “runner’s high”, and includes full concentration and focus on a task or activity that is so intense that nothing else can gain attention other that what you are doing.

    In his book, Flow, author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced: Chick-sent-me-hi) describes it as an “activity that produces such experiences is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, with little concern for what they will get out of it, even when it is difficult, or dangerous.

    Author Mihaly C writes: “When we are unhappy, depressed, or bored we have an easy remedy at hand: to use the body for all it is worth.” He goes on to say that while most people nowadays are aware of the importance of health and physical fitness . . . “most of us ignore it and use their physical equipment as little as possible, leaving its ability to provide flow unexploited”.

    Neuroscientists are confirming what we have long accepted as true, that exercise has a powerful effect on the mind, both from the experience of the state of “flow”, to the general feeling of physical and mental well being that exercise provides. We all know that exercise stimulates the mind. Most of us just don’t do it.

    “Physical Fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”   — John F. Kennedy

    Physical exercises such as crawling, cross body movements and even the stimulation of a brisk walk have been demonstrated to provide valuable mental benefits as well as physical.

    In upcoming articles, I will explore some of the many benefits of physical exercise on the mind and how it affects us far beyond what we see above the surface. Let the phrase: “The tip of the iceberg” play in your mind for a while. In the coming weeks, we will explore mental and physical aspects of our minds and bodies that are in the 95% of our “being” that lies beneath the surface. Stay with me.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 319 – Why a Gym? Why Early Morning?

    I go to the gym most mornings. Why? Why don’t I just work out at home? After all, I have some dumb bells, some stretch bands and some other equipment that I can use right there. Why would I get up so early and go to the gym, just to exercise? That’s a good question that I’ll try to answer it here. You may want to give it a try.

    First, apparently a lot of other people seem to feel the same way, particularly seniors. While the gym is not completely full at 0530, it is better than half full. That means that the machines are in use and the floor areas are mostly full. There are even several early bird classes going on that early.

    While there is a seeming overabundance of equipment, I don’t use much of it. I do a series of what I call “floor and core” movements which are mostly done on the ground. I save the machines and weights for last and use devices like TRX suspension trainers (similar to gymnastic rings) and a “tire flipping” machine where truck tires are used to lift up and flip over.

    Going to the gym early puts me around “like minded people” with a lot of energy. Like me, they prefer the early morning and for the most part, find that it energizes their day right from the start. That’s not just the seniors, it also includes a lot of people who work in downtown Washington, D.C., or in the large suburban “mini-cities” that surround the Nation’s Capital. It’s energizing in it’s own right just being around other motivated people that early in the morning.

    My gym is simple. It has floor space, weights, machines and several large class rooms for group exercise classes. It doesn’t have running tracks, basketball courts, a swimming pool or luxury spa areas. It is a gym for people who want to exercise and move on with the day. There are several of the luxury gyms in the area but they are not at all what I am looking for. My gym has a Sauna which is a great pre-shower experience. The Sauna is the the full extent of the luxury.

    There are classes for those who want to do them. There are spinning classes (cycling), Zumba classes, Yoga, and plain exercises of varying intensity. My wife goes to a moderate intensity exercise class a couple of days a week and Yoga on occasion. She gets there early and uses some of the machines before class. It’s also a social period for her and she has made new friends there.

    For those who want individual attention, there are personal trainers available. They seem to be quite busy, even in the early morning.

    So, I have a place to go to get exercise and energy first thing in the morning. If I stayed at home to do the exercises, I might find ways to put it off. But once the garage door goes up in the morning, I am committed.

    While I don’t recommend the early morning exercise for everyone, I do recommend that you check out one of those gyms that will give you a free week membership and see how it works for you. And while the luxury spas can be quite expensive, a simple gym like mine can be quite affordable. Give it a try, you might like it.

    Thank you for reading.