Author: Bob McMillan

After last week’s article about the 11 Steps to Personal Energy, a friend of mine reminded me that there is an all important Twelfth Step which I inadvertently left out. I should have known better because it was one of my original fifteen Steps of Personal Energy.

Of course the 12th step is Rest, Sleep and Recovery.

This article is an overview, not a detailed “report” on the topic. The principles are simple but apply in different ways to different people. Some people need more rest and sleep while others need less. Some preach that seniors need less sleep than younger people, other say the opposite.

Here are some basic principles of rest, sleep and recovery.

• Your muscles grow and rebuild during rest rather than during exercise.
• As a senior, you need more rest between exercise sessions to recover from strenuous resistance exercises. The norm is 24 to 48 hours of rest and recovery. I have seen recommendations for as much as 72 hours to recover from resistance exercise. Lighter exercises don’t require as much recovery time.
• The more vigorous the exercise, the longer the rest and recovery period until you become “acclimated” to the exertion. Different people need different recovery periods based on their own individual needs. When you first start to exercise, it will take longer to recover. As you get used to exercise, the period in between sessions may shorten. Seniors need more rest between sessions.
• You body will speak to you and tell you if you need more time to recover. But if you become over-zealous, you many not notice what your body is saying — or you won’t listen.

How about sleep? Your body needs sound sleep to maintain energy. Experts tell us that seniors need between seven and nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. That’s difficult to do as we get older. I can’t speak for the ladies but most of the men I surveyed said that they get up once or twice (or more) times during the night to use the bathroom.

The natural human rhythm is to sleep when he sun goes down and get up when the sun comes up. Some of us come close in the Summer during Daylight Savings Time, but for most of the year, the lure of the “blue light” (video screens) is too much of an attraction for early bedtimes.

If some of this sounds vague, that’s because, like nutrition, there are many varied opinions on the subject of rest and sleep. There is no “one size fits all” rule. So what’s best? Whatever works best for you. We are all responsible for listening to, understanding, and then acting on the feedback we get from our bodies. While the basic fundamentals above apply to most of us, we are all different and have different needs.

You own body should give you the best answers.

Thank you for reading.

“Without energy, life is merely a latent possibility.

The World belongs to the Energetic.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Over time, I have developed a simple 11 Point Manifesto for developing and maintaining your personal energy. It’s changed a few times and is down from an original 15 point list. I believe that if you follow these 11 points, your chances of living a long and productive life will be much greater than if you don’t.

These are derived from and “Energy Formula” that I used in early workshops on the subject of Health, Fitness and Personal Energy for Active Seniors.

1. When you understand that You Are Your Own Fountain of Youth, you don’t have to rely on doctors or drugs to keep your energy up for life.
   
   
2. When you understand that you have everything you need for a high energy life already inside you, then it will become easy to reach inside and turn on the flow of life.
   
   
3. You must be able to accept your current reality. If you look in the mirror and see gobs of fat, then you probably need to lose weight and get fit.
   
   
4. You must become willing to create the new reality you want. Imagine yourself looking and feeling the way you would like to look and feel. Be willing to do what it takes to get there — no matter what.
   
   
5. Find a purpose and live it. Mine is to promote health, fitness and personal energy for active seniors. I write and speak to seniors to help them live an energetic lifestyle. What’s your purpose?
   
   
6. If you want positive energy in your life, then you must MOVE YOUR BODY! Some call it exercise. There are lots of different kinds of exercise. Do what works for you.
   
   
7. To have physical energy, you must fuel your body with a good grade of fuel. Low grade fuel doesn’t do it. Mix and match good foods and don’t eat the junk. You know what the junk is. Don’t eat it.
   
   
8. Breathe deeply. Oxygen fuels energy. You need plenty of it.
   
   
9. Your posture says a lot about you. It’s a reflection of your energy and fitness levels. Poor posture comes across as low energy and low self-esteem. Stand up straight the way your parents told you to.
   
   
10. Live your life with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm comes from “en theos”, The Spirit Within. Energy begets enthusiasm and enthusiasm for life energizes you. Enthusiasm for life is the culmination of that mind and body combination that is so important for a long and energy filled life.
    
    
11. Take action. The above items are meaningless unless you take action to do them or achieve them. Tony Robbins says: “Action is the Commodity of Kings”. He’s right. If you’re fat and you don’t like it, take action to lose weight. If you are weak and unfit, take action to get fit.

Do those eleven steps and you will discover that Fountain of Youth that’s inside you. Do those eleven steps and you will turn on the flow of life.

Thank you for reading. 

Last week’s Hurricane Dorian and the destruction and devastation in the Bahamas, reminded me of an article I wrote and published in early 2016 about a previous natural disaster early in the 20th century. We can take a refresher from that incident in the edited and republished version below.

In May of 1902, there was a massive volcanic eruption on the French Caribbean Island of Martinique. A young French naval officer by the name of Georges Hebert led a rescue mission and was able to save many of the residents. Nearly 29,000 out of approximately 30,000 residents perished in the incident.

Georges Hebert recognized that most of the people who perished could have saved themselves had they had a basic amount of useful fitness. So he made it his purpose to create a system of exercise and fitness that would provide all men and women with functional skills necessary to “March, run, jump, swim, climb, lift, throw, and defend themselves by natural means”. He called his system of exercise Movement Naturale Methode, or Natural Movement Method. It was based on using the same movements that cultures such as Ancient Greece had developed in their quest for strength, endurance and physical excellence. No gym machines need apply.

Hebert’s methods have evolved over time. The military developed some of their “obstacle courses” based on Hebert’s system. Parkour, a French derived art of natural movement uses walls, railings, stairs, ramps, light poles, and other obstacles found in normal urban areas, as it’s own built-in gym. While originating in the night time streets of the cities of France, Parkour has become a World Wide fitness craze. Just search online for the word “Parkour” and you will discover some amazing examples of what you can do with your body using whatever environment you find yourself in. It’s a lot better than a gym (for the younger people).

The world can be your gym if you let it. If not a cityscape or a forest with trees, hills and boulders, then your own home can be your gym. All you need is a floor, a door jamb, a chair, and a couple of soup cans or an inexpensive stretch band and you can get all the exercise you need to remain a functional, vital senior adult. Oh, and add a little walking to that mix.

George Hebert’s motto was “Be fit to be useful”. He went on to write: Only the strong will prove useful in difficult circumstances of life.” (Hebert being quoted by Christopher McDougall in his incredible book, Natural Born Heros.)

Chances are you won’t be rescuing anyone from an erupting volcano anytime soon, but you will always need the skills that Georges Hebert recognized. I’ve modified those skills a little bit to apply to seniors. Your ability to push, pull, lift, carry, bend and twist, and to move balanced and comfortably from point A to point B will serve you well and keep you “useful” as you get older. But you have to continue to move your body to be able to keep doing it as you age. Eating well, breathing well, resting and sleeping well, will help too.

Thank you for indulging me in this edited re-post. I thought it to be appropriate considering the recent weather event, and as we continue through the current Hurricane Season.

And thank you for reading.