The Come Alive Project

Tag: Senior exercise

  • Energy Bite 323 – The Value of Taking a Walk

    Some time ago, I wrote an article for this blog about how a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that your walking speed is a predictor of longevity. The faster you walk, the longer you may live

    I don’t really know whether that’s true or not. I’ve seen it reported numerous times in articles in newspapers and magazines.

    Regardless of whether walking speed is a predictor of longevity, it has been well demonstrated over the years that walking is good for your overall health and wellness. If you make walking a part of an overall exercise program, you should be substantially more healthy and fit than if you don’t. Makes sense.

    Walking has often been called the “Universal Exercise”, particularly for seniors. Much of the benefit that younger people get from running, seniors will get from walking, without most of the accompanying chances of joint injury, foot problems and other challenges associated with running.

    And as an added benefit, many Senior walkers report a feeling of “flow” much like the well known “runners high”, a sort of “altered state” or “hypnotic trance” that is sometimes associated with steady, consistent, undistracted movement.

    How much walking is best? I haven’t seen any sort of standard answer. I’ve read that several 20 to 30 minute walks a week will keep seniors healthy. My wife and I walk around 40 minutes twice a week (most of the time), along with our visits to the gym.

    If you are physically able, I suggest that walking a couple of times a week is the best way to start a new exercise program. You can build from that. But whether you choose to expand from simple walks or not, it’s in your best interest to get in some walking during the week.

    You swing your arms. You exercise your legs. You breathe deeply. If you have a local park or trails, you can even get a feel for the joys of nature.

    Right now, if your local or State Government hasn’t shut you down, walking is probably as “good as it gets” for a pleasant distraction. If it’s not allowed in your locale, then some other form of exercise may be the distraction and stress reducer you are likely in need of.

    And later this afternoon, my wife, grandson and I, plan on going on one of those walks on one of the many nature trails in our town. We walk relatively fast. Will it make us live longer? I’ll bet it will help.

    Maybe we’ll run into some of you there.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 314 – A Reason People Stop Exercising Too Soon

    I’ve already noticed a significant drop off in the number of new people at the gym who have for one reason or another already lost their motivation. Have you ever wondered why? I thought I would edit and republish a nearly two year old post on one of the reasons people give up too soon.

    Some highly motivated people will stop an exercise program just as the benefits start occurring. Mostly it is because they have reached a plateau and they stop seeing an increase in those benefits. But there’s another reason why some people quit. It’s because of the phenomenon of Homeostasis.

    Homeostasis is the tendency of the body to find equilibrium. When you think of Homeostasis, you normally think of things like body temperature, water balance and the other things that keep the human body functioning normally. Homeostasis allows the body to reach and maintain a state of equilibrium. The body regulates itself in much the same way as a thermostat regulates the temperature in a room. When the temperature starts to rise or fall, the thermostat activates to bring the temperature to a predetermined norm.

    But here’s another way of looking at it which may help explain why people stop exercising at the very time their bodies are beginning to adapt to the many benefits of a regular exercise routine or “practice”, just as they are starting to show the physical and mental improvement they are looking to exercise to provide.

    Homeostasis doesn’t like change. When change occurs, the body tries to revert back to where it was before the change, much like a thermostat I mentioned above. The body resists change. It doesn’t recognize whether the change is for the better or for worse. It just recognizes the change itself.

    When you start an exercise program and your body starts to realize the positive changes being made, homeostasis causes it to resist those changes and sends up a series of alarm bells. You start to feel uncomfortable in ways that may discourage you, even though you know you are getting the benefits of those changes. In their book, The LIfe We are Given, the authors say, “After years without exercise, your body regards a sedentary style of life as ‘normal’, while the beginning of a change for the better is interpreted as a threat.” Resistance to the beneficial changes often results in a reluctance to continue, so you stop just as the benefits are kicking in. They add that, “if you persist, you will soon find that it is easier to actually do the exercise program, than not to do it.”

    Interesting. I had never thought of it that way, even though I had read those passages several times before and had even underlined them and commented in the margin. It just hadn’t sunk in until I started thinking more about the psychology of intrinsic motivation just recently.

    So, to summarize, just as the body has a built in regulator to keep body functions at a specific level (such as body temperature), when your body begins to improve with exercise, it physically tries to revert to its previous level of fitness and doesn’t like change. It sends out signals that something “isn’t right” and sometimes the signals are unpleasant, causing you to rethink the beneficial changes that are happening to your body. You simply stop the new program and revert back to what seems “normal”. Keep that in mind if you are new to exercise. Understand it, and keep on moving your body.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 308 – Branson’s Not the Only One

    Last week, I wrote a brief blurb about Richard Branson and his habit of exercise. Branson doesn’t smoke and eats a balanced diet. He also says swimming is a great cure for a hangover. He runs marathons, has done a triathlon and likes to “pop into” a gym while traveling. He says that fitness has been a key to his success.

    “The only reason I’m able to do all the things I do and to keep on top of a busy schedule without getting too stressed is because I stay fit.”  — Richard Branson

    Sir Richard isn’t the only high powered entrepreneur or business executive to credit exercise with their ability to run billion dollar businesses.

    Tom Bilyeu, co-founder of Quest Nutrition, the huge nutrition bar supplement company, has a gym in his California mansion. He says “I am either working, or working out.”

    Strauss Zelnick, President of Zelnick Media Capital (ZMC) and former President of one of the world’s largest music and entertainment companies, exercises heavily several times a day. He wrote a book on exercise and business and is well known for holding major business meetings in the gym.

    Jesse Itzler, the flamboyant entrepreneur, founder of Marquis Jets (sold to Warren Buffett) and part owner of the Atlanta Hawks, hired a former Navy Seal to make his already excellent physical condition even better and made the the former Navy Seal, David Goggins, famous on the talk show and speaking circuit. He wrote the book, Living with a Seal, about the experience. The New York Times best seller is a great read.

    And Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX, and a multi-millionaire in her own right as well as being married to Jesse Itzler, credits exercise with keeping her own energy level at it’s peak.

    So, if these busy entrepreneurs and business folks can find the time and the motivation to make exercise and fitness an integral part of their daily lives — SO CAN YOU!

    Thank you for reading.