Ready ... Exercise! Not ready? Exercise anyway.
I am not a an exercise scientist so this blog is not a professional guide.
I am over sixty and have come to believe exercise is our fountain of youth. While it probably does not do much to prolong our lives it helps a great deal in enhancing the quality of our lives. This blog is about ways to exercise and about people who exercise. Hope you have done your exercise today.
It is amazing how young I was when I started this blog and how much more I have grown since that time. Had a Bootfit class with Robbie McLendon at the Hartsville YMCA today that revisted some of the challenges like tire flipping and sledge hammer swinging of a few years ago. It beat me pretty easily and I am looking forward to the next time. It beat a lot of the others in the class too.
The goal is to move and if you have specific goals then move with your program.
Exercise is as important to a 60+ year old as it is to a 30+ year old. In fact, exercise may be more important as we continue to move forward on this life journey.
The other day I was talking to a friend who is going to hit the meaningful 65 in a couple of months. Our conversation was focused on work but did stray into the mention that he is having some troubles twisting his neck to see when moving from a parking space or changing lanes. Some soreness, some stiffness -- he is a runner but does almost nothing for strength and/or flexibility. Guess he had better start.
Doing some research for today's post this recent article from the Cleveland Clinic came up with six tips for getting back into exercising. It is a useful read. And for those who want to get into exercise or back into exercise YMCA sponsored gyms generally provide clean space, good equipment, people who can help, and others like you that will help your motivation.
If you are thinking about getting back into an exercise program, quit thinking and get moving. If you are already in a routine, quit reading and head out to the exercise.
You do not want or need to use heat as an excuse not to be exercising. You do need to use the idea of heat to remind you that staying hydrated is important to your health overall and particularly during a hot exercise day.
I am not a good water drinker. I am trying to mend my ways. One of the reason's for today's blog is to give myself another accountability lever to drink more water. Now, you all know I am not good at it and I want to get better. It is public, My hope is the public goal statement will make a difference in the private behavior.
So, what difference does it make to stay hydrated. It can have some positive effect on losing or maintaining weight -- at least according to a recent study.
Keep a glass or a bottle of water handy and see what better hydration might do for your exercise.
And, one of my role models continues to be Willie Jackson. I wrote about his nightly trips to the Hartsville YMCA a year or so ago. Willie Jackson is still a regular at the Y.
We were talking the other night and I asked him about an update. He says he is at the Y every day because that is the place to be. He exercises as part of living a fun, healthy life. He still likes the rowing machine for basic cardio.
And, he told me that while he does not like it a lot he uses the shoulder machine because it helps him keep his range of motion and so he has branched out. One of the benefits of working at the YMCA in Hartsville is that everyone is willing to help out everyone with advice. I am not sure buy Willie probably asked Robbie McLendon about shoulder movement and Robbie probably recommended the pull down. And, is you want more information on working out after a "certain age" you might want to try Go4Life.https://go4life.nia.nih.gov
Willie
is one of my role models. He is one I expect to see at the weight room
three to five nights a week. While exercise may not exactly be the
Fountain of Youth -- I watch Willie use it to stay fit and that is the role model I want to follow.
Last night I heard a presentation by a colleague who was discussing one of her social psychology specialties - stereotyping. Dr. Julia Fisher, Coker College, was discussing the stereotype of girls not being as good at math as boys. And it was her presentation that got me thinking about the stereotype of age. How old might we be -- 55, 60, 65, 70, 75? What lens does a younger generation use to think about us? Often that lens is through the word -- elderly. Let's disabuse those younger than we are of using this stereotype. And the way to change the viewing is to be a prototype.
Put a spring in your step? Put a smile on your face? Engage someone in conversation by asking how they are doing not complaining about how you are doing. Schedule your regular exercise time and EXERCISE. And when you say exercise is for younger people you need to realize that fits the stereotype. Your job is to exercise and develop a new prototype. Exercise!
If you are older, you may not be exercising to compete -- though I know some who are -- Right Old Geezer? (Robbie McLendon of Hartsville, SC who is working on a streak of consecutive running days well beyond 11 years and he continues to run up front in races of every mileage). You may not be a Robbie - I am certainly not, but you owe it to yourself Exercise. The adage -- "Use it or lose it" is not a throw-away line. There are many resources that help those over 55 or 60 get into the exercise habit. Go4Lifehttps://go4life.nia.nih.gov/ is one. Visit them and get both motivation and a plan. Start today to help build a new Prototype of you.
Nike made the meme famous -- Do It! Despite the admonition being a corporate meme, we should still take the advice. Do it! When it comes to exercise - Do it!
This morning was a good example. I awoke early - 4:15 or so. Lots of time to turn over and get a little more sleep before having to get ready for the F3Hartsville Clinic pain session. And, eyes did not pop open again until 5:15. A reason -- got up too late - can't make the 5:30 start unless I really hurry and besides the knee is stiff. I'm old - it doesn't really matter anyway. Lots of self talk to avoid the exercise. This morning -- Do it! won the debate. The preparations were quicker than normal but I arrived at Byerly Park in time for the first exercise and to approach the challenges that StepShow had laid out in this morning's Q. It did matter. That exercise was a jumpstart to the day. The students in PRWriting at Coker College will have a better class. My knee is still stiff but it was obvious after this morning's workout that it will only slow me - not stop me. And in the circle of Trust that ended today's F3 Clinic Q I got to be inspired by F3Florence guys who introduced a new person to our Q - a fathter who has had to help a young son battle life-threatening disease. Had I turned over and closed my eyes this stuff would not have been part of my February 25th - 2016. My life would not have been near as rich. And, that was all before 6:15 this morning.
Do it!
And, I did not even mention the short philosophic/political conversation with the other guy in the group who is currently reading a book by Daniel Elsberg, a man whose actions played a key role in our political thinking (though from different sides) several decades ago. And, that before 6:21.
Staying connected and staying involved and helping make changes that need to happen so we are all better off are areas in which I have strong interest. I am an associate professor - communication with Coker College and have been doing this full-time since 2000. I am also the executive director of The Byerly Foundation, a grant-making organization whose goal is to help others make Hartsville one of the best places in the world in which to live.
Recently both our daughters (I am married to Sylvia) presented us with grand children and it is beyond my comprehension how those little children change my world view.
