Lifespan and Physical Appearance
Do you think of your body the way you think of your car? When a few lucky individuals acquire a sports car that boasts of the best automotive engineering available today, watch them read the maintenance manuals religiously.
They take their car for inspection even if it purrs like a kitten and take it for repairs as soon as something does not feel right. And they’re very concerned.
That car is their most prized possession, a symbol of all the long and hard hours they put on the job so they could finally acquire it. It cost an arm and a leg, so taking care of it is logically, their # 1 priority.
But how important is the person that drives that car? Shouldn’t that person – shouldn’t YOU – be the #1 priority?
The average life span of men and women is 80 years, give or take a few years. The painful truth is, a significant number of men and women look and feel 80 before they even make it to the first half of their life! You spot the tell-tale signs from their physical appearance:
– sagging dry skin
– unsightly posture
– uneven and unsteady walk (they need to drag around those heavy pounds)
– aching joints
– sporting the “I’m not happy because I look terrible” look
Now, if their appearance is this bad, imagine what the inside machinery is like! Most likely, it’s even worse:
– clogged vessels
– inefficient heart
– mounds of sugar and fat parked in or around vital organs
– Conditions such as diabetes, nervous tension, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease that are silently brewing.
If fitness authorities had it their way, they’d create legislation to make exercise mandatory as soon as a baby leaves the cradle, not during the teenage years when obesity is likely to strike.
But fitness shouldn’t be associated with any age limit. You can start at 10 or at 30 – even at 50 and 60 – the idea being that fitness should not be seen as the cure for a condition that’s already come about. As the saying goes, don’t wait for illness to strike.
Also Read No Matter How Busy You Are, there are Ways You CAN Include Exercise
Assessing How Fit You Are
Brad King and Dr. Michael Schmidt in “Bio Age, Ten Steps to a Younger You” (Macmillan, Canada, 2001) have devised a questionnaire for assessing physical damage to a body as a result of no exercise. We will borrow some of their guidelines, which we will summarize here:
Start with the question, “How do I look?” Do any of these answers apply to you?
– Am I overweight, looking like an apple or pear?
– Do I have a spare tire around my waist?
– Has my skin become excessively dry, almost paper-thin?
Next, ask: “How do I feel?”
– Do my joints hurt before or after any physical exertion?
– Am I constantly worried and anxious?
– Do I feel tired and sluggish most of the time?
– Do I suffer from mood swings?
Last question, “How am I doing?” Are simple walking and climbing stairs difficult?
– Do I have problems concentrating?
– Is running impossible for me now?
– Am I unable to sit straight, preferring to slouch or stoop my shoulders?1
You’ve completed your basic assessment.
Note, however, that other exercise or fitness gurus will have their own parameters or indices for assessing your body’s overall state and one isn’t better than the other.
As long as they include all dimensions of the self – physical, psychological and mental – they are as valid as the next person’s assessment charts.
Turning You into a Fitness Buff!
After going through the assessment phase, you’re probably experiencing what some people fondly call a “rude awakening”.
If you’re not mentally prepared to accept exercise, please don’t force yourself. Just be familiar with its benefits and when you’re wholeheartedly disposed towards giving it a crack in the can, proceed slowly. “Slowly but surely” is the exercise cult’s favorite slogan.
Slowly but Surely…
In fact “slowly but surely” was probably what motivated Denise Austin ((Brad J. King & Dr. Michael A. Schmidt. Bio Age – Ten Steps to a Younger You. Macmillan, Canada. 2001) to come up with her popular one-minute exercises (more on this in a later section). She had two types of people in mind when she designed the one-minute movements:
1. Uninitiated
2. People on the go
It’s a quickie society we live in; we want everything quick – especially exercise! – and many converts would be willing to include it in their routine for the sake of health, if there were a quick way to get in, and certainly a quick to get out.
