Reverse the Aging Process
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
Working out isn’t just about 6-pack abs, running marathons, standing on your hands, or bench-pressing twice your bodyweight. It’s about living well for longer. It’s about continuing to train and strengthen your muscles but also cognition, neuromuscular connections, reflex, mental health, and social ties.
The Aging process doesn’t have to always include- an increased chance of falls, losing the ability to live independently, struggling to climb stairs, feeling lonely, or not being able to keep up with the grandkids. Working out can help to prevent a lot of these pitfalls but it can also reverse many of them.
We hear all the time that, ‘youth is wasted on the young’. This seems to assume that the wisdom, experience and hindsight knowledge that comes with age would make for a youth packed full of taking on every opportunity, never wasting a moment in ingratitude, sloth or ignorance. So why then, not simply accept the exact stage we ARE at- 62, 67, 73, 82 years old and apply that same approach to living the best we can at these ages as well? Taking and giving all to life that we can each and every day. Finding out just what our bodies are truly capable of and relinquishing excuses that pile up day after day till years have passed by. Is it possible if we lived by the same philosophy we believe the ‘young’ should that we too would experience a fuller life? If we were to spend just a few days a week for 30-60 minutes at a time in the gym it’s more than possible that we would experience: less orthopedic surgeries, less brain-fog, more confidence, more social connections, better mental health, more joy, less fear…and the list goes on.
If a lifestyle that involves attention to fitness seems impossible, confusing, or intimidating to you all that’s really needed is a shift in perception. Know that most have felt the same when they first walk into a gym. Know that your health and quality of life is a million times more important than what others may be thinking. Know that no one IS actually thinking anything about you- they are there for themselves and their own specific goals- and, really, to them- you aren’t that important. Know that they payoff will be worth any of the discomfort your hesitations may bring you.
Active Aging is; “A concept advanced by the International Council on Active Aging and adopted by the World Health Organization that encourages individuals to be “engaged in life” as fully as possible despite health status, disease conditions or socioeconomic status. It recognizes the importance of each of the seven dimensions of wellness – physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, environmental, vocational, social – to the overall well-being of an aging individual.”
