This is me in my PJs and desert dirty Crocs saying to you all…. This is about our health not a beauty contest. Start where you are and let’s get moving together!
I went for a walk the other day to join in on the Christmas Tree Lighting Event in my city. I was so sore with aching muscles only half way across the field from the car to the activities that I had to stop and sit a minute and stretch my low back! I do have a challenging back issue. However, it was the lack of exercise that was actually causing this and not my scoliosis itself. I have become WEAK! Not a term I ever normally apply to myself. But it is true. I need to get up and moving, like walking a distance as opposed to the length of my living room! I have been spending a lot of time sitting at the computer for months now and other than taking care of my dogs, the only exercise I have gotten is lifting cats, cleaning the boxes and throwing a ball for the dogs. Well, there IS my trek to the refrigerator and back to my desk! Yes, I too am guilty of becoming too comfortable with a life in front of the computer. Even an ex dancer and fitness trainer can get tired, too sore to move, and lazy! So, I speak here from first-hand experience and not from the voice of a scolding parent when I say… You must try your very best to remain in motion and not let comfort, desk work, or in some cases, retirement, make you quiet, still, and SORE! Because it will!
There are certainly challenges to getting back into good exercise habits when one has been sedentary for awhile. Many things can cause a person to become inactive. Injury, or just being focused elsewhere can lose us precious time in our fitness efforts, as can recovery after an illness, a surgery, or simply getting a bit older, winding down and adopting the unfortunate mindset that, “Oh I am old now so it is time to slow down!” NONSENSE! It’s not over ’til it’s over! When you stop, you lose the inertia that keeps you going once in motion, and the ease of that momentum is not so easy to get back. Why is this a problem? Because ALL your body’s systems depend on remaining in motion for optimal health.
Your cells and your blood and the oxygen in your lungs, all must keep moving so why wouldn’t your muscles need to keep moving as well?! In other words life as a couch potato or endless hours in front of a computer will eventually backfire on you! Your immune system also breaks down when the body is inactive. Stress which is a normal part of life can become DIS-STRESS when the body and the mind stop moving and consequently weaken. The endorphins don’t flow and the cortisol takes over and all the various negative effects of the DIS-stress can put you in a state of mental and/or physical un-wellness and even illness. So that is the best reason I know to keep moving. That, and the fact that it really is easier to remain in motion than to start up a squeaky rusted machine. Our bodies are like that old rusty machine when we are still for too long. Even a young body can lose momentum and get stiff and sore!
Life can throw us some real unfortunate curves, a car accident or a violent attack, maybe a fall or the physical struggle of breaking up a dog “argument”, all of which I have been through, can put extreme stress on the body and can over time, if not treated and worked through, become chronic. It can feel absolutely impossible to overcome let alone even think of exercising with all that going on in your body! So, while there are definitely valid reasons for resting and taking it easy. Don’t get too comfortable! It is more important to limit your down time, once initially healed and safe to get back up, and get moving again. That is where I am at now. Starting over yet again.
So, if you are there too, start slow and do what you can if you are dealing with an injury or if you have been on your backside for too long or even if you are simply reaching to improve and get more out of your body and workout. Take baby steps and you will get to your destination faster and safer! Please trust me on this. I have restarted and rebuilt so many times in my past career after an injury and a re-injury that I can say with confidence, slow and steady is the best way to go!
As for my personal challenge, now that I am retired from a dance career and even from the years of teaching I did after that, I just want to sit down! But I can’t. So…. I am stretching daily and taking short walks every other day (on grassy or soft dirt areas only) to get myself back in motion. Cement is devastating to the body so I avoid it as much as possible! Join me in my walking by going for a walk wherever you live…. but do it safely in safe areas by the light of day. And better yet, take a walking partner! Be safe!