How to Stay Forever Young
I am told all the time from people that they are simply “too old” to exercise. But what these people don’t know is that by not doing anything, they are actually making themselves older! On the flip side, when people keep moving, no matter how small or gentle, we enable our bodies (and minds!) to stay young, nimble and strong.
There Is an Exercise for Every Age
Part of the problem is that the fitness industry has made us believe that “exercise” has to involve cross-fit style heavy lifting, spin classes that leave you gasping for air, and ninja-like movements that seem nearly impossible.
For exercise to be effective, and particularly for people who believe themselves to be getting older, it does not need to involve any of that! Exercise does not need to involve pain and strain, and in fact, it should never involve pain or strain.
There truly is something for everyone. You do not need to be slamming heavy weights or running and jumping around in circles to feel like you are working out and seeing results. In fact, less is usually more.
Movement = Forever Young
If we banish the idea that exercise has to be painful & intense and begin to understand that high-quality movement is most effective, we open the doors to understanding that we can and should exercise at any age.
High-quality movement-based exercises that ensure your body & your joints are functioning optimally will keep you forever young, because they actually enhance your ability to develop muscle, gain strength & lose fat. Here’s why.
Most people who are engaging in high-intensity exercise programs are simply going through the motions of these exercises, and aren’t actually deriving the benefit of the movement. You can do however many burpee push-ups you want, but if your shoulders, hips, pelvis & ankles aren’t functioning properly than you likely will see very minimal results. This is what we call low-quality (or absent-minded) movement.
This is because the muscles we are trying to target will not even be recruited (activated) if the adjacent joints are out of whack. Instead, we will compensate with other muscles, and instead cause injury/pain. We need to get our body moving properly, at every joint and every muscle, before we will ever start feeling & looking better for a lifetime.
Therefore, each year we gain, it becomes progressively important for us to keep our body mobile & strong.
We need to continue moving, rather than falling into the trap of believing we are too old for exercise.
Again, this comes from understanding that exercise does not have to mean heavy lifting & box jumps.
Top 5 Essential Movements to Stay Forever Young
To summarize, we have learned that:
- You are never too old for exercise.
- Exercise does not have to mean slamming heavy weights & jumping over hurdles.
- We must shift our understanding of exercise to include high-quality movement that enhances our longevity, our ability to maintain strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, etc.
Now, let’s put it into practice. Here are the top 5 essential movements to stay forever young! The links are to YouTube videos that have instructions on the proper form. These movements are designed to address our major joints and the dysfunctions we experience as a result of our modern lifestyles. These movements will enhance our mobility, stability & strength so stays young for as long as possible.
For Brandon, fitness has been his passion for as long as he can remember. In high school he was a three-sport athlete and received a scholar athlete award in football. Later, he attended Arizona State University on an academic scholarship and received his degree in Kinesiology in 2004. When he was a junior in college, he started Personal Training and has since turned this into his career. Brandon is a natural teacher who is passionate about health, fitness, wellness, and life. Each and every day he feels blessed to be able to do what he loves most…help people achieve a healthier life! Working with his best friend and having clients who he considers to be his family is one of the best jobs he could ever wish for. What he loves most about being a personal trainer is helping his clients achieve what they thought was the “impossible”!
Brandon’s philosophy is that exercise and fitness should be viewed as preventive medicine. If one takes care of his/her body today, he/she will stay healthy for the remainder of his/her life. His main focus is on functional training that incorporates normal daily movements which strengthen core muscle groups and help deliver a functionally fit body. This body will then be efficient with all activities, from athletics to everyday movements.