HEALTH AND VIGOUR THROUGH PHYSICAL TRAINING

One morning, I was vigorously doing pushups in an open space. 

A guy who saw me in the middle of it remarked, “wow’’ and  asked, “Do you do this every darn day?”

As much as I wished I could answer him in the affirmative, I couldn’t. I didn’t say anything, I merely continued with my grind.

After I finished my sporadic workout, breathing profusely, I wondered, why? Why should deliberate stress be a regular thing for the human body to be fit and healthy? Why should it be a day by day thing?

Undoubtedly, I was already familiar with the benefits of exercising and the awareness was the reason I forced myself to do it whenever I needed a lift of strength. Nonetheless, every now and then, After going through the rigour of methodical physical movements, I always wondered, why?

Since I believe we can transcend whatever we befriend, I learned to love the boredom of exercise in other to give birth to a brand new me.

And as a result, the practice is now a fixed and immovable part of my daily routine, even if it is just for a little while, before I take my bath. 

If perchance, I now come across the guy who asked if I used to do this every darn day. I will stop, smile and answer him confidently with a resounding, yes.

I may even lecture him on the benefits of making daily exercise a habit and the potential positive impact it will have on him for the rest of his life.

If you are the curious type, you may find yourself asking following questions:

What changed?

What is the reason for my transition from the guy who repeatedly focused on the boring aspect of working out to a guy who is always focused on the overall essence of deliberate practice?

How was I able to make exercise a fixed daily habit?

My answer consists of three words:

Need and study.

I realized the significant boost of my energy level in one of those once-in-a while moments of deliberate movements  and I knew I needed to make myself experience such, more frequently.

Subsequently, I dived in to study exercises, workouts and different forms of generating strength through deliberate and regular physical activities.

With my need for strength and stamina  coupled with additional science-backed knowledge of incredible benefits of exercise, I decided to inculcate this practice in my day — my every darn day. 

And fortunately, now, I do it regularly, sometimes more than once in almost any day.

Mind you, as mentioned earlier, there are various kind of exercises, and the thing is; you need to know and practice the one that is most useful for you.

Just as I started with pushups, you can start with walking, jogging, stretching and even dancing.

Let’s see how some of what I learned can be of value to you as well.

WHY SHOULD YOU MAKE EXERCISE A HABIT?

“It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

You are seeing that question above because I assume a rational person would want to ask that question for himself long before he begins the journey.

And as you now know, that was the question I asked myself, years ago before finally forming this energy-boosting habit. 

The amazing thing about working out is that the benefit is beyond physical strength and vigour, as reflected in the statement of the great Roman orator and prose stylist, Marcus Tullius Cicero quoted above.

The boost of strength from exercise is not only physical; it includes both mental and emotional strength. 

If you think about it, this is powerful for something that costs you no money at all.

If this is not enough to convince you, read the example below from one of the best minds in the field of writing, Kurt Vonnegut, the author of the best-selling novel, Slaughterhouse-Five:

 “I do pushups and sit ups all the time.”

Ask yourself, why would a writer of such prodigious mind power elect to do exercises, all the time? Logically, there must be a link between his exercise habits and his fantastic writing outputs.

WebMD health experts explain that:

“Exercise boosts blood flow to the brain and helps it receive oxygen and nutrients. The better shape you're in, the faster you fire brain waves that are responsible for quick thinking.”

Stanford researchers also agree based on their own independent findings. They discovered that walking boosts creative inspiration. After examining the creativity levels of people while they walked versus while they sat. They concluded that one's creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking.

These are all fascinating evidences to get you to leave the laptop and walk, jump, run or as in my case, push. Some of the time, at least.

ONE PUSH AT A TIME

“Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate. The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them.” Lee Haney

If you can’t see yourself doing this religiously, then the advice of Lee Haney will be of great value to you:

“Set small goals and build upon them”

Start small and keep going forward, one step at a time. 

However, if you tried small before and you failed to sustain it. That’s okay. I have another idea for you because the key is not on the intensity but on the frequency, I will add this bit to the notion....

Start ridiculously small; one push in a day.

ONE PUSH IN A DAY

This is the main idea that revolutionized the life of Stephen Guise, the author of the book, Mini-Habit. All the great changes he was able to make after many years of chasing strength came about when he committed to doing just one pushup, not at a time, but for a whole day.

Anyone can do that. Even, a kid can.

The caveat is; you have to do it. Even, if it happens you forget to do it in the morning, do it anytime you remember. In the least, you do it before bed. 

Though, it is incredibly small, you must commit nonetheless, you must never neglect. You must do that one push a day. No matter what.

Remember the words of Brian Moran, that, what is easy to do, is even easier not to do.

Personally, I am always excited with daily mini exercise because of many real benefits I derive. It gives me strength. It strengthens my muscles. It keeps my bones strong. It strengthens my immune function, and it makes  me sleep better.

If you think you are too weak to start exercising, don’t forget that former US president Theodore Roosevelt was puny as a kid, but he eventually developed remarkable strength and stamina by starting where he was — one push at a time.

FINALLY

Having written about eating and sleeping in my earlier posts, I am going to close with the words Tom Rath, from his book, Eat, Move and Sleep to illustrate that, for every one of us to enjoy the glow of good health, we must find our way to exercise. And we should try to it regularly. This will always help us eat well and consequently make us sleep better.

“Eating the right foods provides energy for your workout and improves the quality of your sleep. In turn, a sound night of sleep makes you more likely to eat right the next day. This is why the real magic lies at the intersection between eating, moving, and sleeping. If you can do all three well, it will improve your daily energy and your odds of living a long, healthy life.”

With all of these, I hope you have now decided to change from the habit of merely wishing, to the habit of doing, “the exercises” every darn day, as long as you live.

Good luck!