Dave Brown, NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist
I was in the airport preparing to fly out to visit my brother in Maine. While walking around the concourse looking for a gift for my nephew, one of Tim Russert’s books caught my eye. For those who may not remember, Tim Russert was a popular journalist who was a moderator for 16 years on “Meet the Press”. Tim passed away in 2008, at age 58 from a heart attack. This was such a sad loss for so many reasons. As I saw the book and his smiling face on the cover, I remembered just how shocked everyone was when he passed away. While I didn’t know him, how he ate or his exercise regimen, it was obvious he had been overweight for a long time. With his age, waist size and waist-to-hip ratio, I suspect there had been warnings from his doctors. Very possibly, he was working to get in better shape, but the damage had been done.
The body can tolerate years of abuse and is amazing in it’s ability to keep chugging along. Not surprisingly, there is a breaking point, sometimes with catastrophic outcomes. For many of you reading this, you may have noticed some changes in yourself or a family member. Often we use rationalizing phrases like, “My stress is normal”, “We’re getting older and slowing down”, or “It’s just an extra 10 pounds”, while failing to realize the signs had been there for months or years and we just chose to ignore them. So, where will your health be in 5 or 10 years if you keep ignoring it?
The most common reason we hear why people either can’t get started or maintain exercising is because they don’t have time. Busy, busy, busy seems to be the mantra these days. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘No one on their deathbed wished they had worked more’. If you don’t make time for yourself no one else is going to. You have things you want to do now and in the future; dreams you want to make come true. That’s all for naught if you are physically unable to do those things.
There are many reasons to make a change. One of the most important is so we can move and function better. When you can move better, you can do more and the possibilities are endless, but you have to take the first step. Before you know it, that step turns into a run. Stop! Look at yourself in the mirror. Do you like where you are physically and emotionally? Could you have more energy, be less stressed, wish you could participate more fully in life?
I leave you with a comment made by Dr. Emrah Duzel, director of the Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research at Germany’s University Hospital Magdeburg, “When you exercise, you change 20 things at the same time. There’s no medicine that can achieve that.”
Are you ready to make a commitment to change your life? We’re here to help. Give us a call at 303.816.1426 to find out how. On The Move Fitness is a Personal Training Studio located in Conifer dedicated to helping you Move Better, Feel Better and Be Better.