THE EARTH GYM
No, this is not a new health or fitness club downtown! Its a way of incorporating exercise and fitness into our daily lives by utilizing everything around us, in our yards, at work or around the community. I'll explain this is in a minute.
But first, Dr. Henry Lodge and Chris Crowley in their wonderful book "Younger Next Year" say:
* 70% of what we feel as aging is optional
* 50% of all illnesses and injuries in the last third of our lives can be eliminated by changing our lifestyles.
* 70% of premature death is lifestyle related.
* 70% of the normal decay associated with aging can be forestalled until almost the end of our life--the weakness, sore joints, feeling crappy, lousy balance, etc.
So one of the things we can do to change our lifestyle is incorporate the Earth Gym into our daily lives. What this means is to climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator, park far away from the stores at a Mall, use a rake to clean up the leaves instead of a leaf blower, use a push mower instead of a sitdown mower, use a hand trimmer instead of a weed-wacker, till and turn over the garden with a shovel instead of a roto-tiller, walk to as many places as possible instead of driving, especially short trips (every minute of walking adds 3 minutes to our lives). You get the idea!!
We can still go to a gym or health club, but by incorporating the above into our daily lives as well, we are helping to delay or reduce all the attributes associated with aging. And we should try to make our exercise fun--kayak the rivers and ponds in the area, hike and walk in the nearby parks and trails, snow shoe and cross-country ski at Maudsley.
I know a lot of folks are busy and some of the conveniences make it easier and save us time, but in the long run, we are letting muscles atrophy, we are getting less exercise, and letting those attributes associated with aging creep slowly into our lives.
If we do all of the above, combined with eating right, we are increasing our chances of living to a ripe, old age, in good health and fitness. See you at the EARTH GYM!
But first, Dr. Henry Lodge and Chris Crowley in their wonderful book "Younger Next Year" say:
* 70% of what we feel as aging is optional
* 50% of all illnesses and injuries in the last third of our lives can be eliminated by changing our lifestyles.
* 70% of premature death is lifestyle related.
* 70% of the normal decay associated with aging can be forestalled until almost the end of our life--the weakness, sore joints, feeling crappy, lousy balance, etc.
So one of the things we can do to change our lifestyle is incorporate the Earth Gym into our daily lives. What this means is to climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator, park far away from the stores at a Mall, use a rake to clean up the leaves instead of a leaf blower, use a push mower instead of a sitdown mower, use a hand trimmer instead of a weed-wacker, till and turn over the garden with a shovel instead of a roto-tiller, walk to as many places as possible instead of driving, especially short trips (every minute of walking adds 3 minutes to our lives). You get the idea!!
We can still go to a gym or health club, but by incorporating the above into our daily lives as well, we are helping to delay or reduce all the attributes associated with aging. And we should try to make our exercise fun--kayak the rivers and ponds in the area, hike and walk in the nearby parks and trails, snow shoe and cross-country ski at Maudsley.
I know a lot of folks are busy and some of the conveniences make it easier and save us time, but in the long run, we are letting muscles atrophy, we are getting less exercise, and letting those attributes associated with aging creep slowly into our lives.
If we do all of the above, combined with eating right, we are increasing our chances of living to a ripe, old age, in good health and fitness. See you at the EARTH GYM!
posted by Fran Larkin at
9:04 AM
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