Exercise is by far the most effective intervention to improve your health-span and life-span. Statistically speaking, if you have more muscle mass, more strength, and a higher VO2 max (read ‘better cardiovascular fitness’) you will live longer and have a higher quality of life. Improving these factors actually has a greater impact on your life-span than if you were to quit smoking.
Exercising to improve your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health will obviously improve your physical health. But it will improve your mental and emotional health, too. There are a number of studies showing that exercise can attenuate cognitive decline and improve depressive symptoms. And anyone who has finished a hard workout knows it just makes you feel good! The exercise-induced endorphin release is a known mood enhancer.
If there were a supplement, medication, or diet that produced the same short-term and long-term health benefits as exercise then everyone would take it. Unfortunately, the pharma-world hasn’t developed this compound yet.
If exercise were a pill everyone would take it, but in its current form not everyone wants a prescription. It’s hard, it’s uncomfortable, it’s time consuming, and results are not immediate. However, the benefits are undeniable and with a little guidance the risk of injury is extremely low (it will actually reduce your risk of injury in other areas of your life). If you understand the value of compounding interest you should understand the value of compounding your health as well. We can’t turn back the clock but it’s never too late to start saving or improving your health.
Compare it to oral health or smoking. If I decide to brush and floss 2 times a day for a month that’s great, but if I return to brushing once a day at the end of the month it will have no perceivable impact on my oral health 5 years from now. And the same goes for smoking. If I quit smoking for 1 month that is a big accomplishment. But if I start smoking again that smoke-free month wouldn’t impact my long-term health. Conversely, if I quit smoking, start brushing and flossing regularly, and continue these habits for the next 5 years I will have significantly improved my overall health and my breath will smell better. If I continue these habits for a lifetime I will reduce my risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer. And I will have drastically reduced my ‘all-cause mortality’ (the likelihood of dying of anything). However, research shows that regular exercise will reduce my ‘all-cause mortality’ risk even more than improved oral hygiene and quitting smoking combined!
The most important factor is consistency. If your goal is to live longer and have a better quality of life exercise needs to become a life-long habit. One great workout, a 12 week exercise program, or even a year long weight-loss journey won’t cut it. To see meaningful detectable change it takes years of consistency.
Exercise needs to become as ‘routine’ as brushing your teeth. But we face some big psychological barriers. We all find excuses, we’re intimidated by the gym, we get lazy, or we get knocked off course.
The strategy to cultivate a longer life with better health is regular daily exercise.
These 3 tactics are designed to help you make exercise as habitual as brushing your teeth:
Become Fond of Your Exercise Program: You need to find at least one part of your daily exercise routine that you are affectionate about and you can direct positive emotions towards. Something that you can find joy in and look forward to doing. Find an exercise, pose, or activity that makes you happy and you can learn to truly enjoy. Exaggerate its importance, smile while you do it, verbalize how you’re feeling. (To start it can just be putting on your shoes and saying “damn these shoes are so comfortable”)
Have Gratitude: Take a minute at the end of each workout for a few gratifying breaths. Congratulate yourself on finishing the workout, thank yourself for prioritizing your health, recognize how hard you worked and how good you feel, and be glad the workout is over. Positive self talk is an incredibly powerful tool and you get even more awesome every time you do it.
Don’t Break The Chain: Exercise everyday. Even when you’re not feeling well or “dont have time.” Make the effort to walk around the block, take a 10 minute stretch break, and do a few push ups in your down time. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can ‘just skip one day.’ Inertia is a critical component of creating a new habit. The more days you can link together the harder it becomes to skip a day.
Some of this will sound silly at first. But if you have read this far your old tactics probably haven’t work…. So why not give silly a try.
Remember, no one is perfect. So don’t get discouraged if you miss a few days, get distracted, or have setbacks. Recover quickly and pick up where you left off.
Initially your exercise program should feel easy, familiar, and comfortable. The first phase is about getting into a routine and building new habits, not breaking world records. If you have any questions about how to safely start your exercise journey or if you would like us to help you design your first 12-week exercise program please feel free to contact us!
Alohaaaa 🤙
Teddy Zabel, PT, DPT, OCS
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