6 POWERFUL FORMS OF EXERCISE

6 POWERFUL FORMS OF EXERCISE

Lack of physical activity can result in brittle bones, stiff joints, muscle loss, fat gain, and a weakened immune system (which makes us more vulnerable to sickness and premature death) and a lack of mental stimulation can result in depression as well as mental decline and deterioration.

So it's important to remain physically and mentally and active as we get older, and below are the 6 forms of exercise that I highly recommend...

1. WALKING

Because we have domesticated dogs, we take our dogs for walks to try to make up for the fact that they are aren't walking as much as they used to. And because we humans have become more sedentary and dependant on vehicles to get places, we too would benefit from adding some walking back into our lives.

Walking is one of the safest, easiest, and best forms of physical exercise there is, and as far as speed goes, the classic advice is to walk fast enough that your heart rate increases, but not so fast that you would have difficulty having a conversation with someone walking beside you.

Regardless of whether you walk 1 mile, jog 1 mile, or run 1 mile, you will be burning close to the same number of calories. However, the faster you are moving, the more risky your movement becomes, and running and jogging can quickly result in wear-and-tear on your lower body if you are doing it on rough terrain or if you are overweight and your joints can't take all the heavy pounding.

Not only were we designed to walk, but we were designed to walk outdoors, and although walking on an indoor treadmill might be better than no walking at all, you will not be getting all of the additional benefits that you can get from walking outdoors, such as fresh air, sunshine, and natural scenery.

And by the way, you may find that when you walk outside in nature, you literally start to become a philosopher, and you may even find that your most creative ideas and the best solutions to your problems all seem to come to you while walking outside.

2. WEIGHTLIFTING

Weightlifting would benefit everyone, and for anyone reading this who is "underweight", the best way to gain "healthy weight" is to gain it in the form of muscle mass through a regular weightlifting program.

It takes time to build muscle, but you can speed up the process by following the same principles that construction workers use when they want to build a building.

To build a building (or muscle) you will need the following 3 basic things...

1. Labor (Workouts)
2. Materials (Nutrition)
3. Time (Rest & Recovery)
And before you start building a new building (or a new body) you will also need the following 3 things if you want to get results as quickly and efficiently as possible...

1. "A Blueprint"

If you workout with the vague goal of "wanting to get in shape" it would be like construction workers showing up at a work site with the vague goal of "wanting to build a building", and it can't be stressed enough how important it is to have a clear mental vision of what you are wanting to create.

2. "Skills" If you want to build something with speed, precision, and safety, you need to know how to use the tools and equipment that are available to you properly.

Lifting weights with proper form and technique is so important for getting good results and for avoiding injury, that I highly recommend you watch tutorial videos on YouTube on how to lift weights correctly, and that you continue to watch videos like that from time to time no matter how many years you have been weightlifting. (Even the wisest person has something to learn, and we all need reminding sometimes.)

3. "Deconstruction"

Before you can build a new building, the old one must first be torn down, and before you can can build a new body, the old habits and beliefs that are keeping you stuck where you are at must first be demolished before major reconstruction can truly begin.

3. JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE

Before I get into the amazing benefits of "rebounding", I want to mention that a mini-trampoline will actually give you the same health benefits that a large trampoline will, so there is no need to invest in a large one.

However, it is important to invest in a premium one that comes with a life-time warrantee and that has amazing reviews, because although you can find inexpensive mini-trampolines at places like "Walmart", they aren't built to last and are intended for people who will use them for a short time and then quit.

Jumping on a trampoline is a safe exercise, but it can certainly become dangerous if you are doing flips or other stunts on it, and one of the reasons that I recommend not using a "cheap" trampoline, is because deep down we all know that jumping on a "cheap" trampoline will eventually cause it to break, so please invest in one of the newer mini-trampolines that are built to outlive all of us.

- JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE WILL STRENGTHEN EVERY SINGLE CELL IN YOUR BODY

If a person weighs 100 pounds and they glued a scale to their feet, the scale would say that they weighed "100 pounds" if they were standing still, but if they were jumping on a trampoline, the scale would say that they weighed "0 pounds" at the top of each jump when they are in the air and weightless, and then it would say that they weighed "300 pounds" when they came back down and landed on the trampoline.

And it is at that moment when a scale would say that you weigh 3 times more than normal that your muscles engage to make the next jump, and since gravity is 3 times stronger than normal at the beginning of a jump on a trampoline, the intensified gravitational force (known as "G force") causes the cells in your body to have to work harder than normal and therefore provides a powerful "cellular workout".

- JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE WILL STIMULATE YOUR LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

We each have about 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) cells in our body, and just like any other living creatures, each one of our cells eats and excretes waste, and this cellular waste can cause problems if it builds up and isn't being eliminated efficiently.

Fortunately, we also have a "lymphatic system" which produces "lymph fluid", and one of the purposes of "lymph fluid" is to help transport this cellular waste out of the body.

But unlike our blood which has a heart that pumps and circulates it for us automatically, our lymphatic system has no actual pump, and it instead gets stimulated through our physical movement, so it is important to stay active, and jumping on a trampoline has specifically been shown to be one of the most effective forms of exercise for stimulating our lymphatic system.

- JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE WILL HELP END DEPRESSION AND MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD

In the same way that young children enjoy jumping on their beds and astronauts enjoy doing somersaults when they are in space, jumping on a trampoline is a really fun way of experiencing weightlessness.

Jumping on a trampoline is so much fun, that once I start doing it I don't want to stop, and I think that it would be virtually impossible to be jumping on a trampoline and feel depressed at the same time.

Antidepressants are currently the most prescribed drug in America, and studies are starting to show that exercise can be just as effective at reducing depression as many of the leading brands of antidepressants, so if you're feeling down, see if jumping on a trampoline doesn't "uplift" you and provide you with a natural "high".

4. YOGA

You may not remember this, but on the day that you were born, you were more physically and mentally flexible then the most advanced yogi in the world! And a regular yoga practice is the best way to help you regain this flexibility.

In the 76th verse of the "Tao Te Ching" it says that all life (including the trees and the plants) are soft and flexible at birth, and hard and stiff at death, and therefore, "flexibility" is a companion of life and "stiffness" is a companion of death.

Although physical postures which help us become more physically flexible are a part of yoga, yoga is ultimately about self-realization, realizing that we have more in common than we don't, and joining together to help unify a divided world that can currently only see differences! But in the meantime, I encourage you to get started on this epic journey by simply getting yourself a yoga mat and by starting yoga NOW.

5. HOT & COLD EXPOSURE

Some of us have grandparents who will talk about how back when they were kids they had to walk 8 miles to school every day even if there was a foot of snow outside. And some of us have in-door pets who we wouldn't dream of letting sleep outside on a cold night, even though their grandparents were out-door pets who would spend the entire winter outside.

A lot of research is coming out which suggests that hot and cold exposure can have therapeutic and health enhancing benefits, but the main reason that I want to promote it is because it forces us to step out of our "comfort zone" and become the kind of people who get things done!

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."
-"Unknown"

I used to live on a property that had a river running through it, and the water was extremely cold in the early mornings, so I started bathing in the river first thing in the morning as a form of "cold training".

And once I started bathing in the river, I quickly realized that I could either spend 10 minutes procrastinating by telling myself how cold the water was going to be and then spend another 10 minutes slowly exposing my body to the cold water starting with my feet and slowly working my way upwards, or I could just jump in the water and within 10 seconds be laughing and feeling invigorated.

I've also had a lot of experiences where I'll be walking to the grocery store in the snow and I'll feel so cold that I start thinking that maybe I should just turn around and go back home, but then I'll do the exact opposite and start jogging to the store, and by the time I get there I'll feel so warm that I'm actually sweating even though it's freezing outside.

And in the same way that activity can warm us up when we are cold, taking action is the best way to overcome procrastination and face the challenges in front of us.

Whether you are wanting to go to the gym and work-out or you are wanting to write a book, the quicker that you can pick up some weights or pick up a pen and get started, the quicker you will find yourself "in the zone" or "in the flow" and the more time that you will be in a state of productivity rather than a state of procrastination.

Animals in nature have to endure extreme temperature changes throughout the year (and sometimes even within a 24 hour period) and they certainly can't just type in the temperature that they want their environment to be like we can when we spend all our time inside a house with an air conditioner and a heater, and this ability to endure whatever conditions come our way (be it rain or snow) helps us to become tough enough to endure other challenges that come their way.

Some spas will let you get in a hot sauna and then do cold cryotherapy shortly after. (And end up experiencing an over 200 degrees of temperature difference in a very short amount of time!) But even if you don't live near a business that offers these procedures, you can take cold showers, or invest in a home sauna, or you can simply start taking advantage of the summer heat and the winter cold when they are here rather than complain that it's too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

6. GET A WORKOUT BY SIMPLY BEING AN ACTIVE PERSON

Try to imagine just how utterly useless something like a treadmill would have been to our ancient ancestors.

Our ancient ancestors didn't need gyms, barbells, or exercise programs, because physical exercise was involved in virtually everything that they did. But now that we have invented "labor saving machines" which have reduced the amount of labor we have to do to almost nothing, a great way to get in better shape is to simply start doing things the old-fashioned way again.

We've all heard advice like this over years...

* Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

* Walk to places that are nearby instead of driving to them.

* Use a push mower to mow your yard instead of a riding lawnmower.

- CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT "WORK"

Because I grew up in the country, there was no electric heating in the house that I grew up in, so in order to stay warm in the winter, me and my family would have to spend the summer doing "woodwork". (Which meant going into the forest and cutting down dead trees, and then cutting them into logs that could be used as "firewood".)

As a kid, I would dread having to do "woodwork" due to how hard it was, and I would always ask my dad, "Do I have to do woodwork today?" and he would respond by telling me, "No, you GET to do woodwork today."

It used to annoy me whenever he would say that to me, but over time I started to realize that just like "Wayne Dyer" used to say, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

For some people, watching the training scene from one of the "Rocky" movies (or even just hearing the theme music from "Rocky") is enough to get them pumped up and motivated to work-out, and once I watched the movie "Rocky 4" and I saw the scene where "Rocky" was doing "woodwork" as exercise, it became imposible for me to do "woodwork" without thinking about "Rocky" and without feeling like I was getting stronger, and I actually started wanting to do it.

- CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT "PLAY"

Because I grew up before the days of internet and cellphones, one of the most common ways that parents would punish their kids back then was to tell them that they couldn't go outside and play. But because children today have become so non-active and out of shape, and because they now prefer to play video games (which only requires the physical exercise of their thumbs) telling them to go outside and play would probably be considered "punishment" nowadays.

As sedentary lifestyles have risen, so have the salaries of professional athletes, and I believe that if people became healthier and more physically fit, they would naturally become a lot more energetic and playful, which would result in them wanting to go outside and play games themselves rather than paying to watch other people go outside and play.

MOTIVATION

A lot of people will say that they love long romantic walks with someone on the beach, but they probably don't enjoy long walks alone on a treadmill. (Hence the nickname "dreadmill".)

When you are excited about something, it can start to feel "effortless", but once that excitement is gone, it can quickly become all too clear to you just how much effort is required to do what you are doing.

"It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to."
- Annie Gottlier

Below are just a few quick tips to getting motivated...

TRY LISTENING TO MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC
In the past, soldiers were equipped with guns, swords, and "battle drums", and the reason that they included "drums" in their arsenal, was because soldiers marching to the beat of a drum can march faster and further without getting tired than soldiers marching without a beat.

So if you ever find yourself not feeling the motivation to exercise, try turning on some upbeat music that you enjoy, because you might just find that it's the "secret weapon" that can help you overcome the daunting feeling of starting a workout.

KNOW THAT WE CAN DO MORE THAN WE THINK
We've all heard stories about how for many years it was considered a "fact" that it was impossible for anyone to run a mile in under 4 minutes, but then once someone proved that it could be done people from all over the world were suddenly able to do it as well.

The following scene from the film "Facing the Giants" has helped remind me countless times that we have more in us than we realize...

"CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO ON YOUTUBE"

REMEMBER THAT IT'S NEVER TO LATE IN LIFE TO START EXERCISING
There are people today who are over 100 years old and who are still walking, still weight training, still doing yoga, and still doing things the hard way.

The reason that so many people in their 80's or 90's would break their hip if they fell down, isn't just because of their age, but it is because they have probably been "retired" for many years and have spent the past decade or two living an incredibly sedentary existence. (Which has resulted in them becoming a lot weaker and more vulnerable to injuries.)

And even for those with injuries and who have been told by doctors that they will never be able to do certain things again, I would encourage you to watch this INCREDIBLE video from "DDP Yoga" of a man named "Aurthor" who was told that he would never walk again and who was able to help demonstrate that anything is possible.

"CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO ON YOUTUBE"

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