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A few days ago after a 40-minute run on the treadmill, I sat in an outdoor spa while the hot jets massaged my back and shoulders. I love to finish a workout this way, but that night the experience was especially delightful: a steady drizzle of cool rain was falling, and a fine mist was rising on the water's surface. I’ve been working out regularly for decades, but don't get me wrong—at no time in my life have I ever thought of myself as an athlete. In junior high I played basketball, but I was too small to make the high school team. As a senior, I was captain of the high school golf team, and on the wrestling team I was a back-up for the conference champion in the 145-pound weight class. Translation: I never got to compete. At college I didn’t play a varsity sport; but each student was required to take a physical education course and participate in an intramural sport. Later I took up tennis and jogging. I became an avid long distance runner, putting in 50 miles a week. In 1984 I ran the Marine Corps Marathon, something I decided I would never do again. I was in great shape back then. At the age of 40 I could run a mile in 5:30. Over the years I’ve tapered off, but I still do something physical for an hour at least five times a week. I almost never do the same thing. Today I did my upper-body physical therapy routine and a fast walk. Sometimes I swim three-quarters of a mile. Sometimes I jog my favorite three-mile route to the causeway and back. Sometimes I do a fast morning walk in the park with my wife, and we count bird species as we go. “Brown pelican, that makes nineteen.” Next January I’ll be 61 years old. I’m aware that some people will think of me as an old man. Well, I don’t feel that way. But at this age I definitely honor the principle of achieving slow, steady progress. I know how easy it is to injure myself. Two years ago I was doing some heavy lifting, and I thought, “I can do that.” I caused painful injuries in both shoulders, which took forever to heal. If I don't do my stretches religiously, I get lower back pain. I focus on variety, spontaneity, and feeling good. I also take a break from it once a week, sometimes twice, with no guilt. If I travel and it’s hard to get my workouts in, I don’t worry about it. I just get back into the flow when I return. I think my work in the area of weight control, exercise and nutrition is guided by an important principle: it’s not a project or a program; it’s a lifestyle. It has taken me years to learn what I know now and to establish my habits, and I’m still learning. My goal has always been to enjoy the way exercise makes me feel and to stay healthy. Anyone can begin this journey at any time, and my advice would be to start at your own level, make slow, steady progress and stay with it permanently. Feel strong. Avoid pain. Postpone death. So far it seems to be working.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
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