MOVEMENT

Once I again I decided to use a broader term to title a post. I could have used exercise or working out just to name a few. I chose movement. Life and being healthy is about movement. Even if you are in such poor health or have limiting physical conditions, some form of movement can help. I have a friend who just had a total hip replacement. You know what the doctor told him? Starting moving around in specific start walking. Even though it was with a walker he started walking inside. From the front door to the back door. It took him 13 seconds and round trip about 30 seconds. He did this 3 times a day. Not a blazing speed. For a 70-year-old man he did the best he could. Sometimes it was harder than others. He wasn’t hitting the gym, he wasn’t going outside or doing calisthenics. Just a simple walk with a walker inside his house. Be what it may, he showed up. He just went to his doctor about a week ago and the doctor told him he was recovering well, just keep moving.

As part of the person I want to be, healthy and active, I knew movement had to be involved. To be honest I have been looking forward to writing this post for a while. Why? Because tiny habits have helped in this part my life more than any other. I have seen progress and kept record of what I have been doing and I can see tiny little habits have demonstrated rewards.

As many of you have probably have done in the past, I wanted to exercise more. I wanted to be in shape. I wanted to look good physically, be able to do the simplest things without being sore or hurting. In other words, to be functionally fit. Most of all I wanted to be healthy, lose weight and feel good. So off I went hitting the gym or trying to run, the treadmill, the elliptical or the stair climber.  I found all kinds of workouts and routines for the gym and home. Gave them a shot. What do I remember most? How incredibly sore I was. Aching lower back, knees hurting, sore abs. More than once I started weight lifting and my nemesis bar bell squats destroyed me. I remember barely walking up the stairs, struggling to sit down on the toilet. About 2 days of hell a couple of times of year as I started and stopped. Then the soreness fled and I thought. “I don’t want to go through this again I am going to keep it up.” Go Robert! Well Robert went I think for the longest time about 7 weeks then stopped. Why? Some of it was running out of motivation, some of it work or weather or just no reason.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. What was I going to do different this time? In Atomic Habits, James Clear gives an example of man who wanted to work out more. He started by putting on his gym shoes every morning. And that was about it. Then he was able to get to gym but he only stayed 5 minutes then left. Gradually he kept increasing building habit upon habit and it was success.

So what did I do? Well, I built a morning routine or system. First thing on that list was coffee! Oh how I need coffee when I first wake up. I sat up part of my routine to include coffee. Well I had to wake up at 4:50 to make and enjoy the first cup. I am an early riser anyway so not so hard. The night before I set up my coffee stuff, laid out my gym clothes. Off went the alarms I was up. Coffee was a piece of cake to get started and while was brewing, I changed clothes. I was ready to go to gym. My coffee was done I sat down and enjoyed a cup, meditated, read and let the flow of the morning begin.  At 5:30 I was out the door and on my way to the gym about 7 minutes away.  I walked in did one warm upset of squats with half the weight that I planned to use for my working weight for 6 reps. Turned around and walked out the door. Talk about awkward I was sure in my mind everyone was looking at me. What is this guy doing?  So it went. I got home and I went for a 10-minute walk. The next day basically a repeat but the barbell row instead of squat. Instead of 10-minute walk I did 15 second run and 9:45 second walk. I repeated the same thing for the next 4 days,  with a different lifting exercise and increasing run by 15 seconds every day.

I had started out with that first walk of .46 miles 21:50 mile pace. Just before weather went nasty I had accomplished .55 mi at 18:21 mile pace in about week. Then I converted my walk run to the treadmill. Recently on a 3-incline, running 1.5 minutes at a 6mph pace then walking 8.5 minutes at 3.5 mph pace I had in 10 minutes averaged a 14:34 mile pace. My first achievement is to do a 10-minute mile which would set me up for a 30-minute 5k. I’m getting there! But the best part of this I have done this for 7 weeks! Oh it was so tough at times. One morning I had to shovel my drive way out in the dark before I went. Another morning the temperature was 2 degrees outside. But I allowed it, wanted it to become a habit and it has become one. All of my lifts are increasing my movement is increasing. I have added flexibility and mobility and also once a week doing 20lb pack ruck for 10 minutes. It’s no longer a motivation thing it’s a discipline thing. It doesn’t matter if I don’t want to, or I feel tired or a runny nose or whatever. It’s non-negotiable. I show up and do it. If I could only express the sense of empowerment, the self-confidence. I am not working out for an hour or more, with a fitness model physique. I am not deadlifting 500lbs or running a sub 30 min 5k. What I am doing is showing up and putting in the work. Now it may not seem like much but looking back at the beginning of December I was doing nothing, zip, zero, nada. In the end I have made progress.

Get out of mentality of go big or go home. I tell you just GO! Get up in the morning, do one push up. Watch your form or scale it down but do one. How many did you do yesterday? You may have just doubled it. The next morning do the same thing one push up. Do it the next day and the next day till it becomes pretty easy and you feel like you could do one more. That next day do 2. Keep going for 2 then 3 then 4 and you get it. Make it a habit. Maybe add an air squat or lunge. You are creating habits at this moment. The time will come when it will feel so awkward if you don’t do your one push up one day. That’s when it becomes a habit. Apply it cardio. Do 15 seconds of jumping jacks then walk in place or around your home for 9:45 seconds, the next day 30 seconds of jumping jacks then walking and keep going on. Can you imagine doing jumping jacks for 10 minutes without stopping one day? Wow!

There are tons of resources out there to help you. Please consult your medical professional befor starting a new movement program. If you can’t get to the gym or afford it, do home workouts. One of the best free resources for home workouts and calisthenics is the Youtube channel Hybrid Calisthenics. Hampton the host seems like such a cool and down to earth guy. He is encouraging, fun and has some good information to even begin a workout. Check it out (I am not being paid or endorsed by Hampton just sharing a site that has my attention) .

Whatever your fitness level or age just start something even the smallest of things. Keep track of it, monitor the results.  I can say it worked for me. Remember just keep moving and show up.

I look forward to giving you updates and hearing about any small habit that is working for you.

Until next time. We are in this together. Take care!