Movement is Medicine

Some might say “Age” can creep up on you but if you ask me, it seems to have jumped out from a dark corner and pummelled me with a large wooden bat. 

Every morning, I slowly sit up in bed and take stock of the parts that radiate dull pain, I limp to the kitchen to grab my coffee and Turmeric Tea (that my amazing “naturalist” partner makes) to reduce the swelling. While at work the Boss and I give each other updates on the newest injury or bruise; his a product of training at an MMA club and mine a result of learning new sports I should have started in my 20’s.

My mind doesn’t want to connect-the-dots but the reality is, this is life at 50 plus. We have played hard, made mistakes and generally just worn things out. Not to mention chronic illness and sometimes winning the genetic disease lottery. We play our hands when we are young thinking we are invincible, “play now – pay later” seemed such a good idea at the time.

This can’t be all there is? Looking back at the sitcoms we watched in the 80’s and the people we thought were so old were in their 40’s! Archie Bunker (All in the Family), Mr. Roper (Three’s Company), and Al Bundy (Married With Children) to name a few. Now I look around and most of us “mid-lifers” seem to be looking less like old men and still pretending we are in our 30’s. 

Well maybe this isn’t all there is. Maybe the secret to warding off “Age” is right there in front of us, in exactly what I described. 

Over 10 years ago I was hired to work with one of the top fitness professionals in Calgary to shoot some white background stuff for Impact magazine. The shoot itself was un-remarkable but the guy I worked with, leading the direction for the shoot, was beyond remarkable.  Pete was this smaller-built, zero fat, walking muscle (easily could have body doubled for McGregor) with long dirty-blonde hair who I figured had to be hovering somewhere around 40 (in fact was 55 at the time). Pete was fit, fit as hell and it was obvious this guy made staying in shape a priority. 

What I learned from Pete over the last 10 or so years (on social media goes by the handle, “fitguy1959”) was two truths. The first truth is that if you want to stay “young and fit” you need to make it one of your top priorities. That may sound selfish in a time when we have families and relationships, but if you think about it, the better and healthier you are as a person, the better you’re going to be for everyone else. The other truth I gleaned from Pete is that if you want to stay “young and fit” you have to work your ass-off. Sure you can adopt a casual active lifestyle and you can be proud you play hockey with the boys on Thursday nights. But if you find yourself wanting, or groaning about your gut or lack of cardio, maybe you’re not working your ass-off. Or maybe your ok and happy where you are at.

I know the truth. My problem however is that I have a very short-term memory and at times I wander down the path of disruption. A Christmas cheer drink here, Loaded pizza there, couple extra days of sleeping in, then Monday morning comes…..

I follow guys like the Fitguy1959 and try to spend as much time with people working harder than me so that I am reminded that I need to work my ass-off. Do I really want it? Hell yes I want it. I have walked away from a plane crash, fallen 3 stories into a pile of steel beams, crashed mountain bikes and wiped out on skateboards more than I can remember. I have chronic pain and crushed disks and I have put off payment for my sins of playing hard for as long as I can. The only thing keeping me; no keeping all of us from aging-out quickly inside our meat-bags, is those two truths. Make your health the priority, and work your ass-off for it. 

I never feel like going for a run, ever. I just do it. I don’t like sitting up to my neck in 4 degree water, I just do it. And when I am sitting on the edge of my warm bed thinking about how I am going to get through the day, I decide I want to be better and promise myself I will make time to take my medicine, work a little ass-off into my day. Movement is medicine, and hard work is the fountain of youth. Drink from it as long as you can.