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Integrated Activity
for Fully Engaging in Life
by Dr. Mark Pitstick
Activity includes stretching, aerobic fitness, strength
training and an energetic lifestyle. Take a few hours
per week to do these so you can enjoy being vibrantly
healthy. You can regularly enjoy many activities of
life when you are fit. You are supposed to be
energetic, strong, and able to meet all of life’s
demands. Activity can help you do this into your 90’s
and beyond.
Conventional aerobic and resistance training methods
provide good results. However, I want to mention a
different approach that recently came to my attention.
Al Sears, M.D., has advanced training in nutrition,
sports medicine and anti-aging, and is the author of
Pace: Discover Your Native Fitness. His program
involves exercises that are more intense but briefer in
duration than conventionally recommended programs. He
does not recommend prolonged weight, cardio or aerobic
exercises.
Several other excellent integrated
techniques provide numerous benefits: stretching,
strengthening, skeletal alignment, deep breathing,
enhanced awareness, internal organ massage, movement and
proper posture.
Yoga is the oldest system that provides these benefits
and excellent programs are now widely available. For
many years, I used the Integral Hatha Yoga program
taught by Swami Satchidananda. In Fountain of Youth,
Peter Kelder describes ancient rites or postures
purportedly used by Tibetan Lamas to aid longevity and
vital functioning in all areas of life. I use these
basic movements each morning as a warm-up. Ashtanga
yoga provides the most intense workout and benefits
using just ones body weight.
Functional fitness
involves exercises that mirror everyday
activities. This approach integrates muscle groups
using balance, low weight, stabilizer balls and a wobble
board. In the beginning, a person’s body weight is
sufficient; small dumbbells are added later. Functional
exercises train muscles to work together while
increasing core muscle strength, flexibility and
agility.
The Pilates Method is another
integrated approach to strengthening muscles while
improving balance and flexibility. Components of this
approach include mental concentration, precise and
flowing movements, specific positions and focused
breathing.
Moshe Feldenkrais pioneered body movement
and awareness work with his “Functional Integration”
technique. W. Reich, F.M. Alexander, Ida Rolf, Fritz
Perls, and Alexander Lowen were other early teachers of
integrated techniques. Specific stretches can
reprogram healthy neuromuscular patterns while
deprogramming aberrant ones.
Fully Engaging in Life
Being dynamic is the final step for
optimal activity. Observe how lean people move quickly,
keep busy, and have lots of energy for projects. They
like to be active, even if it’s helping with the dishes
or picking up the house. They rarely if ever sit idly
while consuming lots of fattening snacks.
An old adage states: “To become, act as
if.” Model the behavior of people who are trim and
slim. Evaluate how you can become a more active
person. You know the basics: exercise regularly, park
farther away, climb stairs instead of using elevators,
put on your sneakers and pick up the pace while cleaning
the house, and do your own yard work.
Exercising on a regular basis allows you
to fully participate in life’s activities without paying
for it afterwards. By getting more fit, you can enjoy
diverse recreation, playing with your children or
grandchildren and pets, and spending time in nature.
These activities are part of a rich and varied life.
Design your life to include more
activities. For example, enjoy time with family and
friends while walking in nature, biking, kayaking or
canoeing. Take dance, yoga, or martial arts lessons
with your loved ones and enjoy a light, healthy dinner
afterwards for an active evening out. Go bowling, play
ping pong or billiards. Enjoy a family swim and
participate in team sports. Be creative and come up
with your own ways to add more activity to your life.
Activity—there you have it!
Optimal activity requires only a few
hours per week of stretching, cardiovascular
conditioning, and strengthening. In addition, maintain
an active lifestyle and make more robust lifestyle
choices. Then you can enjoy the game of life and
increasingly experience radiant living!
If that sounds like the kind of life experience you want, read
Radiant Wellness by Dr. Pitstick for more
about optimal activity.
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