The older I get the easier it is to sit on the couch and flip channels on the TV. When I sit on a comfortable piece of furniture for any amount of time I get tired and lose interest in moving. Time passes rather quickly and before I know it I have lost the day and any opportunity of working out. This is especially true when the weather is bad. I live in Western Pennsylvania and February is no treat and there is little pull to get outside. Today for example started out 12 degrees with some snow and it only warmed up to the low 20s and there was no sunshine. Going outside for a walk or run is risky because of the slippery conditions. I have hyperextended my knee in the past in such conditions. So the options of going to the gym, getting on treadmill or doing sometime of floor exercise at home are my real choices. No sunshine, cold weather and gloomy conditions make the warm comfortable couch even more appealing. So what to do, accept the conditions or fight them and force movement. I have found that it is always better to force myself and do something that resembles exercise. Once I get moving I almost always feel better and the exercise becomes easier and much more welcome. If I fail to exercise at the end of the day I am depressed and mad that I didn’t take some action to change my circumstance and my outlook. No matter what type of movement I do I feel that it has added value to my day. Lack of exercise usually results in a negative to my day and I feel like I wasted an opportunity. SO my suggestion is to embrace the circumstances presented and see it as an opportunity to be creative about what type of exercise can be accomplished. Don’t complain, don’t procrastinate, get off that couch and do something. Life is short and time is a wasting, do something that will be a positive contribution to the quality of your life.
Categories: Aging, Exercise, training