DEC11_Harmonize your Health
December 2011 Article
Harmonize your Health |
Within each of us there is a “tuning fork” that emits a sound to our brain, which in turn sends a signal to our nervous system, then to the metabolic juices that flow to our muscles and ultimately rotate and bend our joints to motivate us physiologically through life. How we start this process depends on the clarity of this tuning fork’s sound. If we start the day happy, joyous and free, that sound might be like a children’s choir singing clearly and brilliantly. If we’re restless and irritable, then maybe we’ll hear a cacophony of jackhammers. For each of us the sound is different, but for all of us, it is self-fulfilling. How we hear the tuning fork relates directly to how well we take care of ourselves. And the more fit we are, the better listeners we are, and the clearer and more appealing the sound. A good personal trainer will tell his or her clients, “Listen to your body, and the tempo will come naturally.”
That tempo, unfortunately, is often interrupted by the hype thrown at us by the fitness industry. Eat this, not that; lose weight by interval training or hour-long treadmill workouts; lighter weights and more reps or lift heavy with fewer reps; machines or free weights. Sports-specific training aside, what about the average 30-80 year old who wants to maintain or even turn back the aging process? How do we look and feel fit at any age? Notwithstanding medical issues that could have been arrested with exercise, most of us can start our fitness lifestyle at any age. It is never too late to start, but it is always too soon to stop. Your doctor won’t tell you this because the pharmaceutical industry has its own version of preventive maintenance. Those of us who work out regularly represent a mere 5% of the able population of any age group.
Youth
Obesity is growing within this age group; we all hear and know this. Alarmingly, this might be the first generation to NOT live as long as the previous. The reasons are too many to mention, but as parents we have an obligation. Start with weight training. The Bob Burger Center offers a 6-week, twice-a-week class taught by a certified Instructor. Twelve to sixteen year-olds learn technique, weight-room etiquette and mental discipline.
The Rest of Us
Anyone over the age of 40 will start to age perceptibly faster without a fitness program to slow the process. Aging is not a disease and therefore it is not susceptible to the operations and pills of the standard medical practices. The central axiom of “use it or lose it” applies. It is imperative to start NOW! We at the Center offer just about everything the body needs. As an independent trainer, I work in many environments for all fitness levels; and, bar none, the Burger Center is the best. One program that I personally teach is Strength and Conditioning for 50 and Over. The class is small and individual personal instruction is offered for about the price of a cup of coffee per session. A student said, “I’ve never been happier.” Another one commented, “Wow, I never even knew that I had that muscle.” How many retired 72 year-olds do you know who can perform a perfectly executed Olympic Dead Lift? Come to our class.
We all hope you have a great Holiday Season. If you’re thinking of starting a fitness progam, some advice: Learn to do whatever you do correctly. The Burger Center will offer a one-on-one tour of the facility at no charge. Or at least get out the old Jane Fonda tape and start there. Consider this however: Each of our hundred trillion genes contains 30,00 gene switches that act as rheostats, all tuning in to a common signal. The scientific word for this tuning is symmorphosis. If part of the body were to be listening to its chosen tuning, and all the others to different tuning, chaos would result. The tuning of the body fitness responds as a rheostat to its signal setting, which is exercise. Look me up the next time you’re at the center. I’m the geezer in the lobby watching the Jane Fonda workout tape.
Article submitted by Jack Wagner, Certified Fitness Trainer, Bob L. Burger Recreation Center (303)465-0469.
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