There was a time when people were thought of as either Jocks or Nerds.  That type of mentality may have worked for high school politics but living well today requires being both as well as the support of a healthy diet.  It sounds simple…all you have to do is eat well, think positively and move the right way, but how do you put it all together?

If you weren’t born with athletic talent, a competitive drive or at least some gym rat DNA then exercise is probably the hardest to take action on.  For my own love of sports I rarely participate in organized games anymore and my body has changed, so like most people I’ve had to find new ways to train for an active lifestyle.

For all that we know about the many benefits of exercise, most of us are motivated to lose weight and look good.  This is ok to get started but it’s easy to fall off after some initial success. 

The Exercise Nerd knows better and here is a refresher on how exercise can help us when done the right way:

1) Brings vital oxygen to the body through higher functioning of our primary respiratory organs (Brain, Spine, Lungs)

2) Helps build our immunity by sharpening the stress response system while drawing our minds away from stressful thoughts

3) Builds up our body’s muscles and bones while attracting a culture of healthy habits

In addition to getting too comfortable with fast results the other main reasons why people don’t stick with exercise are that they don’t know where to begin and it doesn’t feel good and may even hurt. 

From many years of coaching, I have found that the key to starting on the right foot to successful exercise is to address posture issues first.  It is crucial for the body to be ready for exercise before we start working with machines and throwing around weights.  We do this by establishing a solid foundation, working out with just your body weight. Knowing you have the ability to do basic calisthenics is a great way to ensure you are ready for something more.

Floor stretches and isometric holds may not feel like a lot of work but undoing the damage from sitting takes time and it’s the #1 physical stress I deal with clinically.  Chiropractic care helps resuscitate normal joint movement and restore the body to an adaptive state needed for the change that adding progressive exercise will bring. 

Dealing with soreness is a realistic issue we face with exercise and having a strategy for recovery can help keep you from a layoff. But nothing is more frustrating than when someone is injured exercising the wrong way and then they are even less likely to try again.  It’s not that I only recommend pushups, sit-ups and yoga but posture is a critical step that most people skip and it can hurt, literally.

I start the average person on an even simpler program that’s more like Pre-Yoga but we address posture in all phases of exercise including advanced strength training.

Once you establish good standing posture, flexibility of movement, warm joints and strength in critical areas you’ve set the tone for a sustainable workout that you can do at any age.  Keep feeding the nerd in you with information about exercise in the part 2!