I live in Niwot, Colorado, one of the most active cities in the world. I still, however, sometimes find it difficult to get enough exercise!
Exercise is one of the five major components required for having good physical health. The other four are getting adequate rest, eating a clean and healthful diet, getting regular chiropractic care and bodywork, taking time to manage your psychological state, and spending time in spiritual practice (prayer, mediation, or a simple walk in the woods. Whatever fulfills you deeply).

---

We human beings are born to exercise.

Exercising regularly is not only a necessary requirement for a healthy lifestyle, it is also an excellent way to relieve stress and it can be incredibly fun! Imagine small children outside having fun. What are they most likely doing? Exercising! They’re running, jumping, throwing, climbing, dancing, splashing, and they almost never get hurt (aside from the occasional skinned knee or other catastrophic event).

---

The American College of Sports Medicine

Recommends that we get at least a half hour of moderate intensity exercise at least five times a week. Five! That means in order to maintain a minimum acceptable level of fitness, we’ve got to be doing some sort of exercise nearly every day.
Exercising daily has a number of health-building benefits. It can help prevent cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. It can relieve stress and tension. It can help you build and maintain strength well into old age. It can improve your confidence and self-esteem. It can even improve your satisfaction with that person you see in the mirror every day!

---

Distinction

There needs to be a distinction made here between exercise and physical activity. Physical activity counts as any of the movement and work we do throughout a typical day. Many people assume they get enough exercise because they have a job which keeps them moving around or because they walk the dog every afternoon. This stuff counts as physical activity, but not exercise. Exercise is physical activity which is ‘on purpose.’ When we go to the gym with the intention of improving our health, or we go play a game or train for a sport, we’re exercising.

---

Our ancestors

Didn’t need exercise because they got all the physical activity they needed every week hunting woolly mammoths, building shelters, and running from saber-toothed cats. Later in history, however, it became apparent that a sedentary lifestyle has some pretty negative effects on health. In fact, a life without movement may be the single worst risk factor for chronic disease and early death. Life without movement holds us back physically, but it also keeps us from growing personally and spiritually. How can we move forward in our lives if we refuse to move at all? Research is showing that a person who is considered to be overweight, but exercises is actually healthier than a person who is of ‘normal’ weight who doesn’t exercise.

---

In keeping with the body-mind theme of this blog

I’ll use an old journal entry to illustrate my point. In 2008 I wrote this regarding martial arts training:
“Mind, body, and spirit are inexorably linked and are trained as a whole. In training the mind to be still, one trains the body and spirit to be still. In training the body to become supple and fluid, the mind and spirit likewise become supple and fluid. In training the spirit to be powerful, one trains the mind and body to be powerful. In realizing the unity between mind, body, and spirit, a warrior overcomes life and becomes transcendent.”

---

The key to building and maintaining healthy exercise habits

Is finding something you absolutely love to do. When it doesn’t feel like work, it’s easy and you’ll find yourself doing it without complaint. Many of us don’t exercise because we don’t want to go to the gym. I propose challenge to widen our viewpoints and see ways we can incorporate exercise as part of our daily lives in creative, fun ways. Sign up for a sport, or attend a belly dancing class. Yoga, hiking, rock climbing, jogging, barefoot running, swimming, and walking are all excellent ways to get some exercise. Especially walking. Lots of it.
One final resource for all my readers. If you’re brave and in reasonably good health, I’d like you to check out http://www.bodyrock.tv. The invent challenging, fun workouts you can do in the comfort of your own home with no or minimal equipment. They are strenuous, but anyone can do them, even beginners.
Get out and get some exercise! How many times will you be exercising this week? Visit The Adjustatorium today.

LOVE
Dr. Ryan K. Marchman