Forget the Fitness and Remember the Surgeon

In talking with people, it is interesting to discover how many people attend a gym to keep fit. In the past, life itself was exercise enough. Just getting from place to place and working for a living was enough activity. Coming home from work, on foot, moms had to do laundry and cook the old fashioned way and often, as in my childhood home, heating water and using a space heater or wood stove for heat. Even keeping warm was an activity.

Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I am back in this century. I do, however, think that we can find ways of getting and keeping fit without paying exorbitant fees to a gym. Even if your reasons are for social interaction, I am sure we can solve that as well.

First of all it is important to be checked out by your doctor to make sure that you are in good health in order to begin your exercise routine. Discuss with doc your plans for beginning a good routine and get his advice.

I am sure that you will have read that doing heavy activity once a week, or every once in awhile, is probably worse than no activity at all. It is extremely hard on our bones and muscles to do this. The answer is in smaller, day by day steps. Even if you have heard this all before, it is still worth reading again.

Our daily activities have decreased dramatically since the 1950's. Every little thing we did then was activity. Consider that you had to get up from your chair to go and change the television channel; mom did the dishes by hand; she probably walked to do her shopping daily; and also walked to catch the bus. Usually children walked to school by themselves, but even if mom took them, they all walked. She hung her clothes outside and probably walked up and down the stairs twenty or more times a day.

If we take a good look at our lifestyles, we will see many places where we can increase activity without taking time out of our schedule or paying a lot of hard earned dollars.
Consider that if you drive to work, stop and park a few blocks...