I went for another run outside today, before going to the gym. I’ve made it a habit to warm up with an easy run in nature, then hit the gym to work on muscle groups. It’s a combination I recommend, but that’s not what I want to talk about today.
I ask myself: why are we doing this? Why does everyone recommend exercise?
I remembered an experiment whose results made an impression on me and I realized why I have a fixation with movement, one of the main reasons why I think movement is critical to our health.
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports, cited by The Guardian, shows that astronauts lose bone mass in just a few months in space that they would lose in decades. Several studies have shown that astronauts lose 1-2% of their bone density every month they spend in space, because the lack of gravity takes the pressure off their legs when they stand and walk.
Steven Boyd, co-author of the study, said that the bone density lost by astronauts is equivalent to the amount they would have lost over several decades if they had returned to Earth. Also Guillemte Joklin Koch, head of medical research at the French space agency CNES, said: ‘Even with two hours of exercise a day, it’s like being bedridden for the other 22 hours. As a result, although astronauts were weightless exercising a minimum of two hours a day, the body knew well that limbs were not needed as much as on earth, the body adapted and the impact was like being bedridden for the other 22 hours.
Reading about all these experiments, I drew a parallel with physical inactivity, especially as you get older. When you’re young, you treat your body as if it will put up with anything and only it takes care of you, without giving it anything in return. “Let it hang on,” you tell yourself. You get older and you don’t feel like moving. You say to yourself again: “If I didn’t do it when I was young, what do I need now?”
Why do we do this when we know very well that it’s not to our benefit? Obviously out of laziness, out of neglect, out of taking our bodies for granted. If you say to your body, “I don’t need you,” it will listen to you and slowly retreat until you get warning signals from it. You begin to feel the bones, the organs, the ligaments. You suddenly know they’re there and they’re painful.
Don’t treat your body as a given! It is given to you in your care by the Universe. There’s a saying: take care of your body until you’re 40 and it will take care of you after 40.
I would go further and say: take care of each other throughout your life!
Make caring for your body a lifestyle. It’s your best friend!
I’ve written before in another article about the YOU Corporation with its 37 trillion employees, your cells. They work for you around the clock, 24/7, without asking your opinion. They know exactly what they have to do. The only things they ask of you are extremely simple: water, rest, varied food, sport/movement and positive thinking.
Movement is absolutely critical and we have a clear demonstration, through research on astronauts, of the major impact the body feels from lack of movement.
How do you look after yourself?
What are your daily habits?
How do you tell your body, YOUR Corporation, that you care about it?
Claudiu
