Movement - Why Is It So Important For Your Health?

Physical movement....png
Created In: CANVA

When I updated my goals last week, one thing I mentioned was the need for physical activity.

I have the "bad habit" of trying to squeeze in too much at any given time.

I like the idea of blocking my time on a calendar. It's a great way to take control of your time and you can see your schedule for the next week in one glance.

It's a simple method. You just decide on the time you want to allocate to each activity, and you block that time on your calendar.

The problem (in my case) though, is that I always try to squeeze in as much as I can...

By doing that I end up blocking time for various activities back-to-back, leaving no space for any unforeseen events.

Also, by trying to fit in as much as possible in a day, I often don't allow myself enough time for each project.

Not only am I not allowing myself enough time for each project, but I also started neglecting my health by not moving enough.

At the beginning of this year, I was forced to cut down on physical activities due to an injury. But now it has to become a priority in my schedule again.

Our physical health and being able to move should remain a priority just as any other project we are working on.

Let's Get Some Perspective

To me, a lack of activity becomes a major problem. I tend to get frustrated with myself and my brain starts feeling like a "sponge"

As a young man, I started my career as a police officer.

After that, I became involved in the sports industry where I spent the biggest part of my life. If you want to know more about my history and where I came from, you can read about it in this post.

Eventually, I became involved in what you could call a "normal job"...lol. But even then, I was doing a lot of traveling during the day and I was never office-bound.

So, needless to say, I was always active and on the move.

But lately, I am spending a lot of time in front of a computer.

And to add to the problem, I sustained some injuries during the years of practicing my sport.

It started catching up with me. I was still doing exercises, but during one of my workouts I was pushing myself too hard and I ended up hurting my back slightly. But, it was enough to aggravate an old back injury I had and it just started getting worse again.

Eventually, I wasn't able to do any workouts due to pain in my lower back and it slowly started spreading down to my hips as well.

This made it easier to just stay in front of the computer and carry on with what I was doing because it was painful to get up.

After some time, it was as if everything from my back down to my hips was in one big spasm and I really started battling to move.

I decided to visit our biokineticist. It was determined that I had a sciatic nerve problem. And due to the punishment that my hips took during my sporting career, becoming less active now due to the pain in my back was all I needed for my hips to also start playing up as well.

It was an "evil situation". It was painful to move, yet becoming in-active made things even worse.

If I tried to force myself through the pain barrier, it was painful. Not being active, made the problem worse.

I was sent for a (painful) session with a physiotherapist just to get some mobility back. After that, I had to do a few sessions with the biokineticist again, starting on a light workout program again.

According to the biokineticist I might be facing the reality of having to go for a hip replacement, but I am going to fight back hard to avoid that if possible at all.

I am back on track and gradually increasing the intensity of my workouts again, but I am careful and taking it one step at a time for now.

So, the two things I've learned about physical activity is:

  • When we are young we think we are indestructible and we overdo things...and pay the price later in life.
  • In-activity is just as harmful as overdoing things. Our bodies need movement. We need to remain active if we want to stay healthy.

Yes, physical activity is crucial. Yet, you do not have to perform any X-treme activities. Any movement is better than none.

Try to go for a walk every day. Take a 5-minute break from your online work after 25 minutes. Just walk around the house or do some light activity for 3 to 5 minutes and then continue with your work.

After 4 such cycles, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

It will keep your mind fresh. You'll be more alert and your body will love you for it.

If you follow any exercise routine, make sure you pay attention to good form.

Form.png
Source: CANVA

When I got introduced to vigorous training 42 years ago for the first time, they didn't pay much attention to the correct form. It was just about pushing you to the limit.

As I got involved in the sporting world on a professional level and knowledge became available, I started taking courses and I educated myself to understand the body and its movement better. I learned about good form and I was able to share that knowledge with my students. But in my own body, the damage was done.

On the contrary...a lack of movement, or in-activity will be just as harmful. Many modern-day health problems are associated with a lack of activity.

The secret is maintaining a healthy balance. Keep moving, pay attention to a healthy diet, avoid unhealthy stress and you can enjoy a long, healthy lifestyle.

Are you living an active lifestyle? Are you moving enough?

Let us know in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading my post.



0
0
0.000
22 comments
avatar

Sorry about the painful sessions, and I hope the hip replacement would be something you don't need getting done.

Though I am still young (mid twenties) 🙂, when I look back at the younger ages of mine and the activities my body could accommodate then in comparison to right now, there's so much changes already. With that I can look ahead to how the future me would be.

As you've said, a healthy balance of diet, physical and mental activities would aid the body be active positively.
I'm not sure if I'm living an active lifestyle, but I do try not to miss an hour of walk or about 6k steps in the evening if the day was spent being busy without enough relaxation.

Got here from @dreemport.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you for stopping by and sharing your input with us!

It is good that you are already paying attention to your body and that you are taking care of it.

It sounds like you're on the right track. Just keep it up and you'll thank yourself in the future. Healthy living is about a lifestyle.

Have a great day!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks a lot.
Stay safe and healthy too.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Congratulations @jacoalberts! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You got more than 1250 replies.
Your next target is to reach 1500 replies.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Feedback from the October 1st Hive Power Up Day
Hive Power Up Month Challenge - Winners List
0
0
0.000
avatar

“ When we are young we think we are indestructible and we overdo things...and pay the price later in life.”

Ohh yes I can relate to that lol I feel it especially on wet or cold days

But yes lack of activity is almost as bad

I can understand not wanting the Hip replacement I have been putting off knee surgery for years well decades lol

Good luck in establishing a good balance that works for you

I found my way here via #dreemport

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes, those wet and cold days are bad indeed...lol.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one trying to avoid surgery... They say they have a good success rate these days...but over the years I've seen guys ending up with more problems than they had before surgery. So I'll just stick it out as long as I can...

Thank you for your input and thank you to @dreemport for sending you here!

0
0
0.000
avatar

My wife fell and broke her hip last December she had hip replacement and that surgery went well for her

0
0
0.000
avatar

That's encouraging! I'm really glad for her and thanks for sharing that with me!

0
0
0.000
avatar

This is the second time I have read this :-) But I just realised that although I upvoted it yesterday already, I failed to comment as I got sidetracked into conversations with you on other articles following links in your post😂as you do...😍Anyway I'm back courtesy of @dreemport. Enjoyed your post immensely. I had shoulder issues last year in the main lockdown, so I could definitely relate. Never suffered in my life before but physio thinks it may have been brought on by the changes in lifestyle due to covid. I have a good routine of exercise now for my shoulders and they are almost back to good after more than a year-long struggle. Having a daily stretching and exercise routine is so important for one's health.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wow! I do appreciate you coming back to comment on my post!

Yes, we had some nice conversations going...lol!

Covid messed badly with a lot of us indeed! But I'm glad to hear your shoulders are better now. It's amazing how much healing can be restored by means of a good exercise routine.

And to maintain our health...it's exactly as you say...

Having a daily stretching and exercise routine is so important for one's health.

By following that advice we can prevent reaching the point where we need healing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave this comment and a big shout out to @dreemport for bringing you here.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I also did Karate in South Africa for quite a few years :-) I trained with Duncan Player in Pinetown, KZN (JKA) and was privileged to train on a few occasions with Stan Schmidt in Johannesburg too whilst on a tour.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That is awesome. I love hearing that!

I also started in JKA under Buddy Gibson in Benoni. After many years of being a full-time instructor, I also qualified as an instructor in CHINESE KENPO.

My friend, Raymond Phillips and I started working towards getting "Sports Karate" recognized in South Africa during the early nineties. This was to enable various forms of martial arts to come together and compete in the same tournaments.

I consider it a great success, even though I left the martial arts world in the year 2000, to spend more time with my family. But Raymond continued and the last I know, today he is a director on the IMMAF board and vice president of MMA in South Africa.

Thank you so much for this comment! This was really a special one for me...hearing about your involvement in Karate and also in South Africa.

0
0
0.000
avatar

💗🙏Fantastic that you managed to achieve so much together. I have trained over in the UK too but in a different style: Kyokushin under an extraordinary teacher and sensei, Matt Jardine. He also teaches Jujitsu separately but transposes the best of each style into the other. Unfortunately for me, he has moved to Oman now for a few years and is spending his time pursuing another passion of his: writing 😊and has authored a number of books already, but we are still in touch. His move also coincided with a diagnosis of osteoporosis for me so I had to take a step back from martial arts in any event.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That's very interesting! Did you do the contact version of Kyokushin? But in combining Kyokushin with Jujitsu, I think it must be special.

I haven't practiced Kyokushin (I know it as Kyukushin Kai), but I have practiced a little Jujitsu though.

It's a pity that he moved away, but as you say...maybe it's best for you to step back for a while too...

I'm so sorry to hear about your osteoporosis problem. Won't a good workout routine help you to fight against it? Especially resistance training can help to build bone density.

I can understand that it would be better to stay away from martial arts at the moment though...unless you only practice kata to benefit from the movement...

But I'm glad that you still have contact with Sensei Matt!

Thank you for having this conversation with me! I appreciate it more than would you could imagine!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes it was contact version but the class was probably 75% younger kids up to around 14 years of age with a few older teens and adults. My sensei was very sensible about not allowing people to get injured. Nobody was stupid about it...so perhaps a guarded contact but contact nevertheless. Some of the older teens and adult men hit each other fairly hard though🤣I have been focussing on shoulder injuries the past year but those are almost back to best now (rotator cuff tendonitis and range of movement restriction). I have my last (fingers crossed) physio appointment next week then hopefully get the go ahead to start doing more osteo exercises to strengthen bone density. I have purchased resistance bands and am doing brisk walking, squats, and lunges daily.

0
0
0.000
avatar

My sensei was very sensible about not allowing people to get injured. Nobody was stupid about it...so perhaps a guarded contact but contact nevertheless. Some of the older teens and adult men hit each other fairly hard though

That's great! I also believed in contact, but as you say, not being stupid about it.
I believe the value in getting used to the contact aspect is that if you ever face a real-life confrontation, you are used to the experience and don't get scared after receiving the first blow.

I'll keep my fingers crossed with you that next week will be your last physio appointment. Doing more osteo exercises to strengthen bone density makes perfect sense indeed. And those resistance bands are great! I wish you all the best on your road to full recovery.

Please keep me posted on how you are making progress, would you?

0
0
0.000
avatar

I use to move a lot when I had a real-life job, unlike now when I am mostly behind the computer. Nevertheless, I still try to get good movement by taking a break and a stroll at intervals. I am considering registering for gym sessions nearby but have yet to make a concrete decision on that.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes, when you are generating income from behind a computer, it takes focused effort to actually get up and get some physical exercise.

I take it you are doing this for a full-time income now?

Registering for those gym sessions might be a very good idea indeed!

Thank you for stopping by and sharing this with us. I really do appreciate it!

0
0
0.000