Active Adventure

After growing up as an athlete, studying kinesiology, working as a personal trainer & volleyball coach before my current career in Wellness Travel, you can see that my passion and expertise lies in the realm of physical activity and physical activity promotion. I live by the motto “Use it or Lose it”, in regards to aging and physical abilities. If we continually move our bodies and train our muscular system and nervous system we can continue to do the things we love to do as our life progresses.

Since the early 1900’s our advancing automatic technology (automobiles, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuums etc.) has taken physical activity out of our lives which has then allowed us more time to be productive??? Or sit and eat? So it is important for us to have a daily exercise routine. Something that allows us to reach just the minimum requirement of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week.

Physical activity promotion is a concept that needs to be constantly talked about for all ages. A physically active child may continue to be active as an adult but a sedentary child is most likely not going to become an active adult.

As I travel I have notice both extremes in the physical activity world. First there are the 60-70 year olds running marathons and hiking up mountain faster than someone in their 20’s. Then I see that same age demographic overweight and unable to use their body to its capacity as they stopped using it for activity 20-30 years ago. It is hard to get that condition back at 60 or 70 so it is important to make exercise a part of our routine sooner than later!
The best example I have of someone who never stopped or modified his exercise regime is my grandfather who at 88 years old regularly plays hockey and golf (walking the course). He certainly leads by example and I enjoy going for a skate with him!

Even if we can’t get 30 minutes of exercise continuous in our day then what can we do to include the most amount of movement in our day?
-Walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator
-Walk/bike to work or home from work
-Take a walking coffee break
-Get up from our chair at work and do 10 squats (if our pants/dress allow it)
-Take active holidays

A physically conditioned body is not something we are born with it is earned through daily discipline to make ourself our best self.

I recently have been dealing with a back injury (that I like to call a blessing in disguise) which has prevented me from being as active as I would like to be. It is inevitable that we are going to get injured if we are using our body so during this time we need to get creative. Injuries are not a time to say No, they are a time to look deep within and learn a lesson from the situation. Perhaps due to our injury we are able to introduce deep breathing practices in our daily routine, meditation and grounding practices, walking instead of running, physical therapy/rehab exercises, water running, hand cycling or maybe it is visualizing on being healed or at a physical capacity that we want to be at.