I recognize four facets of self-care. They form the foundation of your future.
The first is what you eat (a healthy diet); the second, how you feel (effective emotional management); the third, how you relate (healthy relationships); and the fourth, what you do (physical activity).
For some illogical reason, human beings take some if not all of these four foundations for granted. We can spend more time surfing the web and updating Facebook than talking face to face with the people we really care about. Most of us spend more time in chairs, in cars, on transit and in shopping malls than in getting the physical activity our bodies were designed for.
If we put more thought into what we eat, how we feel, how we relate and how we move, we wouldn’t leave choice to chance, and we would all be empowered to take control of our own health.
In fact, many of my patients feel they are too busy to fit healthy activity into their days. They see exercise as a luxury — something they vaguely hope they will get around to sometime in the future. But if you’re sedentary now, it is less likely you’ll enjoy good health and be able to move so freely in the future.
Exercise is not just for athletes. Anybody can adapt and improve with healthy activity. Even in our 60s, we can build muscle and increase strength with resistance exercises, such as light weight training. Our brains and bodies are engaged in sports -— we can learn new skills and new dances at any age.
But what we don’t use atrophies. The muscles we neglect shrink and become weak. Our cardiac and respiratory fitness plummets if we restrict our movements to short walks. If we become accustomed to moving little and very slowly, we will lose our sense of balance. Without stimulation and practice, coordination deteriorates and we are more prone to falls and injuries.
At the end of your workday, you may feel tired and feel you’ve had enough physical activity for the day. If you’re a firefighter or a Vancouver Canuck, you may be right, but for the rest of us –— even if we’ve been on our feet and walking most of the day — our bodies require particular types of activity to remain in peak condition.
Consider the six aspects of physical function (from Carolyn Kisner and Lynn Allen Colby’s text, Therapeutic Exercise), cardiopulmonary fitness (endurance), flexibility (the ability to move freely), coordination (smooth, efficient movement), stability (joint stability and muscle balance), dynamic balance, and muscle performance (strength, power and endurance).
Just running and cycling is not enough, neither is weight training alone. A good exercise program will address all six aspects of function –— reduce falls and injuries, maintain strength and keep us fit well into our golden years.
Dr. Davidicus Wong will be speaking on self-care at the Bob Prittie (Metrotown) Branch of the Burnaby Public Library Oct. 20. Register at 604-436-5400 or online at bpl.bc.ca/events. You can read more about achieving your positive potential in health at davidicuswong.wordpress.com.
