WHERE I STARTED

You Too can be a Runt!

This should have been the motto of the aerobics movement. The only thing SURE to occur from running "LSD", or "long slow distance" as was advocated way back then in the early 1970's was:

1. A huge reduction in muscle mass
2. Injured joints and connective tissue
3. A mistaken penchant for refined carbohydrates as "the ideal food" for health

As time has shown us, these prescriptions for health have been disastrous!

Since those halcyon days of the 1970's:

1. heart disease has increased immensely
2. joint problems are endemic
3. nutritional ideas of health are disastrous

Before the 1970's, in America at least, and Europe, the ultimate goal of "health and fitness" would have been, in this order:

1. strength
2. health
3. aesthetics, i.e. "how you look"
4. "wind", i.e. "aerobics"

After the "Aerobics mania" the order would be:

1. "wind/Aerobics"
2. skinniness
3. "wind"
4. the goal of looking like an anorexic starvation victim/fashion model

If we were to return (as I believe we will, since we must!) to the time-honored paradigm of health, we would be far better off! Since the classical times of Greece and Rome, STRENGTH was the goal. And, if you achieve strength, (in the classical/vintage sense of achievement as was done in the pre-steroid/drug era), you automatically gain the other three legs of the fitness "stool"!

Work hard enough at strength using bodyweight style exercises such as push-ups, leg raises, "hindu" squats and push-ups, along with self-resisted isometrics, and you will automatically
also gain the end results of health, aesthetics or beauty, and "wind"!

Aerobics threw the "baby out with the bath water". Aerobics are important, but probably the most automatic, and therefore the LEAST important aspect of fitness.

Do you want to be healthy, look good, and be truly fit?? Incidentally, you'll also have "good wind"....

If so, check back tomorrow. I will start you on your fitness journey:

BACK TO THE FUTURE!!

OUR FUTURE IS IN OUR PAST

I live a vintage life. From the 100 year old farm house my wife and I live in, to my 45 year old Ford F100 green pick-up truck, the past is my day to day reality. Even the dog, Charlie, at fourteen and a half years, is nearly an antique! (Please note I spared my wife a similar comparison.) Seriously though, there's a lot of work and maintenance that goes into the upkeep of our farmhouse and various vehicles, including a JeepCJ5 and an old John Deere tractor. But it's satisfying work and it recaptures an era that should never have ended in the first place! Here in our valley in Wisconsin, we manage to hang on to that time when the pace was slower and life was simpler. At 55, I'm only a week away from my official retirement date as a mailman, but I plan to keep working for a few more years. Hey, I want my daughter to get the best education she can at the best college I can afford!

In a sense, I think of myself as already retired... but working! Let me explain:
No longer a union officer, no longer actively engaged in constructive change... I carry my route, greeting all my patrons who have become my friends as I've been on the same route for over 16 years. I'm also able to enjoy listening to my many podcasts as I walk my appointed rounds.

So now I find myself on the threshold of baby-boomer morphing into Senior citizen. It's inevitable: but not only am I ready for this change, I'm thankful for it as well. My plan and goal is to live a long, healthy, fulfilling and self-actualized life. To live up to my God given potential. Who wouldn't agree with that? But how to accomplish it is another matter!

I've got more than a few passions where health and fitness are concerned. I started out in my teens with long distance running- Ken Cooper's Aerobics book was a big influence for lots of us. Unfortunately, instead of preserving the nation's hearts and fitness, it mainly achieved the destruction of the nation's joints...

Anyway, I've progressed, never losing sight of my fitness goals over the long years. I've tried LOTS of things, and I plan to tell you what I've learned within my future blogs. I also plan to insert other things of interest I have gathered up over the years; things that hopefully will help you as well. My daily life, and that of those around me will also be a part of what you see here, and I'm sure my wife's photos will help brighten these pages.

I think you'll enjoy my "vintage lifestyle", and what I've learned along the way. This is my own humble answer to Whole Health. As is the case in most of life:

Our future is in our past!