Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Melissa Milford, who is having over 20 years experience in the health & fitness industry, educator and trainer in fitness as a guest contributor at Womenlines. Readout her incredible sharing which will motivate you to take action regarding your fitness regime-
I had a life-changing experience some years back that still affects and influences me every day.
It was mid-morning and I was working out at the gym, among the other gym-goers. What I heard overheard through literally stopped me in my tracks.
A man was being congratulated on his birthday for the following Tuesday. A happy 90th birthday! I started paying more attention to what this guy was doing. He was still doing 10kg dumbbell bench presses, getting around well and obviously had some strength about him as he went from exercise to exercise.
I stopped and thought to myself this is exactly why I’m here doing this now. Why I priorities my training the way I do, why I make it a big part of my week. Why I back it up with eating right, living clean, promoting good gut health and having a positive healthy focused mindset. Because fast forward to when I am ninety, I still want to be active, strong and able to get around and living a fabulous life.
Not hunched over, using a walker, finding it hard to get around, feeling weak and simply finding everyday life a struggle. I still want to be living life to the absolute fullest and I know that platform is being built right now. In what I do today, tomorrow and all the days thereafter. My strength, endurance, mobility and posture when I’m 90 is being shaped and created right now.
I think about this day often, because if not now, then when. When do you start to build your future? Truth is you are right now. Like it or not, consciously or unconsciously you are creating your future 90-year-old self NOW.
So where do you start? Here are a few key areas of your fitness you should be building a strong foundation in now that really impact the quality of life in later years.
- Posture; a key area people take for granted and wonder why 50 years from now they are hunched over and not moving around well. Regular assessments are important to identify any shifts otherwise they only compound over time. That way they can be corrected through your movement training.
- Mobility; if you can’t do these simple day to day activities now, how about when your 90? Getting up and down off the ground, stepping up and over things, reaching, twisting, bending over, getting into a full squat position and crouching down? Make sure mobility exercises for particularly your hip and shoulder joints are part of your training.
- Strength; Will you be still doing the 10kg dumbbell bench press like the 90-year-old guy as I saw? There will definitely be a better end result the earlier you build and really work on your strength. Make sure that you are addressing foundational strength around the primary movement patterns as part of your training. This really plays a huge factor in the quality of lifestyle and degree of independence later on in life.
So let me ask you this.
Are you going to like what you see and feel about the way you are living your life at 90 based on your current fitness and lifestyle habits???
Melissa Milford
Over 20 years experience in the health & fitness industry, educator and trainer in fitness, nourishing your body, mindset and clean-living lifestyle habits. Empowering women along their personal health journey. Do visit Melissa’s website for informative content related to health- Empower health and lifestyle.
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