I Hate Exercise!

Some people are not attracted to structured exercise. The reasons may be tied to the residue of some past negative experience or alternatively, there may be no reason at all beyond personal preference. Many individuals maintain  themselves well enough through the daily necessities of living without a need to delegate extra time to making a special effort just to exercise.

Balance and movement are intrinsic skills that arise naturally during early childhood. A healthy balance system functions automatically and very reliably. Work, play, artistic expression, and other pursuits requiring specialized motor skills lead to a natural strengthening and diversification of balance and movement patterns. As long as one’s life proceeds well enough and movement satisfies demand, why fiddle with it?

But what if our balance is broken? What if an illness, injury, or change in lifestyle is no longer sufficient to sustain safe movement? Can impaired balance and mobility be restored? How do we make the repairs? How do we sustain adequate balance and movement skills for the future?

Fortunately, our capacity to adapt to changes in physical and cognitive function is powerful and broad. Balance and movement does not have to be perfect, it just needs to work well enough to allow us to feel confident in our movement.

Minimum Requirements for Functional Balance & Mobility

In order to maintain our balance and mobility skills, certain conditions must be present and sustained in the body. The conditions for healthy balance and movement are in turn a function of the specific nature of one’s physical life. As long as a person’s lifestyle includes enough diversity in movement to meet the requirements for safe balance and movement, the risk of falling is manageable, independence is maintained, and quality of life is acceptable.

Sustainable balance and mobility is built upon the following foundation:

• Movement in all three planes of motion: We must be able to move forward, backward, sideways, and vertically. We must be able to freely combine movement in different directions, including rotation.
• Adequate levels of muscular strength, flexibility, range of motion, and neuro-muscular control: For example, each leg must be able to support all of the body weight in order to control balance and walk normally. This includes the skillful use of devices such as canes or walkers to compensate when there is a deficit that cannot be corrected. Sequential movement patterns such as balancing while walking require precise and high levels of control.
• Physical fitness: fitness levels must be high enough to support physical activity without undo fatigue. Example, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems must be able to supply energy sufficient to meet the demands of our physical efforts, regardless of the specific nature of the activity.
• Sensory function: We must be able to gather information and transmit it to the brain. We require different kinds of information in order to determine position, control balance, plan, and coordinate movement patterns. Examples of sensory information are vision, spatial awareness, and touch. If there is a deficit such as visual impairment, other systems must be able to compensate.
• Cognitive function: The brain must be able to process sensory information quickly enough and with sufficient accuracy to maintain the flow of movement while adapting to changing conditions. That is a function of concentration and processing speed. Furthermore, the nervous system must be able to transmit signals throughout the body.

Solutions

If one’s lifestyle does not meet the minimum requirements for safe movement, balance and mobility may begin to erode. The root cause of most balance difficulties is loss of strength in the hips and legs due to a sedentary lifestyle. A major part of the solution, regardless of the specific causes, is to increase the strength in the hips and legs and to incorporate more movement in one’s life on a daily basis. There are many ways to increase our levels of activity in order to strengthen and restore balance control and movement.

The effectiveness of a corrective strategy, whether it is a do-it-yourself approach or involves engaging outside help, depends on doing the right things. Structured training can augment the process and improve efficiency by illuminating critical details and solutions, especially if the problem is acute.  Training can also provide the knowledge and tools to maintain balance and movement skills for the future.

Motivation

The effectiveness of balance and mobility training is connected to the level of receptivity to training. Receptivity is a function of motivation. Falling, loss of independence, fear, and pain are powerful motivators.

Such strong forces can either drive a person to move less, which compounds the problem, or motivate a person to seek a solution. Often, the need to restore balance function is such a high priority it will override fear and strong prejudices against structured exercise.

Definition of Exercise:

1. Bodily exertion for the sake of developing and maintaining physical fitness
2. The act of bringing into play or realizing in action
3. Regular or repeated use of a faculty or bodily organ
4. Something performed or practiced in order to develop, improve, or display a specific capability or skill.
5. A performance or activity having a strongly marked secondary or ulterior aspect

Common Hindrances to Exercise

Physical

• Pain and other uncomfortable sensations associated with movement
• The way the body responds to increases in heat production such as heavy perspiration
• Crowded exercise environment, uncomfortable spatial layout, mirrors on the walls
• Method of instruction, pacing and intensity are not right

Emotional

• Feeling that nothing can help
• Loss of privacy. “I don’t want anybody to know that I have fallen”
• Guilt, usually stemming from the notion that working on one’s self is selfish and takes time away from work or significant others.
• I might get hurt
• It’s boring
• The logistics of changing cloths and other tasks can seem overly complex
• Competition or the feeling that “everybody is looking at me”
• Perfectionism
• Time taken from other activities that have a higher personal value
• Disharmony with a partner due to differences in level of motivation or interest
• Exercise is narcissistic, often compounded by the presence of mirrors
• Worry that physical appearance or proportions will be altered in a way that is in conflict with self image
• Added complexity – another thing to do
• Uncomfortable with the instructor

Shifting Perspective

It can be helpful to see exercise as an integral part of movement. If we are moving we are exercising.

Movement implies balance, flow, harmony, and proportion. The marvelous inner workings of a fine hand crafted mechanical watch are called the movement. The different sections of a symphony are called movements.

• Movement evokes space, landscape, and freedom.
• An open road with infinite potential in contrast to a dead end.
• Balance and mobility rather than balance and exercise.
• Integration and wholeness rather that separation and fragmentation.
• Simplicity over complexity.
• Independence rather than dependence.

Suggestions

• Start slowly and accumulate training gradually, never force
• “No pain no gain” DOES NOT APPLY!
• Ask questions
• You are in control
• Define purpose and keep it simple – “I want to improve my balance so that I can enjoy traveling.”
• Proportionality, don’t over do
• Balance loss is normal, falling is the problem – “I will lower my risk of falling by educating myself and sustaining my strength and movement skills.”
• Trust your gut
• You don’t have to like it. Create a structure of thought and action that will get the job done.