Be Active

Health Habit # 5 is to be active.

Even the most expensive, luxury cars won’t run after being left in a garage for too long without use.

The batteries will go dead, the tires will go flat.

Similarly, a person whose heart, lungs or muscles have gone flat  or whose bones have lost their mineralization isn’t going to perform well, regardless of what kind of shape the mitochondria are in or how perfect of food one is eating.

The body adapts down in capacity if we are inactive physically.  Muscles become smaller, bones become thinner, hormone production decreases, cellular conversion of energy gets lazy — everything in the body proceeds to say:  “what’s the need for any physical capability?” We never do anything, so we don’t need any strength, we don’t need any reserves.

The bottom line is that if there is no need or no point to maintaining the physical body, nature chooses “disintegration and death”.

The point is that we must TELL NATURE that the body is important... that there is a point and a need for keeping it functional and capable. We tell the body this by demanding performance out of it.

We’re not talking about extreme exercise nor unvarying dedication to working out, but we are talking about regular activities that promote deep breathing, sweating and that keeps our muscles toned... that stress our joints and muscles.

Walking (especially uphill), swimming, bicycling, weight training, even just deep breathing are all good activities.