Exercise as Medicine

My first blog post explored Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘s exhortation to Be Useful. Its key message was that hard work is a core component for a life well lived. This post will focus on exercise as medicine. At the risk of preaching to the converted, I want to convince those of you who do not currently meet minimum activity guidelines that it is crucial you do and for those who might meet those guidelines to do more.

I was shocked to read about the number of inactive people and how inactive people are. According to the Australian government, 55% of Australian adults do not meet the government’s quite modest physical activity guidelines of 2.5 hrs of moderate physical activity and 1.25 hours of vigorous activity including doing some “muscle-strengthening” exercises at least twice a week. THW does not believe these guidelines are really indicative of what people should be doing to achieve proper fitness and health outcomes. According to the US 2016 National Health Interview Survey, 48% of adults do not meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic activity, and 78 percent of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and strength training. It's no surprise then that US Professor of Exercise and Epidiemology Steven Blair writes (2009) that ‘physical inactivity is the biggest public health problem of the 21st century’.

Governments and policy makers have occasionally understood the importance of promoting exercise for health and well-being. In 1970's Australia, the Victorian Government launched the “Life. Be in it” campaign. This campaign was then adopted by the National Government until 1981 when it was defunded amidst other health promotion strategies. Health promotion didn’t go away, but it does appear that the focus in Australia moved away from promoting the idea that exercise was a form of preventative medicine. The reasons why might be worthwhile analysing in depth. It is on my list of things to blog about.

The idea of exercise as medicine is not new. The Ancients understood it well. Plato, for example, made it very clear that exercise was a fundamental component of life: “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” In China, at the time of Confucius, physical activity was considered necessary to prevent diseases which they referred to as “organ malfunctions”. Through the ages, exercise as medicine has stood the test of time. Today, despite science providing mountains of evidence that exercise is fundamentally important for good health and well-being, few exercise enough. We don’t have to look far to see the consequences;  a pandemic of obesity, diabetes, and general muscle weakness.

I am not here to fat-shame but to get people moving for their own physical and psychological well-being. Rousseau said it best when he said “A feeble body weakens the mind”. The contemporary justification for obesity and overweightness, body positivity is a problem that needs calling out. I will write something specifically about the dangers of embracing the body positivity movement uncritically at another time. For now, it is important to point out that people who do not move enough, lift weights, get their heart-rate into zone 3 regularly and zone 4 occasionally are at a very high risk of acquiring heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, etc.,

The Herculean Way is a pathway to health and fitness. But it is more than this, THW is a philosophy of life. THW’s philosophy of life is grounded in the indivisibility of body and mind. In the last post, I touched on exercise but within a broader examination of the importance of hard work, discipline, and other behaviours and principles that were central components of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success. In this entry, it is exercise which takes priority.

The following is a program for people who are starting out. If, you’re doing some exercise, I am going to suggest that you increase what you do using the same methodology as I’ve outlined below - increase your intensity by 5-10% each week and improve your lifestyle by adopting a new habit.

If you’ve never exercised before or have taken a long break from exercise and have found it hard to start then the following plan will get you going. Before you start, please see a doctor for clearance. I doubt any doctor would dissuade you from commencing an exercise program especially one that is premised on starting modestly and building gradually. The Herculean Way is all about developing long-term, life-changing behaviours. As Arnold Schwarzenegger says, there is no quick fix. No miracle drug. No magic bullet. What is exciting is that the road to becoming healthier and fitter can start today and if you stick to it, before you know it, you will be healthier and fitter. So, let’s start.

You can do these at home, in a gym or a combination of the two locations. It’s up to you, there is no excuse for not doing it. There really is no excuse for not exercising- everyone, even the busiest person in the world can find 1/2hr a day most days of the week to devote to exercise. I know, because I’ve been the busiest person and I found that time and more. And, more so, my partner has been busier than I was, and she found the time for exercise. Sometimes, that meant going to the 5:30am class. So, I will not hear excuses - save them for someone else.

All you will need is a yoga mat and either one or two dumbbell/s (DB) or kettlebell/s (KB). 5-7 kilos would be best. Later on as you progress you can make your way to a gym or if you are working out from home you can add more DBs, KBs, bands and possibly a barbell (BB).

First week you will start with a 22 minute session. It would be best if you can get out and jog for 1 minute and brisk walk for 1 minute, 10 times each, i.e. 20 minutes. When you get home or to the end of your journey, do 10 air squats and 10 push ups (however you can do them, 10 in a row, broken up, on your toes or on your knees just do 10 push ups). That’s your first session done, just one more this week.

Two or three days later, give me another 22 minutes. This time, I’d like you to give me 10 minutes of alternating between 10 DB or KB squats, 10 DB or KB deadlifts, 10 DB or KB shoulder press and 10 DB or KB rows. The key is to do the exercises with good form, i.e. control the movements. There are heaps of excellent explanations of how to perform each of these exercises on the web. I will add some links to some excellent sites at the bottom of ths post. You can take whatever break you need between exercises. The key is to just do it and do the exercises as correctly as you can. Then I’m going to ask you to unroll your yoga mat and do ten minutes of stretching and mobility exercises. Again, there’s a lot out there to guide you, but to simplify things and cut through the chaff, I will give you these 5 movements done twice each for 30-45 seconds each pose:

1.     Downward dog. 2. Child’s pose. 3. Hip flexor stretch (twice each side). 4. Hamstring stretch. 5. Shoulder stretch (twice each side). 

Ok, that’s the exercise plan for week 1. But, there’s one more thing. You will have to start a new habit as well. It might be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the lift once a day or eliminating one bad food choice from your diet once a day. The new habit is important, it will start to shift your daily practices in the right direction and build your discipline. Sticking to your exercise plan and your new habit will empower you. What you must remember, and this is crucial, is that if you miss a day, or two, or if you are weak one day and succumb to temptation, then that’s fine. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again. And if the same thing happens, then do the same, start again. Habits and new practices are hard, they take time and sometimes we fail. Don’t beat yourself up. Instead, think positively and try again. The new habits will eventually stick if you want them to be. For additional help, have a look at James Clear’s stuff, his website and his book Atomic Habits are instructive and they helped me in my own thinking and practice.

Now on to week 2:

Repeat session 1 week 1 just instread of 22 minutes you’re increasing it by 2 minutes. It’s now a 24 minute workout. You are still doing 1 minute of running and 1 minute of brisk walking but now you’re doing 11 rounds of the run/walk. When you finish, you’ll do 12 airsquats and 12 push ups. You’ve increased the intensity by roughly 10%.

The same happens when you come to your 2nd workout of the week. I want you to dedicate 24 minutes to this workout and increase all your exrcises by 2. Keep your form and your control when doing them. When it comes to stretching and mobility add one more stretch, the world’s greatest stretch. The aim here is to get your body moving and to get it moving functionally.

Ok, that’s week 2. Stick to your new habit. You’re two weeks in, we need some more time for the new lifestyle to take hold. You have two weeks left to get to the all important one month mark. So, let’s keep going.

Week 3 is a repeat of week 1. Go out and run for 24 minutes, this time I want you to run for 2 minutes and brisk walk for 1. You will do this 8 times. At the end of the journey, I want you to give me 8 air squats and 8 push ups x 2. So you will do 1 set of 8 air squats and follow this with 8 push ups. Take a rest and repeat.

The second workout will be 3 rounds of 8 DB or KB squats, 8 DB or KB deadlifts, 8 DB or KB shoulder press, 8 DB or KB rows and a 30 second plank at the end of each round. Finish with your stretching/mobility routine.

Hopefully, you’ve stuck with your habit. That’s now 3 weeks in.

Week 4. You’re going to hit 30 minutes x 2 of intensity per week. You will have made it to the base camp. Session 1 is a 27 minute run/walk broken into 9 x 2 minutes of running and 1 minute of brisk walking. At the end of the session, you’ll do 2 rounds of 10 air squats and 10 push ups.

The second workout will be 3 rounds of 10 DB or KB squats, 10 DB or KB deadlifts, 10 DB or KB shoulder press, 10 DB or KB rows and a 30 second plank at the end of each round. Finish with your stretching/mobility routine.

You’re now one month into changing your life. You are becoming healthier, fitter, stronger and more capable of living life to the fullest. You’ve built a strong foundation, shown yourself you can do it, developed discipline and you should notice a few differences in the way you feel and even in the way you look. Celebrate your achievement. Reward your new self with something your new self would appreciate- a massage, a new workout top, another piece of workout equipment, membership to gym; anything that cements the idea in your mind that you’re a different person to the one that started the fitness journey a month ago. Revel in your new identity because there is a lot of evidence that adopting a particular identity is a powerful tool for cementing the behaviours. A lot has been written on the power of identify-based habits. For more on this, I recommend reading James Clear.

Well done on reaching this point. The Herculean Way is within your reach. In a few weeks, I’ll post a follow up with more detail on how to move from base camp to the next level of your ascent. Until then, stay Herculean.