Zen and Fitness

 When I was younger, I was a very physical person. A year after high school, at the age of nineteen, I enlisted in the United States Air Force and physical fitness became a regular routine. At the age of twenty three, I was living in Japan where I attended a dojo and practiced karate three to four nights a week. I continued to practice karate after I returned to the United States and later attended a dojang for three years learning a Korean martial art.

Today, I am much older and I had to change things up a bit. I still love and practice the martial arts but I have added a few other activities that are more beneficial to a fellow my age.

I pay particular attention to my heart health by engaging in a deep breathing stretching exercise called Qi Gong (pronounced Chee Gong), an ancient Chinese exercise designed for longevity. In addition, I do a regular sitting meditation the Japanese call Zazen, and Tai Chi.

Any kind of stretching is beneficial so you stretch as often as you can. Walking is great for cardiovascular health. When you walk everything moves, heart, lungs, muscles, joints, and bones, giving you a full body workout; so go for long walks three to four times a week.

To maintain balance in your physical activities, always keep in mind that you are not in a race. Your goal is to improve the quality of your life, and to feel good and look good doing it. My Zen philosophy is to not overdo it (that is dangerous and unnecessary), listen to what your body is telling you, and don’t do any more than you are able to do.

Before engaging in any physical activity, it is absolutely critical to have an effective warm up and cool down program. When you do a proper warm up, a number of changes begin to take place; your blood flow increases, your rate of breathing increases, and there is an increase in oxygen and nutrients to the cells.

This is all designed to get your body ready for what you want to do next, like martial arts or walking. Not properly warming up will cause your workout to be less effective. Your  body won’t function nearly as well, and you run the risk of sustained injury.

It helps increase the flow of fluid into the joints and this also reduces the risk of muscle pulls. A proper warm up will give your heart time to prepare and adjust to the increased blood flow to the muscles.

This is especially important as you get older your tissues become less flexible, your joints operate with less fluid, and your heart becomes weaker.

Not all is doom and gloom. Having a well designed workout program that you engage in on a regular basis makes all the difference. Just walking a few times a week can have a tremendous cardiovascular benefit.

When you walk, your whole body is involved so just let it happen naturally, you have your own natural stride (everyone does) and your arms will have their own natural swing. From your feet to your head, your body has its own natural harmony when it is moving. Don’t think about it; just let it happen.

Stand up straight when you are walking or standing for that matter. I remember my basic military training days; head up, stomach in, chest out, and shoulders back.

Do these things while walking or standing. Practice these tips daily and before long it will come to you naturally. The proper way to walk and stand involves everything about you, your body, mind, and spirit.

The most effective warm up is by doing a series of stretching exercises for approximately ten minutes before doing any other exercises. Stretching will help your muscles develop better flexibility.

Even if you don’t do cardio or some other type of workout, you should still do a ten minute stretching program every day. This will help with blood circulation and keep your muscles and joints as flexible as possible.

Whether it is spiritual, emotional, or physical, balance is the key and from a physical standpoint, walking or standing properly goes a long way towards having feet, legs, and a back without problems or pain.

Stretching is first and foremost in any exercise program.  Actually it should be the first and last activity in whatever exercise program you do.  Stretching prepares your muscles for a more rigorous exercise activity. Stretching also helps elongate your muscles getting them ready for a more intense workout.

It prepares your joints for the workout as well, and helps prevent muscle cramps during and after the workout. There are many different forms of stretching exercises. You should strive to learn as many as possible so that you can vary your stretching exercises from one workout to the next and hopefully you won’t become bored and lose interest. Here are the benefits of a daily stretching program:

1. Your range of flexibility will improve and the more you stretch the more flexible you will be.

 2. You will have better posture. When you stretch you are in effect training your body to improve your posture.

3. There will be less physical injury. If your body is flexible it only stands to reason that it would roll with the punches easier.

4. You will be able to move faster. Being flexible can only enhance your performance in other sports.