Should You Exercise for Life?

 

One of the things I realized when I hit my forties was the fact that the only way, I’d be able to survive in Singapore was to do all the rough work that young, local graduates would not do. Such work inevitably involves being in relatively uncomfortable places and involves the use of muscle. Hence, I’ve made it clear to the boss that I have no desire to look at files and stay in a cubicle but I have plenty of energy to run around.

There’s only one problem with this. You need to be relatively healthy and as I push 50, looking after my health has become important. While I do go out for the odd drink or so (since I am obliged to entertain), I avoid the wild parties of my 20s and 30s. I make it a point to walk as much as I can and take the stairs. Then, when the doctors told me that my blood sugars and bad cholesterol were shooting north, I had to add some of resistance training to my life. Whilst I am by no means body beautiful (the tummy and folds on the neck are clearly visible), I am feeling a lot better at the end of my forties than I was at the beginning.

Let’s face it, much of modern life is bad for you because it’s simply too convenient. As a doctor I once had to arrange interviews for said “Life is NOT meant to be convenient – you would not have been born a baby and been forced to grow up if were.” He has a point. Convenience culture has removed a reason for people to leave their homes, let alone their desk. People can get their necessities from the comfort of beds and chairs. Even at my worst, I had to walk out to the kopi shop to get food. For Kiddo and her generation, they just press a few buttons and food is delivered to them. So, why move when you don’t have to.

Yet, at the same time, life is seemingly more stressful. There is no such thing as “work-life” balance. You are your job and being trapped a cubicle is a badge of pride. One is expected to be on call 24-7 if one wants to keep the job let alone get ahead and build a career. So, you have people who don’t move around, get stressed out and end up eating the type of food that whilst tasty has the nutritional value of a sponge.

The life that we lead isn’t doing us any good and suddenly, after spending our youth screwing up our bodies, we suddenly get hit with something nasty and a portion of what we sacrificed our youth building, ends up going to feed the medical industry.

One of the first friends I made via Linkedin and who since become a “real” friend came into my life because of this. It was a post about ending up in hospital which got us connected because it was something I could relate to. By the time we met in person, he’d already set out on a personal fitness journey and today, he posted about his fitness journey and how it had affected his life:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7164536341156859904/

 

 Taken from Mr. Lewis Grimm’s Linkedin Page

Exercise isn’t just about the physical. It’s about the personal and mental. For my lawyer friend, the discovery of exercise not only helps keep his body in check but he’s found a way of controlling stress and having better mental clarity – two things which are vital for him in performing as top-level lawyer for a huge firm.

I found, though Linkedin that former colleague had an even more interesting story. When this man joined the firm around five years ago, he was grossly overweight. He struggled on the escalator and was notoriously bad tempered. His news on Linkedin was about a dramatic physical transformation, which became a personal transformation:

https://exerciseforlife.sg/about-us/

 

 The man would go onto become The First Singaporean Recipient of the Global Hero Award from the Medtronic Corporation and he’s gone onto set up a movement called “Exercise for Life,” to encourage ordinary folk, especially those who are overweight or obese to get into the habit of regular exercise.

When I was pushed into having to exercise regularly, I also become interested in knowledge about the things that I needed to do. One of the things that everyone, and the two fellows mentioned have been living proof of, the benefits of lifelong exercise go beyond the physical. Both men mentioned have improved their lives mentally and physically as well.

I mean, you could say that I’m past the age where I can expect to be “Body-Beautiful” – so why exercise? However, the choice is this – get the muscle tone to use and store the excess blood glucose or spend whatever is left of my life as a lab rat for a medical system that is primarily focused on selling pills?

https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7336607861306297608?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7274292816955999746

 

Exercise for Life I’ve tried to be an example to a young man I was responsible for. I wanted to show him that if he maintained good health and fitness, he would enjoy things better when he reached my age. I had to step up and exercise more and while I’m nowhere near beach model standards, I’m enjoying decent enough health and not being a burden on those around me. Isn’t this something we need to be mindful of as we grow older?