Ever just fall off your workout routine, ? Maybe you’ve fallen off your supplements routine. Flossing?
Lately it’s been all of the above for me. I first got off track with workouts when we hosted the English family contingent, (6 adults, 2 small people of the male variety) and hosted a wedding for my step-daughter in the middle of it all.
Understandable. I give myself a pass.
But the literal 3 weeks since that I did exactly one Peloton class, one yoga class, and a few morning planks. My head was full of conversations that sounded like, “What is wrong with you?” “When are you going to get back on the program?” Shame, blame, guilt. None of it worked.
Does it ever?
The rebellious truth? Sometimes falling off IS the program.”
In my defense, my high iron levels do add a layer of low energy. (If you want to learn about what high iron might mean for you,( here’s a podcast episode about it.) And I was lugging soil and plants around for a few hours or more each day. But still, there’s no real cardio in that nor does it count as strength training.
Then along came Outlive, “The Science & Art of Longevity, by Dr. Peter Attia. I’ve followed Attia for a few years and thought his positions on health to be unyielding and targeted to the extreme biohacker crowd. That said, he does his research and a friend who is neither extreme nor a biohacker recommended it. I’m glad she did. Listening to his book showed me a more flexible Attia and provided so much compelling data on exercise and aging that I was moved to get back to it.
Like the next day.
I should remember that when I’m off track reading about (I bought the hardcover as well) what the latest science says about how to live well now and age in sound mind and body, will give me the motivation I need to jump back on.
I could choose to ignore what I know but that would end in tears at some point.
Which brings me to music – one of the most underrated wellness tools out there. While conventional fitness advice focuses on sets, reps, and heart rate zones, here’s what they don’t tell you: sometimes the most powerful thing you can do for your wellbeing is let a song move you to tears.
There are songs that move me to move, and then there are songs that move me to feel. This song from Luther Vandross, ‘Dance with My Father,‘ came on during a Peloton ride with Hannah Frankson. A few bars in and I was welling up. I never knew my father – he died 2 days before I was born – but I didn’t need to have had a dad to feel the feels. And that feels good.
The rebellious truth about wellness? Sometimes we need a cure for what we can’t name, and music delivers that in ways no supplement or workout ever could.
‘The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea,’ said Isak Dinesen. I haven’t been able to get to the sea yet, but in the meantime I’ll remember why it’s good to sweat AND listen to music that moves me.
Got a song that moves you one way or another? I’d love to hear about it.
Stay rebellious,
Greg
