Increasing Your Life Expectancy

Okay, and Welcome Back!

So what I really wanted to talk about was using this model of athleticism and adaptation to make lifestyle changes and get the most out of life.

There is an expression- as you do, you become!

In the earlier blog, we showed that this was the case with all the not so good things that can happen to a person- disease, illness, poor health….

Let’s look at how adaptation and athleticism can be used in a more positive way. And just to be clear this IS how it works and really the difference between where you are and where you want to be is allowing time to rest and the body to adapt to what you are doing. That’s all. Without this, all are destructive.

Look at it this way. Let’s say you have a dream, something really cool that you would like to do, or achieve or possibly be, okay?

Provided you work on a gradient scale, meaning bit by bit, seeing what you can do, allowing the body to rest and adapt, and then trying to do a little more a few days later, wouldn’t it be possible to make that dream come true?

For me, I think it would be cool to ride my motorcycle to the tip of South America. To date, I have ridden four hours to Rocky Point. While that’s the right direction, I have not had enough time to break the body down while riding and then allowing it the time to recover and adapt for longer and more physical rides.

We all know this, it takes time for a tree to grow, to do projects, lose weight, gain weight…. If we allow the time, it will happen.

I wrote a blog about this earlier, and how with all of our great plans, very few add the step of taking the time to enjoy all of the hard work! It would be like taking 3 hours to make a great dinner and not eating any of it because you have to start cooking breakfast- which you won’t allow time to eat that either!

In speaking with someone who rides big trips, he was saying a person should have about 30,000 miles of riding under their belt, before trying a trip like I’m describing. Maybe, maybe not- it would have to be longer than Rocky Point (and that was stopping at that Space Ship Restaurant in Gila Bend for an hour!)

But I do know that as I ride, my body, my mind, and my spirit will adapt to be able to ride bigger and longer rides, and in doing so I will have the time of my life pursuing the dream of a lifetime. I can’t lose.

I once heard that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a first step, and maybe that’s what I’m saying. One takes the steps, takes the time to enjoy the journey, rest, recover, and adapt, and then continues on the journey going longer and longer with each step as that person grows stronger, freer, and more able.

Even if you are not interested in some crazy journey, or don’t think you can go on some journey, this idea of rest, recovery, and adaption is still brilliant.

There are a lot of people still working from home, trying to do their jobs on a computer they share with kids who are at home doing school. Parents are now teachers amongst a thousand other things!

The stories I hear are overwhelming, and people are stressed out beyond their limits. Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting. Work, kids, families, household

chores…. The day never ends. Many patients tell me they are still texting and working at 10 and 11 o’clock at night!

In terms of training and athleticism, people are WAY overtraining. What would happen to a runner who never stopped running? People are not TAKING, and I’m not saying asking, I’m saying TAKING the time to rest, recover, and adapt! This is dangerous and leads to elevated inflammatory levels, overworked immune systems, and eventually very poor health.

I guess in my way at a minimum (which is HUGE) I am trying to encourage people to start changing their lifestyles so that they include time to rest, recover and adapt, and enjoy the friendship and companionship of those who are most important. Beyond this, let’s start working on those crazy ideas, and dreams. Believe it or not, they don’t start with doing more, in fact just the opposite- TAKING the time rest, recover and adapt. See what happens!

I would love to talk to anyone who is interested in what I have written about in these last two blogs. I consider myself a much better daydreamer than anything else that I am- and I’m really good at a lot of things, especially being a chiropractor.

If one plans on living he really needs others, and their thoughts, ideas, and friendship. I have no interest in lecturing, just listening to what you think!

There’s this Canadian show I love called The Red Green Show, and there is a segment where Red is talking and in the end he says, “I’m pulling for ya. We’re all in this together!”

I hope that kind of makes sense. Let me know what you think.

Take Care,

Dr. Dave