Health & Fitness
How Your Body is Like Your Car
Everyone changes the oil in their car. Everyone get's their tires rotated, keeps them filled with the right amount of air, and changes the air filter. So why don't we do the same thing with our bodies?
Most people also get their car washed or detailed, timing belts changed, fluids flushed and filled, and they keep up with all the other scheduled maintenance.
These things cost both time and money, but everyone knows that if you don't do it, your car won't last long and you'll end up spending more money on parts and repairs down the road.
So why don't we do the same thing with our bodies? Your body, like any machine, will work its best when well oiled and well maintained. If you leave your car out in the elements, never perform maintenance, and never fix the little problems, before long you'll have a 3000 pound paperweight on your hands.
The sad news is that you can get a new car, but you only get one body.
Basic Body Maintenance
Our bodies are designed to last for a long time and to perform well throughout our lives. This idea that it's normal for 70-80 year olds to be falling apart is crazy. Take good care of your body and it will work correctly for a very long time. Neglect it and you'll be thinking about hip and knee replacements in your 40's and 50's.
I wrote earlier about The Real Cause of Nagging Pain and discussed the idea of a muscle or soft tissue imbalance. If your hip capsule is tight or your hamstrings are inflexible, this can lead to all kinds of problems. Just like if your car has an oil leak or the steering is off balance.
If your diet is filled with process foods, sugars, and trans fats, you body will run like your car would run if you tried to save money by filling your gas tank with a half gas/half jello mixture.
If you spend no time making sure your muscles are strong enough to support your frame and perform their required duties, your body will look, feel, and act much like a car you stripped down and allowed to rust inside and out.
If you don't feel awesome, it's because you aren't taking care of yourself correctly.
Flexibility and Mobility
My clients get daily mobility programming to work on how their bodies move and lots of times, homework to do on the weekends. There is a world of information out there if you're willing to go look for it. Every day, pick a body part or a joint and focus on stretching it out and getting it to move through full range of motion.
Full Range of Motion (ROM) ChartIf you're missing range of motion now and sitting around and hoping advil will fix the pain, you're gonna have a bad time. Unless you make it a priority, flexibility will get worse with age until you realize you're unable to sit on the toilet by yourself, lift anything over your head, or get out of bed on your own. Welcome to the nursing home.
Strength
Use it or lose it, as the saying goes. If you're not actively taxing your muscles at least a few times a week with heavy weights, you're losing strength. You need to lift heavy weights. Yes, you too, ladies.
Ideally, you would be using free weights and completing full range of motion, compound movements. This means that you are doing things that activate multiple large muscle groups to move from full flexion to full extention (or vice versa) and require the use of not just the prime movers (big muscles), but all the little supporting muscles. Examples include squats, deadlift, pull-ups, and push-ups, among many others.
While I believe there are better and worse ways to workout, the absolute BEST way for you is whatever you will do passionately and consistently. If that means Zumba classes, so be it. If it's rock climbing, even better.
Diet
A lot of people think they are eating a healthy diet. Most of them are not. The problem is that they are consuming what I like to call "not food." This is not to be confused with "food."
How to avoid "not food"
The diet of the large majority of people serves only to slowly degrade their body, system by system, requiring it to enter survival mode. Interesting side note: Overweight and obese people show many of the same symptoms of those who are starving. Deficiencies in nutrients can have devastating effects on your muscles, bones, cartilage, brain, gut, immune system, and more.
My short answer to "what should I eat?" Eat a grain-free, whole-foods diet. If you're wondering why I say grain-free, you can check out this, this, this, this, this, this, or that.
About The Author
My name is Graham Lutz, and I am the Owner and Head Trainer at Formula CrossFit in the heart of Peachtree Corners, GA. I have been married to my beautiful wife, Heather, for close to 8 years and we have our 4th child on the way! My interest in nutrition really took off when we found out our second son had Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disorder which causes extreme pain and many other symptoms if he consumes wheat. It was a blessing in disguise because our family is healthier than we ever would have been otherwise!