In my previous article called "Exercise - Identifying Our 3 Biggest Fears" I settled on these top three:
In this article we'll address the second two big worries.
Health Professionals If you have any major health problems you have to handle them whether you exercise or not so it would be best to learn how they relate to your fitness plans as soon as you can.
This brings us immediately to the subject of health professionals.
This field seems to get more controversial, complex and less certain the more it advances.
Additional practitioners like naturopaths, chiropractors, kinesiologists, acupuncturists, herbalists, various massage therapists and others have added mightily to our options, choices and models of health.
Still, I think the mainstream allopathic doctors remain the most respected and the most feared by the general public.
They certainly remain the group most commonly included in health insurance policies and perhaps this is one major reason for their continued dominance.
I met a guy in the gym a while back who was doing deadlifts.
These are very difficult exercises requiring the whole body, particularly the back, the legs, shoulders and a strong grip often supported with straps.
I kidded him that it was hard for me to even watch him do those heavy lifts though he was very solidly built and was obviously having no trouble with them.
We started talking and he mentioned that he had injured his back during some sort of a childhood accident.
His doctor told him he needed to stop doing these exercises before he hurt himself.
He was apparently not so happy with this advice and sought the opinion of another doctor, a sports physician.
The sports doctor said the heavy exercise he was doing to strengthen his back was the main thing holding him together and keeping any negative symptoms from the injury at bay.
He confidently said, "I chose to believe him".
That was many years ago and he has remained strong and fit as he continues his deadlifts.
Not Everyone Follows Their Doctor's Advice The famous martial artist and movie actor Jet Li broke his leg early in his training and his doctor told him he had to stop practicing martial arts.
When Mr.
Li asked the doctor what's the worst thing that could happen if he didn't stop, the doctor replied that he could break his leg again.
Jet Li then ignored his doctor's advice and went on to become the powerful martial artist we still see today in the movie theater.
Some months ago I went to the drug store to get something for the burn on my arm.
I had very adroitly burned off an oval of skin about a half inch high and two inches wide on the inside of my arm just above the elbow.
I'll let you wonder how in the world, but I assure you it was nearly effortless.
Scanning the appropriate shelf in the well-stocked drug store I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of choices of burn remedies.
I went to the pharmacist in his spotless white lab coat to ask his advice and see if he felt the more expensive state-of-the-art burn dressing was worth five times the price of the simple band aids and some antibiotic salve.
He told me he could not possibly advise me and I would have to go see a doctor.
When I continued to stare at him with my dumbfounded expression of disbelief he explained that burns were much more serious than cuts, more likely to scar, more prone to infection and that I really needed the advice of a doctor to address it.
I didn't tell him what I thought of his advice, nor how many times I'd survived similar burns without even a pharmacist's wisdom to guide me, but I grabbed the band-aids and cream and everything turned out fine.
This mindset, however, that doctors know best, is what we're trained to believe.
Even now I feel a strong urge to remind you that there are no initials after my name.
Ultimately, however, we are each responsible for managing our own health.
We each have to make our own choices and take care of ourselves as we see fit.
Saving Face Okay, so now we've covered injuries and doctors which leaves us with the issue of looking bad.
It seems clear that 1) the longer we delay, put off and do nothing the worse we're going to look anyway and 2) beginners in any endeavor look awkward, unskilled and untrained so if you worry too much about looking bad you're in danger of closing the door to learning anything new.
Now that seems a lot more frightening to me than looking bad, yet again, decide for yourself - just be aware of the underlying implications of decisions like these.
There's some good news as well.
From my experience the gym scene has changed.
From what I see these days more than half of those in the gym are very obviously there because they're no longer comfortable with the shape they're in, for whatever reasons.
I have to admire them for tackling the issue and facing the challenge.
The more they work at it the better they look.
And most gyms now have fairly low-cost training sessions available for those who are just getting started.
Another option, of course, is exercising at home where only those in your house will see you.
You'll also have fewer people to watch and copy and fewer people you can ask questions.
You'll find a lot more options in this direction than ever before as the exercise equipment industry is booming, another topic entirely.
- we don't want to get hurt
- we don't want to act without our doctor's permission
- we don't want to look bad
In this article we'll address the second two big worries.
Health Professionals If you have any major health problems you have to handle them whether you exercise or not so it would be best to learn how they relate to your fitness plans as soon as you can.
This brings us immediately to the subject of health professionals.
This field seems to get more controversial, complex and less certain the more it advances.
Additional practitioners like naturopaths, chiropractors, kinesiologists, acupuncturists, herbalists, various massage therapists and others have added mightily to our options, choices and models of health.
Still, I think the mainstream allopathic doctors remain the most respected and the most feared by the general public.
They certainly remain the group most commonly included in health insurance policies and perhaps this is one major reason for their continued dominance.
I met a guy in the gym a while back who was doing deadlifts.
These are very difficult exercises requiring the whole body, particularly the back, the legs, shoulders and a strong grip often supported with straps.
I kidded him that it was hard for me to even watch him do those heavy lifts though he was very solidly built and was obviously having no trouble with them.
We started talking and he mentioned that he had injured his back during some sort of a childhood accident.
His doctor told him he needed to stop doing these exercises before he hurt himself.
He was apparently not so happy with this advice and sought the opinion of another doctor, a sports physician.
The sports doctor said the heavy exercise he was doing to strengthen his back was the main thing holding him together and keeping any negative symptoms from the injury at bay.
He confidently said, "I chose to believe him".
That was many years ago and he has remained strong and fit as he continues his deadlifts.
Not Everyone Follows Their Doctor's Advice The famous martial artist and movie actor Jet Li broke his leg early in his training and his doctor told him he had to stop practicing martial arts.
When Mr.
Li asked the doctor what's the worst thing that could happen if he didn't stop, the doctor replied that he could break his leg again.
Jet Li then ignored his doctor's advice and went on to become the powerful martial artist we still see today in the movie theater.
Some months ago I went to the drug store to get something for the burn on my arm.
I had very adroitly burned off an oval of skin about a half inch high and two inches wide on the inside of my arm just above the elbow.
I'll let you wonder how in the world, but I assure you it was nearly effortless.
Scanning the appropriate shelf in the well-stocked drug store I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of choices of burn remedies.
I went to the pharmacist in his spotless white lab coat to ask his advice and see if he felt the more expensive state-of-the-art burn dressing was worth five times the price of the simple band aids and some antibiotic salve.
He told me he could not possibly advise me and I would have to go see a doctor.
When I continued to stare at him with my dumbfounded expression of disbelief he explained that burns were much more serious than cuts, more likely to scar, more prone to infection and that I really needed the advice of a doctor to address it.
I didn't tell him what I thought of his advice, nor how many times I'd survived similar burns without even a pharmacist's wisdom to guide me, but I grabbed the band-aids and cream and everything turned out fine.
This mindset, however, that doctors know best, is what we're trained to believe.
Even now I feel a strong urge to remind you that there are no initials after my name.
Ultimately, however, we are each responsible for managing our own health.
We each have to make our own choices and take care of ourselves as we see fit.
Saving Face Okay, so now we've covered injuries and doctors which leaves us with the issue of looking bad.
It seems clear that 1) the longer we delay, put off and do nothing the worse we're going to look anyway and 2) beginners in any endeavor look awkward, unskilled and untrained so if you worry too much about looking bad you're in danger of closing the door to learning anything new.
Now that seems a lot more frightening to me than looking bad, yet again, decide for yourself - just be aware of the underlying implications of decisions like these.
There's some good news as well.
From my experience the gym scene has changed.
From what I see these days more than half of those in the gym are very obviously there because they're no longer comfortable with the shape they're in, for whatever reasons.
I have to admire them for tackling the issue and facing the challenge.
The more they work at it the better they look.
And most gyms now have fairly low-cost training sessions available for those who are just getting started.
Another option, of course, is exercising at home where only those in your house will see you.
You'll also have fewer people to watch and copy and fewer people you can ask questions.
You'll find a lot more options in this direction than ever before as the exercise equipment industry is booming, another topic entirely.