Currently, one in five people are living with persistent issues. That is not good!
If you're reading this blog then you are probably one of those people.
Now just combine that with with the fact that most of the population can't meet basic movement standards. Thats a recipe for problems.
People are so used to being in pain or pushing through chasing numbers on the bar and faster times that they've forgotten what not being in pain is like.
It might not be a problem now but think on it like this.
You lift five times a week, do WOD's, run and bike. You also can't touch your toes, can only power clean and that constant cycle of train - get injured - rest - train is just normal.
With your current habits, you're only getting worse, not better. If anything, the way you probably train now is actually holding back your progress. Now let's say your aches, pains and restrictions only get worse by 1% everyday, hell lets say every week.
By the time you retire, how much worse will you be compared to right now. This very second.
Scary when you actually sit and think on it, isn't it?
I want you to take a minute and think about that. Think about how you feel right now and any movement or mobility problems you have and visualise being older but 30% worse say.
That's a cheery thought isn't it?
But don't worry, you can set about fixing it.
You need to have a movement pension.
Just like a financial pension, you only need to put away a small percentage each time, and if you like you can always put away more.
If you put away 1% into your movement pension each time you'll be building good foundations for moving when you're older.
If you lay a brick a day, eventually you'll have a house. And just like buying or building a house is your biggest financial investment. Looking after your body is your biggest physical investment.
1% isn't much. It won't make a difference I hear you cry. Oh it will if you pick the right pension with the right returns.
The number one thing that deteriorates as we age is joint health and function and to be honest, a lot of it is preventable.
Healthy joints will give us access to movement ability as we age. So thats the pension pot you should be investing in.
The thing is, just like a real financial pension, you don't have to put in a lot to get some benefit.
Ten minutes a day is all it will take.
So i'm not asking you to ditch your powerlifting or Crossfit. All i'm asking is that you supplement that with ten minutes to properly invest in longterm joint health for the future.
Just take ten minutes in the morning to move every joint. Thats it. Joints get nutrients through diffusion and thats facilitated through movement. Joints literally feed of movement!
And you do want to be able to walk up stairs when you're 65 right?
Ok great. How do you get started?
Well, fear not. I have two roughly ten minute sequences for you. One for your shoulders and one for your hips. I want you to do them on alternating mornings for two weeks and I am confident you'll really notice a difference.
These sequences are designed to move your joints the way they were designed to. Something modern life doesn't really do anymore.
All exercise and movement is good but please make sure you're preparing for the future and not just hammering your body into the ground.
Take ten minutes a day and invest in a movement pension.