January

I went to Catholic school from 1st through 10th grade, and at the high school level, we did get into some really interesting stuff in theology class.

The history of the Bible is, in many ways, the history of human civilization, behavior, and even health.

One memorable lesson was involved leprosy… according to our teacher, it was caused when a person’s body became convinced that it was actually dead and flipped a switch internally… basically telling the microbial counterpart that it was okay to begin decomposing.

The disease could arise from poor sanitation and lack of physical movement (or from touching the sores of someone with leprosy).

We discussed how a bedridden person, or a prisoner held in chains in a dark, moldy dungeon, would be forced to stay sedentary, with who knows what sort of bacterial growth around them.

I was flashing back to that discussion while thinking about how physical inactivity is linked to many chronic diseases and declines in health.

I’ve heard it from many different sources: our comfortable lifestyle is the root of many diseases.

Personally, I’ve had some time off for the holidays and am now adapting to being back at my desk. Long story short: not loving it. I miss being more active.

Weather is another factor. A “feels like” temp of 4° is not helpful in terms of physical activity. Even my dog has stopped wanting to go for walks, choosing just a quick backyard potty time.

And of course, the lack of daylight hours is just plain old depressing. Your body wants to hibernate!

Oh, January… you’re killing me!

Proactive Steps

In light of the toll a cold January can take, I have:

• Increased reps on the morning activation routine.
• Added some handweights to a few morning activation exercises.
• Am striving to get at least 2500 steps prior to the beginning of the work day. These are mostly on my rebounder.
• And I’ve started taking “stair breaks” a few times per day. I just run up and down the main staircase at my home to get my heart pumping. I try to do at least 3 ups/3 downs per break.
• Booked a flight to Florida! ✈️

What do you do? Send me your suggestions in the comments!