Why – and How – to Get Off the Sofa

The single most important element of any health practice, and especially increased movement, is doing it.  For many of us our inner resistance, in the form of excuses, “reasons”, and rationalizations, wins the battle to move more and finds us on the losing side of the health benefits that movement provides. 

Daily physical activity is no longer optional if you want to add passionate, healthy, and functional years to your life. The scientific evidence and lifestyle reasons to move your body are overwhelming. It is essential to overcome inertia on a daily basis! Information on movement fills more books, articles, and studies than any of us would have enough time to read.

Movement Is Not Optional

Kelly McGonigal, in her book, The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage, makes a great case for the role of exercise as a source for finding deeper values. Increased hope and courage, in addition to better health, are some of the outcomes she describes when you overcome inertia and move your body.

Another book is Daniel Levitin’s Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives in which he says: “Aging is an irreversible and inescapable process. But the effects of aging are, in some cases reversible and if not completely escapable, at least subject to delay … the single most important correlate of vibrant mental health and physical health is physical activity.”

Leave Inertia Behind!

Let’s face it. Knowing why we should move more doesn’t always get us off the sofa. Whether you’re already active and “just don’t feel like it today” or you recognize that you’re too sedentary and want to put more movement in your life, the problem is the same. It’s called inertia.  It’s also called resistance. 

Do you remember this basic lesson in high school physics? An object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. In order to get that object to move, it is necessary to apply a force to break its inertia. And once it’s moving, it is harder to slow that object down, because it has momentum.

The same goes for us. The force we apply can be passion, logic, willpower, fear of not moving, or knowing we will feel better afterwards. It doesn’t really matter. Whatever works to get you started is wonderful. And good news: once you get moving, momentum kicks in!

Wrestling with Inertia: My Experience

When I first started practicing yoga, I was a big procrastinator. I signed up for a yoga class with an experienced teacher, but I also wanted to practice at home on my own, not just in a class. I would put off my at-home yoga session or skip it altogether on a regular basis. When I did manage to practice at home, the results were so profoundly beneficial that I resolved to keep a perfect schedule and practice every day. That grand plan lasted until the following day when inertia and resistance took hold again.

My teacher gave me some good advice: “Just roll out the mat and sit on it. You don’t have to practice yoga, just sit.” And voila! Once I had changed clothes and rolled out the mat, just to sit on it, going into a yoga pose was an easy next step. And then another and another. I had broken through my inertia.

What causes inertia? What causes resistance? Each of us has a different set of beliefs and circumstances within us. First, our bodies are programmed to conserve energy. We are naturally inclined to rest whenever we can. That was okay in prehistoric times when we needed to rest after participating in a perilous hunt or walking great distances to forage for food. Back then we had to move more, just to have enough to eat, than many us could even manage today.

Movement Maintains Health

Nowadays we need to supplement our movement to maintain health, not conserve it. This inclination to rest in modern life is what paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman calls an “evolutionary mismatch” in his book The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease.

Deciding to choose to move more in your life right now is the choice to be more active, healthier, and happier for many years to come. Many people don’t know this. These people will end up with walkers and wheelchairs and face their shorter later lives in illness, dependence, and pessimism.

Resistance: Move Past the Fear Factor to Overcome Inertia

Another element involves fear. It can be fear of change, fear of failure, or fear of rejection by those around you. In his brilliant (and in my case dog-eared) book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and  Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Steven Pressfield calls it simply resistance. He says that resistance is present everywhere, but most importantly it is inside us. It is a force of self-sabotage that keeps you from doing anything that involves self-improvement, following your heart, or listening to a higher power inside you. The list includes everything from going on a diet and exercising to pursuing any artistic or spiritual endeavor. Your internal resistance comes up with every reason under the sun to not do something, or can’t do something, you know is good for you.   It is up to you to come up with the reasons and emotions you can do it, or simply start the process with no expectations and see what happens.  Remember, resistance is self-sabotage!

Pressfield makes another important point: the beloved actor Henry Fonda was still vomiting before each stage performance due to stage fright, even when he was seventy-five years old. In other words, fear doesn’t go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.

This is extremely relevant when it comes to movement and exercise. Inertia and resistance are always lurking. We have to make the decision and commitment to overcome inertia and move more every day. This applies to the seasoned athlete as well as the beginner. There is no difference.

It’s Never Too Late

Olga Kotelko, a renowned athlete, only began running when she was 70 years old. She had joined a softball team and outran the throws to first base. In her 90s, she held many track and field world records for events like running, javelin, long jump, high jump, and hammer throw. At age 91, scientists at McGill University determined that her muscle fiber metabolism and aerobic capacity were the same as a 65-year-old’s capacity. She lived to age 95 and died in her sleep, with no major health problems.

I have been at this movement, exercise, and yoga stuff for about 15 years. I’m turning 74 in a few weeks. I can’t even begin to describe the difference that movement has made in my life. I’m much stronger and more fit than ever before. I have tons of energy. My outlook on life and the coming years has gone from bleak to optimistic. I now like and appreciate the wonder of my body and myself more than ever.

While movement doesn’t take the place of good nutrition, good sleep, and staying engaged with my inner and outer life, it is the glue and catalyst that holds all these facets of my practice and my being together, so they work together to keep me healthy.

Daily Maxims to Overcome Inertia

Here are a few of my personal maxims that make the daily encounter with inertia easier for me to overcome:

1. I’ve made a commitment to myself – I am worth it. I deserve all the benefits physical activity will bring me.

2. Every day but today only – I do as much as I can every day. This is not some master plan for all time. Take one day at a time.

3. Stand up – Standing burns 50 calories an hour more than sitting and stimulates blood flow much more. It is also better for posture, a bad back, and joint problems.

4. Sit on the floor – Your leg muscles are the largest and strongest in your body. Use them. Squat fully instead of bending over. Keeping your legs strong is also the surest way to maintain balance and avoid falls.

5. Ditch the car – I use my body as much as possible to get where I’m going by walking or biking. Even taking public transportation means moving more in order to get from Point A to Point B. I always stand on the bus or subway, sometimes “surfing” to practice balance or using the bars for isometrics. I never take the “priority” seats for older people (despite some offers from younger people).  I always walk up and down the escalators.

6. Start each morning with movement – An easy morning routine of 5, 10, or 15 minutes is a great way to start the day and a great way to get joints and muscles warmed up and blood circulating.  Think of the Tin Man getting his joints oiled in The Wizard of Oz. Just like oil for the Tin Man, movement is viscosity for your body.  It also provides momentum to move for the rest for the rest of the day.

7. Mix it up – Endurance, strength, and flexibility are all important. (More on these factors in my book (link.)

8. Move all day – I choose to stand while writing or working at home. I also keep things around the house for times when I take a break. These exercise tools include a chinning bar, kettle bell, yoga mat, BOSU balance ball, weighted bar, Stick Mobility bending bar, foam roller, and lacrosse balls to work with stiff joints and muscles. A few minutes with any of these of exercise tools is a wonderful way to recharge.

9. Priorities – Health is my number one priority, making possible all the other things in my life that matter to me.

10. Motivation – The “why” of what I do is as important as the “how.”  My motivation has always been staying alive and healthy to spend more quality time with my daughters.  It now also includes the joy I  experience every healthy day. Health means extra quality years added to my life!

Yes, inertia and internal resistance are always at work. This seemingly powerful tag team will always be a force to be reckoned with. But you have the power to overcome them, to tell your inner resistant voice to take a long walk off a short dock, and to get off the sofa and get moving – right now!