Lifestyle

A logical consequence of last chapter is the following idea. Don’t try to exercise in short bursts, in which you stress your body a lot, and then continue being passive the rest of your day. Live an active lifestyle in general.

• We were made for that, not for going to a fitness hall twice a week.
• It will ensuren you keep a correct posture
• And it will prevent (over)compensation or serious issues from building

I am not saying you should exercise all day every day. I’m not saying it should always be in the back of your mind, like a voice saying: “Stand up straight! Do 10 jumping jacks now! Good posture!” That’s also not healthy and not helpful.

Instead,

• Regularly take breaks from work and do some minor physical activity, like stretching or walking
• Find the environments in which you are most often. Ensure you don’t just sit all the time, but design the interior so that you often have to move around.
• Exercise every day.
• Vary your movement and exercise a lot. We identify three different exercise types, which I’ll cover in an upcoming chapter. Try to incorporate them all into your exercise.
• It’s more important to do something regularly, than to make it the toughest, most challenging, sweat-drenching workout possible.

As physical therapists love saying:

The best posture is the next posture

No single posture is “good” for us humans, if that’s the only posture you have. Even a perfectly straight back, 24/7, isn’t great: you also need to bend and stretch your back muscles to keep them strong.

See it in a positive light: this principle also excuses bad posture from time to time. I know many people who play sports at a high level, who can easily be slumped in their chair. Because they change their posture often, they are allowed to abuse their posture sometimes without issues.

About “advice”

Telling yourself to “stand up straight” or “straighten your back” is completely useless. Telling your children to do so, or your students (many teachers liked to comment on posture somehow), is similarly useless.

Good posture is a habit. Habits cannot be taught or maintained by yelling at someone or yelling at yourself through a nagging voice.

Good posture comes from varied posture. A straight back at all times is just as bad.

To make it worse, most people don’t even know what a straight back is! They are just guessing. They will most likely overstretch their back and put tension on their neck. Say it after me: you’ve just made matters worse!

Good health and posture comes from lifestyle and targeted exercises. Once you’re done training, once you’re done designing your environment for an active lifestyle, don’t even think about it. No voice in your head. No other principles or rules. Don’t try to tell or receive more, and more, and more advice.

It’s about habits and defaults. An active lifestyle is more important than anything else.

An example

So I exercised a lot, all my life. I thought I was doing great, battling my chronic illness. And yes, it was a good thing in many respects!

At the same time, my exercise was usually exactly the same: play soccer for 30-60 minutes. The rest of the day? I’d usually sit behind my desk, working hard, toiling away at my laptop.

And, as stated earlier, this led to many issues. Because my exercise came in short bursts that were always the same, I kept strengthening the same muscles and never using other muscles. I became a machine for playing soccer in a backyard, but was hopeless at other very menial physical tasks.

And despite all that exercise, I still slowly grew fat. I still felt slow, restless, and often couldn’t focus on the work. Because despite working out for an hour each day, it still meant I sat on a chair the other 15 hours.

So, how did I solve that? What are some concrete tips for improving your lifestyle? I present two principles:

• The odd exercise out
• Toughest Way Only

The odd exercise out

By now, you know there is no “perfect” exercise, posture or lifestyle. We cannot predict the future. Our bodies are all different and constantly changing.

How do you prevent training in the wrong direction, without even knowing it? By always adding one new, weird exercise. Variation is key.

Let’s say you go for a walk every day of the week. This is probably fine, but you probably walk the same path each time (with the same terrain, distance, etcetera), in the same way. Now try to go for a different walk, one day of the week. Longer or shorter, different terrain, different tempo. Maybe, instead of walking, try jogging, or cycling.

It’s most likely an improvement, as you target different muscle groups and send different impulses to your body and brain. But you will also notice that. You’ll notice if you feel more sore, if it tests your body or not. You’ll notice if you were compensating or getting “too comfortable” before.

The same is true for specific exercises. I could’ve prevented my issues with pull-ups, if I had not done pull-ups every time, but varied my routine. One day I do a pull-up, the other I do some entirely different exercise.

Variation is the best solution for negating bad habits without even knowing it. And the easiest way to remember it, is just by swapping one of your usual physical routines every day or week.

Toughest Way Only

This is a principle I originally heard from a popular Dutch neurologist (Erik Scherder). He said that, as we get older, we tend to exercise less. Which is a shame, because as you grow older, you actually need to exercise more to combat the negative effects.

He advocated picking tough challenges—loading your path with obstacles—on purpose. Not enough to be annoyed, or to be too harsh on yourself. But just enough that you are constantly, every day, working just a little bit harder.

I also recommend this principle, which I dubbed “toughest way only”. The idea is that you don’t take the lazy or passive route. Instead, whenever you need to do something anyway, make it a habit to take a more physically demanding route.

Some simple examples:

• Take the stairs instead of elevators
• Cycle or walk somewhere, instead of taking the car or the bus
• When I cycled home from school, I took a longer route on purpose. I had the time—as I didn’t have to rush towards school—and the other route was more busy and interesting anyway.
• Instead of calling someone or leaving a message, I prefer just walking there to talk to someone directly. This has caused me many odd looks and people who think I am afraid of cellphones. Maybe I am.
• Place stuff you sometimes need for work as far away from your desk as possible. When you need it, you’ll have to walk, maybe run up some stairs, to get it.
• Get a standing desk. Make it hard to acquire a chair and sit down 😉
• In my case, I also have a circular balance board. For hours each day, I stand and wobble while working. After a minute, you forget you’re doing it. But it’s amazing for your posture, core strength, and burning calories.

Again, don’t be too harsh. Just design the little things. Pick your battles. Standing all day, again, is bad! The best posture is the next posture.

Look around. Identify the parts of your life where you spend the most time. Try to design your life, your environment, your approach, to add extra physical obstacles on purpose. This way, you stay active, without even realizing it.

I’ve talked a lot about posture and compensation. I feel it’s time to devote a chapter to that essential topic.