Another year and another decade will come to a close in 4 days, and as such, I will use the next few days to review where we’ve been and where we are going both personally and as a society. Today I will look at exercise. Now you may ask yourself “what would a man who allowed himself climb up to almost 700lbs (320kgs) know about exercise?” Well, the ironic answer would be “plenty.”

I grew up surrounded by strength sports. My father was a multiple champion in sports such as weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, arm wrestling, strong man and odd lift sports. He later went on to help create and sit on the board of directors of many organizations in these sports, even serving as President of the National Powerlifting Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union and it eventual offshoot, the United States Powerlifting Federation.

My father pushed me away from this however, wanting me to focus on education, which he always believed was the key to success. And to a large extent, I agree. But experience allows the mind to develop its own ideas of what success is and what the keys to it are.

Unlike my father who was blessed with unbelievable strength and incredible intelligence (the US Army tested his IQ at 167) I was only blessed with the intelligence. I am not as smart as my father was, but I can have a few good ideas now and then.

My father was a huge believer in the combination of anaerobic and aerobic exercise. He also was a huge proponent of water resistance training. My dad made it a point that before every workout he would stretch. He would also begin every lift by starting out with and “empty bar” workout. For example, if he was going to squat, (and he held several world records in the squat including one that stands to this day of 58 repetitions with 310lbs (140kgs) that he set in 1952.) he would start with just the empty weight bar (a standard 7’ (213.36cm) weight bar weighs 45lbs (20kgs)). He would do 100 reps with that before he would start his work out. To his credit, he never had an injury from working out. He wasn’t a big believer in running, but he loved walking and power-walking, he would even do so with 10lb (5kg) dumbbells in each hand.
He would bemoan the television fads of things like Jane Fonda Workouts or seeing guys that would work to “sculpt” their bodies through selectorized or stack weight machines. He was a big believer in balance.

And that is what I hope the next decade is about. Balance. We need to use weights. We need aerobic exercise. Yoga, Pilates, free weight, band resistance are all good, but too much of one is not. I hear people talk about how they are working on their arms one day, legs the next and something different the next day. Or they will talk about how they do aerobics or yoga every day. And quite simply in our society, in 2010, where we do not have to forage for out food or walk 10 miles to get anywhere or work in physical jobs that push our bodies to the limit, we need balance. Whether that balance is a bit of each type of workout each day or alternating the exercises on different days, our bodies need it all.

And we need to be consistent. Our bodies need the same level or better of exercise all the time or it will turn on us. And I am not talking about turning “flabby” or whatnot, I am talking about internally. Bones, organs, blood and oxygen circulation. These are all dependent upon exercise.

I hear some people mention how they can’t exercise, and I say that’s a crock. My dad at 75 years old whose knees literally went out (he worked construction all his life and that was the reason, no due to exercise) would still sit in his chair and work on his arms. He could even lay in bed and do leg lifts.

He worked out in some way shape or form until his stoke a year ago in October. He lay frustrated in a hospital bed because he could not work out until he passed away on April 6th of this year and the age of 81.

So among my many resolutions this year, it to start a balance work out regimen. It will have to be after some surgery I am having in April, but I will do it.

And my goal is not to be thin, and I have to state that because someone will inevitably think I am pimping for the diet and exercise industry. My dad exercised all the time. He was 5’ 10” (178cm) and he weight would fluctuate between 250 – 450lbs (110 – 205kgs) Not a thin man by any stretch of the imagination (although in his younger days—way before I came along—he was sculpted). I want to be healthy. Period.

So, I encourage everyone to not make the resolution to diet, not to go to the gym and pump some iron. I encourage you to look around for a whole body solution. And that will include healthy eating, as well as other wellness activities which I will touch on later this week.