Vitalogy Day 8 - This is too easy and fun to be a workout program

In 7 days I've finished up the basic learning that needs to happen in Vitalogy. One thing I learned is that the name Vitalogy means the study of (ogy) Vitality (Vital). This program really isn't about getting washboard abs or dropping off weight fast. My own experience is that that stuff really doesn't last. Instead Vitalogy is learning how to make or keep your life full of vitality and youth. It's about changing your whole lifestyle to something that makes more sense. Vitalogy theory is that youth is defined by three things, at least when it comes to the physical body. They are movement, balance, and posture… and in order to have those three things you've also got to have flexibility. When you think about it, little kids run around like crazy all the time. As adults we get stuck in patterns like sitting in an office cubicle all day that rob us of our movement and flexibility. Think about the posture of sitting hunched over a computer terminal all day… got the picture?

So, one huge takeaway for me is that I now set a timer when I am sitting in front of the computer screen… one hour. Every hour I get up and do about a minute of shaking, lateral flexion, rotation, and/or rocking. This doesn't seem like much, but the results are huge. No kidding!! In just a week I've regained a whole lot of flexibility that I didn't even realize I had lost. I haven't developed any macho muscles, but I'm able to move in ways that I forgot about… and the muscle and joint aches and pains are gone. I've done gyms before. I've also done exercise boot camps and a bunch of other "fitness programs". This is the only thing that I have found that you integrate into your life. There's no driving to the gym or exercise program. There's no changing clothes to put on the exercise outfit. There's no making special time during the day to fit in your exercises. You really just integrate it into your life… a few minutes here and a few minutes there.

I've also been really impressed with the whole theory of diet… but that will be the subject of the next post.