You sharpen your math skills.When you load weight plates onto a bar-
bell, you have to do some fast calculations. (Quick: How much weight is
a 45-pound bar plus two 10-pound plates and two 5-pound plates?) The
math gets even more challenging when you convert miles per hour on
the treadmill to how many minutes per mile you’re running.
You’re more useful around the house. You don’t need help unscrewing
that stubborn jar of pickles, hoisting that 10-gallon jug of water, or
pulling apart the sofa bed for your houseguests.
You’re more productive. Can’t garden for more than 20 minutes without
stopping to rest your achy knees? Can’t get all your errands done in
one shot because you need to take a break? Do you avoid visiting your
friend who lives in that fourth-floor walk-up? When you’re fit, none of
this is a worry.
You’re likely to watch less junk TV. When exercise is part of your life,
you don’t have time to sit around with the remote, bouncing around
from Survivorto CSIto Desperate Housewives.
You have an excuse to go shopping.You can buy an endless number of
nifty gadgets without feeling guilty, such as a heart-rate monitor, a set of
dumbbells, a titanium bike seat, or a windproof ski vest.
You enjoy retirement more.Not that we don’t love Scrabble and gin
rummy, but fit seniors have more activity choices, from golf to gardening
to world travel.
You discover a lot about your body. When you lift weights, you become
intimately acquainted with your muscles and their individual job descrip-
tions. You notice that your back muscles are called for duty when you
pull a bar toward you, and you realize that your chest muscles kick in
when you push a bar away from you.
You get to learn a whole new language.Reps, sets, pecs, lats, target
zone — when you hang out at health clubs or build a library of exercise
videos, you quickly become fluent in the language of exercise. Your
friends will be impressed!
You develop a greater appreciation for the athletes you watch on TV
or cheer for at sporting events. You don’t understand just how tough it
is to hit a 90-mph fastball, duck a lightning-fast left hook, or cycle 100
miles uphill until you try these sports yourself. After you start working
out, you’ll watch events like the Tour de France and the New York City
marathon with a whole new outlook.
Chapter 24: Ten Great Reasons to Break a Sweat 365