As Close To a Panacea as You Can Get
Panacea definition: A remedy for all disease or illness.
I have had a lot of luck in my life. I am not talking about gambling, although I have had 5 royal flushes on video poker. I am talking about being lucky with things that are close to life and death.
I once woke up before smoke from a fire in my apartment entered my lungs, which would have rendered me dead within minutes. There is no reason I should have awoke. I was out cold, there was no noise from the fire, nor heat. Just lucky.
Another time, I was alone and started choking on a bit of pizza. With nobody to assist, I did the Heimlich maneuver on myself, was on my last breath and somehow, someway, that big chunk of crust and pepperoni flew out of my gullet. Lucky.
And when I was a 14 year old scrawny kid who wanted to be bigger, I fell in love with strength training. For the first few years, I did it to get bigger, which never really worked. I am a classic ectomorph (narrow shoulders, skinny, low body fat) and gaining weight was impossible when I was a teenager.
In college, I continued to lift weights because as soon as I stopped, I lost all of the 2 pounds I had gained over the years. And it was college, the weight room was free to use.
I loved lifting weights and exercising so much that I earned a Bachelors degree in Public Health and Corporate Fitness.
While studying Kinesiology in graduate school I learned about the benefits of strength training when it came to osteoporosis, diabetes, and many other diseases.
And by the time I was 40 years old, I was still lifting weights, despite never really looking like I did, because of mood and metabolism.
For me, and I suspect for many other folks out there, lifting weights for 20 to 30 minutes does wonders for mood. The studies are numerous, it can be a life changer. And I also know that as I age, my metabolism slows, my muscle mass shrinks, and the only thing I can do to slow the slowing and shrink the shrinking is by lifting weights.
Bad mood: Go lift weights.
Belly too big: Go lift weights.
Loss of yardage off the tee in golf: Go lift weights.
Testosterone low: Go lift weights.
Want to keep up with kids and grandkids: Go lift weights.
I could go on, but I predict you get the point. You know it’s good for you, you know you need to do it.
So, what is stopping you?
I know not everybody got into strength training at 14, studied it in college, and just made it a part of his or her life. I know this.
But I also know that it is never too late to start or start again.
And I also know that what holds many people back is not knowing where to start or what to do.
And that’s why we created this section of our website at powerblock.com That’s why we created this blog. That’s why we created The PowerBlock Fitness Podcast.
We know you know how important it is to pick up some dumbbells a couple of days per week. And we also know how sometimes it can be confusing and intimidating.
We are here to help, so check out our podcast for tips, keep reading our blog, and head over to the instruction videos to learn some great movements that will help you on your journey towards your fitness goals.