LegendaryLife.com Blog

Mornings are the toughest part of the day when you are acquire “Old Man Syndrome” If you work in an office environment and get paid to sit on your ass all day… you probably already suffer from the “old man syndrome”.

What is “Old Man Syndrome”

Old Man Syndrome is a name I invented to describe how I was starting to feel every morning out of bed. Gone where the days where I could jump out of bed and right into the days tasks… I would wake up, feeling stiff all over and for a few minutes each morning, I might as well be 70 years old because my joints where very stiff and each movement was giving me pain. After realizing how this was slowly creeping up on me, I decided immediately to do some lifestyle changes to counteract these awful effects. I am 30 years old… not a 70 year old! I also suffered from a sore back most of the day and thank God I exercise regularly because I have no idea how I would get through the day without the activity.

A little background…

I am starting to realize how the panacea of having a “desk job” is just that, a mirage. I now think of my desk job as a slow health killer, just as bad as junk food and inactivity. Think about it… you sit ALL DAY with the only movement occurring is moving a mouse and typing on a keyboard. Back in the good old days when we where on the Serengeti trying to catch our meal, we would be moving all over the place - our minds have not left our ancestral lands and if you remember to an article I wrote a few weeks back… the body is in a constant state of decay unless you move, at which point it reverses into a body of rejuvenation.

Lessons from Bruce Lee

To say this guy was a fitness fanatic would be a huge understatement… from what I continue to read, he was always working out, moving his body day in and day out. He had an incredible physique and strength… one even worshiped today by even bodybuilders! He did two things right… he never sat motionless for any extended period of time and he was always pushing his body (and mind) into new areas. So I decided to apply some of his principles into my life, every hour throughout the day, I get off my ass and for 10-15 minutes, do some weight training at 50% max weight. If you do a bench press of 200 pounds, then 50% of that would be 100 pounds. I have my muscle groups divided up over the week to avoid over training and you know what… at the end of the day I am exhausted and feel great. I do all reps to exhaustion, usually getting 3 sets in the 15 minutes… remember, it is a continuous exercise with no rest and until exhaustion.

Lessons from my Dad

I have a lot of heroes in my life, people I try to emulate a small aspect of to improve my life but nobody has had such a positive influence on my life as my dad. When I was a kid, I would always see him take very good care of his health, would watch him exercise and admired his fearlessness at change. If something needed a change, he was already taking steps to build it into his habits. I told my dad a while back how I was getting back pain and was sore, it was different then the soreness you get the day after a great workout and he told me he had similar problems until he started stretching throughout the day. I started doing stretches but it never really caught on into my habits.

Bruce Lee + Dad = eradication of “Old Man Syndrome”

So combining these two principles in less then a week all symptoms of my syndrome have disappeared and I feel great! I dropped the regular weight training 4 times a week for about 30-45 minutes and replaced it with what is essentially 6 mini workouts throughout the day with stretching mixed in and regular walks lasting 1-3 hours daily. The other benefit to this type of workout is since I already eat 6-8x a day, I find my appetite has increased and stuff doesn’t “sit in me” as long as it use to. My weight as so far remained constant but I expect to lean out as I continue this workout.

Current Schedule: Still a work in Progress

Monday
3 morning workouts/stretch sessions lasting 8-10 minutes of Chest & Back
noon 30 minute walk
3 morning workouts/stretch sessions lasting 8-10 minutes of Legs & Calves
end of day walk, 1-3 hours

The Bottom Line

You are never too young to acquire “Old Man Syndrome” nor ever too old to get rid of it