
A few months ago I welcomed my 40th trip around the sun. Whether I was ready for it or not, it had arrived. There has always been a whirl of thoughts and emotions leading up to that date on the calendar especially as I have "celebrated" the last couple of birthdays. There are things that are much different about life each year later and often there are some things things that are generally still the same.
A good friend of mine gave me a copy of Tony Robbins newest book Life Force. Tony co-authored the book with Peter Diamandis, M.D. and Robert Hariri, M.D., PhD. I was initial shocked and rather depressed to read early in the book that "evolution never designed the human body to live past the age of 40; in fact, just 200 years ago the typical life span was just 35 years". After reading the previous statement, you and I are left to make a choice. You can continue to live life the way that you always have keeping things generally the same (If it's not broke don't fix it). Doing nothing or taking no particular action is an option. But you can also go in another direction and begin to make positive healthy choices that will ultimately allow you to live well beyond the previous life expectancy from 200 years ago (Proactively check the pipe and make it very strong and resistant from breaking). The current life expectancy in the United States averages around 78.79 years. When taking into account various other factors such as race, socioeconomic status, geographical region, and other life expectancy factors, that number will vary.
In the rest of Life Force, Tony and his co-authors talk about the newest breakthroughs in health technology to help maximize energy and strength, prevent disease, and extend your health span. Longevity appears to be making a comeback likely to the effect from the arrival of COVID. Many have continued to propose and and retrospective studies have demonstrated that underlying (whether known or unknown) health conditions increased the chances of dying from the COVID virus. We have learned and are continuing to learn that the healthier that you are, the less chance you will die from a COVID exposure. It is estimated that as of September 2021, 4.55 million people worldwide had died as a result of contracting COVID-19. But what is more shocking is that 18 million people each year worldwide die as a result of cardiovascular disease and 9.5 million worldwide each year die as a result of Cancer. Continuing in the book, Tony and his co-authors talk about the newest breakthroughs in health technology to help maximize your energy and strength, prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease, and ultimately extend your health span.
Being a physical therapist I am in the business of helping people become better people. The majority of clients that seek my expertise and assistance are mostly doing so because of physical pain and discomfort that they are experiencing when trying to do activities that they enjoy or want to do. Many people use the slogan "No Pain, No Gain" when I am working with them. I always remind them it's "No Pain, No Job" ;-) Getting control of your body and being able to move yourself better into and out of positions seem to be the simplest way to begin creating a path to longevity. If you can move better, you feel better and you can recover from sickness and injury much better. People who do not move well are more vulnerable than those who do move well. The great news is you can begin to move better at any point in your life. But the most important time to start moving better is today and right now.
I am coming up on having been a physical therapist for nearly a decade already (where does the time go). I continue to seek out ways to improve my abilities to help others as a physical therapist by seeking tools and techniques and the expertise of others who are in the field of health and wellness. It has been referred to "standing on the shoulders of giants". I will continue to strive to improve myself as a human in the hopes that maybe I might be able to cruise past the 78.79 year life expectancy and still be moving well. And you can do the same!
Be well,
Dr. Matt
*****If you are having any issues right now with pain or discomfort that continues to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do or you would like some help trying to get better control of your body so that you can move better and be a better version of yourself, you can connect with me at vanslykept.com or you can book a discovery evaluation with me here.*****
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