Exercise for your Aging Body

Last December, I admitted that there was a big hole in my Nerd cred.

I grew up drawing cartoons, took AP art in high school, and have always been drawn to hand-drawn animation…

But I have thathave never seen a single second of any Studio Ghibli cartoonthat!

Studio Ghibli is the Japanese equivalent of Disney, with Hayao Miyazaki as the Japanese Walt: the studio has won many Academy Awards for their beautiful hand-drawn animated films, and Miyazaki has reached legendary status for creating them. films of the past 40+ years.

Luckily, the amazing community over at Threads gave me hundreds of supportive comments and helped me decide which movie I should start!

Since making that announcement, I’ve been watching thatall 20+ Studio Ghibli moviesthat, thatlove Japanthatand became eternally fascinated by Hayao Miyazaki.

(My favorites are Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and The Wind Rises.).

After watching each film, I moved on to watching documentaries about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli because I needed to know more.

Thanks to these documentaries, I got a fascinating look at Miyazaki’s creative style and experiences making these films with his collaborators.

The running joke is that Miyazaki is the “Infinite man” and can’t seem to retire.

There is something that stands out to me in every documentary:

on The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, at one point all Studio Ghibli employees stood up and moved through a series of mobility drills and calisthenics, including Miyazaki.

Later in the doc, I observed thatMiyazaki shows a very deep squatthat with perfect form and no help. How many people do you know in their mid to late 70s who can do an unassisted deep squat!?

on Infinite Man: Hayao Miyazaki, Miyazaki thatfilmed several times chopping woodthat with an ax behind his studio.

And on Hayao Miyazaki and The HeronMiya-san (his nickname), now 80 years old, still chops wood, walks in the woods, climbs fallen trees, exercises in his office, and works hard on the film work that will end his life’s work. . .

(Yes, I know. Miyazaki also has a cigarette in his mouth for almost every minute of every documentary! He’s lucky he hasn’t developed lung cancer, and I’m reminded that he’s not the perfect picture of health!) .

I mention this because I think it shows a different side of exercise than we usually think.

Exercise for your Aging Body

Watching this doc of Hayao Miyazaki staying active and keeping his brain sharp in his 80s…

I remember this thatfantastic post from Elizabeththat (@ThisGirlLifts on Instagram):

As we get older, it’s easier for us to move less, which gives us less energy, and makes it harder to find the momentum and movement to keep moving. This may prevent us from spending time with our family or our friends because we cannot gather the energy.

Teddy Roosevelt once said that “we would rather risk being weak than withering.”

In other words: use it or lose it, bub.

It’s not deep for me to imagine Miyazaki’s ability to be an “infinite man” not just because of good genetics (and luck), but also because he actively chose to break down rather than rust.

Wondering why he chose to push himself to complete another animated film in his 8th decade on this planet, he simply replied that it was the only way he knew how: “I’d rather to die doing it rather than die doing nothing.”

Fitness is more than just losing weight

At Nerd Fitness, we encourage all Rebels to think about their “Big Why:”

Why bother exercising and creating new habits and pushing yourself to level up your life when the chair is beckoning?

What’s the point of pushing yourself and learning to deal with discomfort when retreating to comfort is so much easier and more appealing?

A solid “Big Why” helps us stay on target especially when life becomes a dumpster fire or we feel like giving up.

For Miyazaki, he decided that “releasing my inner self” was a worthy use of his time. He found peace and satisfaction by creating things instead of consuming them, which meant he had to take care of his body to stay alive long enough to finish these things!

For my gramma (who thatI visited the hospital last monththat), his purpose is to support his community and help those around him. Staying active allowed him to do it well into his 90s!

If you’re having trouble coming up with a reason why to do something…

You could do a lot worse than “Exercise for my aging body.” It’s the only body you get, and the only life you get, so today is as good a day as any to start treating your body with a little respect.

It doesn’t have to be dramatic either. We can start simply:

• We can go for a short daily walk.
• We can stand all day and do movements like squats and arm swings.
• We can do it thatstart strength trainingthat to build strong bones and prevent the need for assistance as much as possible.

It is up to us to keep our bodies active, and being weak is better than withering from lack of use.

As a messy creator who spends a lot of time in my own head, Hayao Miyazaki gave me a lot to think about:

I hope that when I’m 80, I’m still writing this newsletter and helping people, chopping wood and going for walks and spending time with loved ones.

I know I can’t control what happens and accidents happen and many parts of life are out of my control, but I’ll do my best to give myself the best chance to keep creating and destruction rather than rust!

I’ll leave you with one last curmudgeonly quote from Miyazaki that concludes the documentary Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron:

“Stop barking and move.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to train for my old body!

-Steve

PS: The original Japanese title for The Boy and the Heron is the How Do You Live?. This is a very interesting (and appropriate) title for the film; it is the true encapsulation of his life’s work, those who influenced him, and his deep thoughts on the meaning of life.

PS: Need guidance and accountability to reach your health goals? Nerd Fitness has helped 10,000+ people over the past 8 years with 1-on-1 online fitness coaching. thatClick here for more detailsthat.