BETTER KNOW YOUR CHARACTER: FITNESS

Some people, I’ve heard, actually like to exercise. These people are probably playing games such as tennis, golf, basketball, etc. Maybe biking, hiking or kayaking. There are also people who enjoy lifting weights just for the sake of lifting weights. Is your character one of these? If so, how good is s/he?  And when did s/he take up the game?

Then there are activities that some people do for fun and others do as a means to a specific end. In this category I’d put swimming or water aerobics for a bad back, running to relieve stress, boxing as a form of anger management, yoga to relax. Some people bike or walk for fun; for many others, walking and biking is a primary mode of transportation.

This group also would include those people who work out primarily to get or keep a body beautiful.

For most of human history, the vast majority of people have gotten plenty of exercise just trying to stay alive. Farming, hunting, and gathering food require activities people pay big money to recreate in a gym today. Building defense structures, making tools and weapons, chopping wood, washing clothes, and travelling are all much more physically demanding without machinery to help. In almost every part of the world, there are still cultures today that rely primarily on human or animal labor rather than technology.

Some people exercise simply because they have to. Physical therapy can be done to prevent a future injury as well as to treat an existing injury. Martial arts practice can people alive in crisis situations, but regular practice has also been helpful in the treatment of mental illness. A home might only be reachable by strenuous hiking; a job might require frequent lifting and carrying.

At the other end of the spectrum are people whose preferred activity is reading novels while snarfing chocolates or swigging scotch. Or maybe that’s watching TV while munching chips and chugging beer. Sound like any characters you know?

But even these people have probably heard “sitting is the new smoking” when it comes to being detrimental to one’s health. This group of people will find the easiest or least painful way to stay minimally fit.

  • Go to the gym with a friend and enjoy the socialization
  • Join an exercise class that’s nearby
  • Hire a personal trainer
  • Get up for jumping jacks during commercial breaks
  • Lifting the coffee mug to take a sip counts as doing bicep curls

For some, getting dressed and going somewhere is too much effort—not to mention those who don’t want anyone to see them doing whatever it is they are doing.  And in these times of COVID-19, many people don’t want the exposure. These people are likely to choose a stay-at-home option.

  • Buy equipment to use at home:
    • Balance ball
    • Exercise bands
    • Graduated weights, hand-held or strapped to wrists/ankles
    • Heavy-duty weights, barbels, etc.
    • A multi-purpose machine such as Bowflex
    • NordicTrack or similar treadmill
    • Rowing machine
    • A compact elliptical trainer
    • Stationary bicycle
    • Some version of a vibrating plate

Note: Jugs of water, broken swivel chairs, flat-surface furniture, paper plates, and compliant dogs or small children can provide the same benefits as all of these expensive gadgets for almost no money at all!

3.1 How likely is your character to show up at the gym wearing only a towel?

Bottom line for writers: Know your characters’ fitness habits, particularly main characters. There are three components to a person’s/character’s exercise decisions

  1. How does s/he feel about fitness/exercise?
  2. What does s/he think about fitness/exercise?
  3. What does s/he actually do?

Tai Chi

tai chi
Come on down! I’m going to be there, performing tai chi moves and qigong breathing with other members from my class. Participants and watchers are welcome. There’s to be a lion dance in the opening.

 

I got involved in tai chi because I wanted to try something new and my sister-in-law had been practicing tai chi for years and telling me I should do the same. Now, this sister-in-law tends to think that everyone should think and do what she does—for she does things for good reasons. This is pretty much the first time I’ve succumbed.

 

So, tai chi is a Chinese martial art. (For alternative spellings of tai chi, go online.) Tai chi is practiced both for its defensive training and its health benefits.

 

tai chi
Tai chi, rooted in Taoist and Confucian Chinese philosophy, has been found to be beneficial for meditative movement and for general health. Focusing solely on the movements of the form bring mental calm and clarity, good for general health and stress management. The three main aspects are health, meditation, and the martial arts.

 

tai chi
My tai chi teacher explains the martial arts application, but the focus is on slow movement, meditation, and health. We also practice qigong breathing. Seated tai chi moves are suitable for older people. Research shows that seated tai chi can make big improvements to a person’s physical and mental well being, including improvements in balance, blood pressure, flexibility, muscle strength, peak oxygen intake, and and body fat percentages.

 

tai chi
Which brings us back to World Tai Chi and Qigong Day. It is the last Saturday in April, annually. At 10:00 a.m. local time, people participate alone or in groups. The idea is that the wave of energy and goodwill will circle the globe, starting in the earliest time zones of Samoa and then traveling around the world until it ends with events in the last time zones of Hawaii, almost an entire day.

 

One of the stated goals of the day is to provide a global vision of cooperation for health and healing purposes across geopolitical boundaries, and also an appeal to people worldwide to embrace wisdom from all the cultures of the world. Who can argue with that?

 

tai chi
One breath… One world.

Better Late than Never!

During a recent phone conversation with my youngest daughter, she talked about her current reading, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

She said it is so good that she stays up late to read, even on work nights. She talked about the book so enthusiastically that I downloaded it to my Kindle even as we spoke and started reading it that evening. And she’s right: it’s as compelling as any novel!

 

This is not a new book. It was published in 2010 and quickly became a NYT bestseller. It won the Pulitzer Prize. It became a PBS documentary by Ken Burns.

 

emperor all maladies ken burns barak goodman
[Source: Nancy’s Point]
With all of that, still I passed it by. I don’t regularly scarf up bestsellers and prize winning books, choosing things more off-the-beaten-track. And though I am an avid watcher of PBS, somehow this documentary didn’t catch my eye. (I didn’t watch the one on baseball, either. Perhaps I should.) Apparently  I needed to hear a personal endorsement! If you need a personal endorsement to look at this book, here’s mine.
 
The writing is excellent—vivd and compelling. The information is fascinating: cancer can be tracked back at least five thousand years; tumors have been found in Egyptian mummies; for a period of time, tumors were removed with ever increasing amounts of surrounding body mass on the belief that more was better; and sometimes progress has been hampered by politics and infighting. The science and technical information is presented in understandable language. The historical bits are sandwiched with modern day efforts and current patients. As a “biography” of a disease, it is incredibly personal.

 

siddhartha mukherjee
[Source: Twitter]
Siddhartha Mukherjee is an oncologist, researcher, and science writer. He’s Indian-American, born in New Delhi, educated at Stanford (BS), Magdalen College, Oxford (DPhil), and Harvard (MD). He published this book at age 37! No doubt we can anticipate much more from him.

 

More than twenty years ago, Hiram College was at the the forefront of what became a national move toward health humanities programs. They now offer a major in biomedical humanities—but that’s a whole other topic. I mention it because Hiram is where I first recognized what fine writers healthcare professionals can be! So in that vein, I will just mention Cutting For Stone, published in 2009.
 
cutting for stone abraham verghese
[Source: Amazon]
This novel was written by Ethiopian-born medical doctor Abraham Verghesse. The story is told by the protagonist and until I finished the book, I thought it was memoir! That’s how real it seems. I couldn’t put it down. So here’s another old book to pick up.
 
BOTTOM LINE: Check out books written by physicians. And don’t limit yourself to the most recent. They go way beyond the Physician’s Desk Reference. You will be amazed.