By Kenneth Proefrock, NMD

Enough cannot also be said about the beneficial role that exercise plays in keeping a body healthy and pain free. Let's face it; we humans tend to take the low road when it comes to energy output. How many of us would rather sit in front of the TV and watch some guy climb a mountain rather than go do it ourselves? We have created so many amenities for our lives that are there to save time so we have more leisure time in our everyday world, and then what do we do with our leisure time? We exercise our thumbs on the remote controls to our TV's and munch on Doritos and pretzels that increase the pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, while we listen to and watch other people rationalize why pop tarts are part of a balanced breakfast. It is a crazy and vicious cycle! Getting outside and engaging in a wide range of activity is not only healthy for your body, it is healthy for your mind and spirit. Spending a minimum of thirty minutes to an hour everyday walking, hiking, biking, swimming or gardening is one of the most beneficial lifestyle changes anyone can make. Don't do just one of those activities, try to fit as many of them into your week as you can. Variety is the spice of life and variety in your activity is the best way to avoid arthritic pains. The anthropological record shows us that arthritis doesn't show up in human beings until they become specialized in their activities, doing the same thing everyday tends to wear out the joints involved in that activity more quickly. People who make a living sewing have a tendency to have arthritis in their fingers. People who bend rebar or chop wood for a living tend to get arthritis in their low backs, hips and knees. And, people who stand at an assembly line or sit at a desk all day tend to get arthritis in their neck, shoulders and back.

Again, this is not rocket science. If you sit all day at your job, do something more active in your time off. Just do something different. Engage in activity that moves different parts of your body. This is why swimming and weight training are so satisfying for so many people.