PODCAST - why i exercise every day - and you probably should too
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[00:00:00] Welcome to The Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host, Johnny Havie, an ultra runner, endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone 100K ultra, I proved them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned, from breathing techniques to mindset shifts, to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals despite limitations, let's get started.
Rest days are overrated. Now, before you go crazy in the comments and you say, "What are you talking about? Everyone needs rest days. This is unhealthy. What are you doing?" I believe that some people use rest days as an excuse to treat their bodies poorly, and that's why today I'm gonna [00:01:00] share with you why I exercise every single day and why you probably should, too.
First reason is science. Did you know that consistently working out reduces all cause mortality rates by 35%. And this figure actually increases if you are in worse shape. I've seen figures all the way up to 50% or more. This is all talked about in Dr. Peter Attia's book Outlive, about how you and I can impact our longevity with natural means, one of them being movement, being exercise.
Now, he doesn't say that you should exercise every single day, but what he does say, what the research shows, is that consistent exercise on a weekly basis is extremely important. This is why I think rest days can hurt you, because what happens for a lot of people is you take a rest day, and you take another one, and you take another one.
Then you have a rest week, then you have a rest month, then you gain 5 to 10 [00:02:00] pounds, and you make a New Year's resolution to work out really hard for a month, and then the cycle continues. Well, I invite you to, instead of going through this cycle, to work out every single day. And a workout can be just walking.
You can get up and move. Movement is a workout. Movement equals exercise. So yes, I take at least one day per week off from running. And yes, I don't do HIIT classes every single day. And yes, I don't go to the gym every single day. I don't play tennis every single day. I don't do any of these things every single day.
And even once every couple weeks, I won't do any of these things on one day. You know what I do do? I walk, I move. No matter what, I make sure that I'm moving every single day. Second reason why I work out every single day, it instantly improves my mood and mental health. I find that if I don't work out, which means I don't do anything [00:03:00] in a day, I feel terrible.
My mood is lower. Overall, I'm not at my best. So at the very least, I get outside and I take a walk. The very least, I do some burpees. No matter what, I make sure that I get some movement into my day. And what friends of mine have shared with me is once they get into a consistent workout routine and they take a day off, they feel the same way.
I don't think we realize how impactful, how much of a positive impact working out every single day and working out consistently, exercising consistently, moving consistently... We don't understand how much of a positive impact that has on our bodies until we stop doing the thing. So when you're feeling sore, when you're feeling like you need a rest day, I recommend that you rest whatever's sore, rest whatever you need to rest, but figure out how you can move that day.
Maybe it's walking around the house doing chores. Maybe it's going outside And working in the garden [00:04:00] like my parents do. My mom has shared with me that during gardening season, she does less scheduled workouts, but she's actually doing more workouts total. My dad, when he travels, tends to walk 10,000 steps a day.
When he's at home, he doesn't. Third reason why I exercise every day is life becomes easier. I'm able to do physical things. I'm able to go shopping and lift all the bags and groceries. I'm able to do whatever I need to around the house. I'm able to go over and help my parents with whatever they need. I'm able to lift up our dog.
If we decide to have kids someday, I'll be able to play with my kids, lift up my kids. Be able to do all these things safely. Because when you work out every day, you're building strength, you're building conditioning, you're building mobility. When you have these things, you live a more vital Life. You increase your health span.
Dr. Peter Attia in the book Outlive talks about how [00:05:00] really we need to not only increase our lifespan, but increase our health span. We wanna make sure that we're not just living longer, we're living longer and able to do the things we wanna do with those extra years. I don't know about you, but I don't really care about living 10 more years if I'm not gonna be able to do anything in those 10 years.
But if I'm able to continue to move and do the things I want to do during those 10 years, that is worth it to me. And that is a big reason why I work out in some capacity every single day. Number four, I am always ready to perform. About a week ago, a really good friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join him for a 26.2 mile run.
Now, he was actually running 35 miles, a part of this relay across the country for this amazing charitable organization. And he asked me, 'cause I was joking around earlier this year about, "Hey, we should run 26.2 miles," knowing that I hadn't ran double digit mileage for a year. And he hit me up and he's like, "Hey, here's your opportunity.
I'm gonna be running 35 miles. [00:06:00] Do you wanna join me for 26.2 of them? I'm starting at 6:30 AM a week from today. Are you in?" I still had the mental battle of wrapping my head around running 26.2 miles, even though I've ran that dozens of times, and I've even ran more than double that. But with the fitness base I've created for myself, I was able to go out there, run 26.2 miles.
Took me five hours with my friend. We had a really good time, listened to a bunch of music, and just had a great time on a Saturday of a holiday weekend, hanging out, doing something that we love together. Loved it. And I did it safely. I didn't get injured. I was able to walk two and a half miles later that day.
Was able to play tennis for two and a half hours the next day, and take a hike with my fiance. It didn't impact my life negatively at all. It was all positive, positive, positive due to my lifestyle of working out. Then lastly, I am an athlete with asthma, and working out every single day helps me with asthma control.
What I have found is that when I take time off from working out, even if it's not that much time, even a couple of days, I feel like my [00:07:00] asthma starts flaring up. It's just- Something I've experienced, I'm not saying this happens to everyone, but for me, even if I take a little bit of time off from working out, I feel like my fitness level drops to a point where I have to be careful when I go back to working out.
I have to be mindful of my asthma, mindful of my lungs. That's why I like to, even though I'm not racing right now, I like to run a foundational amount of miles every week, 15 to 25 miles a week, because I know that if I completely stop that, then I'm gonna have to build my lungs back up to that point.
It's gonna be even harder for me to get back into ultra shape because of my asthma. So consistent working out, working out every single day, moving your body every single day can help with your asthma, help you control your asthma. One of the biggest reasons why I do it is because it helps me keep my lungs strong, keep my body strong, keep my system strong so that I'm healthy and happy every single day.
Now, movement is one of the three pillars of healthy living that I share in my Healthy Living Guide. The other two [00:08:00] pillars are tracking and accountability. And I want you to be able to start integrating these three pillars into your life today, which is why I have it linked in the show notes and in the description if you're watching this on YouTube.
Or you can go to www.athletewithasthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy. I'll see you in the next episode
Thanks for tuning in to The Athlete With Asthma show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection, it's about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals. And if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining [00:09:00] what's possible
