If you are active, but your body is not balanced, you are making the situation worse. Here’s an easy example to follow: You go for a walk to do your move, but unknowingly your gluteus (hip muscle) on one side isn’t strong enough. So when you walk, your pelvis is unstable and you have a trendelenburg (your hip pushes to the side when you walk). When you walk, you’ll end up on one leg for a while, and to keep the math simple, each step produces 5 pounds of pressure. Let’s say you weigh 100 pounds. Then each step produces 500 pounds of force on EACH LEG for each step.

And let’s say you’re in a bit of shape and you’re hitting your 10,000 steps. You are now producing 5 million, with six zeros, pounds of pressure again on EVERY leg. That’s 2,500 TONS of force going through your body during that walk. But because her buttock medicine was weak, that pressure didn’t go through her body very well; now push more into the hip, lower back, or pelvic organs. Wherever your weakest physiological link is is where that unbalanced force will go, and you will end up paying. And that’s just walking with a 100-pound weight. No running, hiking, being overweight or dehydrated.

And here is the kicker. You think you are concentrating on the ball by continuing to move. But it would be best if you ALSO did specific exercises to make sure you continually educate your body to keep it balanced and robust. If you don’t, your movements will slowly get worse, you’ll have less range of motion, and you’ll dramatically increase your chance of pain, injury, and surgery.

The body has an optimal way to balance and move, but it will function when it is not optimal because it needs to move to stay alive. And so you can continue to operate in a sub-optimal range and move further down that path, or you can work with the body and give it specific exercises to keep it as close to optimal as possible. Fortunately for you, there have been many brilliant people over the years who have done scientific research on the body or body-related topics, and you can use and abide by these “rules” while exercising to your benefit.

Finding a healthy mix of activities you enjoy along with a program that scientifically strengthens and balances your body for sustainability and longevity is the magic sauce for a fulfilling life.