Ron Cain | Contributed
Is sex the domain of the young, or can everyone play? Must we resign ourselves to warming the bench as an unhealthy scratch? Forget about extra innings; I’m happy to get one hit at bat.
After a certain age, forget about paradise by the dashboard lights, which leads to leg cramps and a visit to the chiropractor. Now it’s a blackout curtain and a pillow-top mattress.
It’s not all downhill.
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I had a client once who was a physician in a clinic specializing in sexual dysfunction. So, being the bold type, I asked the most significant cause of men coming up a few bricks short of a full load—her response: smoking.
Smoking causes diseases in the arteries responsible for getting blood to where we want it to go. No blood – no go. You have an engine but no oil, and instead of a dead heat race to the finish line, you will be calling a repair shop.
It’s not complicated.
Exercise is a hormonal buffet: increasing testosterone, boosting cortisol, estrogen and serotonin. Exercise is the match to light the libido. Sex is not only about a great meal and a bottle of wine – it’s about blood flow and happy hormones. And this is not confined to males of the species. The impact of exercise on women is equally significant, if perhaps – less obvious.
It is also nice to feel good about how we feel and look. Getting into a regular program makes it a lot easier to look in the mirror and feel positive about how we look. It beats looking down and not being able to see your feet. Or anything else, for that matter.
Men classed as obese reported an issue with saluting the flag in 50 per cent surveyed. The impact may be less evident for women, but obese women also reported very high rates of lower libido, more pain during intercourse, and greater difficulty ringing the bell.
You don’t need to look like an extra on Bay Watch to feel good about yourself. It’s okay to accept and enjoy the impact of aging, which, let’s face it, there are some definite downsides. Let’s try and avoid the furniture syndrome: the condition when your chest falls into your drawers.
Instead, exercise our way to ecstasy, walk and run a stairway to heaven. And size does matter. Losing a pant size and walking 30 minutes a day or joining a Pilates class has an equal impact on the bottom line, so get started today for a better time tonight.
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Ron Cain is the owner of Sooke Mobile Personal Training. Email him at sookepersonaltraining@gmail.com or find him on Facebook at Sooke Personal Training.
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