Fun Fourth

Finn the lifeguard (who is afraid of water).

It’s been a tradition the past few years with a group of my friends to spend the weekend around July 4 at Phillip’s lake house. There is nothing to do there except enjoy the water, play yard games and relax with great people. 

Now, Phillip is a wellness practitioner and in phenomenal shape. As the group of us get older, we are focusing on health and wellness in our own ways. This year at the lake it was interesting that there was more fruit brought along than chips; more salads than desserts; and more exercise than most people would do on a break.

This is not to say that we didn’t have fun. The chips were eaten. Beer was consumed. Silliness ensued. But there was that little extra care taken to carve time for some healthy movement and some intention brought into what we ate. 

I closed my rings on my Apple Watch on Thursday and Friday simply by enjoying the water. Swimming, paddle boarding and kayaking. I didn’t “exercise” at all those days. 

Mike brought along a kettlebell and two maces. He swung them around a lot, and also did 50/60 pushups and kettlebell swings per day for a fundraiser. Phillip got in a run and some other movement every day.

Saturday morning I got pulled into a little workout and got my heart rate up and moved a lot of muscles in different ways. Then jumped into the water and closed out my rings there. 

And then Saturday night I reffed a Flyers game and ran 6 miles. 

The majority of the time, however, was spent relaxing and having fun. And that is just as important as pushing the body with exercise. If we cannot relax, that puts extra stress on our entire body and that can lead to all sorts of bad things. Being in great shape without the capacity to relax is not healthy. 

Of course, conversely, just relaxing all the time and not making any effort to take care of our bodies is also not good. There’s always a happy balance to be found. 

Summer is the time to really work on this balance. There are many opportunities to be outside and around friends. Is there a way to incorporate little bits of movement into those times? Maybe park a little farther away so there’s a walk. Carry the cooler instead of rolling it. Stand while drinking that beer. Periodically do 10 burpees (I kid). 

There’s no reason fun can’t be healthful. 

Phillip, me, Mike, Finn.