We are moving our bodies less and less in our modern technology driven lifestyles.
Cars, cell phones, televisions, computers, household appliances and any manner of gadgets and gizmos have us using our minds but not our body.
Many of us seem to be arm-chair spectators as opposed to actually taking part in sports ourselves.
Even our children spend their spare time playing electronic games when just a decade or two ago they played and sweated with enthusiasm.
We spend hours watching television which has become a main activity both for adults and for children and we live our lives with little or no physical activity; a sedentary life.
We believe our busy lives leave little time for proper exercise so we don't bother and if we fail to take notice our sedentary life can negatively affect the quality of our life.
We have become overweight because our metabolism (our body's engine) has slowed and our muscles have become weak and flabby.
Our energy levels have all but drained away and we feel little motivation to exercise or be active.
Yet if we could just get moving we would start to create more energy and our 'metabolic bank account' would go from having an overdrawn balance to a healthy balance that we can draw upon every single day to increase the quality of our lives.
Once we improve our strength and fitness we start to want to move more, becoming naturally more energetic and active which further increases our metabolism burning up excess body fat and making us healthier from the inside out.
Along with our physical health improving our mental and emotional health also improves and we can deal with life's knocks and uncertainties easier.
We become less stressed, calmer and happier.
As our physical body becomes stronger with a proper exercise program that contains strength training all of our body's systems become stronger including our immune system.
This gives us greater protection from the many killer diseases that stalk our weakened sedentary bodies.
Being strong and fit means being able to do all of the things that you want and need to do to live your best life.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of all is the fact that most of the functional decline that we used to believe was because of aging is really the result of disuse - of living that sedentary life.
The good news is it can be reversed; just a few months of an effective exercise program can make years (even decades) of disuse disappear so we need not think of ourselves as captives of the aging process.
So, instead of winding down as we get older we can look forward to becoming fitter and stronger than maybe we were in our 20's or 30's.
Take it upon yourself to get going and get active and do not allow a sedentary lifestyle to erode your good health and mobility that you enjoy now.
By staying strong and fit through your adult years you are doing exactly what is needed to protect your future.