When you get up in the morning but don’t feel ready for exercise, your body is not telling you to avoid it. It is telling you to get started slowly. It’s telling you to begin with exercises that gradually awaken the nerves and tissues. 

This morning I woke up early and although I wanted to exercise, I was not ready to jump into action immediately. So I coaxed by body to begin.

I began while lying on my bed. I started by moving my ankles and toes, wiggling them and rotating them. After this I moved to my hands, then my neck, hips, shoulders and legs. 

Within a couple minutes, the pumps were primed. I was now ready for more.

I got out of bed, walked across the floor, opened a sliding glass door, went outside and began to do the deep breathing, calisthenics and self-resistance exercises, that are in the classic 1914 Farmer Burns course, Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture.

All my movements started out slowly, but within “no time at all,” I was putting snap and ginger into them. 

With each passing minute, my movements were more dynamic and more connected. I felt strong, energized, relaxed and loose. And I was ready to take on the day with gusto.

That’s what happens when you begin your day in a natural way. That’s what happens when coax your body to do what it wants to do.

Start slowly and your body will tell you when it’s ready for more. And yes, it will want more because movement is how we give ourselves more life. And you do want more of that, eh?

The Farmer Burns course will give it to you – that’s why I’ve been recommending it for the past 24 years.

It kicks azz and takes names.

Here endeth the lesson.

Matt Furey