Strength is an important topic, particularly for Baby Boomers.

The good news is that age and genetics do not determine nor limit strength.

Look at the old gentleman in the following video. If he can do that, we can most certainly walk 3 miles a day – or whatever it takes – to get the metabolism going again and to get the job done. Watch this guy, it’s quite impressive.

Size and gender are not limiting factors either.

Have you ever seen a mother protect a young child?  Have you ever tried to take something out of a little baby’s hand when they get a grip on something – like an expensive earring?  It’s hard to take it out of their hand.

The baby can do this because they use all of the energy in their body and their consciousness at the same time. It is life force (chi in Chinese). As western adults, most of us have forgotten how to use our life force as the core of our strength. The old gentleman in the video hasn’t forgotten. And the infant knows nothing else but full expression of self.

Anyone can choose strength.

Strength is a Key Ingredient to Long Lasting Health

Strength is essential for physical alignment and daily life, yet is often overlooked as a key ingredient to long lasting health. As a rule, we tend to take strength for granted – until we don’t. In most cases, we miss strength most when we no longer have full command of it. Two common examples of the loss of strength are:

• trauma from injury or
• an illness that forces us to be sedentary or bed ridden during the recuperative time

More commonly, we become aware of the need for strength when we bend to lift something and twist and find ourselves struggling with both the load and the execution of the range of motion. Or when we notice how sore our lower back muscles are after we rake and bag the leaves in the back yard.

Muscle tone and adequately strong muscles make life easier as we age.

If we have been inactive for some time, we can reactivate our physical tone fairly easily by becoming active physically again. It does not take much to get the body awake and alert. It does take persistence.

The body actually likes it.

More than that, “waking the body back up” takes a new decision to do so. Once you focus your attention on the result and create a mandate for yourself – clearly and definitively – it will begin to manifest itself in physical form.

Bill Bartmann, a Healthy Wealthy Boomer from Tulsa, made that choice a long time ago. He is a martial artist and takes care of himself although he wasn’t always in good shape.

Earlier in his life, he lay in a hospital bed after breaking his neck falling down stairs and was told by doctors he would never walk again. He made up his mind there and then that was not acceptable. Months later, he walked out of the hospital on his own. He used his determination to walk again and he used it to turn his life around from alcoholic, gang member, homeless high school drop out to billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in America.

Bill does not set goals:

“I don’t set goals. Instead I make promises because in my experience, we are far less likely to re-neg on a promise than a goal. The results are consistently better.”

This is a good approach. When it comes to setting up a personal set of protocols to get back in shape, Bartmann’s idea makes sense because not achieving a goal is one thing, breaking a promise is another.

When you make a promise to yourself – or someone else that you care about – you are more thoughtful about what you are committing to. When you treat your self as your best friend, you are less likely to promise something you do not intend to keep.

Treat your body as Your Best Friend.

This is the basis of health and strength – to love your body and groom it, care for it, feed it really good food and attend to it with loving attention – in the same way you would care for a championship show dog or a horse.

In many ways, strength is a measure of vitality and physical consciousness – a sort of gauge for aliveness. You can use it as a self-measurement tool for alignment and clarity.

Strength is what provides the support for the skeletal system in our body. It is an integral component of physical and postural integrity, and provides for efficient mobility. As such, it is our best natural defense against many common injuries.

Strength, coupled with flexibility, is the most effective counter measure against general aches and pain. These aspects of strength are valid at all ages but are particularly important as we get older.

Like the Baby, True Strength is Rooted in Life Energy

And strength is – in large part – the primary physical coordination function for the body. In general, a real misconception is that size is the key determinant of strength. True strength is a measure of the individual’s ability to use the entire body as a single unit – as opposed to muscle mass.

Strength in this context is integrated use of the skeletal system, connecting tissue and powered by “life energy” running through the whole system – simultaneously.

Once we achieve flexible strength, we rarely get sore when we use our muscles and our body.

What Prompted The Post…

Last month a baby boomer named Arnie started a new thread in our Facebook group Baby Boomer Health and Wealth: Healthy Wealthy Boomer, by asking this question:

“Hey what do you think is the best approach to maximize physical strength as we age?”
Here is what I wrote about to Arnie…

• Physical activity is essential we are too sedentary in today’s lifestyle.
• Walk everyday, stretch every morning, learn and practice the Tibetan Rites at least 3 times a week.
• Be physical again. Walk up the stairs at work. Park the car further away from the entrance at Costco and walk both ways.
• Take dance lessons and PRACTICE – it’s so much fun.
• Ride bicycles again.
• Learn Qigong or Tai Chi or one of the soft Kung fu systems from a qualified master. Take up yoga.
• Swim again.

When you choose an activity that’s fun for you, you will do it more often. Exercise should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore. Add the “fun back into it”. For example, take long walks with people whose company you enjoy and who you find interesting.

The key is activity:

• use your body,
• use your muscles.
• achieve a healthy tone over time.
• treat your body like your best friend.
• balance your exercise to match your lifestyle and vice versa.

Strength is a component of longevity and is a great anti-aging tool. It is a metaphor for the quality of life. Baby Boomer Health is all about choices.

Be healthy. Choose strength.

It is a better choice than choosing the alternative. Quit listening to the media and think about the old man and the bottle. You are never too old.

If you have been thinking about it, now is a good time to get started. You can do it.

I AM Michael Barrett. I Am a Healthy Boomer. I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Bill Bartmann is a good man…

If there were ever a “Healthy Wealthy Boomer” role model, this is the guy. As Baby Boomers, he’s the guy we should listen to and emulate.

I first heard him speak in Orlando at a 2006 Peak Potentials event called Guerilla Business School – where I was an attendee. Then a week later I met him in LA at GBS (where this picture was taken) – only this time I was on staff.

Face to face, I was impressed by his:

• genuine humility
• consideration for other people
• grace
• mental acuity and wit

A majority of the “big guns” in the seminar circuit have huge egos. Bill Bartmann doesn’t – at least that’s my impression on a personal level and I say this from experience – not just conjecture. From June 2005 through September 2006, I was on Core Team (staff) for Peak Potentials for 26 events across north America.

In that capacity, there were many occasions to interface with speakers; often to observe them behind the scenes; how they handle themselves; how they treat staff; how prepared they were and generally what kind of people they were ‘behind the cameras’.

Bartmann is a tuned-in guy; fully conscious and present – both through astute observation as well as an active interface. He lives life fully and pays attention.

I liked him the moment I heard him say (paraphrased):

The difference between highly successful people and those who are not boils down to two words: Self esteem. I don’t consider myself to be an expert about too many things – but on this topic, I consider myself an expert.

And then he told us why…

Aside from the fact that he is a martial arts practitioner, rides Harleys, went from being a human teenage ‘gutter rat’ to becoming the 25th wealthiest man in America, he’s just the kind of guy you would want watching your back in a tough situation.

You get a sense when you meet him that you can trust his judgment and that he’s not ‘running a game’, he’s the real deal. He’s a man’s man with principles and integrity and plenty of battle scars from the street. You can tell he’s conquered his demons and come to peace with who he is. He’s not a tall man, but he is a very “large man” with an obvious command of his personal power who easily fills a large space when he enters a room.

I trusted him immediately.

When he talks about his family, he makes it clear that his family is the most important thing in his life. The rest – the money, the action, success – is all secondary to family.

He also seems to be the epitome of innovative thinking and curiosity.

Bill Bartmann is currently on a mission.

Go here to get more info why: Bartmann’s Billionaire U

He wants to turn ‘small business statistics’ 180 degrees. That is to say he wants to turn the small business failure rate from 90% to 10% – and increase the success rate from 10% to 90%.

And if anybody is qualified to do this, it’s Bill Bartmann.

Historically he is a master at raising capital on Wall Street without a personal guarantee and a master entrepreneur. He has gone from a $1M in the red to becoming a billionaire by leveraging a $13K loan to buy bad paper and then revolutionizing the industry.

Bill Bartmann Tele-seminars Are Awesome…

This month I listened to a 1 hour tele-seminar with Bill – talking about the “BAIL OUT”. He made more sense on that call than all the combined drivel we have heard from politicians, talking heads and experts over the last two weeks. Here is a guy with the economic moxie, know how and experience to solve the financial problems that we face today. And he has a plan.

He talked about how to correctly approach a financial solution and discussed the parallels between our current economic situation and the savings and loan debacle 20 years ago. Hey Boomers, Bartmann told us to quit listening to the media on this subject and not to buy into the doom and gloom because savvy people can become very wealthy given our current scenario. It’s actually a time to celebrate opportunity.

It’s just a matter of knowing what to do and how to do it. And he’s going to show us.

Bill Bartmann’s mission is to create a lot of small business success stories. And I think his primary motivation is to give back – out of gratitude for his own personal success and because he loves this country and the people in it.

Putting his money where his mouth is, he has put together a 12 month training program that he calls the ‘Billionaire U” – including 24 members only tele-seminars. Even though Bill commands $13,000 for a two day live workshop and huge fees on a private coaching basis, he is offering this program for $100 a year.

Now you tell me, is that fair? Do you think he is genuinely trying to make it affordable for everybody?

I do.

Every once in a while great opportunities come along that empower us to grow and make quantum leaps in our understanding. I believe this is one of those opportunities. You will benefit so much from Bill’s training, you won’t believe the value you received twelve months from now.

I had a chance to work with Bill at the end of 2006 and based on what was happening in my life, it did not materialize. Subsequently, I have often thought that maybe this was one of the biggest mistakes in my life.

But I’m not passing up an opportunity to work with him again.

If you have not already done so – follow this link to the Bill Bartmann Billionaire Business Systems and sign up for the 12 month $100 training. Bill also has a live two day workshop coming up on Nov 22 and 23rd in Palm Springs.

Boomers, listen to this man. He knows what he is talking about.