Last December, I graciously admitted that there was a big hole in my Nerd cred.
I grew up drawing cartoons, took AP art in high school, and have always been fascinated by hand-drawn animation…
But I had to Yesnever seen a second of any Studio Ghibli cartoonYes!
Studio Ghibli is the equivalent of Disney in Japan, with Hayao Miyazaki as the Japanese Walt: the studio has won several Academy Awards for its hand-drawn animated films, and Miyazaki has reached legendary status for the films have done so over the past 40+ years.
Luckily, the amazing community over at Threads gave me hundreds of ideas of support and helped me decide which movie to start!
Since I made that announcement, I have looked Yesall 20+ Studio Ghibli filmsYes, Yeshe fell in love with JapanYesand became endlessly fascinated by Hayao Miyazaki.
(My favorites are Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and The Wind Rises.).
After watching all the movies, I moved on to watching documentaries about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli because I needed more information.
Thanks to these documentaries, I got an interesting insight into Miyazaki's creative style and his experiences in making these films with his staff.
The running joke is that Miyazaki is the “Infinite Man” and doesn't seem to be retiring.
There was something that stood out to me in each documentary:
In The kingdom of dreams and madness, At one point every employee at Studio Ghibli stood up and moved through a series of movement and calisthenics drills, including Miyazaki.
Later in the doc, I saw YesMiyazaki showing a very deep squatYes with perfect form and no help. How many people do you know in their mid to late 70's who can do a deep unsupported squat!?
In Infinite Man: Hayao Miyazaki, Miyazaki is Yesfilmed many times cutting woodYes with an ax in the backyard of his studio.
And in Hayao Miyazaki and The HeronMiya-san (his nickname), now in his 80s, is still out chopping wood, going for walks in the forest, climbing over fallen trees, doing his office exercises, and working hard on the film that would complete his life's work.
(Yes, I know. Miyazaki has a cigarette in his mouth for almost every minute of every documentary! He's lucky he hasn't developed lung cancer yet, and I remember he's not the perfect picture of health there!).
I bring this up because I think it shows another side of exercise than we might normally consider.
Train for your Old Man Body
Watching this doc of Hayao Miyazaki staying active and keeping his brain sharp in his 80s…
This was remembered YesWonderful post from ElizabethYes (@ThisGirlLifts on Instagram):
As we get older, it is easier for us to move less, which gives us less energy, and makes it more difficult to find the movement and movement to keep moving. This may keep us from spending time with our family or friends because we cannot muster the energy.
Teddy Roosevelt once said “We'd rather risk wearing out than rusting out. “
In other words: use it or lose it, bub.
It is not a stretch for me to think that Miyazaki's potential to be an “infinite man” is not only due to good genetics (and luck), but also because he has actively chosen to spend out rather than rust.
Reflecting on why he chose to push himself to complete another animated film in his 8th decade on this planet, he simply replied that it was all he knew how to do: “B 'I'd rather die doing this than die doing nothing.”
Fitness is more than weight loss
At Nerd Fitness, we encourage all Rebels to think about their “Big Why:”.
Why bother exercising and building new habits and pushing yourself to improve your life when it comes to bed?
What's the point of working on yourself and learning to deal with discomfort when it's easier to go back to comfort and attractiveness?
A really strong “Big Why” can help us stay on target especially when life turns into a dumpster fire or we feel like giving up.
For Miyazaki, he has decided that “finding out what's inside me” is a worthy occupation of his time. He has found peace and fulfillment through creating things rather than consuming them, which means he needs to take care of his body enough to stay alive long enough to make these things!
For my gram (who YesI visited the hospital last monthYes), her goal is to support her community and help those around her. Staying active allowed her to do this well into her 90's!
If you struggle to find a reason why you do something…
You can do worse than “Training for my old man's body.” It's the only body you get, and the only life you get, so today is as good a day as any to start treating your body with a little more respect.
It doesn't have to be dramatic at all. We can start simple:
- We can go for a short daily walk.
- We can stand up all day and do mobility work like squats and pushups.
- We can Yesstart strength trainingYes to build strong bones and stop going away need help as long as possible.
It's up to us to keep our bodies active, and wearing out is better than rusting out through lack of use.
As a chaotic creator who spends a lot of time in my own head, Hayao Miyazaki has given me plenty to think about:
I hope that when I'm in my 80s, I'm still writing this newsletter and helping people, chopping wood and going on walks and spending time with people love
I know I can't control what happens and accidents happen and so much of life is out of my control, but I'm going to do my best to give myself the best chance to continue create and wear out rather than rust!
I'll leave you with the last winding statement from Miyazaki that closes the documentary Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron:
“Stop whining and move on.”
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to train for my old man's body!
-Steve
PS: The original Japanese title for The Boy and the Warden Yes How do you live?. Here is a much more interesting (and appropriate) title for the film; it truly includes his life's work, those who influenced him, and his deepest thoughts on the meaning of life.
PS: Need guidance and accountability to reach your fitness goals? Nerd Fitness has helped 10,000+ people over the past 8 years with 1-on-1 online fitness coaching. YesClick here for more informationYes.
