Fitness Is For Everyone

The primary demographic that frequents the gym, 18-34, are the people that, from a fitness standpoint, need it the least. At 18 we are mostly finished developing physically and have not had much time for neglect/overuse pathologies or poor nutrition to manifest symptoms. Even without the gym we remain fairly active through 34, to varying degrees.
Those years however are when the invisible injuries gestate. Through the regular rhythms of life we develop habits of neglect and over-use. Our jobs, our hobbies, and our domestic responsibilities contribute equally. To be efficient and productive, to make hard tasks easier, and to make mundane tasks autonomic like breathing, we create habits. Through repetition we train our bodies to move in the same way, with the same posture, for as many repetitions as necessary often for multiple hrs/day/week/month/years.
Leaning to one side at a desk or while driving. Striking a volleyball or a soccer ball with the same limb every time. Hunching over a phone. Wearing shoes. Over hundreds of thousands of repetitions and thousands of hours these activities will lead to any combination of pain, weakness, and movement restriction. Much of what we call aging has nothing to do with our age except for, the older we are the more repetitions and hours we can accumulate to create the damage generally thought to be a natural aspect of aging.
From this viewpoint it is easy to see why we believe that physical fitness and physical education is important in every stage of life. Most parents along with their kids understand the importance of promoting an active lifestyle. Kids jump, climb, tumble, swing, lift, kick, throw, wrestle, and run regularly and for what seems like no reason whatsoever. Kids engage in a great variety of spontaneous natural movement at varying duration and intensity. But, kids will have a dominate side. One that is more coordinated, therefore used more frequently and with more force and precision/accuracy. Once kids enter into structured long-term activities such as sports, playing an instrument, drawing, and dance the frequency, volume, and specificity of the unilaterally unbalanced behaviors increase.
Learning proper movement patterns for all the running, jumping, and climbing will decrease the occurrence and severity of both acute and chronic onset injuries. Having a program that accounts for movement pattern bias will reduce both performance limitations and the rate of pathological progression towards injury. Add education and encouragement regarding proper nutrition, rest, and recovery and a child will have the tools and habits to avoid much of the undesirable and generally thought to be inevitable effects of aging.
No matter where we are in this journey these habits and effects can be identified and mostly reversed. At 20, 30, 40, 85 we can begin to move well. With knowledge, effort, and time we can regain strength, mobility, balance and coordination. We can reduce and eliminate pain. We can increase bone density, improve our insulin sensitivity, safeguard mental acuity, and reduce medication use.
To move well is to move with the thoughtful intention to always be able to move well. To move well is independence. To move well is for everyone.