In an era when fitness can be overlooked by many older people, renowned American exercise physiologist Steve Maxwell believes the motivation needs to start from the younger generation in a bid to promote healthy living worldwide.
The 65-year-old is the first American to earn a BJJ black belt from the grandmaster Relson Gracie – and continues to do great work in a bid to boost health and fitness across the globe.
The Philadelphia native, who has been a competitive athlete for over 35 years, is currently travelling around the world giving seminars on Mobility-Conditioning in BJJ & MMA.
Speaking to Sport360 at TKA MMA Gym in Dubai, Maxwell said: “I think it has to start with the young people. You’ve got to get the young people motivated and keep that going throughout their life.
“For the older generation it is probably too late. It’s conscience and what you value in life.”
“A lot of people value money, wealth and material things over their own their health. There’s many a millionaire and billionaire on his death bed that probably wishes they spent more attention on their health.
“All of a sudden all that money and power means nothing, especially when your suffering with all sorts of illnesses.”
The potential health benefits from exercising on a daily basis are numerous – from relieving the significant pressures of life to boosting morale – all of which Maxwell insists can potentially extend your life.
“Sometimes these people never knew about a high level of health, so gradually their health starts to erode and they see that as a normal thing. I can’t imagine sacrificing my health and fitness just to make money,” he said.
“But it seems like there are a group of people that do that thing who do that in their own mind. Because they’ve never done anything physical and they don’t know what it’s like, they don’t miss it that much. They don’t notice how weak and feeble they are becoming.
People presume leading a healthy lifestyle involves hours of work across the week, but even short sharp sessions 3-4 times a week can have a massive benefit to your body and mind.
“Training can prevent all these things. The other thing is some people don’t know what to do and they are intimidated by the whole thing, not realising that you don’t have to train all that much to get good benefits,” he said.
“Even just 10-15 mins of strength training can pay huge dividends. I can only lead by example.”
