Maintenance isn't optional
So don't act like it is
“I don’t exercise” is not a statement to be proud of
In times of antiquity physical labor was seen as a low class thing to do. Even the act of going outside and exposing yourself to the sun was something that only the poors would do. Back when I was at school in the UK I remember learning about Queen Elizabeth I maintaining an extreme pale complexion by using a lead based foundation called Venetian ceruse. Those of high status had the luxury of not needing to trouble themselves with outdoor physical exertion, so pale skin was seen as a mark of nobility in the Elizabethan era.
This is of course, not a healthy lifestyle. Not just because it’s not a great idea to put lead based paint on your face, but because lack of exercise is also not good for you.
I’ve been living in Japan for a long time now. Japan is quite well known for having very low levels of obesity. A lot of it is because Japanese food is quite healthy, portion sizes are generally not outrageous, and there is societal pressure to stay thin. Another major factor is that Japanese people generally exercise quite a lot. But this is not the case for everyone.
I have met more than one person in Japan (usually women) who are very thin, but when I ask them what kind of training they do to maintain their weight, they tell me (sometimes proudly) that they don’t exercise. One person has told me that they go to great lengths to cut calories or skip meals if they notice their weight creeping up. And while this is a form of discipline, it sort of reminds me of the Elizabethan way of thinking where nobles think that exercise is beneath them.
That’s not really my style at all.
Ten thousand a day
I have a goal to walk 10,000 steps a day. This is a default setting as a goal on my current watch and was also one on my previous watch. In 2025 I hit that goal every single day. Perfect streak. 365 days.
Ten thousand steps a day ON AVERAGE is not a difficult goal. But making sure you get to a minimum of ten thousand steps a day can be challenging. Especially when you consider that I ran a 100 mile ultramarathon and a (arguably more difficult) 100 km ultramarathon in 2025. On days following extreme races like that my legs are generally not very happy at all and the first time I crossed the 100 km point had me feeling like my quads were filled with glass shards for more than a week after.
Even when faced with extreme muscle pain and illness I will still strive to get to that 10,000 a day because I don’t consider it to be optional.
Hunger vs Thirst
I sometimes do intermittent fasting. I don’t go to the point where I am not eating at all, but there are some days where I only eat one meal. I do this in an intuitive way depending on how much training I’m doing and how I’m feeling, but hunger is something that I can deal with. Thirst however, is a different story.
If I finish a run (especially in summer) I will want to drink something as soon as I am able to. If it is REALLY hot I will take water with me and drink it as I’m going along, but on a lot of summer runs I will just try to deal with the thirst until I finish the run and then drink a ton of water after.
I can run a half marathon in the summer, not eat anything after and be fine, but if I run that same half marathon I absolutely must drink something after or I will feel like my body is shutting down. At that point, food is optional but hydration is not optional. Not drinking something makes me very uncomfortable…which is a useful feeling.
Train until you are uncomfortable if you don’t train
I am in the habit of getting up early every day and going for a run. I do regular running sessions on weekdays followed by a tempo run on Saturdays and a sprint session on Sundays. How much I run sometimes varies, but I will always try to get out and run. I do this because I NEED to get ten thousand steps in a day and I feel uncomfortable if I don’t run.
People who get into the habit of running a lot all seem to report a feeling of discomfort if they are unable to run. Some runners will even run on injuries instead of fully recovering due to this discomfort. But when you have a race coming up it is absolutely necessary to rest and fully recover, whether you like it or not.
I’ve spoken about this previously but in the book Training Essentials for Ultrarunning: Second Edition by Jason Koop et al., the concept of “taper tantrums” is introduced. Taper tantrums are a feeling of irritation experienced by runners who are forced to take time off (usually due to an upcoming race), which leads to them having excessive amounts of energy that they are unable to get rid of. Unless a runner finds a constructive outlet to deal with their taper in a healthy way they may be a little unpleasant to be around before a race.
But all this (to me) is a good thing. We should be feeling uncomfortable if we are not moving around, because being still for too long makes us weak and stagnant. Your muscles operate very much on a “use it or lose it” principle.
For longevity
My readers will know that I’m a big fan of martial arts. I practice martial arts for a number of different reasons, one of which is practical self defense. But iaidō is not a practical self defense art and some people are very quick to tell me that practicing with a sword is “useless” and that iaidō wouldn’t work “in the street.” Believe it or not I have considered this fact, which is why I practice practical fighting karate for self defense and iaidō for other reasons.
Iaidō requires good posture, a lot of back and forth transitioning from standing to 正座 (seiza: kneeling position), moving a a weight (sword) through wide ranges of motion in patterns that require balance and coordination. All of these things are useful for longevity and are not simply techniques that are useful to know if I happen to get into a situation where I’m wearing a sword on my belt and get into a life and death confrontation.
Anyone who practices iaidō in Japan will notice that there are quite a lot of elderly practitioners. I have juniors at my dōjō that began in their 70’s and I’ve also trained with instructors who are in their 90s. These iaidō practitioners treat training as part of maintaining their lives. It keeps them mentally active, mobile, flexible, and gives them something to work on after they retired. It is not unheard of for people to lose their purpose in life once they retire, so to see people who are continuing to work on themselves long after retirement is pretty inspiring.
Final thoughts and take home messages
Back in the day nobles saw going outside and doing physical exertion as something beneath them. But these were the same people that thought it was fashionable to wear lead based make up. We know better now and know that exercise is something we need to do to remain fit and healthy into our old age (even if you can get away with starving yourself for asthetic purposes while you are young).
Personally, I set movement goals and don’t want to stray from them. I will do my best to keep achieving my goals even if I am going through a lot of physical hardship to achieve them. (I’m not going down without a fight).
We all understand the imperative nature of hunger and thirst. If you are able to train yourself to the point that you feel something akin to hunger and thirst when it comes to your training, training will become a lot easer. Mostly because you will feel like you lack something if you don’t train.
I train in iaidō every week (unless I am out of town and can’t physically make it to the dōjō). I do so because I want to live a long, healthy life and my training is part of that. As such, if I don’t train, I feel uneasy and like I am not maintaining myself. This feeling is not quite as bad as desperately needing a drink of water, but it is a feeling similar to hunger. When you really get into the groove of things, maintaining yourself becomes an imperative. Not just an optional extra.
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Osu!
Of course you're right. I would add that training is further not optional for a martial arts practitioner. You train so that you can do martial arts. You train so that you reduce your chances of being injured in the dojo, and hence continue to do martial arts.