Last December, I sheepishly admitted there was a huge hole in my Nerd cred.
I grew up drawing cartoons, took AP art in high school, and was always fascinated by hand-drawn animation…
But I had never seen a single second of any Studio Ghibli cartoon!
Studio Ghibli is the Japanese equivalent of Disney, with Hayao Miyazaki as the Japanese Walt: the studio has won multiple Academy Awards for their beautifully hand-drawn animated films, and Miyazaki has reached legendary status for making these films over the past 40+ years.
Luckily, the amazing community over on Threads gave me hundreds of comments of support and helped me decide which movie I should start with!
Since making that announcement, I’ve watched all 20+ Studio Ghibli films, fell in love with Japan, and became endlessly fascinated with Hayao Miyazaki.
(My favorites are Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and The Wind Rises.).
After watching every film, I moved on to watching documentaries about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli because I needed to know more.
Thanks to these documentaries, I got a fascinating look at Miyazaki’s creative style and experiences in making these films alongside his coworkers.
The running joke has been that Miyazaki is the “Never-ending man” and can’t seem to retire.
There was something that stood out to me in each documentary:
In The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, at one point all employees at Studio Ghibli stood up and moved through a series of mobility drills and calisthenics, including Miyazaki.
Later in the doc, I observed Miyazaki demonstrating a very deep squat with perfect form and no assistance. How many people do you know in their mid-late 70s who can perform an unassisted deep squat!?
In Never-ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, Miyazaki is filmed multiple times chopping wood with an ax in the backyard of his studio.
And in Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron, Miya-san (his nickname), now in his 80s, is still out chopping wood, going for walks in the woods, climbing over fallen trees, doing his office exercises, and hard at work on the film that would culminate his life’s work.
(Yes, I know. Miyazaki also has a cigarette in his mouth for nearly every minute of every documentary! He’s lucky that he hasn’t developed lung cancer yet, and I’m reminded he’s not the perfect picture of health!).
I bring this up because I think it shows a different side of exercise than we might normally consider.
Train for your Old Person Body
Watching this doc of Hayao Miyazaki staying active and keeping his brain sharp into his 80s…
I was reminded of this amazing post from Elizabeth (@ThisGirlLifts on Instagram):
As we get older, it’s easier for us to move less, which gives us less energy, and makes it more difficult to find the momentum and mobility to keep moving. This might keep us from spending time with our family or our friends because we’re unable to muster up the energy.
Teddy Roosevelt once said “let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.”
In other words: use it or lose it, bub.
It’s not a stretch for me to imagine Miyazaki’s ability to be a “never-ending man” is not only due to good genetics (and luck), but also because he has actively chosen to wear out rather than rust out.
Reflecting on why he chose to push himself to complete yet another animated film into his 8th decade on this planet, he simply replied that this was all he knew how to do: “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 level up your life when the couch beckons?
What’s the point of exerting yourself and learning to deal with discomfort when retreating to comfort is easier and so damn alluring?
A really strong “Big Why” can help us stay on target especially when life turns into a dumpster fire or we want to give up.
For Miyazaki, he’s decided that “getting out what’s inside me” is a worthy use of his time. He’s 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 get these things done!
For my gramma (who I visited in the hospital last month), her purpose is to support her community and help those around her. Staying active allowed her to do this well into her 90s!
If you’re struggling to come up with a reason for why to do something…
You can do worse than “Training for my old person body.” This is 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 bit more respect.
It doesn’t need to be dramatic either. We can start simple:
- We can go for a short daily walk.
- We can stand up throughout the day and do mobility work like squats and arm swings.
- We can start strength training to build strong bones and stave off needing assistance for as long as possible.
It’s on 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 when I’m in my 80s, I am still writing this newsletter and helping people, chopping wood and going for walks and spending time with loved ones.
I know I can’t control what happens and accidents happen and so much of life is outside of my control, but I’m going to do my best to give myself the best chance to keep creating and wear out rather than rust out!
I’ll leave you with the final curmudgeonly quote from Miyazaki that closes out the documentary Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron:
“Stop whining and get moving.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to train for my old man body!
-Steve
PS: The original Japanese title for The Boy and the Heron is How Do You Live?. This is a far more interesting (and apt) title for the film; it’s truly the encapsulation of his life’s work, those that have influenced him, and his deepest thoughts on the meaning of life.
PPS: Need guidance and accountability to reach your fitness goals? Nerd Fitness has helped 10,000+ humans over the last 8 years with 1-on-1 online fitness coaching. Click here for more details.
