Longevity, Fitness and Training Secrets

If youre not doing it, you dont know it – Tony Robbins

At the tender age of 84 I believe I have earned the right to talk about longevity.both in general and in terms of fitness.

When discussing longevity I always emphasize that one should be thriving not merely surviving.

These notions have inspired me to begin writing a book titled Longevity Secrets of an 84-Year-Old Powerlifter.

On the cover I will have a picture of me doing a deadlift taken during a routine workout. At first glance there is nothing unusual about the pictureme with a 300+ pound deadlift.

However, the back story is that when I put that same picture on my Facebook business page, I was banned from advertising on Facebook because I had used a fraudulent photograph.

Oh well

The book will be out in a couple months. I doubt Amazon will bar me from their site because I used a photo of myself.

 

Thriving not Just Surviving

IMHO being fit at an advanced age should mean you feel great 24/7, dont have your life dominated by concerns about your medical condition, and be able to have conversations with friends that are not merely organ recitals (ex. my heart is working poorly, my back hurts all the time and I can hardly wait for my trip to the proctologist this week)

Feeling great means that you may not be 30 anymore, but you feel good to great in your own skin all the time.

The big issue is how do you get there?

Obviously, you cannot control everything in your environment, but there are a few things that you can do that will dramatically enhance your chances for enjoying a long and active life.

No one reading this newsletter will be surprised that the things I have in mind are:

• Building and maintaining a strong and durable body
• Good cardiovascular fitness
• Minimize excess body fat

Pretty simple. Everyone says that.

The problem is that these days much of the literature in the fitness ecosystem tends to drift toward the medical solution of pills and potions rather than do the work needed.

Much of the twaddle about longevity research focuses on activities within the cell that enhance ones chances for a long life.

What seems to be blithely ignored is that robust mitochondria are developed through active exercise.

But the armchair set continues to hope for a breakthrough that will enable them to sit on their asses and live to 120.

 

What Kind of Life?

Many people rely exclusively on weight loss drugs to reduce obesity. When they are finished losing 100 pounds of table muscle, what sort of body are they left with?

More to the point, if a person has not built a high-performance body while ridding themselves of extra lard, all they are left with is a frail sagging carcass that now weighs a lot less.

Living a long time and not being able to be active and independent is a grim prospect.

Thus, the key to feeling great while you rack up the years is to have built a strong and durable body that you can live in and enjoy your time.

No shots or pills are going to do that for you.

Living a long time in a shi*t body seems like a cruel hoax.

 

Going for It

Most readers of this newsletter already understand what I have written above.

You also understand that building the high-performance body you want begins in your 50s and 60s. After that continue to build, grow and enhance your skills and capabilities.

There is no magic easily within our grasp other than that found in the gym.

What savvy people can do is to continue to expand their repertoire of fitness skills.

That has certainly worked well for me.

Lift Big,

Richard