Longevity and Lifting Weights

It is nearly impossible to put a value on the positive aspects of waking up every day and not worrying about your health.

Sadly many people over age 50 spend a significant portion of their day struggling with their medical problems.

Their quality of life is diminished, often dramatically.

They are stuck with chronic medical conditions, poorly functioning organs, bad backs and a host of other problems that make their lives crappy.

IMHO in many cases this sad situation has come about because they expected the medical community to save them from their own poor habits.

They appear to believe that some miracle medical breakthrough will rescue them from their degraded condition.

My recent review of research in longevity Indicates to me that the primarily emphasis is on seeking medical interventions that might add years to our lives but say nothing about how we will function in those years.

The hitch is that even if they could add years to our lives, without strong and durable muscle those years would be totally crappy!

Whee.the medical trust promises to give people another 10 years of life..as feeble wrecks.

 

Another way

My own experience and those of a few others of similar age (84) convince me that each of us has the potential to make a major impact on the quality of our life as we age.

It would appear we have far more control over our own destiny than most of the research papers would indicate.

While life offers no guarantees, doing serious physical training can dramatically increase the probability that you can enjoy a long and good life.

However, it you take matters into your own hands, you will probably not be paying big bucks for some miracle cure that will keep your feeble carcass around for an extra decade.

Being physically fit and capable is a HUGE part of having a good life in later years.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal based on research done at Harvard indicates that the principal concerns of many older Americans relate to their physical ability to live easily in their homes.

For those of us who work out regularly the idea that it may be difficult or nearly impossible for someone of our age to get up off the floor may seem farfetched.

Unfortunately, many people much younger than I are wearing alarm necklaces that enable them to summon help if they cant get up off the floor or get off the toilet.

I am also often surprised that some of my age peers constantly worry about climbing stairs.

It appears that many people accept becoming feeble without resorting to some of the most obvious solutions that are far less costly than anything else.

Another surprising factor to me is that many people appear to simply accept the fact that their muscle mass as they age.

Wasting away is a condition known as sarcopenia. When I see this occurring with people, I know I am both surprised and discouraged.

Similarly, osteoporosis or weakening of the bones also occurs unless someone does resistance training regularly.

Those of us who work out regularly rarely think about our physical limitations except as they relate to our athletic performance.

The bottom line is that being committed to maintaining strength and durability by doing solid and comprehensive physical training appears to be something that most people don’t believe.

 

Coda

The quality of your life as you age will be hugely impacted by how strong, fit and agile you are.

Build solid athletic muscle keep your body fat down and enjoy your life with direction and purpose.

The objective for each of us as we age is to build a strong and solid base of aerobic and strength conditioning that will enable us to continue to be active, independent and viable for many decades.

The message to each of you is to keep working hard and never quit.

NEVER allow yourself to get out of shape.

You will never regret your commitment to being strong and fit.

 

Lift Big!

Richard