You Don’t Have to Kill Yourself
To Preserve Your Youth

Gardening is a really popular anti-aging exercise for many so-called seniors.  This is great for lots of reasons but not something I’ve ever been keen on.  So my gardening ventures are rare -about once every five years.  But recently, I took it into my head to rearrange our rockery.

It took around three hours to get it to a shape I liked.  In truth, to say I liked it is a bit strong.  But it was better than the way it began.  But during the exertions it struck me that this would be an interesting test of some aspects of my Fitnessblasting program. 

For instance, most of the time was spent with one foot on one rock and the other foot on a different rock.  The activity was bending, lifting and shifting other rocks and constantly moving the feet from one rock to another.

A Rockery Road to Fitness

The interesting thing from a fitness-training point of view was how irregular it all was.  One foot was always higher than another.   Legs were sometimes splayed apart at quite a stretch and sometimes close together.  In other words, unlike with typical gym exercises, there was no uniformity and everything was being done at irregular angles.

So, while doing all this, I wondered whether my legs in particular would suffer from muscle soreness the next day.  Alternatively, were the Blaster Squats and the Hammer exercises in my workout program efficient enough to prevent muscle soreness? 

Yes, you guessed it!  I’m pleased and maybe a little surprised to report that I had absolutely no soreness at all.  The interesting question is why would this be the case.  My interpretation is revealed below.

Life Begins At 40

Do you remember this saying?  The snag is that for a lot of people it really does begin at 40: it begins to deteriorate.  Belly soft, hearing hard.  Strength down, weight up. 

How inevitable is this?  How can it be stopped?   And can it be corrected?  Well, it’s not so hard.  But the really key question is: does this have to happen to you?  What do we do about it?

Great For Some

Clinics and surgeries see more than their fair share of middle-aged ‘old-crocks’ who join a gym, try out all the fitness-equipment, start weight training or go jogging to preserve their youth after 25 or 30 years of inactivity. 
Chiropractors, physiotherapists and sellers of painkillers are doing good business too.  So, someone’s happy.

It’s a pity that such a great aspiration as getting fitter should end like this so often.  But it doesn’t have to - all it takes is a little thought and know-how.  The different approach adopted by Fitnessblasting is geared to provide the know-how.  It will get you much fitter than jogging. 

It will also get you fit to go jogging if you really must.

A Quiet Life?

Sounds nice.  But the snag is that if your quiet life is a sedentary life you will soon be in trouble.  So your instinct about jogging or gym membership was good.

This is because inactivity produces progressively weaker bones and muscles.  Weaker muscles make you feeble and diminish your metabolism.  Diminished metabolism reduces fat burning.  Reduced fat burning leads to fat storage.  Storing fat leads to greater weight. 

And all this is compounded by the more ‘luxurious’ diet or junk food, which is in turn compounded by lower activity levels, and so it goes on.

In other words, a quiet life in the sense of being content and peaceful will be no life at all if it becomes sedentary.

But Hold On There! 

Who is coerced into smoking or eating badly or spending their ’free’ waking hours in front of a screen? 

Who can be surprised if a decline in physical activity results in a decline of physical capacity?

Who can be startled if eating badly results in alarming gains in weight?

Who can be shocked that consuming more and exercising less inevitably leads to a loss of muscle and an increase in fat? 

And if this can happen to anyone at any time, what has it got to do with age?

The point is that loss of muscle and increases in weight are not essentially connected to age at all.  What they are connected to is a type of lifestyle.  But in this everyone has a choice. 

Regeneration

In reality, inactivity, muscle loss, decreased metabolism, poor eating and the accumulation of fat are hardly the inevitable products of aging at all but are largely individual decisions. 

To put it another way,

The muscular-skeletal system is constantly regenerating and a muscle is a muscle no matter how old it is.  Therefore, it responds to exercise at any age. 

Naturally, due allowance should be made for previous inactivity and current health before embarking on an exercise program.  In fact, it would be sensible to seek medical advice before beginning any new physical activity, preferably from a medical practitioner familiar both with you and fitness. 

Easier or Harder Workouts?

But, in essence, this means that workouts for older individuals need not differ markedly from those of younger people.  You need to be careful to avoid injury and probably take longer rests to recover.  But in all essentials, in the words of another well-known phrase, use it or lose it. 

Looking on the bright side, making the choice to keep active is easier than ever because there are probably greater opportunities and facilities available than for previous generations.  Working hours are generally much less than for previous generations and there is far more money to spend. 

Golf and tennis are as popular as well as swimming and dancing.  Fitness clubs have now sprung up all over the place.

Criminal

This makes it all the more criminal that a large proportion of the new younger generation is being brought up in a lifestyle that mimics the inactivity of so many of their elders.  Previously active younger generations are being replaced by inactive devotion to consoles and screens. 

As a result, obesity among the young as well as old is at record levels.

If this is correct and isn’t corrected, there will be dire consequences for the health of millions young people in the future as they age.   Maybe a computer screen will be as disastrous for them for them as cigarettes were to a previous generation?

What is the Best Way to Exercise?

The options are marvellously varied.  All have their detractors as well as fanatics.  And all have their pros and cons in terms of fitness benefits, risks, interest, sociability, convenience and financial costs.  So, in a sense, it hardly matters what turns you on. 

For example, if golf is the thing for you, then it seems to me that golf is the thing for you!  The key thing is to be like a shark and keep moving.  Remember: use it or lose it.

Advantages of Fitness Clubs

But even for golf, a Fitness Club or gym is a good place to keep fit.  After all, you need the strength, flexibility and a fair amount of endurance to maintain a powerful drive time after time, don’t you?  Same with tennis to deliver a consistently great serve.

In fact, no matter what your sport or fitness interest, Fitness Clubs offer a number of advantages. 

In the first place, the environment is controlled.  This means that is likely to be safe.  Secondly, the weather is unlikely to be a problem.  Thirdly, there are lots of other people about so your workout doesn‘t have to be an isolated activity. 

Lastly, the range of facilities is usually very broad.  This means that there are lots of options for serious hard-core fitness fanatics as well as those with more limited ambitions and ‘social’ exercisers.

In fact, a good club will offer such a wide range of activities and sports that there should be something to attract almost everyone.  But there are disadvantages.

Disadvantages of Fitness Clubs

A possible downside is cost.  But many clubs offer special deals for anyone over a certain age.

Another possible downside to bear in mind is that the professional advisors in the clubs are predominantly young and have never experienced sciatica, a slipped disc or a hernia and so on.  Nor have they been 30, 50 or 100 lbs overweight. 

But apart from practical matters such as cost and convenience, there is another downside of Fitness Clubs that screams a serious warning.  This is examined in Part 2 of FIT AFTER 50.

To go to Part 2 of FIT AFTER 50  click here.

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