Posted on 02/24/2019 11:33:27 AM PST by Mariner
Once, you would hit the second half of life confident that nobody would expect you to whip your shirt off at a moment’s notice – or if you decided to disrobe at the beach, you would be afforded a degree of reverence becoming your age. You would hope that, if you ventured into the water, a dignified doggy-paddle would suffice. And you would not expect to have surf sprayed in your face by a 68-year-old Richard Branson, or his 57-year-old pal, Barack Obama, both of them still kiteboarding well into the age when most people are worrying about their chrysanthemums.
But times change. With disturbing parallels to the state pension, the age when you can relax and put your feet up is being nudged back – massaged by the wrinkle-free hands of a generation of celebrity midlifers. Sir Richard is just the front-runner. Close behind come Lenny Henry, 60, and Gregg Wallace (a mere 54), who have both shed many pounds recently. And then there is Noel Edmonds, 70, Mr Crinkley Bottom himself, who spent this year’s edition of I’m a Celebrity flaunting his fat-free torso in the jungle.
Why is this happening? One factor is the rise of age-group sport: as biking, running and Brazilian ju-jitsu offer sexagenarians their own competition brackets, there’s more incentive to keep limber enough to podium against one’s peers (the Ironman championships offer age divisions right up to 79).
“The popularity of CrossFit has helped drive interest in weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics and so on across older generations,” says trainer Sean Maloney. “I also don’t think you can discount the trend for consumers to focus more of their spending on experiences instead of material items.”
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com ...
good start on a farm, so there’s that
Mom hits 90 in May, never been sick - she attributes it to her mothers garden on the farm and Corn bread for lunch and dinner every day of her youth.
A daily dose of smoking and bacon killed my grandfather at 98
I guess it depends upon how you define “vigorous”...I consider my Pilates floor class vigorous...but many would not, but I have the body shape and blood work to prove it works. (Oh and some walking.) I used to run some, but now it just causes hip problems. I hate swimming...and biking...and avoid the elliptical, too. But, I could probably put myself up against my 30 year old grand daughter in a foot race and maybe win. (And MANY other women of all ages.)
I guess it depends upon how you define “vigorous”...I consider my Pilates floor class vigorous...but many would not, but I have the body shape and blood work to prove it works. (Oh and some walking.) I used to run some, but now it just causes hip problems. I hate swimming...and biking...and avoid the elliptical, too. But, I could probably put myself up against my 30 year old grand daughter in a foot race and maybe win. (And MANY other women of all ages.)
“Everyone is healthier and better with vigorous exercise and proper diet/sleep.”
Depends. George Sheehan noted his run times as he aged. As he got older, he had his best race times by running less frequently. As a teen, he could train twice a day. In his 70s, IIRC, he got his best times by running a couple times a week.
Injuries may also sculpt what your exercise program needs to look like. I’ve got friends in their 60s who can bike but not run. My knees prefer running to biking. And I remain convinced that walking 3-4 miles/day is a great exercise even though it is not “vigorous”. Much of the benefit of running with just a fraction of the potential for damage.
True! Exercise; eat less. Watch less sports; do more sports. Sitting is the new smoking. I’m working on triathlons for now (sprint distance). I’m 63. Go for it.. Life is short.
Live to 117? Me?
Nope
I believe in quality, not quantity.
I could spend the rest of my life eating cardboard and tofu.
I’d probably get very sick and die. (Hat tip to Rodney Dangerfield)
Sorry about the computer “burps”...don’t know what’s going on. PS...re health...currently halfway thru a 5 day PROLON fast...I’ve been a health freak for a long time.
One of my older best friends died 10 years ago at 62 — too much alcohol — cirrhosis. His mother outlived him. She died last year at 99. Every day she consumed a half dozen cigarettes and half bottle Jack Daniels. Told her doctor to go to hell. She outlived him too.
A younger best friend has a grandmother 101 years old. Every day she smokes and downs a lot of Kentucky Bourbon. She voted Democrat all her life until 2016. Then she voted the first time in her life for a Republican, Donald J. Trump.
I told my friend we need to get down to where his 101-year-old grandmother lives and video her talking about why she went against her whole life practice of voting for Democrats to vote for Trump. He told me the whole fam had done the same. They had always voted straight ticket Democrat until 2016 when they voted for Trump. I told “Yeah, but a video of a 101-year old grandmother telling her story would be an amazing testament, it would go viral, maybe even get Q’d or picked up by the President himself!”
Dad told me, “Jim if you are going to drink, drink the good stuff”. He passed last year in his 90’s. I am taking his advice.
You have a limited number of heart beats...use them sparingly.
Interesting stories. ..and yes video the 101 yr old!
Hopefully they didn’t vote for Obama
“Injuries may also sculpt what your exercise program needs to look like. I’ve got friends in their 60s who can bike but not run. My knees prefer running to biking. And I remain convinced that walking 3-4 miles/day is a great exercise even though it is not “vigorous”. Much of the benefit of running with just a fraction of the potential for damage.”
True
I have a knee that dictates bike, not walking or running.
Here’s what I mean by “vigorous”.
5xweek LISS (low intensity, steady state cardio at 60-65% of max) for 30 mins.
2xweek HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, cardio should hit 95% of max at least 3 times)
3xweek Weight train a different muscle group to failure (chest/triceps, biceps/back, legs/trunk).
For some folks that’s lame. I know when I was 30 I could do HIIT 5xweek.
Other folks think it’s far too much.
I just call it vigorous.
But weight training is essential.
Cardio only leave an older person with absolutely NO muscle mass and prone to injury picking up milk at the grocery store.
I’m convinced nobody over 50 should run. The impact destroys joints eventually.
Walk, bike, swim and do machines for cardio.
Pilates is good low intensity resistance training.
Weights are better. For women too.
It is a lot easier for a 60 year old person to have a fitness routine if the person is retired from work and has all day to rest and exert and rest and exert and on and on. I know of an MD who died at age 57. He had a jogging routine and had a chunk of plaque to break free from a blood vessel and go to his brain. Died. Yet he ate steak and bacon and dairy milk and lots of plaque accumulating foods. They have got tests to look for plaque in the blood vessels. He figgered he could just jog it off.
“as a population that thin people in their 60’s are remarkable”
I am not thin by any means.
I am 5’8”, 180lbs with relatively low body fat.
...Barack Omaba...
...is a scrawny pipsqueek who smokes.
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