foreverfitness.info

If we are interested in optimal health, we may wistfully hope for a return to a time when we were optimally healthy. This generally suggests a return to high school or undergraduate age. That is our modern day "Fountain of Youth" dream, which is easily corroborated by asking anyone about how it was "back in the day". 

"The day", for most of us, is well before thirty, because when we turned that age or close to it, something had happened. Most of us still remember this as the time  when our mirror image changed for the worse. We looked as if we had slowed down. We had picked up a few extra pounds. The glow seemed to have faded; we had gotten to look sad. In short, we had aged. What caused these changes? 

Most of us believe that it was due to the passage of birthdays. That is something which just  happened, something which we could do nothing about. Time slipped by and we became painfully aware that next year at the same time would make us one year older still. The conclusion then was, and still is, that accumulation of these anniversaries caused, and will continue to cause, the body to keep slowing down, until it ultimately stops. How sad; how depressing. But, how ultimately real, or so it seems.

That is supposedly little more than grown-up common sense about life. It does not last forever..But is this really the whole truth? Or, is there another way of thinking about our aging? What would happen if instead of only asking how many birthdays we have celebrated, we asked how much we are living today like we did back "in the day?" 

Possibly we were out  for sports  back in our late-teens and early twenties. Indeed this is more typical when back in high school, but many of us ran during our study breaks when in college. And, some of us were still on training table diets through these golden years. Further, some of us even  stayed on the supplements we got from our high school coaches. .As a result we looked and felt great. Yet, most would still insist that it was not because of any of this. Instead, we would argue, it was due to the simple fact that we were not yet "thirty-something."

It is hard for people who have not had sports experiences to relate to anything other than the standard "passage of birthdays theory" for human aging. It may even be difficult for those who have had these experiences because they believe it is impossible to live as if you are out for sports when you are too old to do so. That is, after "thirty-something." 

But is that really true? If so, then there must be some magic age at which one is too old to : 1.) walk for an hour a day or swim a mile; 2.)  eat a training table diet; 3.)  swallow an intelligently put together battery of vitamins and herbs; Does any of that seem right, necessarily?

To date there are no studies proving that regular exercise, proper diet, adequate supplementation  can indeed turn back the clock-- make one biologically younger. In other words, there are no reputable university reports which conclude that most anyone committed to these activities will in fact return to a state similar to one experienced prior to the thirty-mark. 

Nevertheless, does it not stand to reason that dieting, supplementing and exercising over a six month to two year period of time should make some type of a difference? Of course, this presupposes that all of the bad habits such as alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking have long since been given up. But, assuming they have, does it not seem reasonable to suppose that being committed to a fitness lifestyle should cause some dramatic changes for the better? 

Clearly, the late Jack Lalanne has demonstrated that eighty years of staying at it makes one better with time.

How many of us who are not even close to ninety-six can do two hour a day Mr. America type workouts seven days a week? That is what he was doing through the end of his days.

The bottom line is this :  if you want to be the biological age of high school or college student again, then start acting like one, That is to say, ignore all of your friends who insist that you act your chronological age and start acting like you are out for sports-- just like you were "back in the day."  (Or, get into it for the first time in your life.)  Of course, some modification will be necessary if you have done nothing for the last thirty or more years; and caution is always best. Therefore, get a check up from your MD if you think you need to. But, starting in with the right things today really can make you younger, ie. trimmer, more alert, enthusiastic and positive six months from now, It has for others. So, why not for you? And, that is whether you start at forty or sixty-five. 



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