Aging Isn’t An Old Person Problem
Aging isn’t an old person problem. It’s a young person problem and the symptoms show up when we’re older. Ben Franklin said it well “Some people die at 30 and aren’t buried until 80.”
Here are 5 ways to combat the effects of aging now:
1. Lift weights
We lose about 4% of our muscle mass and 10% of our strength every decade starting at age 30 if we’re untrained. People with low muscle mass & function are 12.3 times more likely to lose their independence with age. If you’re not lifting, you’re losing.
2. Train explosively
The Hazard Ratio for a hip fracture after age 60 is 2.78 (2.78 times more likely to die in the year following). For reference, the Hazard Ratio for smoking is 2.0 & End-Stage Renal Disease is 2.76.
95% of all hip fractures come from falling.
Muscle power is the best prevention for accidental falls. We lose power at nearly twice the rate we lose strength after age 40. Our nervous system degrades faster than our muscle mass. We often train like an athlete until we’re 18 or 22 & never move athletically again. Peak muscle power is far more predictive of independence with age than strength or aerobic capacity.
3. Do your dang cardio
50% of all people’s first symptom of a cardiac event is sudden death. Improving heart health is the primary benefit of cardio & all forms have their place. Cardio adds years to your life. Strength & power training adds life to your years.
4. Walk more
For every 1000 additional steps per day (above 3200), you decrease all-cause mortality by 15%. This levels out at about 15k steps, but there is nothing that you can do right this second to have a bigger impact on your health than walk. In fact, go now. I’ll wait.
5. Lose body fat (if needed)
People with higher-than-healthy levels of body fat have up to a 3 times higher risk for all-cause mortality than those in healthy ranges. We can decrease our mortality risk, independent of body composition, through other healthy habits, but reducing our excess body fat (usually by improving nutrition) only improves our longevity.
Most of the information on the internet surrounding health & fitness focuses on body composition (including mine). And there’s nothing wrong with that. But, dang, there’s more to it than just losing weight. I want to walk my daughter down the aisle. I want to play with my grandkids. I want to drink a margarita with my sons, have them come home for Christmas, and grow old with my wife. I want all of it. And it starts now. There’s a famous Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or like we’re behind the 8-ball here (it’s like those “invest early” infographics with Smart Sally & Dumb Dan where Sally started investing in a Roth IRA in the womb and now she’s a gagillionare and Dan lives in a box on the street - or something like that).
But the only thing to do is to get started. Today. Not Monday. Not after Memorial Day. Right freaking now. Go walk. Eat a salad. Hit the gym. Just do something. Anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it won’t be. But imperfect action trumps perfect inaction 100% of the time. So let’s get moving.
If you want to learn more about how to build a strength training program, how to train for power at any age, and the benefits of cardio training or walking, I have podcast episodes about each of them.
