When we age, we notice that several different things seem to “happen” as the years go by. When you think about how you can lead the best life possible for you, it is important that you are able to deal with each of these aspects of aging in the most constructive manner possible. It helps to understand what you can do to deal with each of these conditions, and what the implications are for your overall good health.

First of all, you calendar age will always be whatever it is. We all age one day every day, and one year every year, etc. This is the reality of all living things. However, by being physically healthy and vibrant, we can enjoy our lives to the fullest as we go through our lives. “Anti-aging” means keeping your body and mind in the best condition possible for as long as you can.

There are four major dimensions of aging that impact all of us. They are:
• Basic Health: bodily functions, heart and circulation, structural integrity, etc.
• Physical appearance: skin, shape, hair, etc.
• Physical viability: strength, agility, physical reserve, flexibility, balance, etc.
• Mindset: living vs existing, depression, creative life vs survival

These dimensions of your well being are all interrelated. If you maintain good general health, your appearance will be better, your mindset will be better and your overall viability will be adequate. If you are in very poor physical health, the chances are that you won’t look very good, and your mindset and physical viability will be poor.

Let’s take a look at how each of these dimensions are impacted as you age, and what you can do to enhance your chances for optimizing each of them.

There is nothing that will reverse aging. But, there are things that can be done in each of the areas where aging occurs. The object should be to build as sound and healthy a body as possible. A good strategy for building a body that is both functional and attractive is to work on all the different aspects of health to get the best result. Relying on one or two approaches to countering age related effects will yield modest or minimal results. Working on all four areas will produce the maximum benefit possible.

Basic Physical Health

Most people equate being “healthy” with having no major physical problems. As long as they can “get around” and do what they habitually do, that seems to be good enough. The problem is that in the physical world, bodies deteriorate unless they are properly maintained. Many people are simply not motivated to do the most elementary forms of proper maintenance. Thus, they are overweight, have high blood pressure, limited cardiovascular function, little physical strength and many chronic limitations.

One response is to use prescription drugs to manage the symptoms of deterioration. Medication can mask chronic pain, help lower blood pressure and/or cholesterol, stimulate heart function, etc. Unfortunately, the use of drugs to counter the effects of deteriorated basic physical health allows the person to continue living, but does not restore the lost function to the level it was before deteriorating.

It is inevitable that as we age, we are likely to need more visits to the doctor than we did as teen agers. However, many people age far more rapidly than they need to because they pay so little attention to properly caring for their basic physical health. The doctor can help you when you are sick or injured, but doctors can’t perform miracles with bodies that are totally degenerated by lack of proper care.

If you want to have a long and active “senior adult” life, it is imperative that you keep your body fat at a proper level (low), eat properly (caloric intake and nutrients), and maintain yourself through regular exercise. If you don’t do those things, the doctor can’t do much to slow the degeneration process.

Physical Appearance

As we age, our skin, hair and physical shape may change dramatically. The most common response to these changes is to buy products that will regenerate the skin, or use cosmetics to cover outward blemishes. Cosmetic surgery is often used to alter the appearance of both the face and body.

Relying exclusively on make-up and plastic surgery is a strategy that will slow degeneration, but will be relatively ineffective if used as an exclusive tactic. There are clearly a few (very few) products that can help regenerate aging skin. Cosmetic surgery can remove unwanted tissue, but do nothing to build an attractive body underneath the skin.

The greatest impact on physical appearance comes from shedding unwanted fat, and getting into good physical condition. Cosmetics can dramatically improve how you may look (until they wash off), but you don’t want to have “great skin” and a “train wreck” body. As noted, there are some cosmetic products that can help restore skin and hair, but to get the most out of them, it is essential to build the body to go with the face.

Physical Viability

One of the biggest problems in getting older is the loss of the ability to do a full range of physical activities. People become restricted in what they can lift, how far they can walk, how hard it is to breathe, climbing stairs, their overall energy levels, and so forth. Muscles become atrophied, bone structures become distorted, and life can become a constant struggle to deal with chronic pain, get from place to place, and carry on routine daily activities.

If there is one place where the doctor cannot do anything to help slow down the effects of aging, it is in the area of physical viability. Despite what many people appear to hope (believe), taking pills or supplements will do nothing to impact the essential components of physical viability:
• Physical strength
• Cardiovascular capacity
• Balance and coordination
• Flexibility
These capabilities can only be achieved through a structured program of regular exercise. Doctors can offer temporary relief from pain, but cannot provide medications that will turn someone from a physical blob to a superman.

Combined with proper diet, a regular exercise program will dramatically impact an individual’s basic physical health, as well as their appearance, and their overall physical viability. The synergistic effect of “getting in shape” cannot be over emphasized.

Mindset

The mind and the body are intimately connected. The impact of a person’s mental outlook on how rapidly they age cannot be understated. The literature on the positive and negative impacts of mindset is vast. Mental outlook is absolutely critical to having the best life you can possibly lead. This discussion alone is worth several books, but here are a few high points.

First of all, a positive mindset can have a huge impact on overall health, physical appearance, and the capacity to build physical viability. Being positive need not mean being unrealistic, but it does provide a strong support for doing the things that are good for a person’s health, and avoiding the things that are bad.

Conversely, a negative mindset can be very corrosive when it comes to building a healthy body. Negativity can prevent people from taking the steps needed to build their health. It can also lead to depression, despair and social isolation. All of these things have a big negative effect on building a physically viable body.

The positive synergy between a “can do” mindset building a more viable and attractive body is huge. I’m not talking about false beliefs about possible outcomes. The key is that a positive mindset promotes enthusiasm, focus and discipline. All of these are essential to succeed in doing something that requires work and determination. A positive mindset is also essential to seeing life as an opportunity to grow and thrive, not merely survive.

There are literally reams of material that can help you transform your mindset so that it supports a joy of living rather than merely surviving. Keeping a positive attitude is one of the biggest single things that will help you make the most of your senior years. I have several resources listed on this site. You can click on the tab and check them out.

Conclusion

From the very brief discussion of the four aspects of aging, it should be evident that if you are serious about developing a program to maximize your chances of thriving during your adult senior years, you need to focus attention on all four areas discussed above. Most people tend to focus on one or two at most, usually appearance or medications for basic physical health. You will obtain the greatest effect if you recognize that all four are critical to your long term success.

If you take good care of all aspects of your body’s health and you will be rewarded many times over. As singer Jody Messina says “you only get one ride around the sun”. Let’s make the most of it.

Get Going

You can get rolling on having a better life, and beginning the practices that will help you be the very best you can be by checking out the book A Guide to Getting Younger After 60. In that volume, you will find a treasure trove of information you need to get yourself going in the right direction. Check the tab on this page, and find out more about how you can create a great body and the life that goes with it.

Enjoy the Journey!

Richard

If you suffer from even occasional back pain, here are five tips you can use that may give you relief. Back pain is usually associated with multiple causes. Here are some tips on things in your daily life that may be causing constant aggravation to your back.

If you have any or all of these problems, your back pain will continue even if you get treatments. The reason is, all of the problems noted below can constantly aggravate your condition even though you may be taking pain killers or getting other therapy. For any treatment to work, you have to deal with any source of constant aggravation.

1. Your mattress may be worn out. If you get up in the morning with a sore back, or a sore neck, you should look at how your mattress is supporting you during sleep. If the mattress or springs is sagging in the middle, it can put all kinds of unwanted stresses on your back. Sleeping in a position that puts extra stress on your back and neck can produce a lot of pain and stiffness. Some things you can do if your mattress does not support you well:

• See if rotating your mattress will give you a better sleeping surface. Flip it over, or simply rotate the mattress so that you are sleeping on a part that has not been used as much.
• Check to see if your inner springs are sagging and not giving you proper support. If this is the case, you can try rotating them.
• Go to a mattress store and check out new good sleeping surfaces. This will give you an idea of what you might have to do about either replacing your old mattress.

2. Check how your shoes are wearing down on the heels. Very often our shoes are the cause of back pain because our shoes wear in such a way that we don’t walk with proper alignment. Check the heels of your shoes to see if they are wearing down unevenly. This causes the alignment of your foot, knee and leg bones to be distorted. Bad alignment can lead to back pain.

3. Other shoe wear problems may be causing you pain. Check your shoes to see if the arch support is in good shape. Poor arch support can cause all manner of problems. Any sign that you are not walking evenly on both feet will be an indication that you are probably aggravating your back as well as your feet and legs. Shoes that don’t properly support you should be thrown out. All they are doing is hurting you.

4. Check the seat of your car to insure proper back support. Many older car seats do not provide decent support for the lower back. Poorly designed car seats can create constant pressure on the lower spine. Inevitably this will lead to problems. To correct this problem, you can use a folded towel or seat insert that will give you better support.

If you work in an office, you should check on the support provided by the chair you sit in all day. Most modern office chairs provide decent support for the lower back. It is always a good idea to move around regularly when sitting all day. It is also a good idea to try and sit with a straight spine (military posture) and not slump. Good posture while sitting will help keep you from putting unneeded strain on your lower back.

5. If you are overweight, you are placing a huge amount of extra stress on your feet, joints and spine. Being overweight is a problem that multiplies other health problems you may experience. Your own skeletal structure is built to carry a certain amount of weight, and additional weight may distort how you walk, lift and move. Because of this, people who have obesity problems, also have back problems. If you lose weight, you may find that the back problems diminish or go away entirely.

These are simple tips that you should consider if you have chronic back problems. One or all may apply to you.

If you have back problems or any sort, I cannot urge you strongly enough to order the free book available from Jesse Cannone called The 7 Day Back Pain Cure. You can order this book in the box on the right of this article. The price is FREE, and the value to you may be priceless. You will learn how to deal with a whole range of back issues, and find relief for your own particular problem.

Best of luck, and here’s hoping you can quickly rid yourself of back pain.

Richard

As I write this, it is early morning on New Years Day. A lot of you are still asleep, and some are just waking up and getting started on 2012. Millions of people will make resolutions to do things this year that are both good for them….and very hard to stay with. I’m going to make a few resolutions that can help you do the right thing, AND stay with your good habits.

One of the most important things I’m going to do is level with you about what it takes to build a strong healthy body that will be fun to live in for many more years. If you waste your time and money on things that will do little or nothing for you, all you will accomplish in 2012 is to get another year older.

Building a stronger and more healthy body really come about ONLY through proper eating and exercise. You have heard this before….but millions of people continue to believe that they can take a few pills (or a lot of pills) and some injections, and poof…they will drop years off their body. This is strictly pixy dust….

There are a huge number of scams out there that do a good job of selling you a day dream. The problem is that we all want to believe that a significant transformation can be achieved with little work….so that we can go on about our lives with none of our routines interrupted. We also want magic transformatons to occur without any pain. That is why pills and potions are so attractive.

With almost 80 million of us in the “boomer” generation, there is a huge market for almost anything that promises to help us regain some of our physical vitality. Unfortunately, an old saying applies here: “if it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true…”

There are a few things that can make a major difference in your life, but they don’t come without effort, and are not always easy to stick with. But…the good news is that these practices will actually do good things for you….not just raise your hopes, take your money, and leave you worse off than you were before.

My resolution for you is that if you follow this blog, I’ll tell you about a lot of things that can really improve your life without sticking it to your wallet. You can take decades off your body….but it will take resolve, focus, and discipline to do. I’ll tell you how to spot fake products, how to assess things that might actually be good for you, and tell you about things I have tried and researched. In short, I’ll do my best to help you make the right choices for you.

I’ll have things for sale on this site. If you buy them….great. If you don’t buy them but use the free advice to help you build a better life for you that is fantastic! Like singer Jodee Messina says, we all just get one “ride around the sun”. Let’s all make the most of it. I’ll do my best to help you make the most of your ride.

Richard
7:45 AM on New Years Day

Perhaps you have seen fitenss programs that are based on “interval training” principles. That is, you will do some exercise very intensely for a specified period of time, or distance, then reduce effort so that you can recover before doing the next burst of high intensity. You may have wondered whether this approach was “revolutionary” or a “the next great thing”.

Actually, interval training is an old idea that still has great value. It has been around since the 1930’s and is a tried, tested and effective system for developing speed, endurance and overall athletic performance. Today it is widely used in training athletes at all skill levels and many different sports.

Interval training was invented by the German Olympic track team coaches to train their athletes for the 1936 Olympic Games. The basic approach was to run a certain distance at a specific level of effort (or time), and then immediately slow down and run another distance at a very slow pace to recover. This would be followed by another burst of training at high intensity, followed by a recovery. These “intervals” of high exertion followed by specified periods of recovery were quickly adopted by other track coaches.

The appeal of interval training was that it gave a clear structure to a workout, and could easily be carried out by a person training on their own. It also helps athletes quickly get to a decent level of conditioning. In the 1950’s a book called Track and Field Athletics by Bresnahan and Tuttle became the bible for coaching track and field. Intervals for each track event were carefully detailed. In the 1960’s significant refinements were made for sprints and distance runners. Bill Bowerman used intervals to train great distance runners. Peyton Jordan devised training tables for sprinters to enhance their speed. Today practially every track coach in the US and Europe teaches some form interval training. Since the early 1960’s coaches in other sports have been using interval training methods as well.

Fitness program for the general public that are based on interval training techniques have a particular appeal in that beginners can initially do short relatively intense training sessions, and see some immediate benefits. People in better conditon also can benefit from interval training because it can help them move beyond their present plateaus. In short, interval training can be of great benefit for anyone who wants to get fit or improve their performance.

The main disadvantage of interval training is that it is easy to train excessively, and even the experienced athlete can break down. For beginners, the periods of intense exertion can be overdone, and injuries come as a result. For most people, this is not a significant problem. However, the chance of injury or overtaining is something that everyone should keep in the back of their mind. Your best defense is to use good sense about how hard and how fast you can train.

I emphasize using various forms of interval training in all my cardio programs. There are a huge number of variations that can produce significant benefit for people at all levels of fitness. The approach I use involves having each individual work at a subjective level of effort. For example, I’ll tell you to run at “70% effort for 10 seconds”. Each person will define “70% effort” according to their own standard. This allows people at very different fitness levels to benefit from the same guidance. Expending this effort for a specific time means that no one has to worry about the distance they actually run (or swim, etc.).

The cool thing about self paced intervals is that they can be used by seniors as well as people in their 20’s. You put out “70%” based on your own capacity. The training effect is that you continue to build up your capcity, and regardless of age, make improvements in your health and fitness.

There are a huge number of variations that can be applied to interval training and all of them can benefit your fitness. I have used interval training ideas in the weight room, in the pool, when cycling, and literally in any type of effort where you can alternate bursts of effort with short periods of recovery. Interval training was developed 75 years ago, but continues to benefit people training today.

Richard

Most weight loss programs start by putting you on a very restricted diet. To drop “weight” you stay on the calorie restricted diet until you have reached your “goal weight”. In this article I want to suggest a different way for you to lose fat, and get in good physical condition. Most importantly, this approach may be far more effective in helping you keep the fat off once you have reached your goal.

First of all, when we talk about “weght loss” we mean “FAT loss”. The goal of any nutrition and training program is to reduce the amount of body fat. Simply dropping “weight” is not a very good indicator of much since: 1) it is easy to burn off muscle; and 2) simply reducing your weight may be a good idea, but you need to have a healthy body mass to be able to look good and do what you want.

Most “weight loss” programs begin by introducing a very restricted diet, and a few will have you do some exercise. A few programs begin with extreme calorie restriction and have you avoid any physical training for a month or so. In both cases, you will lose “weight”, but a huge portion of it will be muscle. This approach can undercut your long term success in a couple of ways.

First, your muscle requires a lot more calories to sustain than your fat. If you add muscular body weight your base metabolism will go up to support the added muscle. If you lose muscle mass, you will need far fewer calories to support your body than if you had the same weight in muscle.

Second, to lose fat, you have to increase your activity level. This means physical training. Less muscle on your body means you can’t train as hard as you could if you had more muscle. Thus, your fat loss is slowed because you can’t train very hard.

You should be aware that any program involving caloric restriction will result in the loss of some muscle mass. Any competitive body builder, wrestler or athlete who competes in weight divisions will tell you this. The trick is to minimize the loss of muscle mass while you are burning fat.

The “new” approach to losing fat that I’m going to suggest to you essentially of reverses the conventional approach to “weight loss”. What I suggest you consider, particularly if you have been well conditoned in the past, is to begin your fat loss program by building your muscular body weight first. After you have built up your strength, you can begin to restrict your calories in order to burn off the fat. The advantage of this is:

1) You will have a strong muscular system that will allow you to train much with much more intensity than if you start out in a relatively weak condition.

2) You will build muscle mass that will burn more calories than a comperable amount of fat.

3) You will develop some disciplene doing physical training. You will begin to value your fitness, and introducing calorie restriction into your program may be easier as a consequence.

In short, the “new approach” to fat loss is to begin by emphasizing weight training and build up your muscle mass. When you start training, you should eliminate the “junk” portion of your diet (particularly sugar), but at the beginning, you will not focus on dramatically reducing your calories. Your first task is to build strength and flexibility. When you have been on a strength building program for two to three months, you can then begin cutting your calories.

When you build muscle, you may find that your scale weight acatully goes up….even though your size goes down. Muscle is much more compact than fat, and you will often be shocked to find that it may look like you dropped 20 pounds when your actual “weight loss” may be 5 pounds. The message is that you should be much more concerned with your percentage of body fat than simply focused on your “weight”.

If you want to find a solid weight training program to begin your strength training, I suggest that you check out my book A Guide to Getting Younger After 60. I have included six months of weight training work outs in this book that you can use to build up your muscle, and begin getting in excellent physical shape. Check the tab at the top of this page.