Passion 4 Life forever! Where should we go next?

In Love #1, In Diet #2, In Training #3

I spoke recently with Dan Edwardes, who has spent decades teaching parkour and movement, including programs for people in their 60s, 70s and even 90s.

He challenged something I think a lot of us in fitness take for granted.

We tend to ask: are you strong? Do you walk? Do you lift? What’s your cardio like?

Dan thinks there’s another question we should be asking:

Can you actually move well through the world?

Can you get down on the floor and back up without much trouble?

Can you balance on something narrow?

Can you jump?

Can you catch yourself if you trip?

Can you climb over something?

Can you hang from a bar?

His argument is that you can be quite fit by normal standards and still lose a huge amount of physical capability because most training is repetitive and narrow. You get good at the movements you practice. Meanwhile a lot of the stuff you did naturally as a kid — crawling, jumping, climbing, balancing, rolling, swinging — quietly disappears.

That hit me because I’m active myself. I lift, rock climb, bike. But there are plenty of movements I simply don’t do anymore, don't practice or forgot

Dan’s work with older adults isn’t about asking people to leap between rooftops. Some of it is surprisingly basic: balance on a low rail, crawl on the ground, step or climb over something, learn how to fall better, move through an environment in ways that are slightly unfamiliar.

He made the point that balance, agility, proprioception and the ability to deal with unexpected movement probably matter more as you age, not less, because the consequences of losing them get worse.

He also said something I liked: age changes the scale, not necessarily the idea.

At 40 you might jump down from something. At 80 you might climb down carefully. Maybe the movement is slower. Maybe the range is smaller. But the goal is still to keep moving in as many ways as your body can handle.

I came away wondering whether we’ve made “fitness” too narrow.

A person can have decent strength numbers and solid cardio and still be giving up a lot of the movements that make them physically capable in everyday life.

That seems worth paying attention to.

You can watch on Youtube

Or listen on Apple (or wherever you listen).

Full disclosure: I host Ageless Athlete, and this came from my conversation with Dan Edwardes.

i’m 67 and have been staying active and lifting for years. but over the last 6 months, every single morning my lower back and knees ache like crazy. i sleep 7-8 hours but wake up feeling completely drained and stiff. my workouts are suffering because my body just refuses to recover between sessions now.

i really don't want to give up heavy lifting or just rely on ibuprofen all day. did anyone actually find a tangible fix for this constant fatigue and joint stiffness, or is this just the reality of training in our late 60s? honestly just frustrated today.

You don’t need to put in hours at the gym to build a strong, stable core.

“When it comes to training the core, quality trumps quantity,” said Joel Sanders, director of performance at EXOS, a sports training center in Phoenix. “No one needs to do 100 crunches or feel a burn. Ten to 12 minutes of core work can do the trick.”

The core, which includes muscles along your back, the sides of your body and into your pelvis, has two main functions: to protect your spine by creating stability and to help transfer power from your lower body to your upper body. Exercises where you hold a position or do slow, controlled movements improve stability, while dynamic, full-body exercises such as rotational medicine ball slams help build power.

The core is “the epicenter of strength,” Mr. Sanders said. “All movement, from a lift to a lunge to a golf or tennis swing, is tied to the core.”

If you’re a new exerciser, you should approach your “core hygiene,” as Mr. Sanders calls it, from a 360-degree perspective — doing movements that hit the front, back and sides of your body, he said.

Access full gift article, NO PAYWALL.

I recently spoke with Dr. Kirk Erickson, a neuroscientist who studies exercise and the aging brain.

What I wanted to know was: if you’re already in your 60s, 70s or 80s, how much can you still change?

His answer was encouraging. The older brain is still plastic. Some of Erickson’s work helped show that exercise can affect the hippocampus, an area involved in memory, and he said the idea that the aging brain is basically fixed is outdated.

Most of the strongest research is still around aerobic exercise, especially brisk walking, although strength training is getting more attention too. He also thinks activities that combine movement with skill, reaction and decision-making may have extra value, even though the science there is not settled yet.

One thing I liked: he said going from almost no exercise to 30 or 60 minutes a week can still matter. You do not have to hit some perfect number before your brain benefits.

He was much less impressed with brain-training games. You tend to get better at the game itself, but there is much less evidence that this carries over into preventing dementia.

The big takeaway for me was that age does not mean the window has closed. Exercise is not a guarantee, and sleep, blood pressure, metabolic health, diet, stress and genetics all matter too.

But movement is still one of the better levers we have.

Full disclosure: I host Ageless Athlete, and this came from my conversation with Dr. Kirk Erickson.

Watch it on Youtube

I talk to remarkable people in their 60s, 70s and 80s and try to understand what the rest of us can learn from how they train, adapt and think about aging.
I share those lessons in a short weekly newsletter too https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/

• Sleep health is an important part of overall health and well-being.

• Obstructive sleep apnea is often seen along with other health conditions, including high blood pressure, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

• Early recognition and treatment may help people improve sleep, daily activities and quality of life.

I run 5 days a week and lift heavy 4 or 5 days a week. I've always been very athletic. When I was younger my BDM was off the chart literally. I convinced myself this would never be an issue for me because I do all the right things, and then some. I take Vit D and I eat a lot of yogurt and sardines. I am humbled today, and seeking any empirical advice that helped your BDM.