About two months ago I had my annual physical, a thing I have come to hate mostly because it is a waste of time. The theory behind getting a physical every year is that it may catch some terrible disease you have before it gets to the point where they tell you to get your affairs in order. The belief is that if they catch it early, they have a better chance of curing it. At the extremes this is obviously true, but in the main it is one of the many myths that keeps the system awash in your cash.
This time I learned, to the immense joy of the staff, that my blood pressure was out of whack and my cholesterol was getting high. The reason for the cheering and celebrating was that it meant pills. I would need pills, lots and lots of pills. This is the best of times at a doctor’s office. The average American now takes four different prescription medicines. Humans made it into the 20th century with no pills, but we left the 20th century addicted to them.
Instead of giving my future over to the pharmaceutical companies, I decided to take a hard look at my lifestyle. I have always been someone who has more on the schedule than time permits. This not only means plenty of stress, but it also means I often stay up late getting things done. Lack of proper rest is probably the worst thing you can do to yourself as you get old. Of course, being overly busy means not eating properly and not exercising on a regular basis.
It did not require an intervention to know that I had allowed by schedule to take over my life, so the trip to the doctor was more of an excuse to reorganize things than a “come to Jesus” wake up call. The last year has brought a lot of changes and one of them was seeing the numbers on the scale get bigger every week. The late middle-age life reorganization has been in the back of my mind for a while now, so the trip to the doctor was an excuse to finally get serious about things.
One of the first things I decided to do was cut out alcohol. This is not a big deal as I have often cut out booze to lose weight. For me, losing weight has always meant cutting carbs and beer is nothing but carbs. Even though drinking lowers your blood pressure initially, regular drinking tends to drive up your blood pressure. It can also drive up your cholesterol, which was the other issue from my physical. I need to lose weight anyway, so dropping alcohol was the obvious first move.
Something I never thought about until now was that in the past when I cut beer from the diet was that it was situational. I would stop having a beer with dinner or on weekends, but if I had a social engagement I would go ahead and have a beer. The point was to cut out the calories that come with beer, not cut out the beer. This time the plan was to cut out beer entirely, which meant no beer at social events. I did not realize it, but I was going to be that guy at the party.
That guy, of course, is the person at just about every social event who has to tell people that he is not drinking. This usually happens a few times before his last name turns into “who is not drinking.” I have become that guy. Worse yet, I have had to explain the blood pressure business a million times now. In retrospect, I should have made up a story about how the terms of my parole prohibit drinking. At least people would not feel the need to look like they are interested in the answer.
The other part of the diet and exercise plan is obviously exercise. I used to lift weights regularly and cycle, but nagging injuries got me out of the habit. Before heading back down those roads, I decided to research the topic a bit. I am not a kid anymore and we are awash in aging baby boomers. I assumed that there was a mountain of information on the best exercise for old people. I was surprised to learn that it is pretty much the same stuff they have been peddling for years.
Odder still, the fitness rackets are not aiming at the geezer demographic. This seems like a logical market if you are selling exercise plans or gym memberships. Imagine a gym that caters to old people. You have to be an AARP member to join. That way the old people do not have to see those young and fit people while they are pretending that age is just a number. Maybe there is a local chain working this demo, but it looks like the fitness rackets are still aiming for the young and fit.
I wonder if the issue is not cultural. Marketing fitness to old people means telling them that they are old, and that age is more than a number. Baby boomers are not going to react positively to being told that they are as old as feel. This is one of the consequences of youth culture. Everyone has to lie to themselves about getting old, which means everyone with something to sell to old people lies to old people about the undeniable reality of getting old.
The one exception to this is the weightlifters. There are lots of old guys with YouTube channels talking about their weight training. The reason is this is the one thing you can do until you die. It turns out that strength training is probably the one thing old people can do to hold off father time. The man with the world’s strongest grip is a 73-year-old Norwegian dude named Magnus, of course. Here is a great video of him explaining what he does to remain strong into old age.
None of this matters as the Grim Reaper is undefeated. The best you can hope to do with regards to your health is to take Father time into the late rounds and remain as fit as possible to the end. My clash with the sphygmomanometer was nothing more than a reminder that I have a choice. I can make the best of the time I have, or I can just mark time like a prisoner in an aging body. It also means that life is for living, so have a beer on me over the long holiday weekend.
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I am turning 70 this month and had to quit drinking 3 years ago to get back to a good BMI and make my blood pressure healthy. I started letting things go at 60. I still exercise: weights, cycling, swimming and hiking. However, I have to do things differently than when younger. I warm up now and stretch before and after. Most men are worried that if they stretch other men will think that they want anal sex and are a bottom. They may sneak in one stretch but that is all. I find now my body wants to stretch… Read more »
Posting this late because have been very busy.
Yes lifting is the best thing. I’m 62 and have been doing barbell work for about seven years. Squatting 405 and dead lifting 455 and still getting stronger and never felt better.
Yes there are serious gyms focussed on this demograpic:
https://www.greysteel.org
Note the site links also to Dr Sullivan’s wonderful, witty book.
Enuf said.
As it said in a great South Park episode, I don’t believe than complete alcohol ban is a good thing. I’m afraid you’ll get obsessed with beer through the time.
One of the key point, outside good food than few think about is sleeping time. A frightenous amount of people don’t get their eight hours. They claim they “don’t have time” but lie to themselves. In reality, they choose other priorities. Literally no one “needs” to be active 16 hours a day.
I’m off alcohol for now – never did drink all that much, but am now taking meds for rheumatoid arthritis that make that not an option.
What I CAN drink, and are currently available at most bars, are the NA beers – not completely alcohol-free, but close enough for my needs. Many bars and beverage stores even have micro-brewed NA beers. Some of them very nice.
OT
Sat down for a snack and flipped on the TV.
The first thing to violate my senses was a commercial for…..San Francisco.
Interracial couple with mixed kids; check
Tranny entertainer; check
Cable cars going up and down Front Street; check.
Back to the yard work.
Ya know, one would think that Boo Boo doesn’t like his own kind, what with the honkey wives and all.
Also, there are multiple videos online of Front Street, and the wharf area, being a violent, dangerous ghost land.
The gaslighting is at epic proportions.
Z – man, pay attention to American Dr. Gundry’s advice on gut Health. He makes the most sense of all of this.
Where I live we still swear by one tried and true method of exercise: The Rocking Chair. You can set your own pace, it’s inexpensive, and you can rest your eyes while doing it or watch what interests you.
There are gyms that cater to old people. They’re usually affiliated with “senior centers”. Which tends to scare off people until they’re ~ 70. As few want to be thought of as an old person. Commercial gyms don’t cater to that demo because the semi-secret of the gym business model is selling memberships at a level that they cannot possibly accommodate. Their ideal customer joins the gym, goes once or twice then stops, but keeps paying the monthly fee out of habit or just to keep their option open. The people actually working out at the gym are really marketing… Read more »
It’s not the gym’s fault. For any form of genuine self improvement everyone shows up on day one with grand ideas of how wonderful the finish line will be. They imagine this goal will be achieved by oh, next Wednesday or so. They quickly discover that it takes hard work and years of painful sacrifice whereas you can play a video game to learn unstoppable ninja moves and get the princess in a day while literally twiddling your thumbs sitting on the couch within arms reach of soda and chips. Every gym would LIKE to retain more members and so… Read more »
Um, blow it out your ass, Oberführer. And don’t be such a First World Problems chauvinist. A lot of people have the potential to be much more than what they are, but it doesn’t work that way. If you have a family, you carry the cares of many people. Wives have problems, children have problems, eldering parents have problems, mortgages need to be paid. Silly as it sounds, some people actually feel a sense of obligation and they don’t just drop all that for a quixotic quest to climb the Himalayas. Sadly, some people even nurture a secret dream that… Read more »
What Gus Fring said..
And a man, a man provides. And he does it even when he’s not appreciated, or respected, or even loved. He simply bears up and he does it. Because he’s a man.
Looks like he touched a raw nerve…
Medicare Advantage has a cheap gym membership. Look up Silver & Fit. My gym has many seniors, lifting, on treadmills and bikes, even playing racquetball or squash. Your reps may vary.
going to crossfit saved my life. I’m certain I’d be overweight, depressed, on prescription drugs and likely out of work a long time ago without it. I did 5 rope climbs in class this week for example and deadlifted 355# on my 69th birthday (about 2x body weight). I’m able to hang out with people mostly younger people and I believe that my brain seeing younger people often and sometimes outworking them makes my brain think I’m their age which I believe is healthy. I can’t emphasize it enough how much I enjoy the classes and learning new and perfecting… Read more »
Moderation in all things. Including moderation.
– Oscar Wilde
Lotta these things are genetic, Z. My dad…who’s very fit – got diabeedus. My 63 year old brother (who still runs death races) got it too. I outweigh them both put together and don’t have the issue. No sign of blood pressure or cholesterol either. My father in law lived under the tyranny of cholesterol and blood pressure… and religiously exercised and dieted. Parkinson’s killed him off first of our parents. When your number’s up, it’s up. Tomorrow, your fellow jewish black accomplice – Cornelius Rye – could light you up with his 9mm. It’s the quality of the journey,… Read more »
Its not a question of dying or when, although you certainly stack whatever cards youve drawn in your favor by staying in shape.
Its about fulfilling your potential as a man and God’s creation by not being a sloppy sack of crap who people intuitively dont respect because he cant get up off the floor without groaning.
I think Brittney Spears said it best Money changes everything: https:/w w w .youtube. com/watch?v=pp4suZ4jNXg Ole’ miss Spears makes it clear as day She said I’m sorry baby I’m leaving you tonight Modern AINO relationship logic: “I found someone new he’s waitin’ in the car outside Ah honey how could you do it We swore each other everlasting love She said well yeah I know but when We did, there was one thing we weren’t Really thinking of and that’s money” Check! No doubt this logic is also embraced by the Lets Go Brandon fucks and the Juggalicious accolytes, so… Read more »
[sigh] At least Britney gets cyncial credit where due. We’ve deteriorated a long way since the 1970s when Tom Petty crooned that “she’s gonna listen to her heart.” Well maybe back then she did, but in today’s world all bets are on his money and his cocaine.
Zman, you should be applauded for your honesty. In all sincerity, despite the comments in your recent “Diet and Superstition” post, you should consider a keto-carnivore lifestyle. The point is not to pretend that it will make you live longer, but that it will contribute to maximum fitness while you’re alive. The testimonials about its effectiveness are endless. Countless people have ditched their medications and returned to normal blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, inflammation markers…you name it… on a carnivore diet. What we all love about you is your cynical, razor sharp wit, and the diet industry is just too juicy… Read more »
agreed 100%. I discovered plant material is toxic to my system.
On the other hand, plant material processed by a cow and served up medium rare does wonders for my system.
The most important advice for good health: “Choose your parents carefully”.
The best thing for your health at this point is finishing your book.
FWIW, Biden’s Alcohol Czar is pressing for two drinks a week maximum, enforced by no doubt CDBC. That is already the case in Canada, though they are not (yet) officially enforcing this. Reading through the lines he claims there is no reason at all for anyone to drink anything.
For some bizarre reason the Regime wants Prohibition 2.0 . I have no idea why.
As for cardio, try a rowing machine. Quite nice.
Whiskey: “For some bizarre reason the Regime wants Prohibition 2.0. I have no idea why.”
/SARCASM?!?
Obviously they need sober shabbos goyische True Believers to fight the Holy War in Khazaria, so as to drive the final stake into the heart of Mother Russia, and ki11 off the filthy old sh!ksa b!tch, once and for all.
Stoners, soy-boyz & tr@nnies need not apply.
Sober stone cold k!llerz are what they need.
What they require.
Prohibition 2.0 would instantly kick off 1776 2.0.
Rowing machines are nice, but a bit pricey and in need of space.
I’m a big fan of the $200-300 spinning bikes with the 35-45 lb flywheels on Amazon. Very simple to maintain, and easy to do a 20-30 minute interval workout daily with very little joint impact.
I’ve seen the same push by the NHS in Britain. They’re on the “social drinkers” case. I forget their term for these folk, but they’re the type that visit the local pub down the street and have a couple of beers with their friends. Do this 5 times a week and the beers add up they say. I’ve always considered the local bar a source of social intercourse for the neighborhood—and in that, a positive social good. When, I visited a long time ago England, I remember the pub’s and the general populace’s aversion to taking packaged liquor home, rather… Read more »
I’m 53, and took advantage of a lazy Friday today to run two laps on a local park dirt trail loop. About 8 miles total. Noticed the past few years I just needed to cut back the pace when running. I have a natural running cadence and have to actively concentrate on slowing down to avoid injury. Takes longer to heal, so not getting injured is important. I have a treadmill for the bad weather days, and dropped $20/mo on the iFIT app which basically has you running or walking along with a trainer who is outdoors and coaching you.… Read more »
Walking up the mountain is vastly better for you than walking down the mountain.
[Walking down an incline puts tremendous stress on your knees & your hips & your ankles & the small bones of your feet.]
If possible, the best situation would amount to walking up the mountain, but with a spare car awaiting to deliver you back down into the valley [so that the brakes on the cars are absorbing all the punishment from the gravity, rather than the ligaments & tendons in your knees absorbing the punishment].
True, but some of it is in how you run and the shoes. Really steep stuff I don’t run down anyways because it’s too hard to stay in control. But less steep is comfortable and let’s you work in foot turnover (shorter stride quicker turnover) which reduces impact stress. I ran down Peaks Trail near Breckenridge this morning. 10,300’ down to 9,000’ in Frisco over 3-3.5 miles. About -8%, pretty manageable. The other value is concentration. I’m running over rocks and roots making complete focus important. Losing focus usually means rolling an ankle or a bad fall. It’s good practice… Read more »
Hokkoda: “Sex is important, too. And not just for the exercise, but the human connection. We all get old and saggy and lumpy. Use it or lose it.” Since you seem to be the only fellow on this thread to have mentioned copulation [nobody else seems to be mentioning an aging gentleman’s licentious nor lascivious distractions], I’ma throw this one in right-chere: A billionaire businessman has bought Jeffrey Epstein’s private islands and wants to turn them into a 5-star luxury resort https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4179357/posts So here we have (((Jeffrey Epstein)))’s cousin, (((Stephen Deckoff))), purchasing the M0ss@d’s Shiksa Sex Slave Archipelago, for FIFTY… Read more »
My wife after 22 years and 7 kids still has the perfected rotund ass of an Olympic god. No cottage cheese. Sex is the most important tool for us to use as counter to the globo homo. Use it or loose it indeed. And Fuck MGTOW, armchair QB’s, Get in there and get it done! Remember the Jack Nicholson on women : Understanding Women 101 – As Good As It Gets (Jack Nicholson #SHORTS) Paste that and that’s all you need to know. My rotund assed wife blushes every time she sees that clip MGTOW is for fat looser males… Read more »
Looser males? As opposed to tighter males?
At least he didn’t spell it mails. One outta two ain’t bad these days.
We Hate Everyone: “My wife after 22 years and 7 kids still has the perfected rotund ass of an Olympic god.” A terrifying new study out of Italy just surfaced [Received: 29 April 2023, Accepted: 15 August 2023]; here’s a deep link to the PDF: https://tinyurl.com/2mnms283 It’s a small study; only 20 PureBlooded participants & 20 v@xxinated participants. The Takeaway: 1) The PureBlooded participants showed no signs whatsoever of any Spike Protein. 2) 50% of the v@xxinated participants continued to produce Spike Protein long after Spike Protein production was supposed to have ceased. 3) The authors fear that the Lipid… Read more »
Please post here more in the future. We could use the added touch of class.
How much @mmun!tion is st0ckpi1ed chez Ostei Kozelskii? 100 r0μnds? 500 r0μnds? 1000 r0μnds? 5000 r0μnds? 9-emm-emm? Forty Sm!th -n- We$$on? Five dot Fifty Six? Seven dot Sixty Two? 12 g@μge? This is existential sh!znat, bro. EXISTENTIAL. SH!ZNAT. What’s gonna be worst of all is the psychological disadvantage here. They know precisely what they want, and they’re being driven by an implacable biological imperative to seize [and deflower] what it is that they want. Whereas you’ll be saddled with a permanent defensive posture [which is a terrible place to be psychologically], unless & until you summon the g0n@ds necessary to… Read more »
Ostei Kozelskii, I hope it’s obvious that I’m speaking rhetorically here, although, in a worse case scenario, certainly the rhetoric would apply to all of us [or at least to all of us who would be trying to safe-harbor one or moar fertile PureBlooded White wombs]. I’m not trying to AMOG nor anything asinine like that; I’m just trying to paint a picture in gentlemen’s minds regarding what the “Sexual Marketplace” [the old “SMP” of Game Theory], what the SMP is gonna look like if some yuge portion of the demographic pie is barren, and only a very small sliver… Read more »
Well you fixed the god vs goddess thing that was bothering me, but you left out fort e5 A Sea P.
See-Zee has a whole mess of D@n Wess0ns in fort e5 A Sea P.
http://tinyurl.com/ydyhzdyz
And they’ve the Kodiak in 10 Emm Emm.
Unfortunately, the Kodiak costs about the same as a used car.
“An annual physical is useless”
“An annual physical convinced me to stop boozing and start exercising”
– one of these things is not like the other
I find that people are quite different as for what diet-lifestyle works for them, that is, those who are actually paying close attention. I tend to be a binger. Most people are not. Quit drinking in 1985 because drinking moderately would have been a chore but not drinking was fairly easy. Same thing with food but one cannot stop eating. Eventually I came to fasting, one day (really 36 hours) and eating immoderately for two. On fasting nights I sleep better, and shorter, so perhaps more effeciently, and am more alert on fasting days. I know people who are doing… Read more »
No podcast this week?
He’s taking a 2-week hiatus.
You’re going to have to cut back on your posting. I’ve been amazed you’ve kept it up this long. You know you can have the alcohol without the carbs. It’s called liquor, and I recommend bourbon.
Not a bad rec, although I’m parshul to rye. Also vodka-and-tonic, gin-and-tonic, martinis, Bloody Marias, and a personal invention called the G-Bomb, which is comprised of tequila, grapefruit juice, coconut liqueur, bitters and soda water.
A little different than these g-bombs.
https://oncologycharlotte.com/g-bombs-cancer-fighting-foods/
Uh, I’m partial to gin and tonics as well as vodka tonics and there are tons of calories in those.
Shut up, man. Just shut up. We’re coping with mortality here, ok?
I enjoy a very simple combo either before, or with, a meal, the Italian herbal aperitivo, Campari with orange juice. Campari is a bitter concoction, but is admirably complimented by the sweetness of orange juice; the proportions are 1/3, Campari to OJ, and I favor a drink in that proportion with 2 oz./6 oz. in a large snifter with lots of ice. Campari is not for the faint of heart however, but Aperol, another Italian bitter can be substituted which is a less challenging alternative for those not persuaded of the virtues of bitters. At liquor.com one can find various… Read more »
Vodka, soda and fresh lime is my drink now.
No carbs so it’s dieting whilst drinking.
The Covid lockdown and full-time remote work has been devastating. I never had to do much to retain and or regain a nice physique and feel healthy. I finally committed to developing an effective routine. I am using resistance bands and doing HIIT with them. On occasion I will slip in a muscle building workout, but the HIIT is doing wonders. In addition, I do a simple set of stretches morning, noon and evening: hams; hips; calves; back; neck. I do a ten minute meditation every morning. On days where I do it in the evening I feel even better.… Read more »
RR-
Well, you’re not the only one. I spend a fair amount of time wondering, “Why bother?” lately.
As far as community, I’ve never really found a place to fit in the USSA. Somehow, I felt most comfortable among the expats I encountered when I was living overseas.
That is precisely how They want you to feel, demoralized and powerless. Rx, Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
If youre 55 or under you should start a combat sport.
BJJ or Muy Thai are excellent workouts for your health, relatively low injury risk (unless youre dumb) and the secure knowledge that you could kill anyone in almost every room with your bare hands is a strangely reassuring feeling.
A small return to the warrior ethos of our proud European ancestors. Also if you have a kid and they’re playing football/soccer/baseball and NOT doing BJJ/Wrestling/Muy Thai/Boxing youre still mentally living in peak boomer america. We need a warrior generation.
BJJ low injury risk?! Hahaha. Yeah, unless you train w a bunch of fellow olds in a before work class. Everyone I’ve known that trained for more than a couple of years has had at least one major injury. I hung up the purple belt years ago and still have a couple of lingering niggles.
Also, no offense, but don’t overestimate your ability to handle yourself on the “street”. Nobody’s slapping hands and starting on their knees at the local diversity fest.
Ah the eternal internet purple belt… This is why more white guys need to actually train. Anyone who has really fought has smashed dozens of big tough guys and yes this very much includes blacks. Trained strong disciplined blacks who can actually fight, not liquor store jackals that threaten solitary women and throw arm punches at senior citizens. Having the real life bone deep knowledge that you can do this dispels the (((pop culture))) notion that other races are uniquely formidable. This an important step in rebuilding our self respect as a people. Two asides: Every sport has injuries, tons… Read more »
My father, who is 82, is in better shape than I am. When he goes out with the grandkids on hikes, they are always pleading with him to slow down. He exercises religiously and eats a diet of beans, rice, yogurt and chicken breast. And yet, when I call him on the phone, and ask how he is, he grumbles, “I’m still alive.” Every time. When Sean Connery lived till his late nineties and Warren Buffett is 93 or 94. My father will probably have at least a decade left in him but his natural pessimism is showing. One of… Read more »
Sean Connery is the man. If you have never seen his Barbara Walters/ Slapping a woman clip on Youtube, do yourself a favor and watch it.
Judging by your comments your father’s biggest failure was in raising his son.
Thank God there are some things you can always rely on. Like Bilejones always delivering the bile.
That blog is atrocious, and the daily spamming of this forum at the end of nearly incomprehensible posts has gotten old in just one week as well.
Bilejones with an appropriate wake up call.
My medical insurance covers an annual physical, so why not? That’s a separate question from accepting any meds the md may offer. Staying fit (or trying to regain fitness) at 50 has been a completely different ballgame from doing so at 40. Played in a different stadium. Located in a different country. I discovered that there are other reasons, besides simple laziness or gluttony, that you see so many out of shape late middle aged people. The baseline moved. What used to work doesn’t work anymore, or with much diminished efficacy. These days you’re a winner if you can just… Read more »
Maybe all the old guys I see arr genetic lottery winners but I dont see any older guys exercising strenuously regularly and not getting great results. I do see a lot eating pancakes and watching sportsball TALKING about how exercise doesnt work past 20
Don’t take a break! You might not make it back!
An interesting point. As one gets older, it’s harder to improve and easier to lose all gains. You can never quit—or else.
Here’s some advice from a geezer in the mid-seventies: Get into the habit of regular fasting. It’s the best thing for controlling your weight and lowering blood cholesterol. Don’t whimp out. Get up in the morning and don’t eat a thing until the following morning. No whining. After a while, you’ll like it. Exercise! Walk at least ten miles a week. Lift weights and do it PROPERLY. You don’t need to show anyone how strong you are. Technique is everything. Swimming is the best exercise for old folks and you don’t have to worry about injuring yourself. Again, do it… Read more »
Forgot one important thing: SLEEP. Get nine hours daily…at a minimum.
I couldn’t sleep 9 hours if my life depended on it.
Same here. And I don’t need to. If I get 6:45, I’m right as rain. Anything beyond that is gravy.
Nine is on the high side, but that doesn’t mean 7 is OK. 8-8:30 is considered the ideal and quite normal for most of the world.
TEN.
Bare minimum.
Bourbon, if you need *10*—not supported by the research—perhaps you are not getting “good” sleep. Work studying up on.
Compsci, for me & muh metabolism, sleep is like caffeine.
If I can get a full ten hours, then I wake up the next morning fully prepared to conquer the entire world.
But if I get, say, only six hours, then it’s like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck.
True Natural Sleep is just about the most wonderful gift our Creator gave us.
True Natural Sleep.
I prefer to fast for 24 hours over the night. Eat at 1800 and then don’t eat again till 1800 the next day. You don’t even go to bed hungry.
the coolest thig about fasting is proving to yourself that you can survive without food (water only) for a pretty long time. I’ve gone as long as 10 days, I try to do an extended one every year at least 5 days. The trick is to schedule around social events.
Fasting makes sense as one ages simply because everyone’s metabolism slows down so much.
Beyond a certain age, none of us need all that many calories on a daily basis.
I am turning 59 this month. I hurt my back a couple months ago doing barbell training. I have switched to bodyweight exercises and walking. This guy does burpee workouts 20 minutes a day 4 times a week. He is kind of nerdy in his videos but I have benefited from his program. I supplement with additional bodyweight and light dumbell exercises – 120 minutes a week + a walk everyday.
https://busydadtraining.com/
Fwiw:
A. 8 hrs sleep.
B. Drink at least 1/2 gal water/day.
C. End day with push ups, sit ups, squats, pull ups. Done without rest for cardio. Stretch. Takes 15 mins.
D. Sitting is for meals and evening reading.
E. Cup of Sleepy Time tea before bed. (Or grow chamomile and steep the flowers.)
F. Bike and weight train as desired.
G. Supplement as you see fit.
H. Your body is more authoritative than a doctor.
I. Hot bath followed immediately with cold shower does amazing things.
J. Get outside!
Works for me.
A) Last time I slept for 8 hours through the night Bill Clinton was president
B) A recipe to have to pee every 20 minutes, doesn’t help with ‘A’
C) Good, though the range of motion from a classic sit-up is “meh”
D) And comment posting
E) See B
F) I never got biking, I did try
G) Supplements often make me queasy. It’s just me as my wife has no issue
H) That’s a low bar
I) Don’t own a bath
J) That’s where ticks live.
A. I struggle with getting more than 7, but I feel healthier if I do, so it’s a must. Sleep is the single biggest factor for me. B. Stop drinking after supper. C. Substitute with bicycle crunches, or whatever. I just do those 4 to work all the major muscle groups. D. Break time lol E. There’s no caffeine in it, if that helps. F. Whatever intense exercise you like, or none. The nightly bit is enough to stay in OK shape. G. There should be more liquid supplements, so they can be diluted. Maybe there are idk. H. Lol… Read more »
Having been a very heavy drinker for years a heart-attack persuaded me to stop several years ago. Can’t say I miss it but it would be nice to have something other than water and green Earl Grey to drink (don’t like coffee, fizzy drinks or juices). I came across this just today, haven’t tried them yet but will visit them next week. Maybe something for you to explore, I’m sure there are similar places near you and they do ship if you don’t have anything local. sechey dot com
As always, corporate advertising is an accurate barometer of AINO’s sympathies and antipathies. And aside from the obvious negro worship, another thing that can be gleaned from the ads is the contempt for the elderly. Although old people are the demographic with the most money to spend, you almost never see oldsters in ads unless the ads are for medicaments that treat old folks’ infirmities. Now logically, if the primary purpose of corporate advertising was to generate profits, the ads would seek to flatter the people with the most money to spend. Alas, it is not true. Instead of focusing… Read more »
I’m, old, they don’t target me because I only buy shit that I need.
Very well said. In saner decades, the C-suite execs were focused like a laser on their stock prices. That wasn’t all good, as it led to short-term thinking, but they never would have pulled the crap you see today. That the AB InBev and Target CEOs still have jobs tells you everything you need to know. They are much more worried about their personal social standing than their shareholders, which are primarily bundled through Blackrock and Vanguard anyway. And if the stock price drops, they just give themselves new option grants with lower strike prices. It also would not surprise… Read more »
When you get into your 40’s, purchasing habits begin locking in for a lot of items. So, unless the item is age related, it does not make sense to advertise to a demographic that is not going to switch to your product. Grandma buys Tide. Grandma likes Tide. After 40 years of buying Tide, grandma will still buy Tide regardless of how many counter ads are run.
Perhaps. But realistically how many black 20-somethings are in the market for a new Mercedes? How many 50-something whites who might be persuaded to switch from BMW? I think the latter, despite the brand loyalty phenomenon, would be a much more promising demographic, and yet all these luxury car ads, improbably enough, show a youngish Hutu–quite possibly accompanied by a blonde–piloting one of these high-dollar birds. This isn’t about profits.
Not only just not about profits, but down right dangerous. These ad’s showing joggers partaking of the good (White) life send a pernicious message to our ghetto rats—If this brother can do this, why can’t I? Must be discrimination by YT!
Anyone that’s a semi-serious athlete might benefit from the book, Fast After 50.
I’m not, so I didn’t need to pick that book up to understand it’s basically, “use it or lose it,” as one ages.
I’m also struggling to cut back on bread in a bottle. It’s even tougher in autumn since that is the season of pumpkin pie in a bottle. The weekly buffalo wing calorie bomb isn’t helping either.
Agree, it’s a good book especially if you’re taking up a competitive sport after your prime. After devoting my best years to the bike, I found I could be competitive until about 40. But the reality of getting a little slower each season instead of faster made me hang it up. Over the past few decades Ive struggled to find my next thing athletically speaking and have landed on a mix of weights, running, and boxing. I think the key is to do something, anything is better than nothing. For me the competition has become with myself rather than against… Read more »
Walk for an hour a day-60m minutes or 2x 30 minutes. Get a good hand grip strengthener. Do 10 slow pushups a day and 10 toe touches. Buy food only from the perimeter of the supermarket. Drink alcohol without a mixer or with club soda. Take milk thistle if you really like the booze.
Yep. Get a dog. That takes care of the walking. Do some push-ups and stretches in the morning or before lunch. Nothing big, just one or two reps of 10.
Try to eat as much non-processed food as possible. Only drink on weekends.
That’ll get you 90% of the way home.
Never heard of using milk thistle for alcohol. Good idea.
“Get a dog. That takes care of the walking.”
Most people I see with dogs are just ambling along. They’re not getting any real exercise that way. Make sure that dog is as much into fitness as you are.
Or walk dogs at a shelter. They always need help. You and the dog both get exercise, you get to scoop the poop. Some dogs hang around for months and you get semi-attached to them and miss them when they part from you. Most of the benefits of ownership but with few of the costs. Depending where you can walk him, a dog is a good conversation starter and sometimes a chick magnet.
Ironmind’s, “Captains of Crush,” grippers are well made and come in a range of strengths.
Their portable squat stands/rack are nice, but on the pricey side.
A few years ago I took up your stupid regimen of walking an hour of day. Finally quit around a month later when I realized I didn’t have it in me to walk over a hundred miles to get back home.
Wright, quite right, you’re bloody well right 😁
Pushups are my main thing. Every other morning I do one set of 100 and a second set of 65. Also do two, brisk, 20-minute walks per day.
Good thing you went for that physical! If you can get to the gym for a half hour of weights and a half hour of cardio four times a week and moderate walks or biking in between, it becomes a habit and the toughest thing is having to gaze at the nubile young beauties that make you want to crawl into a hole, the resistance to which impulse is good mental discipline. At social gatherings, get yourself a g & t and nurse it all night. There’s an art to it that’s not hard to learn, I’ve done it, and… Read more »
Heh, in the Batman comics Bruce Wayne would regularly attend parties and pass a non-alcoholic drink off as vodka.
Exercise macros:
2X per week
15 mins stretches
15 mins core
20-30 mins lifting (1 set of each exercise TO Failure, keep it in the 12-16 reps range).
2-3X per week Cardio with heart rate in age target range for 30 minutes.
Diet macros:
50% calories from healthy fats
25% from good proteins (5-6 grams per every 5 pounds of lean body weight)
25% carbs mostly veggies, a little fruit and some starches at night.
Consider swimming for exercise. There is virtually no strain on the joints. You have to find a pool, of course, but that shouldn’t be an insuperable obstacle.
All the pools here are dangerous. https://youtu.be/A3IN1QIpFT8?si=5emSzTuCswtHvq6q
I can just imagine all the fun to be had on Saturday afternoon at a Baltimore public swimming pool.
Blacks use swimming pools??
Yes. To piss in.
“Downtown Baltimore
Is covered with pimps and whores”
— X, “Whats wrong with me” (1985)
Well, okay, maybe it is an insuperable obstacle in Baltimore. Consider it when you make your move to Pennsylvania or West Virginia.
Lol. Here’s a video of the real water park that was the inspiration of that Southpark scene. It would have been lily white when Trey and Matt were kids. Matt grew up a few miles from here. Now the blessings of diversity have been bestowed on the park. Lot’s of overweight, tatted up Hispanic moms and their white trash counterparts. Depressing to drive by, much less visit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBAz9KcW81s
Every day with a meal, take 400 milligrams of magnesium (either the glycinate or citrate kind–magnesium oxide sucks), plus a couple of omega-3 pills (Europharma’s Vectomega is the best). An iron-free multi-vitamin is also a smart idea. If you are the OCD type like me, then take an aspirin and a turmeric capsule too, because chronic inflammation causes Very Bad Things to happen to our innards. The evils of seed oils are sufficiently well-known that I won’t mention them here, save to point out that Primal Kitchen makes a brand of mayo that tastes quite good on sandwiches and won’t… Read more »
“At the extremes this is obviously true, but in the main it is one of the many myths that keeps the system awash in your cash.” Couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve never had a physical in my life and probably never will. My wife keeps pestering me to get one but I refuse. I know exactly what will happen: the physician will announce with a mournful face that my stats are out of whack or that something is seriously wrong with me. If not that (by some miracle), then he will say that my stats could “possibly be of… Read more »
remain as fit as possible to the end. That really is the goal. The way to reach it is consistency. I am around your age, but have been playing soccer (weekly) and lifting (4-5 times per week) for going on 20 years now. Really, any type of resistance exercise – body weight, bands, etc. – is as close to a magic pill as you can get. Still play soccer with 20 somethings and can hold my own (but not for as long, obviously). No one believes me when I tell them how old I am. But if you want six… Read more »
I want ’em, but not badly enough to succumb to dieting. I much prefer my chow to a washboard belly.
Never got into the fitness thing, but back in my drinking days I would brag I had “Abs from a six pack.” 💩
I know guys with 1/4 barrel abs.
“This not only means plenty of stress, but it also means I often stay up late getting things done. Lack of proper rest is probably the worst thing you can do to yourself as you get old.” Bingo! Sleep, *quality sleep*, is very, very important. I’ll keep this short. Read “Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams” by Matthew Walker, an English scientist and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. This is a fantastic—and very anointed—examination of sleep. The interrelationship of sleep to health and well being can not be overestimated. I challenge anyone… Read more »
At 71, my B/P, and cholesterol numbers are quite good, despite the fact that fifteen years ago I very narrowly dodged the widowmaker coronary, and have a stent in my heart keeping me alive. Despite the good cholesterol numbers I can’t get out of the doctor’s office without him pushing lipitor on me. I tried it for a while, and it leaves me feeling like crap. I got to the point where I just take the prescription, and leave the pills to collect dust.
JWM
Here’s as good a place to plug keto (Atkins). I’ve not had any health problems (“yet”) but I was eager to abandon the useless meds they had me on. Seemed the least I could do was tweak my diet a bit. Having done quite a bit of reading, suffice to say the conventional view on what constitutes a good diet may be far off the mark. In any event, the role of “cholesterol” (actually: lipids, LDL etc.) in heart disease is far from clear. I “hold” with the faction that says that high carbs are bad news, especially when they… Read more »
You would be like me, keto-lite. Hard-core keto maniacs limit to 20 grams of carbs per day.
Z, I had a beer 🍺 or two for you last night while playing darts 🎯 at a brewery. Yeah, I have the same issues as you while having high blood pressure baked into the genetic cake 🎂. First showed up in my late 20’s when I was still (relatively) skinny and an occasional tippler. Problem is I like the beer 🍺, the bourbon 🥃, the vodka 🍸, and the vino 🍷. I like your idea about the “Over 55” gym but since it is based on logic and honesty it will never fly. Take care of yourself. And if… Read more »
I like watching the young women work out, its motivational.
There’s this one exercise they do where they get in the smith machine and pelvic thrust into the barbell. I like watching that one.
I’ve said this several times before, but since this is the topic de jour, I’ll repeat. Doctors—especially family physicians—are in the main, technicians. As such they have a tendency to “treat the numbers”. Of course, their treatment regimen being determined by medical “Boards” and especially the pernicious influence by Big Pharma on those Boards. The lawyers and judicial system also contribute in a major way through lawsuits given that these medical Boards issue/create what is considered the “standard of care” and to treat—or non-treat—outside those “standards” is grounds for liability and/or censure. Proof of this assertion was made quite apparent… Read more »
There might be a reason for the 12x/7x recommendation, @Compsci. Even the government has now accepted the fact that the jab did in fact compromise the integrity of endothelial cells. That is, the vessels themselves can no longer handle the pressure they did before the jab. And rather than tell the jabbed they are screwed, it’s “best” for all involved to just lower it for everybody.
Tell me about it. Is there anything that the jab did positive? Not gain saying you, but if I recall, the recommendation to lower BP “norms” came before the jab. Nonetheless, prior to the introduction of the new BP “norm” I distinctly remember that old folk like me were considered “normal” or perhaps “high normal”at 130/135 over 80/85. I also remember in my 30’s-40’s having readings of 120/125 over 70/75 for insurance purposes. I really never paid attention until retirement and concierge medicine enrollment. Of course, at that point I had a stake in my own care as *I* was… Read more »
The recommendations have been dropping my whole life. When I was an orderly at a 24 hour assisted living facility, 180/100 was nothing to get excited about. There were pts whose doctors’ orders were to call the doc in the morning for a systolic over 200, and call his pager if it was over 240. Most of them made it into their 80s or 90s anyway. If it didn’t kill you before you were 70, it probably wasn’t going to be what took you out.
So, the docs don’t care all that much about the diastolic?
Also, learn the difference between relative and absolute risk reduction. My doctor pushed a statin with a 38% relative risk reduction for cardiac issues, which sounds impressive. But the absolute risk reduction is only about 1/1000. For example, if you have a study with 1000 patients on a placebo who have 3 cardiac events, and 1000 on the statin with 2 events, that’s a 33% relative risk reduction but only a 1/1000 absolute risk reduction. That math kept me from signing up for a lifetime of drugs with minimal benefits, but not minimal side-effects.
You’ve may possibly the most important point here. Changing your life around. Making yourself miserable in your declining years for perhaps a change from 1 in a thousand to 2 in three thousand is perhaps not a worthwhile trade off.
I have a small substack, much of which deals with today’s topic. Nothing original there, but in my own words, part of my self education.
https://satansdoorknob.substack.com/p/different-views-of-the-truth-drug
Good link. This is a great example of my point on relative risk: “Buy two tickets to the lottery and you improve your chances of winning by 100%.”
Actually in his example, Kendrick for some reason uses a 50% value, and the lottery ticket is three tickets shared between two friends 😎 My ego informs me that my example, being simpler, is superior. I’ve found Kenrick a very readable author. He has a fairly extensive website at:
https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/
I agree with most of what you say. My introduction to skepticism came from a different angle. I was curious what the actual benefits were (stations, BP, aspirin). I found out and that’s why I dropped them. Medicine does offer some valuable service, but alas they also peddle a lot of snake oil.
Compsci: “Based upon my challenge, we followed up with a CAT scan and injection to “light up” the arteries. Result, negative, or normal for age narrowing. Case closed.”
Can you look back through your records and find the total cost for that workup?
Not the deductible that you paid, but rather the total amount of money which was paid out [mostly by the insurance policy].
Thanks.
1) Always check thyroid first. Everything else depends on thyroid to work right. Full panel, not just TSH. T3 needs to be in the upper third of the “normal range” for the rest of the body to work properly. Generally T3 declines with age because T4 to T3 conversion declines (or why treating with T4 alone often fails, but T4+T3 or natural thyroid works), which does not affect TSH levels, which therefore makes that a bad test of health. A good article for the layman: https://hormonerestoration.com/files/TSHWrongtree.pdf Note: underdosing or “supplementing” will make you =more= hypothyroid, not less. It needs to… Read more »
What about kelp tabs for Thyroid function?
I saw Kelp Tab for Thyroid Function open for Death Cab for Cutie in Cincinnati back in ’04. Pretty good show.
When you run out of tablets, you’ll be utterly kelpless.
Regularly consuming kelp can overdose you on iodine, which can cause irreversible thyroid damage.
If you’re using ordinary iodized salt at a normal moderate level, you get the right amount of iodine. Be aware that it doesn’t keep; over time iodine tends to sublimate out of the salt (so a tightly-closed container is a good idea).
However, craving iodine-rich foods (eg. shrimp) can be a symptom of low thyroid.
Careful with the statins Z-man. I know some people who got very sick taking them.
To add to what is stuck in moderation, high blood cholesterol is another co-symptom of age-related thyroid decline. Statins horrify my inner biochemist. They can cause what amounts to multiple sclerosis, because the sheathing on the nerves is based on cholesterol, and if you reduce that, what have you done?? Also, turns out high blood cholesterol is =protective= against dementia (which itself is typically an end-stage hypothyroid symptom) — doubtless because if there’s more of it in the blood, there’s more available to repair failing neural structures. Arterial plaques are not due to high blood cholesterol; they are due to… Read more »
I have wondered about the gum disease/dementia correlation. The cynic in me always questions correlation vs. causation that the media so often doesn’t understand. In other words, is someone with dementia more likely to develop gum disease due to similar reactions to some other underlying issue?
Guess what else is a symptom of low thyroid? 1) Bleeding and receding gums. Reverses very rapidly with proper thyroid treatment. 2) Dementia. However, hypothyroid dementia takes about ten years for the damage to become irreversible. 3) Per a cardiac pathologist, who had quite a rant about it, about half of all fatal cardiac events are the result of “flabby heart syndrome” which is directly caused by low T3 (and again, is reversible for a long time). He also pointed out that since it is unethical to deliberately induce fatal illness, this will never be formally studied. If you experience… Read more »
My mother was on every statin at one time or another and every single time, at some point, she would have great pain in her thighs and weakness and it was because the statin was destroying her muscles and she would stop taking it and a couple days later she felt better but then they would put her on a new statin at her next Dr appointment. It got to the point she’d say oh my legs hurt so much I’d ask if she was on a statin again and yeah she was. We repeated this process probably like a… Read more »
Yeah, my mom would still be around today if instead of listening to doctors she just had gone low carb 10 years ago and stuck with it. Fucking assholes with their “healthy grains”.
At one point she was injecting insulin because the doctor said so, then having to drink apple juice to stop the low blood sugar attack that happens when you inject insulin you don’t need.
Sorry for you loss.
My brother was bed ridden for a week after taking statins. His muscles, mainly in his legs, simply stopped working. One of my other siblings had a friend who went to the ER because he was in so much pain. The doctors at the hospital said it was probably due to the statins.
Muscle tissue has a lot of CoQ-10, which statins deplete.
Which explains why the two are often prescribed in tandem.
Big Pharma can’t be bothered to tell people CoQ-10 might prevent side effects like muscle pain and brain fog in customers who take statins, more than they can be bothered to tell customers who take cancer drugs like Adriamycin that CoQ-10 can prevent heart failure. And an astonishing number of doctors are too pig-ignorant to know. And of the ones who do know, many of them don’t realize CoQ-10 doesn’t get work unless it’s taken with fat or oil. If Stalin managed to shoot all the doctors, then he would have gone down in history as having saved more lives… Read more »
“Brain fog” is a very strong marker for low thyroid, which over time does the same sort of neural damage as statins do.
Among other things, statins induce a deficiency of endogenous Coenzyme-Q10, which is vital because it acts like a spark plug for the energy-producing mitochondria in every cell of your body. The most energy-intensive organs in your body, your heart and your brain, have the highest levels of CoQ-10. The so-called brain-fog that some statin-users complain of possibly results from this. For this reason a certain pharmaceutical company once considered adding CoQ-10 to its statin products, but their lawyers pointed out that this would amount to an admission that customers had been harmed by the earlier version. Plans for the improved… Read more »
Your advice is consistent with what Kendrick (and no doubt, others too) describes. It’s worth mentioning that statins are designed to reduce cholesterol synthesis. Unavoidably, they also impact a long list of other critical substances the body needs to make, CoQ10 being only one. Although I suffered no ill effects I’m aware of, my doctor never told me that I should supplement during the three years I took a statin. Yes, that’s a black mark against him, and I’m going to let him know so. I find the topic fascinating, especially all the holes in the received wisdom. Kendrick provides… Read more »
My first inkling that cholesterol was important for brain function came when I glanced at the nutrition facts label for a can of pork brains in the grocery store and saw that a single serving contains an astonishing 3,000 milligrams of cholesterol per serving. No wonder the death rate from things like homicide, suicide, and accidents climbs if cholesterol levels drop too low.
Except the entire premise is wrong. High blood cholesterol is not damaging, it is protective, especially against age-related dementia and… guess what, heart disease!
But as noted… this should be regarded as a symptom of low thyroid, and that should be addressed instead. Cholesterol will then normalize (to your level of normal, which may not match the doc’s chart — I know someone whose normal gives the doc a heart attack) without further treatment.
CoQ10 also has an inverse relationship with thyroid, indicating that if the body can’t make enough of one, it tries to make up the difference with the other.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16873947/
Is it possible their metrics on blood pressure and cholesterol are completely bogus? Does cholesterol have anything to do with heart disease?
Lifted heavy, drink whiskey, spend time outside, do the thing with your wife often, and take naps.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was getting people to eat margarine instead of butter.
The annual PC physician checkup is a joke. Really, almost everything they do only requires bloodwork. But, I ran into a problem recently where my PC wouldn’t see me because I had not been in in the past three years. It has become a money sucking enterprise.
Every Autumn right before the annual increase in my medical premiums, I am “suddenly” inundated with reminders for this test or that test, the real reason is that the “system” wants to record your new data so they can justify increasing your annual medical premiums. I never subscribe to this and avoid providing all medical data to anyone until at least February. If you have to fill out any annual forms to get coverage, I just say I am 5 pounds lighter and any RX’s I have to take are 5 mg lower.
There’s a pretty good guy focused exclusively on senior barbell-based training. He started in the Rippetoe/Starting Strength crowd, but now does his own thing.
Book:
https://aasgaardco.com/store/books-posters-dvd/books/the-barbell-prescription-strength-training-for-life-after-40/
He owns a gym called Grey Steel.
Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/greysteel
Great book, it’s my Bible for training.
I’m DIY and lift 2-3x/wk religiously. I got ideas from his crowd years ago, also from Barbell Medicine, on the more science geek side. I don’t have great genetics or impressive performance, but my goal is to postpone morbidity. I started working construction recently, but I still do 2 hard workouts per week and try to keep my DL up to 300 and squat in the low 200’s. I know several of people not much older than me who are weak, hobbling around, near to retiring on disability. Lifting heavy is the closest thing we have to a fountain of… Read more »
I am back doing a basic 5×5. I have another new rule and that is I no longer do anything I do not like. When it comes to weight training, I like deads, squats and the bench press. I can tolerate curls, but I hate the overhead press and rows. I have shoulder issues from paying sports as a kid, so these make me miserable.
You might want to consider reducing volume on low rep/high intensity work as you age. I’ve moved to a pattern of doing 1-2 heavy low rep sets per week per exercise, then doing the rest of it as back off sets in the 8+ rep range. This seems to reduce wear and tear and soreness. I also work construction, so it’s a balancing act. I’m surprised you like BB Bench press if your shoulder is messed up. It’s a shoulder wrecker – so much so that most experts prescribe prophylactic rotator cuff exercises and face pulls to counteract the intrinsic… Read more »
I think it is due to where the problem is in my shoulder. For some reason, the overhead press results in pain in my right shoulder. Rows leads to right elbow agony. I could probably spend time and money finding out why or I could just avoid those lifts.
“that my blood pressure was out of whack and my cholesterol was getting high.”
Dr. Lexus: “Right, kick ass. Well, don’t want to sound like a dick or nothin’, but, ah… it says on your chart that you’re fucked up. Ah, you talk like a fag, and your shit’s all retarded. What I’d do, is just like… like… you know, like, you know what I mean, like…”
Though not quite a bodybuilding sage, Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying, “Everything in moderation. Including moderation.” I embrace that advice and do not set rigid rules for myself. But I lift, I hike, I garden, and I watch the carbs. Unless you are such a social butterfly that you find yourself at gatherings five days a week, I’d say have that beer at the barbecue and damn the calories. I watched my 80 year old diabetic mother-in-law adhere to the draconian diet she was prescribed by her endocrinologist for the last 6 years of her life, and she was… Read more »
I can’t think of a more unhealthy, and unappetizing, diet than what your MIL was prescribed. She would have been far better off enjoying a grass-fed steak 3 or 4 times a week. And a nice big pot roast. Whatever the standard MD tells you to eat, do the opposite.
That guy, of course, is the person at just about every social event who has to tell people that he is not drinking. This usually happens a few times before his last name turns into “who is not drinking.” I have become that guy. Worse yet, I have had to explain the blood pressure business a million times now. I have to say, I was surprised to read that. There’s no reason you should have to spend that much time or effort justifying yourself to others. A simple “No, thank you” should suffice for friends and acquaintances. If you have… Read more »
“They keep blithely plugging along with the same talking points year after year, because they want to sell statins and they don’t know what the real answer to heart disease is, so they go with the theory they have even though its garbage.” That is because it IS the standard of care. You do not want to be hauled in to a malpractice hearing and have to explain why you, and not the prosecutor’s world renowned witnesses, are the real expert. It WILL be found that you refused to treat the patient in the accepted standard of care, and are… Read more »
I’m a bit surprised that none of my providers have asked me to sign a waiver or whatever. Which I’d gladly do, by the way. They are aware that I no longer take the prescribed medications, and also why.
I’m saving up to get one of those fancy gym ellipticals which have always given me the best workout with the least amount of soreness (biking makes me in sore in the very places I have no desire to be sore). I gave up my big lifting routine some time ago after I’d found that later in life that it was crippling me more than keeping me from getting crippled. However, I do need to get back into “core” exercises where the benefits were more immediate and noticeable, yet with a much lower degree of soreness/exhaustion.
Recommend that you do some critical research on elliptical trainers before investing. They get a pretty bad rap from most fitness trainers for a variety of reasons. Most end up collecting dust or functioning as a clothes rack in the bedroom before being relegated to the basement or garage. I was an endurance athlete in my youth–distance runner. I went through all the typical phases of long-distance running, cycling, triathlete who can’t swim, mountain biking, and spent about five years doing obstacle course races until a couple herniated discs took me out of that game. Getting old sucks. I’m mostly… Read more »
Most end up collecting dust or functioning as a clothes rack in the bedroom
—
That is a concern of mine. I used to own a cheap consumer model that I used quite frequently until it succumbed to some failure.
For reasons I won’t bore you with, going to a gym isn’t very workable for me now unfortunately.
During the plandemic when all the gyms shut down I bought a used Total Gym for $200 and a used rowing machine for $150. I am impressed with the variety of workouts one can do on a Total Gym. My only disappointment was that, per my previous comment, I am pretty strong and the Total Gym doesn’t offer enough resistance even at the highest incline, so I wound up doing ridiculous numbers of reps to compensate. Definitely worth looking at a used one to see if you like it. I bought one for my dad, who is in his 80s,… Read more »
I am 63. My routine is one hour on the treadmill, set at the steepest incline and highest speed that still permit me to “walk”. I spend the first ten minutes working up to those maxima, allow myself five minutes of reduced intensity at the 30 minute mark, shoot back up to the maximum levels, and finish with a five minute hard jog. I typically burn 1100 calories per session, and do this four times a week. In and out of the gym in 75 miutes. No muss, no fuss. My diet is a combination of the OMAD/LCHF with some… Read more »
Yes strength training seems to be the way to go. I took a gander at old people a couple years ago and also made the same assessment that it has a better chance of leading to vigorous old age and I’ve been lifting weight since then and I got to say, the last hike I went on, which I do several times a year, 8 mi Backcountry hike, I bounced along all the way through it. I had so much more energy and I’ve done that hike many times, younger and thinner, so it’s got to be the weights. My… Read more »