This Chinese New Year, I attended a High School Reunion. Initialy I was slightly apprehensive how it will turn out, not having met so many friends and aquaintances for the past 35 years or more. I suppose ther is no need to worry as everyone will be older perhaps some would have aged better than others.The impulse to turn back as I drove over the Penang bridge was quite persistent.
Which brings me to the subject of healthy aging because at 53 many things don't work as well as before: your teeth has problems, your joints creak, your memory is not so good and everything is not a vigorous as before.I came across an audiobook called Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge MD. Crowley was 70 when he wrote this book.
Essentially what he said is that you can live like 50 until well beyond as stated in the title Younger Next Year: A Guide to living like 50 Until You’re 80 and Beyond. His contention is you can fight the tide of decay and destruction in your body as you age by exercising. Execise is like “Exercise—the physical work of hunting and foraging—has always been the single most powerful signal we can send that life is good; that it’s spring and time to grow.” By exercising 6 days a week 4 days aerobics 65-85% max heart rate and 2 days of strengthh training you can reverse the tide of aging. The scientific argument which is quite elaborate is pretty convincng. http://cbass.com/YoungerNext.htm has a summary of the book.
Anyway I am going to commit 90 days to this regiment as I believe this is useful( just as I am also commiting to write a journal for 90 days) . Four years ago I had arthritis that caused my body to be wracked in pain. I had my Lt Hip replaced on March 16 2009.When my father died on 29th Oct 2009, mentally I was preparing to SAU TONG. My time here may not also be long because I have the same arthritis that he had. However to my surprise my health has improved by God's grace and by moderate exercis.e For the past 6 months I have been walking to work from home on alternate days and swimming couple of days a week. I am feeling better today than anytime in the last 4 years. So if half an hour of light aerobic exercise can do so much good I am waiting to see what moderate aerobic exercise 6 days a week will do. I am planning to go to the gym on alternate mornings when I don't walk to work. Keep you posted.
I figure at 53 perhaps still have a good second half after the halftime whistle!!!
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Welcome to the club, Sunny! As our generation age, there's a tendency to take things easy & neglect the physical aspects of maintaining our body but as pointed out by you, humans as a species, were not put on this earth to be sedentary. Although we no longer have to hunt & forage for food, a task substituted with 'selling' our time into 'slavery' to the pursuit of material wealth & comfort, we shouldn't overlook the fact that staying physically fit & healthy has never lost its importance, especially more so in these challenging times. Always the one to practise what one preaches, I've placed that at the top of my priority list to the extent of being a health freak i.e. refraining from meat since I turned 19 or so. Of course, I no longer swim 40 laps at the pool like I did in my college days, I still make it a point to go there twice a week. And when time does not permit, I have a home gym installed in my backroom. I find doing some light lifts & presses for at least 15 minutes a day do keep the muscles supple & calcium intact in your bones. So, you have my moral support in the decision that you've made. Three cheers for another 'real warrior'
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