50s?
March 15th 2007 14:16
The
holistic nature of our modern problems was made manifest this week as I scanned a report issued under the aegis of the University of Michigan. The report suggested that obesity is a significant factor in the decision of retirees to elect to take Social Security at 62. This is part of the continuing speculative debate in the US as to whether or not baby boomers will end up working past their retirement age because they have done such a poor job of managing their retirement savings.
So we have an interesting situation. The inability or unwillingness to maintain fitness compounds with an inability or unwillingness to budget income to create a potentially very tragic situation. The reality is that many people now in their 50s will soon have to face the prospect of retiring to a less that optimal retirement and that a number of these retirees will be forced by obesity to retire earlier than might be advisable. That will simply mean a life of reduced opportunity both financial and physical.
I think it is fair to say that the true importance of fitness grows as the decades pass. The wages of lifestyle are doled out on a continuous basis,but they seem to increase with age. No one is particularly heartened by the idea that they will be debilitated in their latter years, but for those in their 50s the spectre of such a thing looms larger. When those of us that are of that age engage in fitness training we are in a increasingly urgent battle with disability whose unflinching comrade is Time. It is indeniable that our abilities will decrease; it is as indeniable that we can retard this process, if we will.
Sometimes I look at the 20 somethings in the gym or on their bicycles etc and I marvel at how effortless it is for them. But the benefits are also much less immediate for them. They are able to perform feats and recover from them. We have lesser feats and more recovery time. They need not train at all,however,to enjoy the benefits of mobility and energy. We train for those very stakes.
We 50 somethings are the sum total of how we have spent our earlier years. That is why the younger people who are regular trainers are doing themselves a favor. If they manage to workout through the years and if they take diet seriously for decades, they will reap the fruit. If they go all out in their 20s and then say good-bye to fitness training they will reap only a tiny harvest. Blessed truly is the person who keeps at it all his/her life. At every juncture they will defy the norm and enjoy the fate of their contemporaries.
If you are reading this in your 20s 30s 40s take it to heart. Your future is being shaped on a daily basis. If you train, an increasingly important part of this training will be just keeping at it and striving to maintain. If you haven't done a good job on fitness and the decades are starting to mount you can despair and accept what you consider the inevitable. I'm here to tell you though that your body is such an amazing organism that you can begin now to eat right and exercise and it will adapt and you will be able to stave off the unattractive elements of age. The alternative could really be early retirement because of physical limitations. Your servant, as always.
Still at it.
So we have an interesting situation. The inability or unwillingness to maintain fitness compounds with an inability or unwillingness to budget income to create a potentially very tragic situation. The reality is that many people now in their 50s will soon have to face the prospect of retiring to a less that optimal retirement and that a number of these retirees will be forced by obesity to retire earlier than might be advisable. That will simply mean a life of reduced opportunity both financial and physical.
I think it is fair to say that the true importance of fitness grows as the decades pass. The wages of lifestyle are doled out on a continuous basis,but they seem to increase with age. No one is particularly heartened by the idea that they will be debilitated in their latter years, but for those in their 50s the spectre of such a thing looms larger. When those of us that are of that age engage in fitness training we are in a increasingly urgent battle with disability whose unflinching comrade is Time. It is indeniable that our abilities will decrease; it is as indeniable that we can retard this process, if we will.
Sometimes I look at the 20 somethings in the gym or on their bicycles etc and I marvel at how effortless it is for them. But the benefits are also much less immediate for them. They are able to perform feats and recover from them. We have lesser feats and more recovery time. They need not train at all,however,to enjoy the benefits of mobility and energy. We train for those very stakes.
We 50 somethings are the sum total of how we have spent our earlier years. That is why the younger people who are regular trainers are doing themselves a favor. If they manage to workout through the years and if they take diet seriously for decades, they will reap the fruit. If they go all out in their 20s and then say good-bye to fitness training they will reap only a tiny harvest. Blessed truly is the person who keeps at it all his/her life. At every juncture they will defy the norm and enjoy the fate of their contemporaries.
If you are reading this in your 20s 30s 40s take it to heart. Your future is being shaped on a daily basis. If you train, an increasingly important part of this training will be just keeping at it and striving to maintain. If you haven't done a good job on fitness and the decades are starting to mount you can despair and accept what you consider the inevitable. I'm here to tell you though that your body is such an amazing organism that you can begin now to eat right and exercise and it will adapt and you will be able to stave off the unattractive elements of age. The alternative could really be early retirement because of physical limitations. Your servant, as always.
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