Aging well—Part 5

Social.  As I age, the more I appreciate the relationships in my life.  Family becomes more precious as we age.  We lose people we care deeply about, but, by God’s grace, new lives are added.  Certainly, nothing adds more value to life than a child (and nothing is more valuable to a child than the adults in his or her life).

We must value relationships or we will be painfully alone.  If we are not building new relationships, we will see the few we have pass away until there is none left.

The older members of our communities are our most valuable assets.  They hold the history, experience, and wisdom that can make our lives better.  The children may be our future, as the song goes, but their preparedness comes from those who have gone before them.

The older I get the more I desire friendships.  I care little for shallow relationships.  I prefer to be around people who offer something more than mere acquaintance.  I prefer to extend my family.

Aging well requires that we grow healthy relationships.  I worry for the iGen who are increasingly bonded to their phones.  Social media is demonstrating an increased tendency to divide.  Sadly, we baby-boomers are following suit.  Personally, I feel far more connected to old friends across the globe via social media, but I feel less connected to the people in my immediate neighborhood.  We used to converse face-to-face.  Then came cellphones.  Someone noted recently that while we used to call places, we now call people.  Indeed, we are calling less and texting more.  The art of conversation is struggling.  We need to turn the tide and seek more than the superficial.  Otherwise, we will continue to grow more isolated and anxious.

Time provides us with much to be celebrated.  And, yes, it will give us cause to cry.  As we age, whether we laugh or cry, we must not do it alone.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Aging well—Part 4

Emotional.  I’m not the man I used to be.  Or better: I am not the immature boy I used to be.  Oh, I have a way to go, but I am working on getting better.

I consider the Emotional dimension of “well-centered fitness” to be the keystone.  The Spiritual and Physical dimensions form the foundation on which the Intellectual dimension builds, and the Social dimension forms the peak of the pyramid.  Emotional well-being holds it all together.  As we age, we should be learning to control our emotions.  To age well, we should be seeking to be positive and certainly enthusiastic.  We should be more even-tempered and more satisfied with life.  Unfortunately, many live with regrets.

It is tempting as we age to look back—to dwell on the “glory days”.  Sadly, those who prefer to live in the past fail to experience the present.  If is fine to remember and, certainly, to share those memories, but the past is behind us.  The future is uncertain.  We only have today—this moment.

Aging well emotionally requires that we regularly check our grattitude (i.e., gratitude + attitude).  If we are living well Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, and Socially, this is much easier.  We trust in the path we are on—that our like has Purpose.  We seek healthy relationships.  We exercise our body and mind.  Above all we are grateful and content.  We focus on what we have accomplished, not on that which we have not done.  We focus on what we have, not what we wish we had.

Often there are rather negative stereotypes of aging—senility, incontinence, atrophy, slowing down, dependence, etc.  While certainly there are aspects of our health and aging over which we have little or no control, our expectations for aging are well within our lotus of control.  Sometimes it is just a matter of saying “I am as young as I feel”.

Personally, I am having less fear of the calendar as I age.  I want to defy aging.  I want to age “better” than my peers.  To do so, I have to deny “Can’t” the opportunity to enter my vocabulary.  I have to believe that I am capable of doing far more than my age might suggest.  I have to keep a young attitude.

For the most part, we decide how we will age.  We choose the attitude (grattitude) we have about aging.

I often consider the “fruit of the Holy Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)—to be something we cultivate as opposed to being a “gift”.  As such, it is something to which we must tend throughout life.  Certainly, one’s Emotional well-centeredness depends on these.  Without them, life can be quite miserable.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Aging well—Part 3

Intellectual.  Physical and mental exercise have great benefits for the aging mind, but, beyond the physiological affects we can produce in the brain, there is great opportunity to keep feeding the brain with information as we age.  Learning should never stop.  Personally, I believe that an education only begins with the degree.  Whether or not one completed high school or college, there is always something to learn—and education need not be formalized.

Read.  Daily reading is essential.  Read anything.  Read on a wide variety of topics.  Read out of your comfort zone.  Surround yourself with books.  Make use of the public library—remember those?!

Engage in conversation.  Social discourse is at an all-time low (in my humble opinion).  The increasing “us versus them” environment politically and societally comes, at least in part, from our unwillingness to engage with our neighbor.  Social media isolates us and we are losing the ability to have conversations.  Instead, we are inclined to voice our on-sided opinions and not bother to entertain the opinions of others when they are contrary to our own.  Debate is a lost art.  Heck, face-to-face conversation seems to be facing extinction.  So, to age well, we also need to engage in the art of conversation.  When we interact with others we must take the “other-centered” approach and create space for the soul to speak—and really listen.

Set aside time with the people in your life to have conversation—to sit and talk.  My wife and I try daily to set aside time for our “15-minute check-in”.  It is difficult some weeks, but it is worth the effort.  We need to do it more with the kids.   I also encourage dinner together at the table (not in front of the television).  As the nest begins to empty, it is important to have people who can join you on occasion for a sit-down meal.  Therefore, invite friends and neighbors for regular get-togethers.  Be social!  (I am sure that were it not for my wife and kids, I would be that old guy yelling at the neighborhood kids to “Get off my lawn!”)

Have a diet of healthy media.  Frankly, there is a smorgasbord of good and bad entertainment available.  We cut the cable years ago, but my Internet options (e.g., Netflix and Hulu) are tremendous.  I have little trust for the news, so I have to run it all through a filter and do some (a lot of) fact checking.  The available information, however, is overwhelming—the Internet, Podcasts, TedTalks, YouTube, webpages, etc.  Just like we have to make careful choices in our food diet, we have to be selective with what we feed our mind.  Like our food diet, we can consume some “junk” in moderation, but, overall, we want to use our media time to make us better—to help us become more Intellectually “well-centered”.

Exercise the brain.  Do puzzles.  Play word games. Etc.  But, also engage the brain in your physical exercise.  Progress the complexity of the movements in your exercise.  Don’t neglect the motor skill-related components of physical fitness—especially agility, balance, coordination, and reaction time.  One need not do the level of training performed by athletes, but these is no reason why one should not include activities that will maintain the ability to move multi-directionally and effectively.  Movement begins and ends with the brain, so train the brain.  Like physical exercise, brain exercise follows the principle of specificity.  Include variety.

Be intentional and challenge your brain to keep learning and functioning well.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Aging well—Part 2

Physical.  There is no doubt that exercise can benefit the body in “aging well”.  Minimally, one must maintain a high level of daily physical activity—something that is becoming increasingly “difficult” in our digital age.  I was born in 1963.  Since my birth, I can think quickly of countless technological advances that have made my life increasingly less active—cable (now Internet streaming) television, the television remote, video games, computers, smart phone, Amazon,…. As well, box stores and suburbanization have us driving more than walking.  There are, however, no excuses.  One’s activity level is a matter of choice.  If anything, these modern conveniences should offer more time for exercise (albeit less for physical activity).  So, as our lives become increasingly sedentary, our need for exercise increases.

It is never too late to begin (or restart) an exercise program.  Shortly before I started my doctoral program, I was working as a personal trainer.  Harry, who had just turned 84, decided to gift himself with personal training.  He had read of a study by Tufts University that examined the effects of resistance exercise in nursing home patients.  He read that the training resulted in decreased dependence on assistance devices (e.g., canes and walkers).  Harry was determined to stop using a cane.  Initially, Harry’s gait was much like the Tim Conway character on the Carol Burnett Show (and if you remember this, you are already concerned about the effects of aging).  He shuffled in short, choppy steps.  Over the course of several months, Harry—who had never lifted weights in his life—was walking without his cane and with longer, more confident, strides.  I would like to have worked with Harry longer to see what he might have accomplished.

It is unfortunate that exercise for older adults is driven by fear or what they “can’t” do or “shouldn’t” do rather that what than the basic principles of overload and exercise progression.  There is a fear of injury that is unwarranted.  Certainly, any one which health risks (and age is considered a risk) that are contraindicating to exercise should consult his or her physician and exercise under the instruction of a qualified professional, but there is always a starting place.  In other words, don’t listen to anyone who would say “you shouldn’t be doing ____ at your age”.  This includes physicians.  (Sadly, I have seen physicians counsel against exercise or limit exercise when it wasn’t warranted.)  Start where you can and safely progress.

The loss of physical abilities with age have much more to do with physical inactivity than with the aging process.  Thus, the degree to which we “age” is largely a matter of choice.

Cardiorespiratory exercise—particularly low-to-moderate-intensity steady-state aerobic exercise (e.g., walking)—often becomes the go-to exercise for older adults.  This generally results in little to no progression—and often a regression—in intensity.

Resistance training is often limited, as well.  If performed, resistance exercise with older adults tends to emphasize machines.  Machines can be fine in the initial strength program, as stability and motor control may be issues, but it is ideal to progress the level of complexity and instability of the exercise.

What should one be doing to age well in the gym?  Well, pretty much anything one is capable of doing.  This is pretty broad, but there is no reason to think that the physiological responses to exercise change dramatically as one ages.  It is true that the magnitude of the response and recoverability diminishes, but the nature of the exercise need not change.  Resistance training—particularly hypertrophy and strength training techniques—should be a priority.  Maintaining (or gaining) muscle mass as we age will greatly benefit our ability to perform activities of daily living as we age.  Cardiorespiratory performance, while important, will be diminished over time if muscle function is not maintained.  One should focus first on technique and building stabilizer strength (e.g., core muscles, hips, and rotator cuff) and progress to free-weight exercise, if available.  I strongly recommend a base of the “basic 5” (squat, deadlift, bench, row, and press) for all ages, as a minimal strength training program.  Lift in the 8-12 repetition range (preferably lower, e.g. 5-10) and progress the weight, as proper technique permits.

Cardio should be of moderate-high to high-intensity to stimulate mitochondrial function and involve all muscle.  High-intensity interval training (HIIT) should be preferred over low- or moderate-intensity steady-state (LISS or MISS) aerobic exercise.  It is not only time-effective, it is most effective in improving VO2max.

High-intensity interval resistance training (HIIRT) is a great catch-all.  While it won’t dramatically affect cardiorespiratory endurance or muscle strength, it can be effective in improving body composition and cellular function, as well as motor skill-related fitness.  It can accomplish much in a short exercise session.  The complexity and progression of the intensity of the movements can be individualized and modified according to need and opportunity.

Ideally, for aging well, one should strike a balance among the aforementioned training components (and include regular flexibility training).  Minimally, I would recommend six sessions of exercise per week (2 cardio, 2 strength, and 2 HIIRT) with an addition recreationally active day.  More sessions per week is preferred.  If possible, limit the session to one training modality.  In other words, try not to do cardio and strength in the same session, if possible.

Physically, we also need to consider diet.  Simply point: eat healthy to age healthy.  Limit sweets and processed foods, but don’t omit foods you enjoy (after all, if we are going to live longer we might as well enjoy it.)  Fill your plate first with vegetables and then with healthy proteins.  Eat “premium” carbs in proportion to your activity.  And don’t cut out healthy fats.

Dawn Jackson Blatner (The Superfood Swap Diet) recommended to her client on “My Diet’s Better Than Yours” that she only have dessert away from the house.  Rather than have tempting sweets in the home, indulge on occasion where the serving is restricted.  We all know that if there are cookies or cake in the house, we will eat it!  To satisfy that sweet tooth, acquire a taste for dark chocolate (the high the cacao content the better).  This also has some great health benefits.  As well, allow fruit to become the indulgent “sweet” in your diet.

Ultimately, weight management is about how much you eat (i.e., caloric balance) more than what you eat.  Nevertheless, what you eat is important.  Limiting sugar, alcohol, and unhealthy fats are essential to aging well, but, if I have to completely cut out the things I love, “shoot me now, ‘cause life ain’t worth living” (Dennis Miller).  The key is balance and eating to perform.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Aging well—Part 1

My son and I were talking the other day, and he noted that he realized that he has spent about one-third of his life in his bedroom, despite moving into our current house when he was 3 (he is now 13).  Considering that the average child sleeps more than 8 hours a night and adding to this the time he spends reading and lounging in his bedroom, I suspect his calculation is quite accurate.  Throughout life, we are doing to spend roughly 33% of our life sleeping or productively doing little.  This, however, leaves all of us an additional 16 hours.  Assuming an eight-hour work day, we are still left with 8 hours to use at our discretion.  Conservatively, that is 40 hours a week.  How are we using this time?

I have noticed, like most people, that time seems to pass more quickly, the older I get.  This is only natural as the units of time grow proportionally small with the passing of time.  For example, an hour to my 13-year-old son is approximately 0.000862% of his life.  For me, at 55 years, it is 0.000201% of my life—and shrinking fast.  At one year, it was 0.0114% or our lives.  Time then grows more precious as we age.  Thus, how we use our time becomes increasingly important.

For me, “aging well” means “well-centered aging”.  In other words, it means the continued focus on Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social well-being.  As such, I want to focus my thoughts on how I might better age in these dimensions.

Spiritual.  My “faith journey”, as my Christian friends might call it, has been a long and winding road.  I am less inclined to share the details of the road, here.  Rather, I would prefer to consider to where it has brought me and to where it is leading.  At 55 years, I am less apt to refer to myself as “religious” and more likely to refer to myself as “spiritual”.  I am not spiritual in the “New Age” sort of way, though.  I have also not turned my back on organized religion (though I will admit that attending church is much less rewarding than it once was).

I define “Spiritual” as the dimension of well-being that includes the understanding and belief in something greater than self.  Yes, for me, “God” is included in that image of something greater than self.  Frankly, God is that which I would consider the greater whole.  At the same time, I believe that my image of God is rather small.  That which is “Spiritual” is much smaller than my limited view of God.

Growing more Spiritual as we age requires that we see the world with an ever-focusing lens and broadening perspective.  Life and experience should tell us that we have much to learn.  Being open to new ideas and knowledge is part of Spiritual maturity.

Wisdom used to be associated with aging—i.e., maturity.  Definitions of wisdom include: the “ability to discern inner qualities and relationships… good sense… generally accepted belief… accumulated philosophical or scientific learning… a wise attitude, belief, or course of action… the teachings of the ancient wise men” (Merriam-Webster).  Aging should, then, include a healthy expansion of one’s worldview and of one’s place—purpose—in the world.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Our Children’s Emotional Well-being.

“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”—Denis Waitley

I appreciated my childhood.  My sisters say I was spoiled because I was the only boy.  I refute that claim, but let them believe what they must.  Being the only boy was, indeed, a blessing.  Whether inherent or taught, I grew up with a sense of responsibility toward women.  I didn’t always walk the perfect line in practice, but I certainly knew at my core that I was to treat women as I would want my sisters treated.  I also grew up doing the chores my sisters had to do—and then some.  I had the added responsibility of mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, cleaning up after the dog, and I am sure a few more.  This was on top of keeping my room clean, doing laundry, and doing dishes.  (A woman once remarked to my mother that she should get a dishwasher.  Mom responded, “Why?  I have four.”)  If I complained, I am sure that it was not met with sympathy.  Possibly—likely—any complaining was met with discipline.  I am sure few of my friends had it any better.  That is just the way it was.

Sadly, we are sheltering kids today from responsibility and independence.  It troubles me to see parents morphing from helicopter parents to lawnmower parents.  It excites me to see the increased traction for what has been termed “free-range parenting”.  (In my childhood, it was just called “parenting”.)  The free-range movement is defying the pattern of overprotectionism and safetyism in modern parenting.  It is defying the trends that are leaving young adults feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and helpless.  Of course, it comes at a risk, in some communities, of being arrested for neglect.

As a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s, I was free to explore.  I could bike what seemed like far greater distances than they probably were.  When I rode a bus to school (before moving to a community where everyone walked to the elementary schools—some upwards of a half-mile each way) we walked a considerable distance to the bus stop.  I estimate that it was a half a mile—less if we cut through neighbors’ yards.  I don’t recall parents ever being at the bus stop—except, perhaps, kindergarteners on the first day.  Today, my daughter’s bus stops at the end of the cul-de-sac—three houses from our house, and the previous stop is a block away (literally, at the end of the same block!!).  Of course, we parents are all there with our kids until the bus arrives.  This bothers me.  For one thing, the opportunity for physical activity is significantly impaired.  More importantly, it robs the children of some independence.

Of course, the schools are fearful of litigation—a product of the ever-growing fearfulness in our communities.  This, however, need not be.  As parents, we have to let our children struggle a bit and find their way.  Our communities are not nearly as dangerous as we lead ourselves to believe.  Our child believe it when we tell them they are, though, and add to this their own fearfulness.  And, of course, we are pressured into overprotectionism out of our knowledge that we can cause the police to be called by that neighbor.

I, for one, am fighting against the trend.  Sure, I probably waited too long, but….  This last Sunday, my ten-year-old daughter was finally permitted to bike alone outside of the cul-de-sac.  She has been permitted to walk short distances to the house of friends and walk the dog, but it occurred to me that she had not explored the neighborhood on her bike.  Maybe, it was just the first time she had asked, but we also never pushed her.

I want her to be comfortable alone.  She is quite capable.  She is responsible.  I don’t want her to ever underestimate her capabilities.

Kids need to be doing chores.  (They can do more than we give them credit for.)  We need to elevate our expectation.  They need to be permitted to struggle and to fail.  Indeed, they need to be encouraged to fail, as failure is evidence that they are extending their boundaries of comfort.

Kids need to struggle socially. They need to learn to solve social problems for themselves.  They need to know that they are loved, but they also need not expect that everyone is going to like them.  Conflict will arise—as it must.  When it does, they need to deal with it.  Do kids still recite: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”?

We mustn’t raise fragile children.  Likewise, we mustn’t settle for resilient children.  As Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt write in The Coddling of the American Mind, we need to raise “antifragile” children—children who are challenged and grow stronger as the result.  That my children often think I am hard on them tells me that, for the most part, I am doing alright.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Experience matters.

“Human beings have only 22,000 genes, but our brains have approximately 100 billion neurons, with hundreds of trillions of synaptic connections. Our genes could never offer a codebook or blueprint for building anything so complex. Even if a blueprint could be passed down in our genes, it would not be flexible enough to build children who were well adapted to the vast range of environments and problems that our wandering species has gotten into. Nature found a better way to wire our large brains, and it goes like this: Genes are essential for getting the various cell lines started in the embryo, and genes guide brain development toward a ‘first draft’ in utero. But experience matters. too, even while the baby is in the uterus; and after birth, it matters enormously. Experience is so essential for wiring a large brain that the ‘first draft’ of the brain includes a strong motivation to practice behaviors that will give the brain the right kind of feedback to optimize itself for success in the environment that happens to surround it. That’s why young mammals are so keen to play, despite the risks”–Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind

One of my fond memories as a child we as a child was Saturdays in the fall.  Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh offered art classes for 2 students from each elementary school in the area.  I was one of the students selected from my school.  My dad would drop me off in the morning and pick me up again a couple of hours later.  I would change into my football uniform in the car in the Liberty Tunnels on the way to my afternoon game.  School, sports, and the arts were all important.  Life balance.  A breadth of experience was my childhood.

David Epstein (The Sports Gene) wrote that “it’s always a hardware and software story”.  This applies to sport, but also to education.  I was getting ready for the first lecture of my Sports Genetics course (an Advanced Topic in Exercise Physiology) when I came across the above quote in The Coddling of the American Mind.  When I emphasize the famous quote by the renowned physiologist, Per Olof Åstrand, “If you want to be an elite athlete, choose your parents wisely.”, I realize that it applies to more than sport—and it applies to more than “hardware”.  Our circumstances, as much as our genetics, makes us who we are.

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt write to the role of play—specifically, unsupervised play—in the physical, sociological, emotional, and intellectual development of a child.  I would add spiritual development, as well.  This is, after all, the pursuit of “well-centered fitness”.  We (our children) are, perhaps, born with the “first draft” of who we (they) are, but we are also a product of our environment—our experiences.  Children grow best when they are afforded the opportunity to be challenged and to become what Lukianoff and Haidt refer to as “antifragile”.  We (our children) cannot become who we are intended to be if we are soft on ourselves (them).  There is no growth without the “overload principle”.  If we coddle them and remove all obstacles, we limit who they are to become—who they can be.

As a parent who hopes to raise children to become “well-centered” adults, I want my children to experience conflict, rejection, and failure—as painful as it can sometimes be—so they can grow from it and become antifragile, not just resilient.  I want them to be educated in the tradition of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, but in what has come to be referred to as “STEAM” (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education.  In addition, I want than to have the opportunity to participate in sports and physical education that not only challenges them physically, but also develops their character, integrity, and social development.  I want them to learn sportsmanship and citizenship.  I want their ideas to be challenged that they may better understand the world.  I want them to struggle from time to time that they might learn compassion.  I want them to truly understand the meaning of “be your best today; be better tomorrow”.  I want the same for all.

Carpe momento!

Disturbing fitness trends.

I came across an article today on “8 Disturbing Fitness Trends That Keep Gaining Traction”*.  The thing is the article had nothing to do with fitness.  The purported trends were: 1. thigh gaps, 2. sunburn tattoos, 3. cracked abs, 4. protruding ribs, 5. waist training, 6. the A4 waist challenge, 7. alien yoga, and 8. the belly button challenge.  With the exception of “alien yoga” which involves: “exhaling fully, pushing your stomach outwards. Then, while holding your breath, you pull your abdominal muscles up towards your chest, then move them from left to right.” (apparently to detoxify the body—note the liver and kidneys do this), these are really disturbing trends in body dysmorphia—i.e., distorted body image.  By no means can on consider this “fitness”.

Fitness is defined as “the quality or state of being fit” (Merriam-Webster).  This is a bit ambiguous so we need to refine the definition.  Relative to physical fitness, which is implied by the article, the definition becomes specific to the qualities of health-related physical fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, and body composition) and motor skill-related physical fitness (speed, power, agility, balance, coordination, and reaction time).  Sure, one might make the argument that these are elements of body composition, but they are by no means healthy approaches to body composition.  And, certainly, these run contrary to “well-centered fitness” (i.e., Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social well-being).

The article title is at least correct in identifying these as “disturbing”.  Any trend in fitness that is worth anything should be focused on improving one’s health and well-being.  Exercise, remember, is a sub category of physical activity intended to improve one’s health, performance, and/or physical appearance.  It is the goal of improving one’s “physical appearance” that can be most tricky.  Beauty, after all, “is in the eyes of the beholder”.  Certainly one can make a case for thigh gaps, cracked abs, protruding ribs, waist training, and/or the A4 waist challenge as a (perceived) image of beauty, but, unless one has the “right” genetics these are highly unattainable without reducing the body fat to unhealthy levels.  “Waist training” is just flat-out stupid.  (Yeah, I said that.)  I have dissected my share of human cadavers, and the internal organs are quite compactly arranged in an orderly fashion.  Squeezing and distorting them will invariably affect their function and health.  Lose weight to a healthy level, but don’t be led to believe that “training” the waist with “Victorian-like corsets” is in any way beneficial.

I find it disturbing enough that there is an increasing pursuit of six-pack abs as a sign of “fitness”.  A lean athletic physique is desirable, but not necessarily attainable (at least for an extended period).  There are, of course, the lucky few who are more naturally lean and at healthy body compositions (6-13% for men and 14-20% for women would be considered “athletic lean”) will have abdominal muscles showing.  Then there are those of us who can get to the bottom of the healthy range (essential fat is approximately 2-5% for men and 10-13% for women) and still not show abdominal muscles.  Body builders and physique athletes lower their body fat to sometimes dangerous levels only for competition and photo shoots.  So, the goal of a “six-pack” 365 days a year is unrealistic—unless you have chosen you parents wisely and are meticulous about your diet.

The realistic approach is to pursue the healthiest body composition according to your specific genetics.  Moreover, what makes you feel good about yourself (and one’s physical appearance is the least of things to feel good about).  Seek the best you Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially.  In doing so you will be widely accepted for who appearance is the least of things to feel good about).  Seek the best you Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially.  In doing so you will be widely accepted for who you are—not what some distorted segment of society says you should be.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to “look good”, but it should be on your terms.  Moreover, it should be with the desire to be healthy and to feel and perform your best.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

*https://www.healthyway.com/content/disturbing-fitness-trends-that-keep-gaining-traction/?rtg=2111-n69jK0&param4=hwywp-fni-fbss-2111-demo

Mitochondrial health and fitness.

An old (well, not “old”—he’s 55 like me) friend works for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation*, so I’ll start with a plug for him and this agency.  Mitochondrial dysfunction is a cause of many diseases, such as Autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, Huntington’s, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, chronic fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, and cancer.  Thus, the mitochondria, are important for more reasons than just energy production in the cells.  They play a critical role in exercise performance, and exercise is essential to their healthy function.

The mitochondria are considered the “powerhouse” of the cell.  They are where the bulk of the cellular energy—adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—is produced.  More healthy mitochondria mean more effective and efficient energy production—and, subsequently, better performance.

I have a few pet peeve phases that get bantered about in some fitness circles.  One of these is “mitochondrial hypertrophy”.  Let me be clear.  When we are discussing the healthy function of the mitochondria, we are not talking about size.  Preferably, we are talking about number.  While mitochondria do change their shape and form a stronger matrix, they do not hypertrophy (like muscle) with training, exactly.  More importantly, increased mitochondrial number permits the cell to use oxygen more effectively—thus, they are a critical component to oxygen uptake (i.e., VO2max).

Mitochondria increase in number with regular endurance/aerobic exercise.  Unfortunately, they just as quickly decease when activity returns to pre-training levels.  It is well established that aerobic exercise prevents mitochondrial dysfunction.  It is also important to eat a healthy diet—limiting sugars and promoting “healthy” fats.

There is a bit of a trend in fitness away from aerobic exercise, i.e., “cardio”. As the desire for a lean muscular physique becomes the driving goal, cardio has become the enemy.  The push is for more weight lifting and HIIRT and less steady state aerobic exercise.  I, personally, believe it is important for health to maintain a component of cardiorespiratory endurance training in the exercise regime.  Even the powerlifter needs some cardio to keep the mitochondria healthy.  I do agree that time spent doing low-to-moderate steady-state aerobic exercise (e.g., walking or jogging) can be time better spent (not that we shouldn’t be more physically active).  Fortunately, the cardiorespiratory adaptation is more closely tied to intensity than duration. Thus, shorter HIIT workouts a few times a week seem effective enough for mitochondrial health, while maintaining muscle and burning fat.  Properly done, we can see cardiorespiratory changes, including mitochondrial changes in bouts shorter than 20 minutes.  So, avoiding cardio is (in my informed opinion) bad advice.

As always, I recommend a goal-focused balance between strength/hypertrophy training, HIIRT for fat metabolism/body composition, and HIIT cardio for heart (and mitochondrial) health.  The more we can use the muscle under diverse overload stressors, the better it will perform.  Likewise, the better our health will be.

*www.umdf.org

Exercising on the Hedonic Treadmill.

The hedonic treadmill is not some new brand or model of exercise equipment.  It is essentially our happiness setpoint.  It is the theory that our happiness is relatively stable—that life changes (positive or negative) have only short-term effects on one’s happiness.  In short, our pursuit of happiness is like walking or running on a treadmill.

A friend suggested that I write of post on the hedonic treadmill and fitness.  So, here we are.  I am no expert on psychology, but I understand well the benefits of regular exercise.

I often share that my feelings about exercise are much like the guy who is hitting himself in the head with a 2×4.  When asked, “Why?”, he responds, “Because it feels so good when I stop.”  Exercise is difficult.  It should be.  It also releases brain neurotransmitters—e.g., norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine—that help to regulate mood.  Exercise makes us feel better.

Like any experience that has a positive effect on our happiness or feelings of well-being, the initial boost soon diminishes.  As well, the effects of exercise decline.  This is where progression, variety, and goal-setting play an important role in controlling the hedonic set-point.

When we exercise—and have a positive experience—we feel good.  Over time, that effect diminishes.  We need to increase the challenge.  We need new goals to pursue.

Consider what happens when we exercise.  First, we exercise in order to improve performance (our appearance, a specific fitness or sport performance, and/or parameter of health).  Thus, we are unsatisfied with our performance (not necessarily a bad thing).  We want to improve.  We work toward a goal, but since we are not there yet; we fall short—we fail.  Failure does not feel good.  We continue, however.  In time, with the appropriate effort (discomfort), we succeed.  This satisfaction is short-lived.  We need to raise the bar—the hedonic setpoint.

Weight loss (i.e., fat loss) is a worthy goal.  Losing excess body fat is healthy.  As the numbers on the scale drop, we feel better.  As our clothes get loose, we feel better.  As the person in the mirror looks better, we feel better.  If, when we achieve our goal, we run the danger of growing increasingly dissatisfied.  The goal or improved body composition can become disordered.  Thus, it is important for us to maintain our accomplishment and, then, pursue the next goal.  This is continuous improvement (kaizen).

Happiness is subjective.  Better to consider what gives us satisfaction and contentment.  The threshold of happiness (wellness) is an asymptote.  Some might refer to this as nirvana.  It is the target that we pursue in “well-centered fitness”.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!