don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

The New York State Office of Aging claims that only 30 percent of Americans aged 45 to 64 exercise regularly, while 32 percent of adults 65 and older follow a regular plan of exercise. This sets a low level for "normal." Don't be normal! The human body repairs itself better, performs more efficiently and looks a lot better when it is maintained. Proper maintenance is even more important as the human chassis and all moving parts age. Sound nutrition and vigorous, appropriate daily exercise is more important than Geritol and all the drugs being advertised on TV! Do something every day for your musclo-skeletal and cardio-vascular-pulmonary systems. Take your lungs, heart and your many miles of veins, arteries and capillaries for a walk, swim or something daily and pick up the duration, if not the pace, as you get older. You may or may not last longer but you will surely function better. Fail to exercise more and your joint bones and the bones of your spinal column will not properly rebuild and repair themselves -- and you will be older than you need or want to be. Thin, porous bones are no fun. Ask anyone with osteoporosis.

As your metabolism naturally slows with aging, the body is primed to do things that are not so good. Specifically, fat tends to displace muscle, muscles tend to become smaller and weaker and the added body weight adds another stress load on the heart, lungs and the weight bearing joints of the knees, hips, ankles, and feet.

The solution: exercise more and eat better if not a bit less. Protect and build your muscles, which, in turn, will protect your joints and spinal column, enhance your posture and balance, boost your mobility, and lower your chances of falls and other accidents. You will also look fabulous, at least for your age. Why? Because looking like a normal person your age is to look dreadful, given the sorry standard of the average American at ANY age!

To ward off or at least delay for long periods the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune (debilitation, in other words), exercise more after 40 than you did prior to 40, and keep increasing the level if not the intensity of your exercise regimen as the decades pass.

All of this reminds me of a story, no doubt apocryphal: When I went to lunch today, I noticed an old lady sitting on a park bench, sobbing her eyes out. I stopped and asked her what was wrong. She said, "I have a 22 year old husband at home. He makes love to me every morning and then gets up and makes me pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit and freshly ground coffee."

I said, "Well, then why are you crying?"

She said, "He makes me homemade soup for lunch and my favorite brownies and then makes love to me for half the afternoon."

I said, "Well, why are you crying?"

She said, "For dinner he makes me a gourmet meal with wine and my favorite dessert and then makes love to me until 2:00 a.m."

I said, "Well, why in the world would you be crying?"

She said, "I can't remember where I live!"

Aging stereotypes have always been a rich source of humor, at the expense of the aged. As a member of this class, I say, "No worries. We can take a joke." Yet, aging IS an important wellness issue that should be taken seriously, even while maintaining and even improving upon one's sense of humor. Most people realize the importance of humor, but not enough seem to realize that exercise is AS important! Of course, exercise is vital at all stages of life but especially in the middle and later years. Unfortunately, too few act sufficiently on their realizations. Exercise can help older people feel better and enjoy life more, but doing enough of it is even more difficult after age 60, for example, than was the case at age 30. Many Americans now in their sixties or older failed to sustain good intentions the first time they set out to get fit when they were half as old as they are now!

Yet, even at 60 or older, regular exercise can improve all the life functions that it aided earlier in life and even mitigate the effects of some diseases and disabilities already experienced. It is especially effective at improving mood and relieving depression.

Most older (and younger) people know that vigorous daily exercise is important but would rather not think about or deal with it. However, middle age, if left untreated with the mighty potion of exercise, will invariably prove fatal. Even WITH exercise, fatalities are high but the end takes longer or seems that way!

To some, middle age seems incurable but it isn't. You can prevent it by becoming prematurely old or dying young. Most people, predictably enough, don't want to do either one, but they still fail to sustain a regular and vigorous exercise pattern. This is such a pity, for the alternatives are not pretty. If they fail to exercise, they get older faster; if they can't deal with getting older, they deny reality and become triathletes, or join a religious cult or do both. No, I'm just kidding. The sedentary just try not to think about it, but it can't be helped because even comedians are talking about it.

Take my once-favorite television show Seinfeld. A classic episode dealt with aging. The leading characters all volunteered to spend a bit of time serving as companions for an older person. This led Seinfeld to comment on the relativity of aging in the stand-up part of the show. I missed some of it, but I recall he discussed life as faster-paced in our era than a few thousand years ago. "Today," Seinfeld noted, "life expectancy is around 76; back then, it was about 25! Put this in perspective. Among other things, it means that certain events we take for granted must have occurred much sooner for cavepersons. For instance, in those days, you got your driver's license at five, you were married at eight, your career peaked at twelve and social security kicked in at seventeen. If you encountered a person in later life, say, 22, you'd try to be polite -- 'hey, you're really 22? Wow, you'd never know it. You look great for your age.'"

Recently, Garrison Keelor brought up aging in his monologue about "Lake Woebegon" on his popular radio show called A Prairie Home Companion. Keelor noted that time is like money. It doesn't matter what you have SPENT, what matters is how much you've got left. "Think of it this way," he said. "A man of 40 destined to live to 60 is actually older than a man of 50 who will live to 90. The 40 year-old thinks he's 10 years younger but actually he's 20 years older. In a way, then, you are only as young as you feel because the way you feel is an indication of how long you have left."

Keelor concluded by reflecting that getting older is a great adventure. "In a way, we're moving into a New Frontier, those of us growing older. We're all together in this wagon train. Some of us are farther ahead in the column than others."

Keelor stopped there but I'll add that if you're not in a big hurry to get wherever you're going, slow down the journey by speeding up your metabolism -- with exercise done properly, every day. If you're only as old as you think, you will surely feel younger if you are fit and having fun and feel good about how you look and what you are doing with the time that's left.

Be well and look on the bright side.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of exercise and fitness. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

 Send e-mail to Don Ardell