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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
Don's Positive Paradox of Getting Fit Late In Life
Exercise and the resulting state of fitness are known to promote good health. Sedentary living and the resulting state of unfitness (including weight problems and poor muscle and organ functioning) are known to promote ill health. A discussion about whether it is better to exercise and be fit early or later in life is akin to a choice given to the condemned in some American states: death by hanging or death by firing squad. Neither offers a bright future. Likewise, a "choice" between being fit early in life OR later in life.
Just the same, the older person who, for whatever reason, finds himself immersed in (in other words, comfortable with) a sedentary lifestyle, despite the fact that it has resulted in a significant state of unfitness (fat and incapable of predicted levels of performance for one his age), may take pleasure in considering my new theory. I'm calling my theory Don's Positive Paradox of Getting Fit Late In Life.
My new theory is independent of any data, studies, empirical evidence, expert consensus or even revelation from a god. I just made this up. Maybe you will think it is crackpot crazy, or obviously true—that any dummy already knows what I am offering as a theory. You decide.
The basic idea behind my positive paradox is that exercise and fitness pays off proportionally faster and more significantly later in life than earlier.
I think my positive paradox of later fitness is a sound idea. My own experience as a lifelong athlete who observes older athletes almost every day suggests to me that an increased devotion to fitness in later life is more important than ever, thanks to the effects of the passage of time.
Of course being fit is always a good thing, as is a REAL wellness lifestyle (which includes fitness but encompasses a great deal more). However, the returns are greater after about fifty years of age. At this stage in life, the avoidance of losses and the realization of gains are quicker and far more evident. This is due to the fast that by this stage in life, parts are wearing out at an alarming rate—and a human, like "Alice in Wonderland," must go faster and faster to stay in the same place. Well, more accurately, go backwards less quickly. Thus, the middle and later years of life are a great time, as well as a last chance, to transition from sloth to fitness. The older adult may have survived a passive physical existence during his twenties, thirties or even forties—but from this point on, whether for a few more years or decades, the rewards of fitness and the perils of physical neglect are higher than ever before.
Our bodies are capable of more than most people realize. Aging is not only chronological but also very much affected by choices. Lifestyle patterns matter—enormously. This could be called the positive paradox of becoming fit later in life for those unfit early in life. Senior bodies neglected for decades are capable of THE most dramatic transformations from exercise and fitness—much more so than younger bodies or older bodies in top form.
This situation is simply a matter of the unfit older person being farther down the fitness mountain. As a consequence, such a body can enjoy a greater ascent toward the peaks of positive conditioning and well-being. A life-long athlete can only struggle to hold position/stay the course/keep a grip on the mountainside—he's already at or near his own personal peak. He possesses a high level of fitness; all he can do now is try arrest the slow descent of performance declines with age progression. On the other hand, the 40, 50 or 60 year-old, unfit for decades if not always so, can make dramatic advances. He will—and this is the amazing part of the paradox, find himself fitter at fifty (or whatever) than he ever was at thirty, or whatever younger age.
Of course, this is not a suggestion that the relatively young person should conclude the sensible thing to do is little or nothing, exercise-wise. I can't imagine someone reading this and making a choice like this one: "Well, good then. I'll sit on my butt and avoid exercise until I'm fifty, then take it up and experience the dramatic progress Ardell promised!" I think such a ludicrous scenario is unlikely. (This, of course, is automatically true if the scenario is indeed ludicrous, which I hope you'll agree it is.)
Instead of delaying fitness for later life to take advantage of the paradox, think of it as a consolation prize for the seniors who ARE unfit. The paradox ought to compel sedentary seniors to seize the moment, the occasion of a second chance at the brass ring of exercise and fitness. Reach out for the magical ring as life's merry-go-round circles the pavilion of existence. Know that, with each turn, with every remaining revolution, fewer laps remain on the precious ride of one lifetime. Make the most of it. Be fit, later if not sooner.
Domain: physicalSubdomain: exercise and fitness
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