Exercise is a fountain of youth

It is amazing to watch people evolve who begin and stick with an exercise program.

The past seven weeks or so I have been part of F3Hartsville, which is part of F3Nation -- a men's group focused on Fitness-Fellowship-Faith. The group has expanded quickly with recruits believing it is now time for them to get "back into shape." It has been really interesting watching how quickly these younger guys have made significant differences in simple things like the bounce in their step, the energy in their morning greeting and the number of 'merkins' (F3 jargon for pushups) they are not able to do. In some of the first workouts many of them had trouble putting together ten pushups in a row -- now several of them are pushing out a couple of hundred or more in a 45-minute workout.

Since I began this blog about working out after 60 I have been a big believer in the fountain of youth properties of exercise. Now, watching significantly young guys get relatively younger each week as they continue to push it is even more obvious that movement (sometimes serious movement) can make major differences in how we attack life.

So, the message is that it really does not matter how old you are -- you should be taking advantage of the fountain of youth called Exercise -- because it works.

For those in an older category, this short blog on Go4Life talks about a possible connection between helping keep the brain young and exercise. There are lots of reasons to exercise but I maintain the hardest exercise of all is taking that first step out the door to the Y - to the trail - to the neighborhood walk. Quit waiting on yourself and GO NOW!

Trying new ways to accomplish old things - F3

YOUNGER NEXT YEARyoungernextyear.com

So, in the book , YOUNGER NEXT YEAR,  the author suggests trying new things and setting goals for yourself so you build and enrich your own life without waiting for others to do it for you.

Lately, in the keeping in shape side of things I have been working out with a group called #F3Hartsville. This is a Men's only outfit that was founded in Charlotte, NC and it sprouting chapters all over the country. F3Nation is obviously filling a need. The Three F's stand for Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. The group -- with accountability as key value - provides lots of ways to grow in those F's while trying to keep at least one additional F - the family - at top of mind.


My F3 name is "RADAR" yeah they were thinking of M-A-S-H though I am still not sure where it came from. All F3 members have their nicknames - part of the deal. As one of the older members in our group (okay, right now probably the oldest) I get the RESPECT cheer as we go around our circle. The younger guys do not really understand that my mind does not think my body is any older than they are. But -- convention of the group and when I am able to respectfully complete a challenging work I do even have some added respect for my willingness to have taken that challenge.


That is the key to this discussion. F3 is out of the comfort zone and it is a different challenge. The F3 workout is a stretch --even with an old-age modification or two. The challenge is the blessing because it moves me off the plateau and makes me reach just a little further than I thought I might or than I thought I could.


Now, the question, what are you using for your motivation to do something just a bit more challenging?