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?

Good Advice for all ages

This article was just on my facebook feed and since I have been guilty on more than one occasion of abusing some of these rules, I thought it would be good to share. this is from a Personal Trainer web site and I think personal trainers would be a good investment for a lot of us either wanting to get back into the work-out routine or get off the plateau.

Personal Trainer Development Center

[Top 5 Rules for Gym Etiquette]
1. Respect the no-lift zone – Don’t ever lift a weight within 5 feet of the dumbbell rack. Ever. I don’t care if it’s shoulder press, split squat, biceps curls, or goblet squats. Pick up your weights and take 5 giant steps back.
2. Avoid the “Ab zone” – Most gyms have a designated area for mats, balls, bosu balls etc. Don’t bring heavy weights into that area. It’s designated for stretching and ab work (if you still do ab work). By taking up their space you force them to take up your space (see the next point)
3. Keep your mats out of the way! – Why does anybody set up a mat in between two benches in the free weight zone and do crunches? Do they want to get a weight on the head? Even if the gym is empty set up your mat out of the way. Either stick to the “ab zone” or place your mat in a corner out of the way. Think proactively. Where might somebody want to work out over the course of your set? Don’t set up there.
4. Walking in front of somebody – If somebody is in the middle of their set NEVER cross their field of vision. Take the long way around if you have to.
5. Put your weights away – ‘Nuff said.
Make sure you teach these rules with your clients. What would you add to the list?

Exercise is good at any age

There is a new study that is being publicized by the National Institute of Aging that has determined that exercise is good at any age.

Working out is something I do - a lot. Yet, there are a great many people as old or older than I am whose workouts make me look like a shirker.  The study referred to in this post keeps exercise at a reasonable level.  Exercise is not easy but many do believe it is the 'fountain of youth.' Here is some good advice from the National Institute for Aging that discusses particular exercises. Go For it!

You can do so much more than you know when it comes to exercise

Was having a discussion about cross-fit with a younger friends as I expressed my trepidation about trying a new cross-fit program.  Most days I wonder if I am too old to be doing this stuff. She said, as those of us in the exercise mindset often say, "Come out and do what you can do."  She was being both supportive and encouraging.

As I went through the Tuesday version of our Hartsville YMCA Bootfit with Robbie McLendon, I got to wondering about that advice. Thinking about doing what you can do is going to keep a lot of people out of the Y, off the roads, out of the pool, away from the weight room, off the Spin bike, away from the Yoga class and certainly miles from any bootfit or crossfit.

For months some of my Spin friends had been doing Robbie's Beginner Bootfit class and it just looked way more than I could ever do. I kept talking myself out of it until a couple of people along with Robbie somehow hit the right encouragement chord.  I went. I have been going ever since.

It is not something I thought I could do. Many nights I wonder if I will make it through. But it was true -- I could do it and do do it. I am not going to tell you it is pretty but as Robbie likes to say about his mega-exercise days -- "got 'er done."

My point -- don't do what you can do. Go do something and be amazed at what your body will help you accomplish when you provide the direction.  Tonight for example: four Hindu pushups; eight situps, 12 squats; 20 yards of bear crawl and 100 meters of running as many times as you could make it in 14 minutes. I had 10 meters left to run as the buzzer sounded for my seventh full rep this evening. Honestly, six or seven months ago I could not run a meter. That was a 16 minute AMRAP this evening and a challenge after last night's 400 meters and lots of burpees; then 800 meters and lots of burpees and then 1200 meters and only ten more burpees. It was a killer over 19 minutes but it was an intense physical workout that tested both body and mind and - I passed.

Do and you will be amazed at what you can do and what you will do. Join Us #YMCAUPPERPEEDEE.

For Ann Lighty, Exercising and Socializing are the Same

Workout partners, Ann Lighty, right, and Shonda Wingate, take on the elliptical machines at the Hartsville YMCA.


A little free weight training is part of Ann's regular workout session.





Treadmill and television -- often part of Ann Lighty's YMCA workout.



Ann Lighty warming up just prior to the YMCA Monday evening spin class.


Ann Lighty is one the Spin bike about 15 minutes prior to the music coming over the speakers. She is pedaling fast and this is just warm ups. As the class begins, and the music begins to pound she pedals faster and before long she is among the fastest spinners in the class -- and she maintains that pace through the hour-long class -- nearly every Monday and Wednesday evening. Spin is the work in her four-night-a-week exercise schedule. And, she has been finding Spin Class fun for about the past two years, since joining the YMCA just before she retired in August 2010.

Ann just barely made the criteria for this series about people working out past the age of 60. She hit that milestone on November 14, 2011. And, she is happy with her new age, smiling as she reflects on hitting 60 and noting that she believes she is getting older and getting better. "I'm proud I'm 60. Growing older and getting better...I am loving life." That may not have been so true a little more than three years ago. It was then that her husband succumbed to cancer and she was without her partner of 38 years. His death sent her into a depression that she fought and exercise became one of the weapons in her fight.

It was about two years ago that she decided she needed to do more than go to work and she joined the Y. At nearly that same time she talked a work colleague, Shonda Wingate, into joining her in the exercise. They have been workout partners for the past two years and it doesn't take long to notice they enjoy their time at the Y. "I'm not going to lie," says Shonda, "it might be as much for the socializing as it is for the physical but we enjoy it." Ann does say that having a workout partner is one of the motivations she sometimes needs to get up and get out to the gym. "I don't really like working out but I just work out," she says. "If I did not have someone to work out with, I might not come at all." They motivate each other and talk about how most days they can't wait to find out what the other has been up to.

"After my husband died, I lost some weight and then, I did not want to put it back on so that was my first reason for deciding to work out," says Ann. She knows the workouts give her more energy and she also says that one of the greatest benefits is "peace of mind." "You can come to the gym and just let your mind go," she notes.

Ann seems to be happy with her retirement, which came after about 19 years with the Scott Center, most recently int he Bridging the Gap program. She gets to keep up with things at work as she talks with Shonda. Besides working out, she likes yard work and has a dog that she walks, though it is not always clear if she is walking the dog or he is walking her. She has grown children and also has two grandchildren, students at Florence-Darlington Tech., living with her. She is certain that with her workouts she is in better shape than her teenage grands.

In addition to the Spin class, Ann mixes up her workouts with some light weights for arms and upper body and then work on the treadmill and sometimes the elliptical. She has found that she often enjoys watching the news on the PreCor Treadmill and says that makes the 30 minutes of walking go by pretty quickly.

As the interview was happening, a ten-year-old got on the adjacent treadmill telling us both that he thinks, "you are never too young to train." Ann smiled as she agreed with him and we turned that line around and decided that you are also probably never too old to begin to exercise.

"...always feel better after a workout at the Y."

The rowing machine can test your commitment, especially when those 15 minutes come toward the end of the work out. The rower pushes back and takes some real concentration.


15 minutes on the treadmill provides an energizing walk for Willie Jackson during most of his nightly Y workouts.



Spending about 30 minutes on the stationery bike is the way Willie Jackson opens most of his nightly workouts at the Y.

Willie Jackson spent a little more than 40 years working with Sonoco prior to his retirement from the Spiral Department in 2000. Even today he will comment on how quickly those 40 years seemed to go by, shaking his head that it could have been that long with Sonoco's largest industry. A life-long Sonoco resident, he is also now a dedicated member of the Hartsville Family YMCA. Monday through Friday you can usually find him on the exercise machines -- "this is what I do now," he says.

Though he played football during his high school years at Butler he did not engage in a lot of purposeful exercise during his working years. He began his Sonoco career in the General Services area and that particular job required lots of lifting as a daily part of the job and there is a real good chance there wasn't much energy for weight lifting or aerobics after the Sonoco shift. And, even after his retirement in 2000 he enjoyed some gardening and some work around the house after 40 years on the job he was not ready for a lot more structure.

Then, one day he saw a friend of his, Daniel Mayshack, when they bumped into each other at Wal-Mart. "He was sweating a little and I asked what he had been doing," he remembers. It was then that 'Mayshack' suggested that Willie join him at the Y. It turned out he had some free passes during a membership campaign and Mr. Jackson joined Mr. Mayshack for three days of work outs. That got him hooked and he has been a regular member of the Hartsville Y since 2002. In the beginning they were work-out partners until Mr. Mayshack got sick and later died. For the past five years Willie has been working out on his own and in the late afternoon and early evening. "Mayshack was an early-morning guy and I enjoyed working out with him but I really don't like those early mornings so I come in about now." (time was 4:45 p.m.)

Like a lot of people who work out regularly, Willie Jackson admits that it is not always easy to get motivated. "I often don't feel like coming but once I get myself out of the house and into the car and in the door, I ALWAYS feel better after the workout."

As the photos show, his workout is generally in the movement area as he spends time on two types of stationery bikes, the treadmill and the rowing machine. It seems that he may do that hour or 90 minutes so that he can reward himself with what he really enjoys at the Y -- the sauna and the steam room. They come after the workout. "These 76-year-old bones really enjoy the warmth of the heat, the steam and the hot shower," he says, smiling as he thinks about only being 30 minutes from the steam room. "I love it," he says!

The workouts are something that he finds important to his quality of life. He knows a little about when things are out of whack. Several years ago he had a knee replacement and few years ago he was hit with a tumor in the head, 'about the size of a golf ball,' that was affecting his eyesight. He beat them both and now he keeps the body working because, "I just feel better, absolutely, no doubt about it." Mr. Jackson says he doesn't go around trying to get others to believe in the power of exercise but he does think that people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and more should get away from the remote and start some real moving. "I know what it is doing for me. When I leave after a workout I feel like a different person."

(The blogger would like to thank Willie Jackson for taking some time to talk about working out after 60 (in this case after 76). This is the third in an occasional series on people who are making a difference in their lives through exercise. So far, a common theme is the versatility of the YMCA in Hartsville and the variety of opportunities it offers for a fulfilling exercise program. Willie Jackson says he believes firmly in his Y membership investment.)