Never too late...

It is never too late to start something new ...

This past week I had two books that had an 85-year-old as the protagonist. Now, this would have been great if I had planned it that way but it just "so happened" that I chose these books. And both offered some insights into the process some call aging and others realize is just living at a different age. And then, today, I was looking at the titles on my MEDIUM feed and found an article covering the longest running research on aging being done out of Baltimore. So I decided to use this post to further the conversation.

Motion is Lotion

The research finding the author of that essay picked out focused on the idea that YOU control much of the way you age. The findings say your attitude toward aging and your behavior toward your own body make a big difference. So, when I continue to borrow the meme from others that "Motion is Lotion," I see my observations are on the right track. This article also noted that the Baltimore Study the are discussing notes --"And better yet, it’s never too early or too late to start to improve these. Both are accessible and don’t require any financial investment."

An idea coming from the study is that we should align ourselves with others who believe they have control of how they get older and share the secrets of that lifestyle. So, it may be a really good idea for you to get that membership to the YMCA or in Hartsville SC to the Thomas Center  or another gym and then USE membership. 

Former Secretary of State became weight lifter in her sixties (example)

So, this past week I read (listened to) a book called ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by an Australian writer. In the novel she happened to mention that the former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright began lifting weights in her sixties. I had never heard that before and there more on her feelings about lifting in this article from the HUFFPOST.  So while you may not want to choose heavy lifting as a goal, you can find lots of examples of people who started working out and found that rather than it being a chore it became a lifestyle.

THINK ABOUT WORKING OUT AS YOUR NEW LIFE STYLE

So, no matter what your age starting to make your body work harder than you think it can is a good way to begin enjoying more of today.  Besides getting into better physical shape, your working out gives you more things to talk about.

are you on workout quarantine or on workout overdrive in this enforced downtime?

This morning I did get the 100 push ups out of the way early and so continued meeting the F3Hartsville 100 per day push up challenge.  But, the really important question is what will I do the rest of the day to add to the workout regimen.  And based on the history of the past few weeks the answer is probably going to be not very much.  Robbie McLendon, whose Bootfit classes at the UpperPeeDeeYMCA in Hartsville, has been amazingly still posting daily workouts.  He has several from the class who are working the program. And then, there are others who are perfecting excuses instead of squats.

As a reminder how my current strategy of working out is very likely the wrong strategy there was this article this morning in MEDIUM -- https://medium.com/swlh/when-do-you-begin-to-get-old-the-day-you-skip-the-gym-b28660f70e35 .     The title of the article was when do you start getting old -- the answer was the first time you miss your day at the gym.  Okay - so no gym -- the point is there is also NO EXCUSE.

                                                                Move Today like right now!

Not good at pull ups but I am going to try again to see I can add this exercise

One of the toughest things I had to do when going through Officer Candidate School with the Marine Corps was to get strong enough to crank out some pull ups to pass the fitness test.  I was not good at them and remember not being able to do many -- if I was even able to do one.  I did eventually get the minimum but the skill has gone into hiding many times over the years.

Get into your HEAD that YOU can do pull ups - then train to do them!

Then, today, I came upon an article in Medium that goes into specific details about the fact that we can learn to do pull ups.  In our Hartsville YMCA Bootfit Class the pull up is often on the agenda but many of us use bent row dumb bell exercises in place of the pull up.  Maybe this will move some of us to begin using the jump pull up to us moving in a stronger direction.

The article -- It is all in your head makes a covincing case.https://elemental.medium.com/your-inability-to-do-pullups-is-all-in-your-head-191278c2f5aa

One time when exercising with an F3 Durham group the guys used assisted pull ups and it was really the first time I had seen them work.  We did not do them in Hartsville.  I am thinking maybe F3 Nation might begin to recommend for those who have not yet achieve their pull-up potential.

And, I have already posted a link to the article on Robbie McLendon's Hartsville YMCA Boofit page because if anyone can motivate people to try to achieve new milestones, it is the OG>

In it together...

One of the interesting dynamics of working out with others instead of by yourself in the gym is the energy that seems to generate and be there for the taking.  I know that is voodoo sounding but today was a case in point.

Bootfit is a class that has been devised by Robbie McLendon at the Hartsville YMCA and it has the benefit of a substantial history of helping people develop successful workout habits.  It is also tough so it has a history of people who found their bodies might not be equipped for the constant mixing and matching of muscle groups. That disclaimer now in writing this is another suggestion for those who have not tried working out with others, or high intensity work outs to sample a few of the Bootfit classes.  They work.

Back to today, Thursday, and the noon class. We start at 12:15. My goal was to start and hope to finish but with no certainty at the beginning. The challenge was a 20 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) and the individual exercises were designed to move the heart rate and stress a couple of different muscle groups.  30 side straddle hops; 20 back extensions; 10 v-ups; 5 clapping push ups.

Back to today -- some kind of ear problem is giving me a struggle and after the first two reps I was not sure if I would keep going. But a glance at others made my self talk urge another try. I as the breaths came harder I felt energy from somewhere and moved through the air sucking to rep after rep exercise after exercise.  Had I been on my own it likely would have been an abbreviated attempt. Having the virtual push from the others helped me log a work out that kept the heart rate up, and the muscles stressed. When my energy seemed gone there was energy in the field to keep me going. The ages in these bootfit workout are wide ranging and that mix of ages is another selling point for those wanting to add some diversity, complexity and challenge to the workout regime.

If you find yourself doing the same thing day by day you might reward yourself with a three to five day commitment to try Hartsville Y Bootfit and see if you might move from your current plateau.

I think there were six of us in th noon class and the number of reps ranged from about 15 to eight.

The Lunges kill my knees (so if I want, I modify)

There are people at the Hartsville YMCA who sometimes cringe when I saunter over to talk because they know I am about to proselytize for the #Bootfit class organized and taught by Robbie McLendon.  

 leg lifts times ten, push ups times ten, lunges times ten and 100 meters backward run in a 20 minute AMRAP

Bootfit works.

It is high intensity with barely time to breathe.

Bootfit works everything nearly every day -- but in a wide variety of ways.

Bootfit is for the fit and flat and Bootfit is for the new-gym type who may be rounder.

What makes Bootfit work? The bootfitter.  Bootfit does not work for those not there.

Bootfit does not work for those looking to check a box but not stress, strain or sweat. Bootfit works for those who work Bootfit.

As a person who is striving for more connection among and between individuals of all demographics Bootfit works because a seventy year old can move and a 20 year old can move -- maybe not with the same speed or grace or force but each can make it work for them. And, for example, at Bootfit most of us could learn a great deal about form from April whose lunges touched the floor, whose leg lifts were vertical and whose movements kept flowing not stopping and starting. A beauty of Bootfit that we have a lot to learn and adapt from each other.

Robbie, who is no spring chicken himself, works hard to come up with interesting workouts that give you a daily challenge that will often have you question his ongoing mantra - "We can do this." But you can do it -- if not the first day, the second or the third or... Give yourself a 2020 present now and be amazed at the difference you see in 2021.  A mantra for those of us over the 60 or higher mark is 'motion is lotion' and Bootfit helps us provide some structure motion to the workout day.

Don't miss this

An 81 year old sets a record for the plank at ten minutes and he lost some of his power lifting records to an 84 year old. Goals are not just for the young.  This Medium article is lot of fun and I encourage any relating to older people to read this article and share some of that motivation.  I think it is knowing that it can be done by hearing other people are doing it that can sometimes make us get out of the chair and head to the Y for the hardest of the exercises - opening the door and walking to the weight room

Some days a little goes a long way...

Robbie McLendon has been running what he calls the Bootfit class at the Hartsville YMCA for a lot of years and those who like to jump-start their fitness routine - at any age- would benefit from this High Intensity Training.

The Friday classes are generally a little shorter than other days but the intensity is high. For example, today Robbie had devised three sets of exercises that you did as many reps as possible of the set for five minutes. Then a 30 - second break got you ready for the next set, which was followed by a third.

I did have to modify a bit (honesty) but I think I still made the most of sets.
Set One was a 50 meter backward run ( my balance isnt what it was so mostly I went forward)
Followed by 10 knees to bench.  Second set was 30 jump rope singles (I am not good so many of those jumps were simulated) followed by 15 dips. Third was 100 meter run followed by 20 squats. There was a lot of shortness of breath when the workout was finished. A little goes a long way.

And for a few weeks now Robbie has been adding a core workout to the end of the classes -- because everyone has five more minutes.  I do a lot of core work on my own but these five minute back to back exercises challenge each time we do do them.

And it helps to have other in the class to push you -- even when they generally outperform you. It does not matter what they others - it only matters what you do. And, it matters that you do something no matter what your age.

Let's see if I can add some photos he took today.

always trying to revitalize this blog and not often succeeding BUT

I wanted to find a way to get a bit more exposure for this article by Julia Hubel, who is a sixty-something, a veteran, and successful writer and speaker and entrepreneur.

Earlier this morning as I was leaving the Rooster (Hartsville,SC Coffee Shop)
WALL-E was just arriving extolling the great F3 morning workout. I had slept in today.
And, then, as I opened my email there was this article on Medium:  https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/superbly-fit-after-sixty-seven-strategies-for-aging-well-69ab1ac0a908

Decided that meant I should get a post about out and staying in shape after sixty, or in my case and others after seventy. If you have suggestions on information that might motivate you to move your sixty or seventy something body for better health, a more open exposure to life, or any other benefits, please let me know.  I will try to find some ways to share.

Here are a couple of shots from Bootfit Hartsville at the HartsvilleYMCA. 

There are three or four seventy somethings moving with those thirty and forty somethings and younger to get and stay in shape with Robbie McLendon leading those classes.