To go gently, or to rage!

[Jeff Harris]

To go gently, or to rage!

Jeff Harris NSCA-CPT

There is a popular ad campaign out that states that the generation said it would never get old didn’t. This statement promotes hair dye for men. This brings to mind two questions for boomers. First do you feel you didn’t get old? Second if you did, was gray hair the cause?
Personally, I feel that even if it is a cute ad, it over simplifies the problem. I am 50. May 2008 I hit 247 lbs. and I realized that I could not move as fast as I used to, nor did I have the balance I use to have. This hit me hard. It reminded me of an old saying. “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light“. (Dylan Thomas)
I was going gently, that had to stop. It was time to rage against the dying of the light. I am now 208; my speed and balance is getting better, and I am not done raging.
So Boomers, where you? Are you going gently or are you raging? You do have a choice. If you cannot adjust, you’ll just keep eating the same as when you were 20 when you had a much faster metabolism and higher activity level. You’ll put on weight, slow down, and lose mobility. Or, you can rage.
You will need to manage the quality and quantity of what you eat. Start an exercise program; do some kind of exercise every day. I know it is easy to say I don’t know how, or I don’t have the equipment or time. All are good and easy excuses to keep you gently heading towards the dying of the light. But, these are all excuses, not reasons. If you want rage, let’s find the answers. Don’t know how? Get a trainer. Make sure they hold a nationally recognized certification like NSCA, NASM, or ACSM. These certifications are not easy to get, so if a trainer has one of these you can assume they have some knowledge. Find a trainer who is over 40. When you were 20 you had no idea of what you are facing now. A 20 year old trainer won’t either. Yes, there’s a charge for the service, but what’s cost of doing nothing? And, isn’t your health, quality of life, and longevity worth it?
No equipment? Not a reason. There are many health clubs with good rates. Most have trainers. You may find a good one, but remember the caveats above. There are also sporting goods stores with equipment for almost any budget. Still too much? There is a more primitive type of strength training regaining popularity. People lift, carry, throw, and flip almost anything that’s heavy. (Rocks, logs, tires, sandbags, ect.)
As far as time goes, if you cannot find 3 hours in a week to improve your life then you need to look at your life and how you are living it. How much time do you spend doing things that do not benefit you, or worse, are outright destructive?
We will all get old and will leave this world, we cannot stop this. But we do have a say in how fast it comes, the quality of our life, and how we deal with it. Are you going to go gently, or are you going to rage?
I recently read an article in a magazine where John Saxon age 71 pressed a 70 lb. kettle bell with one arm straight up over his head. John Saxon is raging. The article also stated that around a year earlier John was not in that good of shape. Injuries had taken their toll. He stated it would take him a couple of hours to stand up straight after getting out of bed. Yes, John was going gently. John heard about a seminar being put on by Pavel, one of the leading advocates of kettle bells. John went got hooked on kettle bell training and raged. The link appears below.
John was at a fork in the road. One road was vigorous exercise and enhanced life. The other easy road offered increasing pain and decreasing mobility--perhaps getting to a stage where it hurt so much to walk he may have opted for an adult mobility scooter. Adult mobility scooters--these things are a godsend to a fraction of the people who actually need them, and the express train to the dying of the light for the rest. People whose mobility problems are the result of inactivity and/or excessive weight cannot be helped by encouraging even less activity. Luckily for John Saxon he chose to rage.
OK, you say I just cannot get into the exercise thing, it’s boring. Is it that the only way to rage? The answer is yes it is, but if you see it as boring perhaps you need to reexamine what exercise is. Wikipedia defines it as: “Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health…”. Maybe there is an activity you always wanted to do; you can hike, rock climb, do martial arts, play golf, go bowling, join a baseball, basketball, racquetball, touch football, or bicycle group. Strong man training can be fun. Join group fitness, you may find new friends and you can rage together. There are all sorts of great ways to rage.
Example : years ago my wife and I were looking for something new. We always liked swords. We started training in Shinkendo, a style of Japanese swordsmanship. We have been doing this over 14 years. Swordsmanship can be a great workout. Both My wife & I now teach this art.
Yes, it is true I was doing this when I reached that massive weight. As most of you know, as we age our metabolism slows down. If we do the same things and eat the same way, adding weight is only natural. Logic says do more, eat less. You have to manage your nutrition, and find ways of becoming much more physically active.
For those who want to know more regarding the science of the reasons our metabolism slows down, here is a link to an article on Sarcopenia written by my wife. It’s based on a research paper she wrote for a college class.

Sarcopenia: A Covert Threat to Your Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of...


Link to the John Saxon article


Note: If you live near Mesa, AZ and would like help in fighting the dying of the light, both my wife and I are personal trainers who are accepting clients. Feel free to contact us.