A few days ago I was out for a hike in the Ozarks. It had just rained the night before, causing the footing to be more slippery than usual. While taking in the scenery and off in deep thought, I slipped on a rock. My right foot went out from under me and I thought I was going down.
But I didn’t.
After I regained my balance with my next step and let out a Holy S..t, I started thinking about training. Yes, one of those things I help people do for a living. Strange I know, but specifically, I immediately began thinking about how glad I was for the way I’ve been training myself lately.
A minute or two later, thoughts started flooding into my head – which I need to get off my chest, and I hope that you might consider.
It’s interesting, today when I ask someone what they’d like to improve about their health, I generally get the same answer I did 20 years ago. Any idea what that could be? I’ll end the suspense and just tell you – “lose about 10 pounds.”
It’s also interesting because it doesn’t seem to matter if the individual is 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, or even 80 years old. The response is still usually the same!
Now I could go off on a million different tangents here, but I’m going to stay focused on one particular point. That point being, is losing that 10 pounds still the most important thing when you’re 80 years old as it was when you were 30?
During those 50 years there’s going to be a whole lot of change taking place – and in many different facets of life. So how can the goal still be the same? How can the main reason to train still be the same?
In other words, what’s important to you at 30 might not be as important when you’re blowing out 80 candles.
In my own life, running was so important to me at age 30. Winning road races and setting new PRs (personal records) was something I cared deeply about. I put a crazy amount of time and effort into that.
Nearly 17 years later, I could care less about logging 70-mile weeks and winning road races. Today, you couldn’t offer me enough money in the world to want to go out and do that again.
Yes, exercise is still important to me, and I still find time to do it. It’s just that what I do looks a lot different now, and my reasons for doing it today are different from what they once were.
And, this is really what I want to talk to you about today.
Did you know that from the ages of 30-40 the average adult loses a half pound of muscle per year?
Did you also know that during that same period of time, the average adult also gains one pound of fat per year?
Yes, you read that correctly. This also kind of explains why the scale doesn’t tell the entire story. But here’s the kicker, from age 40 onwards, this trend accelerates significantly without exercise.
Simply stated, left unchecked or neglecting to exercise, expect to lose upwards of 50% of your lean muscle mass throughout your lifetime.
But it doesn’t stop here. Our level of strength, or how strong we are is affected too.
Beginning at age 40, should the typical individual choose not to exercise – and specifically, strength train – they can expect their peak strength to decline 10%…each decade.
This isn’t good. But, unfortunately, it gets worse.
There happens to be another physical quality that drops off at an even faster rate. Any idea as to what that could be?
Power
You probably don’t see or hear much about power, but it’s more important than you might realize.
Have you ever slipped on a patch of ice? If so, were you able to recover without hitting the ground – that’s power in action.
What about waking down the sidewalk and stepping into the street only to notice a car coming directly at you? Were you able to react quickly enough to get out of the way?
Again, power. The ability to react quickly and explosively, and in a coordinated fashion can quite literally save your life someday.
Let’s go back to that typical 40-year-old who chooses not to incorporate some power training into their program – they can expect a 17% decrease in their power output…each decade. If you’re keeping track, that’s almost twice the rate of strength loss.
One more question for you. Do you know what the leading cause of death is for those over 65?
Falls.
And one of the best things someone can do to prevent a fall? That’s right – improve and/or maintain their power.
Believe me, I get it. It’s hard to think about a catastrophic fall when you’re 40. Especially when that 10 pounds you need to lose is staring at you in the mirror! I’m not going to sit here and suggest that I don’t train for vanity’s sake too. I most certainly do.
But, Father Time is going to come for all of us at some point. So why not be ready for it?
Going back to my hike the other day – all the jump rope, hops to balance, and quick response jumps that I’ve been doing weekly for years now paid off in that particular instance. I was out there alone, and I could have just as easily gone down, hit my head, and who knows what happens next.
There’s nothing wrong with training to look better, burning some extra calories, or improving your metabolism, etc., but, it might also be wise to train for some other reasons as well. Reasons that might not seem important at the time, yet someday will.