When it comes to longevity, society, and the medical profession focus on living a longer life. In Being Mortal, Dr. Atul Gawande explains how he was never really trained to help patients cope with death - only how to save lives. Medical treatment focuses on disease treatment vs. prevention.
In 2000, Canada's average life expectancy was 79 years old, and this increased to 82 years in 2020. With medical research and technology advancements, we expect life expectancy to increase.
As much, if not more focus should be placed on the quality of our longer lives. What would you prefer: Living a full and vibrant life but passing at 70, or living until 90, but having mobility issues during the last 5 years of your life?
When we focus on our quality of life, we can work backward. If you were 70 years old, what would you physically want to do? Some examples include
picking up your grandchildren
playing with them on the floor
Driving
going for a long walk
golfing
On average, adults who don’t do strength training regularly can lose 4 to 6 pounds of muscle per decade. As muscles weaken, everyday activities like walking, shopping, and dressing become harder. You are less likely to cope with and recover from illness or injury. Moreover, muscle loss can cause dangerous falls, which may result in disability or even death. Strength and power training also has specific health benefits, such as improving blood sugar control and preventing bone loss.
The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.
Martin Luther King Jr.
As I found this information, I shared it with some close friends. We did the exercises below together and shared our results. We also spent time talking about what it would feel like to be able and not be able to do the things we wanted to do as we age. It was a powerful conversation that ended with us agreeing to do these exercises every 3 months. We will track and report back on our experiences. Having an accountability partner or group of friends is powerful because it helps initiate and maintain action.
There are some basic metrics and a range of movements that help people achieve many functional movement goals as they age. These include an appropriate V02 max for cardiovascular health, strength in the hips/legs, raising your hands over your head, and having proper balance. Here are some exercises to check your health.
V02 Max
This measures your cardiorespiratory health. It is the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise.
How do you do it?
Lab tests are the most accurate but also the most difficult to arrange. Fitness tests where you run on a treadmill with a mask are the next most accurate method. The alternative at-home estimate can be found here.
What can you do?
Zone 2 training which keeps your heart rate in the aerobic zone is the best way to improve your V02 max.
Free Hang
This measures your grip and forearm/shoulder strength. A recent study showed that people with relatively weak handgrip strength, a reliable marker of overall muscle quality and strength, showed signs of accelerated DNA aging. Their genes appeared to grow old faster than those of people with greater strength.
How do you do it?
Simple, hang on a bar for as long as you can.
What can you do?
Practice daily, do some shoulder strengthening exercises, or get a hand grip strengthener device to use while driving. Aim to free-hang for 2 minutes. For tips to extend your hang time, click here.
Cross-legged Standing Test
This measures your balance, flexibility, and hip and leg strength.
How do you do it?
From a standing position, bend down into a cross-legged position without using your arms, hands, or knees. From this seated position, try to get up to a standing position without help or support from other limbs.
What can you do?
Try to do 10-15 squats daily while brushing your teeth or getting dressed. Weave these types of exercises into your daily routine. Be more aware of opportunities to sit cross-legged. In the beginning, you may need pillows below each knee. That is ok because nobody is judging you. You do you.
SOLEC Test
This measures your balance.
How do you do it?
Stand on one leg, but close your eyes and maintain your balance for as long as you can. For goals based on your age click here.
What can you do?
Practice with your eyes open and progress to closing your eyes and doing this daily until you surpass your age-related goal for each.
Action Items
Make a list of things that you want to be able to accomplish physically as you age. Pay attention to how doing these things will make you feel. Feelings drive change.
It will take you 10 minutes to try each of these tests to gauge your baseline fitness. From here you can look at ways to improve your flexibility, balance, and strength
Start slow. Book one yoga class or a beginner's pilates class and move from there.
Share this post with a friend who can be your accountability partner so you can encourage each other!