Humbled & inspired by a man in his eighties

Another quick check in today. I had a meeting this morning with a man who is in his eighties. We discussed business at hand, and then did a bit of chatting and catching up. Aging is on his mind a lot, and he's not 100% pleased with it. 

"I still work out five days a week, though," he said. 

However, his workout routine has recently changed significantly. 

He had been walking for an hour and a half on the treadmill at 15% incline at 4 miles an hour. (Quietly, my mind blew.) However, his trainer, an 80-year-old former Olympics trainer, told him he was doing all the wrong exercises. The trainer put him on a new regimen that takes half the time, but is really making him sore and tired. The trainer explained that it's because he's working out muscles that have been neglected for years.

He complained that he was no longer able to do the exercises that he'd been relying on for years, and was not happy about what seems to be a reduction in his exercise capacities.

"You're in your eighties. Live with it," the trainer told him.

Anyway, I'm posting this because I already feel my capacities shrinking because of age. I'm afraid I'll reach the point where I won't be able to enjoy full mobility and strength because no matter how fit I get, it will be limited by my age. I might be at that point right now.

I just downloaded a book by an author I heard being interviewed on a podcast: Train to Age, by Joni Grant. She began her fitness journey in her late 50's, and it sounds like she was quite overweight and out of shape. In the podcast, she focused on fitness as a way to make it possible to do the things we want to do, not as a way to look sexy. For instance, she said there's not much we can do to improve balance, but if her legs are like tree trunks, she knows she can more easily correct herself when she's tipping over.

I'll start reading it and will probably comment about it in this blog.

In all fairness, the man in his eighties was an athlete in his younger days. But he also went on to found and lead many successful businesses, and has contributed a lot to the world in his life. Probably because he was in shape and had the energy to do it!