My ultimate exercise motivation

My paternal grand mother is my ultimate exercise reason. At the age of 70 she decided not to get up from her bed reasoning it would extend her years on this Earth. During my childhood and youth my grandmother, my parents and I were sharing a small 2 bedroom apartment. I don’t have to tell you how wrong that decision was for her, and how it affected the life of our family, but the direct impact on me was the decision not to be like that as much as possible for as long as possible.

The longer I live, the more this decision is being reinforced by my personal experiences, common knowledge and the new scientific discoveries.

I read the brilliant and incredibly optimistic book by a great doctor and author Sherwin B. Nuland: the Art of Aging. The author, himself in his 70es, gives an honest and encouraging view on aging with grace and wisdom. He puts a great stress on the importance of exercise. The cornerstone principle of being physically (and mentally) fit is this: you don’t use it, you lose it!

Yes, it is true says Dr Nuland that we all are given different set DNAs and that drives a lot of how we age, but all else being equal, the well oiled mechanism will last longer then the neglected one.

While explaining the complex changes that happen in the aging body, he stresses the importance of vigorous exercise as means for slowing the aging process.

Exercise improves:
1) the heart muscle: ”A heart that has been benefited by a consistent schedule of vigorous exertion can respond to stress like a heart several decades younger, not only by its added ability to beat more forcefully and faster, but also by the capacity of its muscle cells to take up the required supplemental supply of oxygen from the blood.”
(From the personal experience, I used to have a heart murmur since birth, but not even a sonogram shows it now)
2) the cardio-vascular system - by improving” the ability of the larger arteries to adapt to the heightened blood flow required by exertion, and it increases the sensitivity of certain pressure monitoring structures”
3) the appearance: ”Planned vigorous exercise is a far better anti-aging treatment then all the elixirs, creams, lotions, potions, and cosmetic surgery in the world”
4) lessens bone loss: “The more stress put on the bone by the forces of the muscle attached to it, the more its’ cells respond by doing all they can to maintain and even add to bone mass and strength, including increasing the absorption of calcium from the bloodstream. Just as sedentary life encourages the loss of bone, a vigorously active life encourages increase in bone density”

These few excerpts from Dr Nuland’s book alone should convince you that exercise is invaluable in slowing down aging and assuring your version of the 60es, 70 and beyond are a far more optimistic one then the stereotype. Dr Nuland revives a concept stated by Oliver Wendell Holmes more than 150 year ago: “Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing”. Or, as we in BeachBody land say “Bring it!”

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Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine and a Fellow at Yale's Institute for Social and Policy Studies. He is the author of nine books, including Doctors: The Biography of Medicine, The Wisdom of the Body, The Mysteries Within, Lost in America: A Journey with My Father, and The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignác Semmelweis. His book How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter won the National Book Award and spent thirty-four weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
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