Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Exercise threatens big pharma?

As regular readers will know, I've been engaging in regular exercise for several years now.

Prior to my Parkinson's diagnosis I was a bit of a couch-potato. Although I was mildly active, I didn't engage in any regular exercise so I was overweight and unfit.

Since then however, I've spent a small amount of time, every second day, picking up heavy things and putting them down again for 5-10 minutes; or lifting my own body up and down by way of push-ups, pull-ups or dips.

I'm trying not to be one of those awful evangelical types who thinks they have discovered the fountain of youth but I have to say that the results on my general wellbeing and health have been outstanding.

Now there is even more science to back up the suggestion that exercise is one of the most effective ways to combat the effects of aging.

I can say with total confidence that now, at age 72, I am stronger than I have been at any time in my life and that this is paying huge dividends in protecting my quality of life and the enjoyment thereof.

There are a growing number of scientific studies that clearly document just how beneficial even a small amount of regular exercise can be to those of us who are "past our peak" and I came across another such meta-analysis today.

Of course there are downsides to things such as resistance training (lifting heavy stuff) and I experienced one such negative last night.

I was explaining to my wife that a shirt I'd had for a couple of years was feeling a bit tight -- just before it split down the back.

My arms, shoulders, chest and back have gained quite a significant amount of muscle mass in recent years and the effect is so significant that my clothes don't fit very well any more. They're not tight around the waist, they're tight around the upper parts of my torso.

Just for fun, I went to an Online FFMI calculator to see how close I was getting to my genetic potential in such areas and the results did surprise me.

Apparently I'm doing pretty well -- within 90 percent of what I could reasonably expect to achieve through exercise. My torso, neck arms and calves are all well over 90 percent of their calculated genetic potential and the only area where I'm below that is my thighs -- something I attribute to laziness on my part.

It would appear that the best investment I've made in the past few years is the pull-up and dip bars that sit in the corner of my office. Despite the fact that it's a pretty lightweight, crappy bit of kit I bought from Mighty Ape, it has helped me get in the exercise I've needed to help ward off the effects of time and Parkinson's. Having it right beside my desk is also a bonus because it's easy to spend a couple of minutes exercising as a way to take a break when I feel like it.

I watch a few "fitness influencers" on YouTube and am gobsmacked at the amount of crazy stuff I see there. There are countless videos promising the secret to gaining huge amounts of muscle and "gains" by way of allegedly important but subtle variations on certain exercises but I can tell you from experience it's all BS. There are no tricks, no "hacks", no shortcuts.

The only thing you really need to help wind back the clock and eventually do an "incredible hulk" on your favourite shirt is to simply be consistent and actually do the exercises.

One of the great things about getting old is that time passes far more quickly so it seems like only yesterday I started doing these exercises. Nothing happens overnight, it does take time for things to kick in but when you look back it seems to have been no time at all.

I'd really urge those of my regular readers who are "getting on a bit" to consider setting aside just a few minutes every second day to do some really basic exercise. I promise you it will change your life in ways you probably can't imagine -- and the science backs me up on that.

Oh, and it's also great for business if you're a YouTuber. My fitness channel has already scored more than 100,000 subscribers and my third YouTube silver button is on its way.

Woohoo... life is good (sometimes).

Carpe Diem folks!

Please visit the sponsor!

Here is a PERMANENT link to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font