Category: LIFESTYLE and RECREATION

What man would not enjoy walking past a mirror and giving himself a wink while thinking, “I’ve still got the stuff,” at 80 years of age? 

On the other hand, at no stage in life does anyone enjoy the feeling of limitation, especially regarding male vitality. 

However, by the numbers, men are the most notorious for neglecting proactive health management post-retirement, with notable consequences.

Masculine ego and pride are directly tied to our ability to perform “manly duties.” Unfortunately, as the body ages and without proper maintenance, many resources that facilitate everything from mowing the lawn to virility begin to diminish. 

Did you notice the caveat “without proper maintenance”? Much like a fine automobile, the male body must be well-maintained if expected to perform consistently.

It has long been thought that there is disproportionality between the rates at which men and women age. Many feel that men age at a faster rate than women. However, statistically, the data lends itself more toward comparing longevity over simple aging, with results trending in the ladies’ favor.

Many reasons for this are tied to mental perspective going into retirement. For the women (especially the homemakers), their mindset toward retirement trends toward exploring newfound freedoms and liberty to go and do. 

Whereas, for many men who spent their careers as dedicated providers, the perspective lends itself more toward rest, relaxation, and enjoying the spoils of their labors.

So, what does it take for a man to enjoy the life he has earned while ensuring that his body performs as it should?

The list is simple and straightforward:

– Strength training exercise at least 3x per week. This resource keeps the body physically strong, the mind stays sharp, energy levels remain high, you will feel more confident, AND strength exercise facilitates testosterone production!

– Eat a diet higher in healthy fats. Sources include avocados, nuts, fatty fish (such as salmon), extra-virgin olive oil, etc. Numerous studies suggest that a higher fat diet (unsaturated fats) facilitates more elevated testosterone levels for aging males. *just be cautious of portion sizes as fat is high in calories

– Maintain A Health Body Weight.  Extra body weight not only zaps your energy and limits mobility, it also plays an adverse role in sustaining healthy levels of testosterone production.

– Enjoy frequent intimate indulgences! Physical intimacy triggers numerous chemical reactions within our brains, and ALL ARE HEALTHY! Among many other physiological resources, this is most definitely a use it or lose it. Studies show that men 65+ who are sexually active at least 2x per week are happier, more vibrant, have healthier body composition, and are less likely to suffer from depression than those who are not.

– Get your straight-8 every night. A well-rested body going into the day is more energetic, the mind is clearer, you are more likely to follow through with your exercise and physical activities, and the hormone balance that supports virility is higher.

– See your doctor regularly. Far too often, men do not proactively manage their health and often suffer adverse consequences unnecessarily. In addition, candid conversations with your doctor regarding your male health are likely to yield medical avenues for preservation or enhancement if necessary. When it comes to your health, shelf your pride and go!

Gentlemen, consider yourselves armed with valuable information that will leave you feeling rewarded many times over with just a few simple changes and healthy reminders. 

Ladies, please share this article with the men in your world from a loving and supporting perspective, as it is you who ultimately provide the greatest inspiration!

 

My dear friend and former Oklahoma client George demonstrating that the body ages according to how it is cared for, even at age 76! 

Joe Carson B.S. NASM-CPT/FAS/CN

Master Trainer/Functional Aging Specialist/Certified Nutritionist

Twenty-First Century Aging

www.twentyfirstcenturyaging.com

Dealing with pain of any type can gravely impact your mood, quality of life, relationships, and overall health. But unfortunately, for upward of 65 million Americans, chronic pain originating from the lower back is a common and often debilitating complaint.

To better understand why this is, let’s have a look at this section of the spine:

The lumbar spine runs from the L-1 vertebrae down to the sacroiliac joint. This section of your spine serves as not only the connecting point for the trunk of your body to the hip, but it also supports most of your body weight and is the center for your balance.

So, it stands to reason that such a highly active part of your body could become susceptible to damage, injury, or chronic inflammation. 

However, you can do some simple things to protect the health of your spine while minimizing the most common non-injury causes of lower back pain.

#1. Be mindful of your posture! Poor postural habits are at the top of the list because they are at the root of many muscular and structural orthopedic issues (especially for older adults). This one is among the most crucial to address and can be done with some simple behavioral modifications. 

#2. Adjust your sleeping habits. Sleeping on your back with a pillow beneath your knees is ideal as it places your spine in a more neutral position. If this will not work for you because you are a side-sleeper, try placing a pillow between your knees and sleeping with them in a slightly tucked position. AND, if at all possible, try to avoid sleeping on your stomach as this places tremendous stress on the lower back. 

#3. Keep your muscles strong and flexible! I cannot emphasize this enough, during the retirement stage of life, regular exercise is a tool, not a task. The stronger you keep your core muscles, the better their support to the lumbar spine. Also, by keeping the larger muscles of the lower body (especially hamstrings & hip flexors) flexible, the stress placed on the lower back is significantly reduced, resulting in better function and less wear.

#4. Avoid prolonged bouts of sitting. Contrary to many beliefs, the divine design of the human body is centered around movement, regardless of the stage of life. Sitting places irregular loading forces in the lower back which cause muscle tension and vertebrae alignment distortions. Because of this, it is important to avoid sitting in one place longer than 30-minutes at a time without taking a get-up and move break. 

#5 Become more nutritionally aware. YES, what you eat and how much you eat can directly impact lower back pain. For example, foods high in sugar or that are highly processed can dramatically increase inflammation within your body, amplifying pain. Also, it is essential to maintain a healthy body weight. Excess weight places tremendous stress on the lower back, inhibits mobility, and reduces tendencies for healthy activity. 

#6 Choose proper footwear. Your feet are the origin of your kinetic chain, so impacts on their alignment or function (such as improper shoes) will translate into stress in the lower back. Please see The Happy Hooves Article for a wealth of information regarding caring for your feet and choosing shoes with appropriate support. Avoiding excessively elevated heels or shoes with spongy insoles is a great place to start. 

Ultimately, it stands to reason that when you hurt less you are inclined to move more. It is this movement that provides for the adventures, experiences, and quality of life that you have worked so hard to earn and enjoy.

To make the most of your retirement experience, you must be mindful to care for your body accordingly!

Joe Carson B.S. NASM-CPT/FAS/CN

Master Trainer/Functional Aging Specialist/Certified Nutritionist

Twenty-First Century Aging

www.twentyfirstcenturyaging.com

The whole purpose of participating in physical/athletic activities is to have fun, remain active, enjoy social dynamics, and just emerge feeling good. 

When your body is cared for through proper exercise, you are able to demand performance and typically emerge feeling great and excited to go again. 

 However, if not sufficiently conditioned, these demands for performance can become more demanding and less enjoyable, while aches, pains, and injuries become more common.   

If you are not currently exercising, these suggestions provide you with a basic place to begin, just shy of a personalized program. For those who are already exercising regularly, hopefully, you will pick up some takeaways which you find useful. 

As a friendly reminder, it is always a good idea to have a visit with your doctor anytime you begin a significant increase in activity (exercise or sport). This is important just to ensure that there aren’t any underlying issues that have developed which may become a serious health issue as a result of the increased demand. 

Your Pre-Game Ritual: 

– ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS WARM UP! A critical mistake too many make regarding both exercise and in recreational sports is to skip past the warmup. 

Taking the time for a proper warmup will increase performance dramatically, while significantly lowering injury risk. 

How to do it: 

Pick 5 or 6 full-body calisthenics movements (squats, toe touches, march in place, shuffle jacks, toe & arm raise, etc.) and do them in direct succession (one immediately after the next) at a modest intensity for 30 – 45 seconds each. 

This elevates heart-rate/core temperature, lubricates joints, promotes muscle elasticity, improves neuromuscular control (motor skill), and enhances mental focus.

– Always stretch immediately AFTER your warmup (never stretch cold muscles) if participating in a sport. Be sure to include hamstrings and pecs/chest. These are two of the most important as they help to properly care for the shoulders, knees, hips, and lower back. 

Training For Your Game!

Injury prevention exercises:

Isometric (without movement) exercises are at the very tip-top of the list for injury prevention training. The continual, gradual, and steady tension placed on connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) helps to promote tensile strength. In addition, this same approach to loading also builds bone and joint cartilage density. 

Performance builders:

Squats are not only among the most fundamental of functional movements, they are also at the top of the list for lower-body performance conditioning exercises. 

Why? This particular exercise utilizes the largest muscles in your body for movement and when done at progressive volume/intensity can provide baseline cardio and endurance conditioning simultaneously. 

Lateral cone-to-cone shuffle drills are an incredibly important component to developing agility, foot speed, and cardio conditioning. 

However, most importantly lateral movement proficiency in both acceleration and deceleration is practiced and conditioned, this is the key to limiting injury risk!

This simple drill done regularly can make a tremendous difference in court sports, baseball/softball, and even golf (lateral exercises improve rotational hip power). 

Standing functional row (band, cable, TRX). Because most everything we do in life happens in front of us, it is quite common for the anterior muscles of the body (front side) to become disproportionately developed and cause joint/movement issues. 

This simple, yet highly effective exercise not only helps to address that by promoting pulling strength for the back side of the body, the unilateral (one side at a time) loading does an awesome job of producing spinal stability while generating rotational force (golf drive, tennis/pickle ball racquet swing, etc.). 

With each of the above exercises, it is best to establish a performance benchmark and seek to increase work demand from there. 

For example, if you were to hold a bridge exercise for as long as you could and time that to be 75 seconds, this is your benchmark. Each time you would repeat this exercise, your goal would be to exceed this marker. Or, if you did timed squats and could perform 22 in 1 minute, next time seek to make that 25, etc.

Ultimately, it’s important to understand that as you age, the risk-reward balance and enjoyment factor are no longer in your favor without exercise. But, should you choose to Train Your Game, your body can be trained to perform to extraordinary levels enjoyably!

Joe Carson B.S. NASM-CPT/FAS/CN

Master Trainer/Functional Aging Specialist/Certified Nutritionist

Twenty-First Century Aging

www.twentyfirstcenturyaging.com

By definition, a joint is a simple structure that attaches two bones and facilitates motion. 

This structure is typically comprised of two cartilage-clad bone heads that fit in close proximity and are held together by ligaments. 

Through our divine design, the joints within the human body are constructed to last and provide a lifetime of service. 

However, overuse, under-use, misuse, orthopedic disorders, poor posture, and lack of maintenance can cause these highly essential components to wear prematurely.

Advanced levels of wear can not only create significant pain/discomfort, but the range of motion limitations, instability, and aversions to physical activities can also all be consequences of worn joints. 

Often when this happens, it’s become commonplace to seek prosthetic replacements. Unfortunately, though they have come a long way, the manufactured prosthesis is still no match for the quality of the “original equipment.” 

What can you do to care for worn and aging joints?

The tips provided below are a simple yet proven approach to protecting the functional viability of your joints, and each offers supplemental health benefits to the rest of the body as well!

– Motion is lotion! Joints are designed to move, and a lack of movement creates stiffness. Therefore, you should never go more than an hour through the day’s waking hours without getting up and moving around.

– Maintain healthy body weight. Though there are numerous other health benefits (heart health at the top) to keeping your weight within a healthy range, your knees, back and hips suffer tremendous wear and damage supporting and moving excess poundage.

– Flex your muscles regularly! Strength exercise is among the most valuable tools for keeping the body functionally strong. However, the benefits extend beyond physical capability. The stronger the muscles around a joint, the more stable the joint becomes. This dramatically improves integrity while limiting wear.

– Maintain your muscle flexibility. After each bout of exercise (never before!), make it a habit to incorporate gentle stretching and the occasional therapeutic massage into your routine. Any muscles which are abnormally or irregularly tight will directly affect how the joints move and wear. 

CLICK HERE FOR FREE: Fluid Motions Flexibility Class

– Eat your Omega-3s. A diet rich in sources of Omega-3 fatty acids (fish, walnuts, grass-fed beef) provides essential chemical components for lubricating joints internally and helps to combat inflammation.

– Be posture aware. Over time, poor posture creates a whole slew of problems for your body structurally. As much as possible, when seated – support yourself rather than leaning on a seat back, and include core exercises with your daily workouts to keep these muscles strong. Also, when in a standing position concentrate on “stacked joint alignment” (shoulders over hips – over knees – over ankles). This not only supports good posture but also ensures sound stability.

– Stay within your capacity. If you are not used to lifting heavy objects, trying to carry a 50-pound suitcase through the airport may not be the best idea and may cause damage or injury. This is where the preceding tips payoff; when you remain functionally strong through exercise, it significantly increases your ability to navigate extraneous tasks safely.

– Studies support supplementing with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. According to the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine research studies, oral Glucosamine was proven effective in positively relieving joint stiffness. At the same time, Chondroitin was shown to reduce joint-related pain effectively. Just as with the rest of your body systems, the maintenance of your joints must be purposeful and consistent. Yes, some sacrifices in time, effort, and early onset discomfort are a part of the process. However, you will be righteously rewarded through pain-free movement that facilitates the quality of life activities you have worked so hard to enjoy. 

Joe Carson B.S. NASM-CPT/FAS/CN

Master Trainer/Functional Aging Specialist/Certified Nutritionist

Twenty-First Century Aging

www.twentyfirstcenturyaging.com

Writing, driving, playing musical instruments, and even riding a bicycle are all examples of a phenomenon known as muscle memory. 

This incredible resource exists as a means of facilitating daily tasks while optimizing energy expenditure, but by the name isn’t exactly what one would imagine.

The term “muscle memory” is a bit of a misnomer as this resource is a form of learned neurologic control and muscular adaptation, two resources working in tandem. 

Muscles themselves do not have the direct capacity to learn or remember. Rather, this resource occurs within the cerebellum section of the brain. It is within this section of the brain that most of our motor learning and control resources are developed. 

For example, as you are learning to ride a bike as a child – your brain is assembling the motor control resources to allow you to control the handlebars, push the pedals in sequence, center your body weight for balance, and process the sensory information around you to navigate safely. 

All this is done simultaneously, and each decision is made within split seconds!

Regarding the muscles, their job centers more on movement adaptations (strength, endurance, power, etc.). Regarding the above example, each time you get on your bicycle and begin to peddle, the muscles in your legs adapt to the force production requirements to move the peddles, core strength is developed for balance, and increased oxidative muscle metabolism (endurance) is achieved.

With some practice, you are soon enjoying the biking experience almost effortlessly because your brain mastered the skill as your muscles adapt to force demand.

Another example might be learning to play guitar. When you first pick the instrument up and begin to practice, fatigue in the fingering hand sets in pretty quickly as you learn to fret the chords, while the picking hand struggles to produce rhythm. 

However, due to this new demand – the muscles in your hands start to adapt, becoming stronger, and soon you are able to play longer, more accurately, and with less physical effort. This process happens simultaneously as your brain processes fingering patterns, rhythm, composition, and musical patterns.

Over time, when practiced consistently and progressively, this process becomes more and more effortless – producing advanced proficiency and how rock stars are born!

These examples reflect progressive adaptations (development stages), but it is also essential to recognize that this process can also run in reverse. Therefore, these skills must be continually utilized to remain viable, especially as you venture through the retirement years.

For example, walking is a “muscle memory” function, yet if one becomes sedentary, the brain begins to experience diminished motor control while the muscles lose the capacity to produce force. 

However, just like riding a bike – these resources can also be restored with practice – to be good at moving, keep moving!

Joe Carson B.S. NASM-CPT/FAS/CN

Master Trainer/Functional Aging Specialist/Certified Nutritionist

Twenty-First Century Aging

www.twentyfirstcenturyaging.com