Getting old means everything takes longer—especially staying healthy. I’ve always been concerned with health and fitness, but this last week I’ve been really reminded how the percentage of time dedicated just to maintaining base fitness at 56 is much higher than even when I was an avid triathlete in my 30s. Most of it is caused just by dropping testosterone.
I have no intention of cheating and starting taking testosterone “therapy.” So many fitness “gurus” on the web end up suggesting that. They are wrong. There’s no reason for it.
I’ve concluded that having a routine is actually the most important factor for consistent fitness. No wonder so many boomers can be seen doing the same things every day. They’ve learned what works for them and just repeat. Variation can be incorporated in controlled ways. But even in my youth as a triathlete is was the phases where my life was governed by a daily routine that I have always been the happiest.
Regularity might seem boring but it’s not. The benefits gained from a routine can be enjoyed during moments of controlled trial and testing of those new benefits. It can be something like a yoga date at a rave where get to do yoga in a random fun way with your future wife. I can be a four-day bike tour that is somewhat planned but filled with random chaos creating a sense of adventure. I can even just be bike the same loop outdoors every day and enjoying the ever changing scenery, people, and random dangers. Or, it can be an 80-day cross-country bike tour.
In many ways, this reminds me of the military. Whatever you think about war, the fact that so much is at stake has brought out some very important discoveries about life and how to live it to your maximum potential. Soldiers intensely train to gain their foundation of skills. Then they have to maintain them in the field. Most of their training involves mastering one-best-way to do something. Options kill. When they act they organize the chaos into “operations” with as much consistency as possible. Rules burned into their brains and muscles govern every action from something as simple as not stepping on something that could end up with their leg getting blown off, to how to de-escalate a violent situation with locals, to clearing a very complex urban warfare environment.
My health and fitness goals are pretty much the same as always:
The only livestreaming I plan on doing is live bike rides and that is to help me train to keep my social interactions positive and to bring my friends along for the regular rides. If and when I’m able to organize a regular, daily cycling meetup and get some regular people IRL to ride with I might reduce the number of livestreams to focus on those people in person.