The Ultimate Act of Ageism is Upon Us. Are You Prepared?

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Covid, shmovid!

It won’t touch me.

You see, I can’t let it touch me because – well, I’m too freaking old!

It’s a birthday month for me – number 78 in a few days.  It’s just a number but it drives me deeper into the “expendable” category that is subtly being hinted at here in the good ‘ol USA.  You know, that ultimate demonstration of ageism they have already put in motion in Italy where “battlefield triage” has people over 65 left alone on hospital gurneys to die from pneumonia.

It’s beginning to sound like there will be “no room at the inn, sir” if I show up with a fever.

Sir, do you prefer white or blue sheets on your hallway gurney?

But ma’am.  I’m in better physical condition than 80% of those 40 and up.

Sorry, sir.  I have my orders.  Please decide – we have others waiting.

Collectively, we’re smart enough to not let it get to that.  We’ll work through the toilet-paper and sanitizer frenzy, start listening to the right voices and hunker through this.

My wife and I, despite being in incredible physical condition, are self-quarantining.  We’re lucky we can.  We have deeply concerned and healthy 40-something children who are starting their role reversal early (with our cooperation) – doing some shopping for us, shielding us from 7-10-year-old grandkids (the most painful part).

As a family, we feel we are all on the same page, with a reasoned understanding of the complexity and danger involved and listening to the right voices. Calm and common sense should serve us well.

These are the cleanest hands EVER at this keyboard today. Believe me when I say that’s a major habit pattern modification.

Ron and I should be OK.

In the midst of all this, I found myself thinking about Ron.

I’ve never met or talked to Ron. I only know three things about Ron.

1. He’s my age and has a health-building routine very similar, but slightly stronger, than mine.
2. That he is a subscriber to this weekly newsletter.
3. That he likes crazy socks.

These are his actual pictures.

Ron commented on the post that I put out on Quora.com on 12/24/19 that went viral and has logged 511,000 views as I write this.  The post was about the “best anti-aging workout.”   Seems I struck quite a nerve with my answer.

Ron and I haven’t shared any thoughts about covid but I’m guessing we’re on the same page with regard to our confidence that our biologies will handle an assault, even if we are relegated to a hallway gurney.

I’m sharing Ron’s comment here.  His story is the type that needs to be told because it validates the impact of a disciplined exercise routine.  His routine closely mirrors mine and goes a bit beyond.

I work to adhere to “Harry’s Rules”, the lifestyle rules written by Dr. Henry Lodge and appearing in the appendix of the life-altering book he co-authored with Chris Crowley entitled: “Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond.”

Here’s a refresher in case you are silly enough to not invest in the book:

Harry’s Rules

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.
2. Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.
3. Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.
4. Spend less than you make.
5. Quit eating crap!
6. Care.
7. Connect and commit.

Ron and I are the same age – and are experiencing very similar results (Note: I don’t have the diabetic thing to worry about).  I don’t know, but it sounds like maybe Ron read the book too.

Here’s his comment:

Great post.

I’m 77. I maintain my weight normal with low carb diet. I go to gym 7 days a week. 30 minutes cardio on bike, rolling hills. 30–40 minutes circuit training with sets of 30 and abs sets of 50.

I work entire body every day. I keep weights moderate for me. Leg press 225–240. Curl 80–100. Abs 60 working front, both sides and rotating 50.

I never get sore.

I do circuit training as fast as I can, no resting between machines.

As a diabetic, I take 1/2 of a pill daily. With my diet and exercise program, I keep my A1C at 5.6 and non-fasting blood sugar at 85–88. My heart rate when I get up is 45–50. Days after lots of coffee it’s around 55–60. Blood pressure 120/60. I used to take 3 pills for blood pressure. Now one small one.

My body fat is 16%. High muscle mass.

It’s vital as we age to really keep muscle mass up so we need to lift enough weights to increase and maintain muscle. Lifting light weights sets of 10–12 with a minute or more between sets is a waste of time. I think one set of 30–50 where you need to press to get the last 5 done is better. Working different muscle groups on different days is too confusing. If I work the entire body every day I never get sore.

I’m in better shape now than when I was 70.

If there is any magic in Ron’s routine it’s in the fact that it is a routine. Good health habits happen when we routinize them.  If we don’t, they don’t happen.  They become haphazard, ineffective, and easy to abandon.

Take a look at the math. His routine comprises 3-4% of his week. Compare that with the 20-30% of the typical week that goes to some form of screen time, like CNN/MSNBC/FOX energy-sapping covid stories we get sucked into while cortisol and cholesterol do their quiet, insidious destruction.

So, is 3% worth it to keep you off a gurney, pandemic or no pandemic? Or alive if you are triaged onto one?

Keep your damn gurney!

My plan is for no gurneys when I return my parts to the universe.  My life novel ends going face-down in a Colorado trout stream still striving to prove that I was smarter and wilier than an animal with a brain the size of a pea.

I suspect Ron may have just as nutty a plan.

Be safe, be sensible, take advantage of your good health inheritance.  If any of this makes sense or appeals, there is more in my article archives, and more to come, at www.makeagingwork.com.  Sign up for my weekly blog there and receive my free e-book “Achieve Your Full-life Potential:  Five Easy Steps to Living Longer, Healthier, and With More Purpose.”