Badass 80 year old cyclists

[FINate]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/exercise-keeps-your-body-looking-young-study-finds-n854846

avid cyclists as old as 79 had healthy muscle and immune function as good as people 30 years younger who did not exercise.

Reading about folks in their 70s and 80s who are still biking and excercising is inspiring. A good reminder of the benefits of a lifetime of staying active and healthy. I've witnessed this first-hand in people I know: Some make a point to stay active and are quite young for their age. Others, about the same age, are totally sedentary and look (and act) like death warmed over.

For me FIRE, going on 3 years now, has been a huge part of getting fitness and health back on track. With lower stress and time to work out 5-6x/week the results are quite remarkable, hope to maintain this going into old age. I'm only 41 and sometimes I think about the income I've given up in FIRE, but then stuff like this comes out and I'm reminded that it's hard to put a price on overall health. I suppose I could work and work out and raise a family, but could never really manage to do these all together consistently.

Sharing here because the article highlights one of the benefits of Mustachianism, of staying physically active and fit. Barring health issues we don't have much control over (e.g. certain cancers and such), old age doesn't necessarily mean sliding into a sedentary life and rapidly declining health.

[Serendip]

Thanks for sharing this @FINate

 It reminded me of this article I read about cross-country skiing, good reminders to get outside :)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/the-jaw-dropping-benefits-of-cross-country-skiing/article6747824/

[FINate]

Cross-country skiing is great exercise. Don't get to do it often (too far from snow) but my legs always let me know the next day. Biking, skiing, swimming... it's all great as long as you're getting a workout.

[meghan88]

Apparently, the key is to do some interval training during late middle age:  http://wshu.org/post/hearts-get-younger-even-middle-age-exercise#stream/0

That's the key this week, anyway.

Next week, something new. 

Bottom line:  exercise.

[FINate]

I agree. Exercise. 5-6x/week. Mix of cardio and strength. Not just taking the stairs or going for a walk, get sweaty and work hard.

And no need to "diet" in the sense of watching calories or obsessing about carbs or fat or whatever the current fad is. Just eat real food: whole grains, veggies, fruits, nuts, meats. Avoid highly processed foods, especially packaged foods. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/well/eat/counting-calories-weight-loss-diet-dieting-low-carb-low-fat.html

Really it's quite simple, and it works. Methinks the fitness/diet industries are trying hard to convince people that it's complicated and therefore you need to buy their products. Same model as the financial "services" industry :)

[ducky19]

There's a guy at the church I used to go to who biked daily well into his 90's - until he was actually hit by a car. From what I can gather, his fitness level is really about all that saved him (though had he not been cycling he wouldn't have gotten hit, so there's that...). He doesn't ride anymore, but as far as I know he's still kicking and in decent shape at the ripe old age of 100+.

[Gerard]

A more detailed story about the same study:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/well/move/how-exercise-can-keep-aging-muscles-and-immune-systems-young.html

This goes back to a much earlier discussion on the forum, along the lines of "who cares if you live longer, you'll be old." The thing is, cycling doesn't give you twenty years of doddering senility. It gives you twenty extra NOW years -- you get to be your current age for 20 years longer.

[EngineeringFI]

One of my former mentors at work, who has since retired, rides 60-70 miles every single day. This guy is in his early 70s and still finishes El Tour de Tucson in platinum time. That means he finishes a 106-mile bike event in under 5 hours (averaging >21 mph). I'm 32 and ride most weekends, but I'm definitely not at that level of fitness, he really is an inspiration to me.

I'm looking forward to FIRE so that I can devote more time to fitness. Right now I do strength training twice a week, and cardio twice a week, with lots of walking every day. But work gets in the way of the amount of training I would like to do.

[Imma]

I live in the Netherlands, where cycling is common, even for old people. It's not a scientific observation, but I can definitely see the difference in health between old people who bought a car as soon as they could afford it (for the working classes, car ownership didn't become normal until the 1960s) and people who continued to live like they always did.

My grandmother is almost 85 and she's still on her bike almost every day. Walking longer distances (more than a few km) has become difficult for her because her hip starts to hurt, but she's still able to cycle about 5km to visit church, the grocery store or friends. She's afraid of heavy traffic, so sometimes she walks with her bike instead of riding it. She's using it like some kind of walking frame. She has a friend in his early 90s who still cycles 5 km to church every morning at 7am.

I know quite a few very active elderly people, but the sad fact is you don't see the inactive ones that much because they've either passed away or their health doesn't allow them to go out much.