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- Oct 17, 2022
- 390
- 507
- AFL Club
- West Coast
On Monday night my father passed away at 83 from complications after suffering a stroke. He had been declining for a few years now physically and cognitively. He was never particularly active during his life. While he was strong, didn't drink and very practical, his career was sedentary. He drove trucks and buses for a living, working ridiculous long hours.
My mother has heart disease and had a heart attack two years ago, and has been hospitalised several times. Her health, physical and mental, is still a mess. She's 75. She's obese and sedentary.
From observing their decline, I've clarified my own motivation and goals in terms of my health. And that's to optimise not only my life span but my health span.
That being, how many years I have been healthy and living a functional life. And literally the best way to do this is via exercise. Its been proven to be just as, if not more, effective as medicine. Improving aerobic endurance by engaging in low level zone 2 training, with bouts of high intensity anaerobic training to increase V02 max has been shown to massively improve mortality rates, and reduce the risk of death by diseases such as stroke and heart disease. Combined with strength training, which is just as important in strengthening bones, enabling you to perform normal daily activities later in life and giving your body an "exoskeleton" - stronger muscles provide your skeletal structure with a core supportive framework to let you stay active safely and reduce the risk of events that have a massive correlation to death - particularly falls.
This book has opened my eyes massively. I've recommended it before, but it really is a must read.
My mother has heart disease and had a heart attack two years ago, and has been hospitalised several times. Her health, physical and mental, is still a mess. She's 75. She's obese and sedentary.
From observing their decline, I've clarified my own motivation and goals in terms of my health. And that's to optimise not only my life span but my health span.
That being, how many years I have been healthy and living a functional life. And literally the best way to do this is via exercise. Its been proven to be just as, if not more, effective as medicine. Improving aerobic endurance by engaging in low level zone 2 training, with bouts of high intensity anaerobic training to increase V02 max has been shown to massively improve mortality rates, and reduce the risk of death by diseases such as stroke and heart disease. Combined with strength training, which is just as important in strengthening bones, enabling you to perform normal daily activities later in life and giving your body an "exoskeleton" - stronger muscles provide your skeletal structure with a core supportive framework to let you stay active safely and reduce the risk of events that have a massive correlation to death - particularly falls.
This book has opened my eyes massively. I've recommended it before, but it really is a must read.