What is your Satchel Paige Age? To define this age, he asked, “If you woke in the morning and didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?”
I estimate my Paige Age as 55. Well, that's overly optimistic. But it's what I feel most mornings, in most ways. I've been lucky, with mostly good genes (thanks, Mom & Dad) and good health (thanks, God). But I also “work” at staying young – trying to slow down my rate of slowdown – with attitudes (enthusiasm, playfulness,...), mental fitness, and in other ways, including a physical fitness that is the main topic of this page.
resources: These are just my personal experiences and fitness-increasing strategies. You can get a much wider range of useful information by web-searching. But of course you'll want to evaluate what you read, trying to determine if it's accurate, because (especially on the web) there is a wide range of quality, with some sources much more accurate-and-reliable than others.
This page has... an introduction about Satchel Paige Age (above) and (below) my Continual Goals for Physical Fitness and Slowing Down the Rate of Slowdown and Eating Better with a goal of Living Better and...
in another page, my personal sports-history as a participant & spectator.
CONTINUAL GOALS for PHYSICAL FITNESS
I've made a weekly grid of exercises to do regularly, mostly at home. {during 2014-2019 I also lifted weights at Planet Fitness, twice each week} I use a list because it provides motivation. Even though there is no “external reward” I've found that when I'm using the list – by marking each exercise when it's done – usually I do the exercises, but without the list I don't. The frequency of exercises — cardio (on exercise bike) plus isometrics, stretching, and lifting, for the whole body from toes to neck — vary from twice-daily to twice-weekly, averaging about once-daily. My goal is practical, to invest a reasonable amount of time (and with multi-tasking it doesn't take much extra time, it mainly just requires discipline) to gain the main benefits of exercise. { This is one application of an 80/20 Principle because roughly 80% of the health benefits come from the first 20% of the time-and-effort that could be invested in exercising. For maximum performance – as for the competitive world-class Olympians I watch every two years, summer & winter – an athlete must push deep into the final 80%, approaching 100% training, but this isn't necessary for my goal. But it's easy to say "yes, the first 20% is worth doing." } { Recently, my "exercise list" has been expanded to include prayer and Bible reading, for Spiritual Fitness. And one row in my grid has optional "just for fun" activities, like music & juggling. }
These are my current CONTINUAL GOALS for PHYSICAL FITNESS. And I also have OCCASIONAL GOALS for PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE.
Slowing Down the Rate Of Slowdown
Here are some facts:
In 2008 at age 61, after months of training I ran 200 meters in 31 seconds, and felt fast. But was it fast? Yes, very fast for 61. No, compared with me at 25 when with no training (zero) I ran 400 meters in 59 seconds, with split-times that maybe were 28s and 31s, with the second 200m (in 31 seconds) similar to my “starting fresh, feeling fast” run at 61. At 27, I continued running fast after 200m-in-28s. But at 61, I stopped after 200m-in-31s because I was exhausted, just wanted to pant and rest, to not run any more. And a week later at 61, running 400m required 73 seconds (not 59s, despite a lot more preparation than my “no training” run at 25) because my body was much older, thus was much slower than at 25, with less endurance. These observed facts (of slower running times) show the slowdown that happens for every person, including me, as we grow older.
Or... in my late 20s, I could have run a 5-minute mile — and almost did, running 5:04 on a primitive cinder track, wearing lightweight vibram-soled “hiking boots” — with very little training. But at 61, running a mile in 6:57 (on a modern rubberized track, with running shoes) required much more training. { Looking back on my 5:04, I'm wondering why I didn't “try it again” after a little more training.}
And for running a longer distance, instead of 9:59 pace (at 60) my other half-marathon (at 45) was 8:24 pace, and it could have been faster, since I ran the last mile at 7:00 and felt fine afterward, felt much better than after the slower run by older-me in 2008.
For jumping, my juggling video includes two jumps (off one foot, and two feet) onto a 30 inch table, fairly good for age 60; but earlier in life at 21, it could have been a 50 inch table. {at 22, I high-jumped 6'7" although it should have been higher, so I have regrets about my PR's not being higher & better}
On rowing machines (Concept 2) at U of WI, I kept records of my speeds from 1989 to 2012, and I was faster when younger, with speeds gradually decreasing as my age increased from 41 to 64.
It's obvious that in these ways, and others, I'm slowing down. My opportunity for age-independent Personal Records is over. Now all I can do is try to slow down my rate of slowdown. {more of my personal sports-history}
Eating Better with a goal of Living Better:
Eating Less: In 2008 when turning 60, I wanted to lose weight and achieve two “occasional goals” by running a 7-minute mile, and a half-marathon. I lost 15 pounds in 2 months, and achieved both running goals, by eating the same foods but less of them, by just reducing the size of my plate from a standard-sized plate to a standard-sized saucer.
Eating Better: In 2017, I began trying to eat better, but wasn't disciplined so didn't really change much. (why? here are two motivations: in late 2016, my doctor said my cholesterol levels were “borderline” according to recent guidelines (probably overly strict) that basically say “all males over 65 should use statins” but I didn't want statins, so I chose to try “eating better” instead; a friend who got cancer was motivated to eat better, to strengthen his cancer-fighting immune system, and part of this was “no sugar” because sugar helps cancer cells and weakens his immune system, and I thought “this is a good idea for everyone, including me.” So in mid-December 2017, I put some categories of healthy foods (lots of vegetables, but also fruits, oils, grains, cocoa, etc) on my daily exercise grid, and this provided motivation & self-discipline. My lipid levels changed in good ways during the next 6 months, with decreased LDL ("bad cholesterol") and increased HDL ("good cholesterol"). {my page with more info about nutrition & other topics}
Chewing not Wolfing: [[ My strategy for "eating better" is basically more vegies & fruits, and a variety of things that lower HDL and/or raise HDL, less saturated fats, and much less sugar. Instead of living to eat (by making food decisions based mainly on taste) I'm eating to live (by making food decisions based mainly on health benefits). But I still eat meat, and a small amount of sugar. For the foods I eat mainly for taste, even though (especially in large amounts) they're not beneficial for health, I take small bites & chew thoroughly, to eat slowly (so I enjoy the taste for long periods of time) instead of quickly wolfing (to swallow large amounts). In this way, I get more enjoying (of the delicious flavors) and less consuming (of the unhealthy ingredients). [[ i.o.u. – maybe sometime in 2024, I'll describe the evolutionary benefits of "wolfing" for animals in a large-family situation, but these are not benefits for humans in modern society. ]]