fitness, strength, and wellness over 50
In the matter of Marmat Forte versus The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong... and You Can Too!, written by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, I've reached a verdict: RBG's notorious workout is legit. Supreme, you might say. Bryant Johnson, who "daylights" as a court clerk and 30-year Army reservist,... Continue Reading →
I love this blog post. Sarah Lavender Smith is a writer and a leading ultramarathoner who is trying to "make peace" with some basic physiological realities of aging (she's a mere 48 years old, but that's close enough to 50 to quote here 😉 ). After a particularly good recent workout, she found herself thinking,... Continue Reading →
If you're reading this blog, you probably don't need to be convinced that exercise is a life-saver. You know that, or you likely wouldn't be here. But for some readers, getting back into a fitness routine after many years away, or perhaps starting one for the first time, is a daunting proposition. "How do I... Continue Reading →
For a number of years, I've been a fan of Bernd Heinrich, the natural history writer and biologist. It was only in the last couple of years that I came across his earlier book, Why We Run: A Natural History, and learned about his very successful ultramarathon career. He is no longer competing in ultras,... Continue Reading →
I dislike leaving this blog neglected for weeks at a time, but it has just been one of those months. One minute I was looking at the calendar thinking, “it’s almost October! My favorite month!” and the next, I’m looking at it thinking, “How can it be almost November?!” It was a month of meetings... Continue Reading →
Words of wisdom from ultramarathoner/vegan endurance athlete Rich Roll (who turns 51 this month), quoted this week in Outside Magazine (online): As you age, you will get incrementally slower. That’s just the way it is. So, it’s not about measuring yourself against any other person or what you used to be. You’ve got to train... Continue Reading →
This month, 58-year old American open water swimmer Elizabeth Fry became the second-oldest person to swim across Lake Ontario, a distance of 32.1 miles. She completed the swim in an unofficial time of 15 hours, 46 minutes - fueled on energy gel and... cookies? Fry entered the water shortly after midnight and faced average water... Continue Reading →
I thoroughly enjoyed this informative and entertaining Run to the Top podcast interview with Danny Dreyer, inventor of the "chi running" technique/process, and author of the book by the same name. Danny took up ultramarathoning in 1991 at the tender age of 42, and ran over 40 hundred-mile races, almost always placing in the top... Continue Reading →
Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to earth from the International Space Station last week, having racked up a number of records, including the longest time in continuous orbit for a female astronaut (288 days), the most cumulative hours of spacewalking for a female astronaut (53 hours, 22 minutes), and the most cumulative time in space of... Continue Reading →
I know quite a few people right around me who are doing an admirable job of keeping up their fitness and even their competitiveness as they enter their 50s and beyond. Robert (Bob) Neeley, aka "Zombie" (Bob's work shifts are all over the clock - graveyard, early a.m., etc. - and so are his training... Continue Reading →
I. "It's never too late to get fit" A study conducted at the University of Oslo found that men who began exercising in their 40s and 50s (as opposed to becoming more inactive, as is the norm) reduced their risk of stroke in later life by more than 50%. According to the researchers, stroke risk... Continue Reading →
Female readers, let us take a moment and give thanks. For forty years, now, the sports bra (or "jogbra," as it was first known) has been making all kinds of athletic pursuits a lot more comfortable for women (and has preserved zillions of Cooper's Ligaments). The invention was so revolutionary, the prototypes are in the... Continue Reading →
50 is the new "forte" 