Healthy for Life

The math of living longer--how does living longer happen?

We know that a healthy lifestyle can help us live longer, in the prior post, I quote an article that says being active starting in middle age can help us live 12 years longer.  How does that happen?  Do we suddenly tack 12 years on the end?  Read on for an explanation.   

Being fit slows aging by 12 years

Being aerobically fit as an adult can delay significantly the impact of aging.  Here is a nice summary of an article from the April 8, 2008, British Journal of Sports Medicine.  Note the JSOnline article linked above uses ml/(kg.min) which is more commonly read as ml/kg/min or VO2 max.  You can find you VO2 max by taking the timed-mile-walk part of President's Adult Fitness Test.   

Now we have a good way to measure aerobic fitness, get accurate VO2 max results, and benchmark ourselves--and we have good evidence that this measurement matters, a lot.  Twelve years more of good health certainly meets my definition of a worthwhile goal. 

Getting in better shape does not require Spandex; getting fit starts with walking shoes.   And then keep doing more and more activity. 

We all need to incorporate more activity into our daily lives.  If you drive to the gym, exercise an hour, drive to the office where you sit for 8 hours followed by sitting for dinner and watching television, and then bed, you are not really getting fit.  Sure it is better than not going to the gym, but it is not as good as 20 minutes of stretching and calisthenics (push ups, sit ups, etc.) in the morning by the bedside, walking to work, walking to lunch or the store, carrying groceries, playing Frisbee in the afternoon before dinner and then gardening after dinner.         

Take this fitness test

I suggest that everyone--and, yes, that means you--take this simple fitness test just released by the The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport.  This marvelous tool will age-adjust and benchmark your strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness. 

I, for one, found the results a nice wake-up call.  I walk marathons and do yoga, so my aerobic fitness and flexibility scores were respectable; but my core and muscular strength fell below average.  I figure that I can address these weaknesses with a few sit-ups and push-ups most days of the week.   

Is the test perfect?   Heavens no, but it certainly is a nice start.  I thank and congratulate The President's Fitness Council for publishing this.   

Over the next few weeks, I will try to find more information on the results distribution and test normograms.  Until then, take the test.  Our goals is to keep all of our parts (heart, lung, muscles, joints, brain) strong, balanced, and injury free so that we can actively enjoy all of our years of life. 

Stay well.  Dr. Bob Gleeson 

Let me explain my absence

I apologize.  For the past year I have been extremely busy--but inexcusably absent from this important writing and from your faithful readership.  I have ended one career after 27 years as Vice President Medical Director of Northwestern Mutual, the largest and best underwriter of individual life insurance in America, and, at age 60, I am starting two new careers: 1. starting September 2008 I will be the director of the lifestyle and comprehensive physical program at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin and 2. a medical underwriting and life expectancy consultation service (don't ask). 

For those who are interested, my life expectancy is at least age 92, my age of independent health with minimal limitations is 88, and my (tentative) planned age of retirement is 78, at which time I will have at least 10 healthy years to travel and do some save-the-environment work.   

So now I will return to blogging, something I learned to love when writing about bird flu, that now distant worry.  I have many articles in my files that we need to discuss.  So without further ado, it is time to write.  My first article, and a fitting start to my return, is a discussion of Tara Parker Pope's "Well" section of today's New York Times.