What is the point of health and fitness?
“I don’t want to live to a 100.”
There is a common sentiment that you are bound to fall sick, aging is/has to be brutal and eventually die and somehow these make things pointless or restricted. “That is how it is/will be. There isn’t much we can do.”
Is that true? Are we just helpless victims to the changes with age? Just sitting ducks waiting for the same diseases and conditions that grandparents and parents go/went through?
This very notion is what is being questioned nowadays by many health and fitness experts.
Dr. Peter Attia in his book OUTLIVE, talks about the concept of lifespan (how long you live) vs. health span. Health span is “the period of life when we are free from disability or disease” but Dr Attia adds to this, the focus “should be to improve our physical and mental function.”
Dr. Attia says it is important to think of how you want our later years to look like, what you want to be able to do and then, work towards those TODAY. That is to say — if you want to have a healthy transition post pregnancy, post menopause, be able to lift a 10 kg toddler off the floor at 70 or walk your 20 kg dog — without losing balance or injuring yourself or having to limit your movements, then you need a certain level of fitness and strength today.
No matter how much we try there is going to be a decline in strength, our bodies ability to recover, change in hormones and metabolism, organs and tissues with age, lifestyle, disease, injury — with passing years. Ageing is inevitable and so are the changes in our body. However, it IS NOT all doom and gloom and we have much more control and ability to decide how our life is going to be.
It starts with taking care of your health and starting as early as possible. This is what health and fitness is about, prioritizing your health is about. It is to protect you and support your body through the things life throws at you. It is much like a SIP, it is better to start it as early as possible and it will definitely give you some return when it is time to collect let us say. It is about ensuring quality of life as long as you can.
How do we define quality of life? By the ability to do certain tasks of daily life which we take for granted now, such as
- clipping your own toe nails
- cooking for yourself(the ability to)
- walk up a flight of stairs
- go to the store
- carry your own luggage
- use the bathroom by yourself
- get up from a chair without support
- have meaningful interactions with loved ones
And, along with this, whatever else is meaningful to you — it can be playing with grandkids or reading or gardening or travelling or training or a game of cricket or badminton.
Dr Attia talks about how working towards quality of life and health during later part of life can improve our health span. He uses the below graph to illustrate the difference. It is no longer about just living longer, but about having quality of life in those years.
Interventions help us add quality of life to our later years than just extend our life without it (which is something the current healthcare system is good at). We want to be strong, doing the things we love, with agility, cognition, freedom and strength and ability to take care of ourselves, at the least. We want to avoid diseases as long as possible, manage them as well as possibly and be as healthy and active and thriving as we can and want to be.
Dr Gabrielle Lyon, the founder of muscle centric medicine and the author of FOREVER STRONG, speaks of her experience in a geriatric clinic says you want to be as strong as possible going into your later years.
It is common to hear doctors say they aren’t sure whether the person is strong enough for the treatment or a procedure as someone ages. The elderly were one of groups with the highest mortality rate during the pandemic. Our intention is to stack the odds in our favour as much as we can.
My intention is not to scare you but to emphasize on THE WHY your health and wellness should be a priority. It is not about living as long as possible or trying to defy time or looks or weight. It is about YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE in every passing year. You owe it to yourself AND your loved ones to take care of yourself and be as healthy and independent as possible. It is not just about looking good, it is about feeling good. Take ownership and prioritize your health and wellness, be proactive and not passive.
Jonathan Goodman made a post recently about his 78 yr old father who is able to play on the floor with his kids while his friends are needing assistance. His father has exercised his whole life. “Fitness doesn’t seem like it matters until one day, it becomes obvious.”
I would leave you with beautiful and powerful quote by Abraham Lincoln.
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
