rsbob 

https://www.roadbikerider.com/three-ages-of-humankind/

bruce19

Interesting. Thanks.

rydabent

DNA has a lot to do with it. I am 83, and most people guess my age as the middle/late 60s. I ride approx 25 miles ever other day. I lay my good health to my continued cycling. As I have stated before, if you set you rust.

Carbonfiberboy 

Fitness age: When I was about 70, I had a cardiac workup, which included a treadmill stress test. The doctor said I had the numbers of a fit 43 y.o. male. Yeah, fit, just slow.

rsbob 

I found the site worth exploring. Not many with free content. But you get what you pay for

70sSanO

The video was simply fascinating.

If someone could reverse aging, how many would be able to mentally and financially sustain their life to 150 years or more.

The grind of the modern world is not a very forgiving environment to be able to cope with a hundred years of producing to continue to sustain one’s life.

Those at the high end of the economic scale might find it the ultimate challenge, those at the lower end may find it unbearable.

John

1989Pre 

I think the physical training aspect of fitness in our later years is relatively more important to some than to others. If you have an intrinsically sluggish system, then it could be of prime value. For those with fast metabolism or hyper-exciteable dispositions, consistent and complete relaxing, in all its expressions, can be even more important.

tjfastback66

Great statement - my Dad is 82 and he is in great shape and really to me seems like he is in his mid 60's.
Bottom line is you got to keep moving!

IronM

I'm no longer in the shape I was when racing; but I'm not 100% convinced it's healthy to maintain that level of stress forever. I still have my moments & on a good day hold my own, but overall I've back off a lot; enjoy a well-rounded quality of life. Maybe I'm a bit heavier & can't hammer out a long ride I once could, but still in pretty good shape for someone my age.

Calsun

There was an article last year about a group of elderly men who had been doing cycle tours for years together. Although they were in the 80's they had better fitness and health than most men in their 30's. They benefited from the exercise and equally from the camaraderie on their tours.

gringomojado

They gonna live till they die!

gm

PeteHski

Having just turned 54, I found this book linked below very interesting. It's bang up to date with current sports and medical science and at the same time a very entertaining read.
The good news is that we can mitigate many of the negative affects of ageing quite effectively without too much effort. But we can't just pretend we are young and train exactly like we did in our 20s.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/midlif...9781472961389/

caloso

I'll have to check this out. I also have a copy of Fast After Fifty, which I actually read a year or so before I turned 50. The upshot of that book is that older riders need to maintain or even increase the intensity, and drop volume, which may be counterintuitive, but there's good science behind it.

making

I am 63 and I think I am in great shape. I worked at Rural King for a while right after I retired because I go real stir crazy when I get bored. Anyway, I was talking to a guy in his 80's, looked like he was still in great shape. My co worker walked up, he is about 5 years younger than me, and has multiple chronic illnesses. He walked up complaining about some pain or ailment he was suffering at the time. He said something about how unfair it was we were both so better off than him. I have always run, rode, lifted weights and just was very active. The older guy I was talking to had too, plus he had done full marathons etc. We got to talking about if you stay in shape because you are healthy, or do you stay healthy because you work out and are in good shape. I agree, I plan to ride and hike etc as long as I can.

PeteHski

Fast After Fifty is a book I keep meaning to read, so thanks for reminding me. Definitely check this one out though. It was written in the last 12 months and so adds a lot of very recent research. The author's cycling experience and industry contacts are very impressive too. Not to mention his writing ability. It becomes clear throughout the book that our generation are effectively breaking new ground regarding the performance of ageing athletes. We are literally the first guinea pigs in the entire history of mankind! In any other century we would be almost certainly dead and buried in our 30s or 40s. He reckons it will take another couple of decades before we will know some of the answers fully. There's still a lot of speculation and unknowns. But one thing is crystal clear. A sedentary lifestyle is far worse for your body than any kind of exercise regime.

caloso

Pioneers!

davester

I'm very much interested in longevity science, so much so that I've been practicing intermittent fasting, have altered my diet based on longevity research, and just volunteered to be a subject for a medical trial that assesses the use of the drug rapamycin for reversal of cellular aging indicators (something the OP's link refers to as "metabolic aging"). If you're interested, here's a really good talk that summarizes the huge advances in this field over about the last decade (note that it's an hour long but you only need to watch about the first 15 minutes and the concluding statements to get the gist, you can also skip over the introductions):


Also, an excellent longevity research book:

Ageless https://www.amazon.com/Ageless-Scien...f_=as_li_ss_tl

Incidentally, I'm about to turn 68 but most people think that I'm in my mid 50s based on my looks and athletic performance.

rsbob 

My father turned 90 in August and is still going strong. He never sits around and always has some project going. Last year he built a 500’ concrete wall, painted it, planted an orchard, did some house remodeling, built a brick patio and on and on. He goes crazy if he is forced to stand still. I have those genes. His father died at 55 but smoked and drank heavily.

gobicycling

A bit different perspective and some food for thought. What has been ignored is the effect of uncontrollable stresses that happen in a person's life, and the further effect of those stresses on one's physical well-being and longevity. As I look at my cohort group (I am 82yo), I see some who have gone through life relatively unscathed - more or less "perfect" lives, if you will.

Others have had almost innumerable bricks and stones thrown at them. As an example, I work with older parents of children born with severe and profound disabilities. When these children were born 50 and 60 years ago, there were, generally, absolutely NO services except Hell-Hole institutions.. These parents slaved to provide for services for their children, working several jobs, fighting for medical and therapy services, etc. They had (and still have) little time for recreation, socialization, "group rides" and other things that many participate in. Their health suffered because of lack of funding, energy and time to take care of themselves. Other situations such as MS, MD, and others have similar effects and stresses.

I know this first-hand as my wife and I are parents of two children with profound disabilities. One recently deceased from abuse in the "system." We have been through it all for 55 years.

So, in these discussions about ageing, there is more than food and exercise. I and my wife (at 84yo) have a number of conditions related to the stress of these years. Yet, we still do what we can - which is quite a bit.

This is a HIGHLY select group - not representative of the general population in any way - as are groups represented in quoted studies.. Are you/they "healthy" because of their exercise, or do they exercise because they are still healthy?

davester

"What has been ignored is the effect of uncontrollable stresses that happen in a person's life, and the further effect of those stresses on one's physical well-being and longevity."

I don't think that stress has been ignored at all. In fact there is a very large amount of medical literature which focuses on the impacts that stress has on health and longevity.

PeteHski

Books I've read, including the one I linked to a few posts earlier, discuss "life stress" as a major factor that needs to be taken into account alongside your physical activity and in particular recovery. Meditation, yoga, breathing exercises etc can help to mitigate stress, as can exercise itself for that matter. I don't think anyone thinks food & exercise are everything, but they sure are very important and they are largely controllable.

rsbob 

Bought the Kindle version on Amazon and this is a well researched, informative, easy to read book. THANKS for recommending!

PeteHski

You're absolutely welcome Bob and glad you found it as useful as I did. The author is well known and respected over in the UK. A lot of what he says really resonated with me and I'm definitely taking the advice on offer.

rsbob 

The only bummer is to reduce sweets at night (life without dessert?) and alcohol (still having my glass of red wine). Very enjoyable read.

PeteHski

Ah ah! I've already kind of drifted away from alcohol for no particular reason and I don't really miss it. But sweet snacks before bedtime are my achilles heel!