AJW2W11E

On my most recent trip for work, I was on four different shuttle busses, lugging my 40 pound bag. I must have gone three miles hustling and rushing to cross TSA checkpoints, rental car drop off and pick up points, up and down stairs at the hotel, passing through concessions, gas stations and parking lots . Not to mention surviving work itself where everyone seemed half my age.
And I slept badly, maybe 5 hours a night.
I'm grateful I ride my bike everyday at age 63 and still lift weights lightly. Otherwise I would have been in trouble.
Do you have similar experiences?

epnnf

ummm, I suggest you retire! All those problems will go away

AJW2W11E

Wildwood 

As a salesman (now called Business Development) for small tech companies and who worked for English, S. Korean and Australian companies as well - I had no problem maintaining 14+ English stone. This was before suitcases had wheels or airports had moving walkways, and serious businessmen wore suit + tie & shined leather shoes, etc. Musta been the two martini, 2 hour lunches and the evening meal and drinking soirées, regularly covered by my expense account. Engineering managers are so easily flattered when intoxicated. In my experience Aussies, Koreans, and Englishmen are at least up there with the Japanese for 'exceptional?' evening business celebrations. The two Eastern European clients (Sophia & Belgrade) mostly just drank, which was much cheaper. Certainly memorable ones all round.

Now retired and down to 13+ stone.

Is the 2708 really so great?

Intel microchip - UV erasable memory - 8k bytes from late '70s. non-proprietary image.

May God bless Gordon Moore. For more than his engineering contributions.

GhostRider62

I used to travel a lot and wasn't in the best shape.

I had one 18 month spell going roundtrip weekly from NY to Cal. I suppose my downfall was the Flight Attendants, they knew to serve me bloody marys on early flights and Grand Marnier on the rocks on later flights. I had little time to exercise. I did not consider my airport schlepping to be exercise especially with alcohol in the veins although I did walk an hour on the beach just before or at sunrise.

shelbyfv

Working in my 60s would have eaten up way too many cycling hours.

50PlusCycling

Working for a Japanese company in Tokyo meant taking two, fully-packed and standing-room-only trains an hour each way every day, 40 minutes of walking to and from train stations, and at least10 flights of stairs. Lunchtime meant more walking and stairs. Weekends meant bike rides to the beach (10 miles each way), or hikes in the nearby hills.

Now I run my own show from home, and my office is next door to my bedroom. But I cycle two hours every morning, weather permitting.

skidder

My neighbors have found ways to be sedentary by hiring contractors to do every little bit of maintenance around their homes. For me I mow the lawn, pull weeds, trim bushes (currently removing and replanting some right now), fix minor electrical and plumbing problems, also repair stucco and siding, wash my own car (the hire 'detailers'), and get in some bike riding, surfing, and hill walking 5 to 6 days a week. They still haven't figured out how I've managed to save $$$ to retire and maintain a pretty good level of fitness while they're still having to work to prop up their lifestyles and pay for all those contractors' services.

big john

13 Sedentary Lifestyle Statistics in the United States [2022] - Ergonomics Quest

John E

The two great killers: the Standard American Diet and the Sedentary American Lifestyle (SAD SAL).

I am past 70 and still working about 3/4 time, because I love my encore career in academia. Between walking to the commuter rail station in the morning and back in the evening, plus walking around a large campus between classes and from campus to my destination rail station, I figure I am walking at least a 10K every M, W, and F, plus at least 5K round trip to the local YMCA on Tu and Th, or about a marathon a week, on top of weekend bicycling. My mother-in-law has commented several times over the past 50 years that it is easy to buy clothes for me, because my sizes never change. (Actually, jacket size is up from 36 to 38 because of a bit of upper body building over the years.)

I don't diet or cut/count calories deliberately, but I go very easy on junk food, refined sugar and flour, and unhealthful fats. I also avoid alcohol, which is calorie-laden.

MinnMan

A definite added advantage of being cycling fit.

Yesterday, my sister and I were visiting my daughter, who lives in a 5th floor apartment with no elevator. I didn't give the stairs a second thought. My sister, mostly sedentary and 64 y.o., had to stop half way up for a rest.

Oakman

Hit 70 years old this year, the last 20 with Parkinson's. While I have recently reduced some activity due to balance problems, i.e. pickleball, cycling is not one of them. There is no doubt that regular exercise slows progress of the disease. Surely this applies to many other health conditions, both physical and mental. Davis Phinney is one example of the power of exercise.

BTinNYC 

Never would have guessed you were carrying a bag. Hurray for us sales guys, we didn't invent the things, but nothing really happens until there's a deal.

Wildwood 

Actually, it was often thru the comments of client product engineers that I got product specs changed, resulting in happy clients and contracts with steady OEM manufacturers. Chips, disc drive recording heads, and electronic test equipment. Before moving on to networking equipment. I missed the jump to wireless.

edit: Several of my employers were not on the 'cutting edge', but on the 'bleeding edge'. My biggest career mistake was declining an interview with a crazy little Silicon Valley start-up that had the wild idea of connecting the world's computers (yeah, right) = Cisco Systems. But it did get me investigating Networking as an emerging field.

big john

Davis Phinney had the implants for deep brain stimulation some years ago. I know it helped him immediately but I don't know about long term. I heard he couldn't button a shirt prior to the DBS.
Boxing trainer Freddie Roach has been dealing with Parkinson's for years. I have seen him transformed when he steps into the ring to work with his boxers. His movements are quick and accurate and doctors have said this training has been very helpful in fighting the effects.

I'm glad to hear you are able to stay active and seem to have a handle on it.

MoAlpha

Fascinating thing about PD is that movement patterns are affected according to how and where they are acquired and stored. There are famous cases of folks who can barely walk, but who run well or are perfectly competent on a bicycle. Some great video here.

big john

That's pretty amazing. Reminds me of "The Alzheimer's Project" on HBO. One guy had almost no memory but had once sung in a choir. The choir was having a reunion and he was invited. His wife and daughter got him ready and he couldn't remember where they were going, even though they reminded him repeatedly. Once at the venue and on the stage, he was able to sing every word of every song without a hitch.

wolfchild

I don't know what it means to be sedentary. I work 10 - 12 hour days in skilled trades doing physical labor moving around all day long. The only time I sit during the day is when I take 30 minute lunch break and two 15 minute coffee breaks

TakingMyTime

Amen! On my block only 3 of about 60 neighbors mow their own lawn, me being one of them. I also get a lot of compliments when I'm out front working in the yard. I detail both of our cars. Some days I may spend 4-5 hours just polishing and waxing one of them. It's no big deal, pull the car into the garage, turn the radio on and get to work. No one other than my wife and I have painted the inside of our home. I have a high level of pride of ownership and it feels good that I'm the one doing it and I can take credit for it.

The guys I ride with are about the same age, late 60's, and we are all of the same mindset. It seems like we've always got something to do. We are all very active.

gobicycling

Well keep on patting yourself on the back. It is good exercise. Life changes as we age despite our best intentions. My wife hàß recently started having collapsing episodes where she loses all strength in her legs, and I find her lying on the floor. At age 83.5 it is a challenge to get her up, using all my strength. She has not been able to contact me electronically despite my placing various devices around the house. This means I must stick close to home to make her feel safe as she is scared if I'm not there. Additionally I noticed a marked decrease and strength and endurance about 82 years old. I manage to swim or exercise but I have lost a lot of endurance and I do have someone mow my lawn and shovel my snow, as I can use those hours more beneficially in other ways. So hurray for you but some of us have different situations. We are investigating one of those I've fallen down and can't get up neck things. We are investigating why my wife is having these episodes, so far no answers. She's 85.5

shelbyfv

Yep, not surprising there is a big difference 60s vs 80s. A cyclist in his 60s can likely ride as before, just slower. Plus more time to ride w/o that pesky work stuff. A person doing significant cycling into their 80s is unusual in real life.

mdarnton

I know that everyone can't do this, but in the last couple of years I've gotten into following the ultralight camping world--10 pound load, including sleeping, clothes, shelter. The last family trip we took I had a 35L backpack and the bottom five inches of it was my stuff, the rest was presents. Came home practically empty. Usually I just take a small daypack. OK, so much for the 40-pound part. When I travel for work the ratio with tools is similar, the weight a bit higher.

I'm 74. I commute, riding 10-11 miles a day, the same or more on weekends, too. I work 1/2+ time, in my own 9-person (including 2 partners) company. After work my wife and I usually go for a long walk. We walk to the grocery and drag food back on wheels and in my backpack. The farthest store we go to is a mile and a quarter away--not that far, I guess.

My father was a Golden Gloves boxer when he was young and a 4-letter man in high school and college. He taught me that you always stand back up, no matter what. He rode 20 miles a day into his 80s, but he was retired and had the time. And he played 18 holes of golf every day, walking. When his hip got too bad and he was too old to have it chopped out and replaced, he switched bikes to my mom's one-speed pink-and-white Schwinn girl's bike for his 20 miles because he could get his leg over that. He lived to 96. His balance was terrible but he wouldn't stop. One day I called home and my mom said my dad was out for a ride and it worried her SO much. I said someday he was going sooner or later, probably under the wheels of a garbage truck. When I told him that later, he laughed, agreed, and said "She just doesn't get it." He'd take a chair out when he raked the lawn and when he was so red and panting that he couldn't go on, he'd sit for five minutes, then get going again. At the end he was in assisted living and kept insisting on caring for himself, falling all the time and couldn't get up. They'd come in and find him on the floor and laughing about it (boxer: knew how to fall). It totally freaked them out and they wanted to strap him in for liability reasons, but I insisted he wanted to go on his own terms and that I'd sign a waiver if they wanted. They left him alone but said they were required to phone me when he fell; I got a lot of phone calls the last couple of years. It was a UTI that finally got him.

In my family you don't stop moving until you're forced to. Just about everyone has lived well into their 90s. Everyone had serious health problems, but they kept moving, regardless. No excuses.

PS-- I do realize that some people have such problems that they really can't live like that. I guess we've been lucky, thankfully.

BTinNYC 

In today's world, how could you live being Sedentary? Very very very easily. A lot of the world is set up to support the drone life. I did no exercise except yard work for 30 years.

My name is BTinNYC and I'm a cycling addict.

AJW2W11E

Thank you for your honesty and sharing. Admire your will and courage!

rsbob 

You may want to look into Phillips Lifeline for your wife. They have a pendant worn around the neck, that when a fall is detected and the person doesn’t get up in a certain amount of time, notifies 911 and you by phone if you are away. It has saved my 91 year old mother several times. Unfortunately it won’t do anything for your strength, but weights might help.