This blog and fitness site is called Mid Age Man. It encourages you to Take Back Life.
Why Mid Age Man?
Well, those would just be catchy-sounding phrases were it not for the message behind them. I believe it’s a vital one.
People are living longer lives than ever, as I explained in my very first post. The average life expectancy in my home town, Hong Kong, is the highest in the world. You can reasonably expect to live well into your 80s. It won’t be long before many of us in the developed world make it past 100.
This has given me the inspiration to set up Mid Age Man.
Why that term?
I don’t believe in “middle aged.”
Being “middle aged” brings a lot of baggage. You’re a bit past it, carrying a few extra pounds around the waist, starting to resemble how your parents look in your mind’s eye. You’re relying on your kids to show you how Snapchat works or to explain who Khalid is.
Let’s put a stop to that thinking now.
I believe that people between their 30s and their 70s are in the middle portion of their lives. This is a long span, and it keeps getting longer with every generation. It’s the better part of our lives.
It’s the bulk of our lives. It is also the “better part” of our lives emotionally.
Studies show that people get more and more content in their lives as they get older. Many people attribute this to experience. To what we call “wisdom.” We may also be more financially secure. Mentally, maybe we have finally worked out who we really are.
But are we physically happy?
If we are going to enjoy those long lives to their full extent, we need to focus on our fitness. Our bodies start to decline in our 20s, and that process only picks up pace as we age.
How do we rectify that, so that we can enjoy the “better part of our lives”?
We have to make some effort. And we might as well start now.
Fortunately, a little bit of effort goes a long way. I’m a firm believer that regularly spending 15 minutes on your fitness is far more effective than going all out.
And forget about running on the treadmill for an hour, even half an hour. It’s a waste of time.
People often say they don’t have enough time to work out. That’s fair enough. We all live very busy lives and there are a lot of demands on our time.
Fortunately, scientists have been investigating how little we can work out while getting a significant benefit.
And the answer is, not much at all. Even a single minute of intense exercise can provide a significant benefit.
Just 10 minutes of exercise, if done correctly, can have just as much benefit as 45 minutes on a treadmill or stationary bike.
Just 10 minutes. That’s all it takes. However busy we are, I think we can find somewhere to work that in.
We may also feel you have no time to get to the gym. Good news again there – our short workout can happen anywhere.
That’s why I love the Scientific 7-Minute Workout from The New York Times. It’s designed so that you can get a short, high-intensity workout with minimal equipment and wherever you are, be it at home, a hotel room, your office or outside.
So you don’t even have to go to gym. In fact, you don’t even have to set aside the 10 minutes that I suggested – 7 minutes is enough. You don’t need a personal trainer. You can go it alone.
This attention will also pay off down the line. It is in this middle portion of our lives that we must make a minor effort, so we can enjoy these years to their full extent. These are our Middle Ages. This is our Mid Age.
How old is old, anyway? A study by Rakuten, the Amazon.com of Japan, showed that 72% of people aged 65 to 69 do not consider themselves “elderly.”
What kind of shape do you want to be in at that age? I think a little effort now can ensure we never feel “old.”
You want to be tossing your grandkids in the air. Getting up the stairs without needing the handrail. Hell, running a marathon if you want.
You can extend that Mid Age significantly with a little effort now. But I’m pretty sure that at some point, you do get “past it,” and it’s too late for you to rectify long-term damage you have done to your body. Your body won’t repair.
It’s in this Mid Age that we need to put in just a few minutes of work, regularly, to make that Mid Age a happy one, to extend it for a long, long time.
Life is not slipping away. It is now. We can grasp it. We can claim it back, and savor it. Enjoy it, for as long we can.
Mid Age Man.
Take Back Life.
