I was forwarded a Washington Post piece via Apple News entitled “At 77, she’s as fit as a 25-year-old. What her body tells us about aging.” (Good find, Linda!)
The article read of a 77-year-old marathoner who has the cardiovascular fitness of a 25 year old. Good read! Inspiring if you need motivation to get off your rear end!
But, immediately, my OG CrossFit brain short-circuited as I recall Coach Glassman telling a story once of the GHD situp and how a “very fit endurance athlete” entered his gym EONS ago, and I believe they pitted him against a general CrossFit athlete. The GHD was involved, but with the mixed modalities (or exercises – probably load, gymnastics and a nonstructural cardio element), the CrossFit athlete won, of course. My post-menopausal brain won’t recall the exact specifics, and I even tried to Google it. Nada. Niente. Zilch. Ugh! Alas, it was a great story – and an actual occurrence. The point?
Cardiovascular endurance is VERY IMPORTANT. For me, it’s the hardest to get back once you’ve lost it. BUT, it’s not more important than strength and mobility. CrossFit, IMHO, was the first to truly define “Fitness”. Enter: a chance to learn something new here from if you’re reading this.
Case in point: What is Fitness? It’s a great read for anyone who “thinks” they’re fit. (Don’t worry – I’m not judging – I used to think I was fit too…). It’s a super specific and actionable read, and compared to the ACMS’s, ACE’s (both ridiculously generic and open to both wide and wild interpretation) and the NSCA, I’d say – again, IMHO, CrossFit’s it both comprehensive and fun.
I pick this out to highlight the 77 year old NY Marathoner who has AN IMPRESSIVE 3:53 26.2 mile time (wowzers!), as she’s for sure got some massive cardiovascular/respiratory endurance and stamina – maybe even some balance and coordination – but I do wonder about her strength and the other factors for true overall fitness and ability to functional independently through obstablces that require that in later life.. Muscle mass and grip strength are large predictors of overall longevity – I mean, we have 70-year-olds with 200+ lb deadlifts who also have abundant pushups, pull-ups, and even handstand pushups (OK – that was fancy, how about great big overhead presses). Do I have a mile time on them? Darn it – no. But you can bet I’m about to employ that! We live in Florida and it’s almost summer, so I don’t know if I’m going to press anything greater than a 5K, but I know some of them can do that “effortlessly”. ALSO, it would be easy to test a 2K row….PROJECT!
My point here is BALANCE. Why? Well, it’s definitely not boring, it’s humbling (which we all seem to need more of these days), and it’s fun. I do like to run (used to more than now but it’s probably because I suck at it (again)!). It’s the most primal thing we can do (at least sprinting and short distances definitely pair with primal) and provides a wonderful base for calesthenics-based warmup before ANY workout. Do seniors need to run? I don’t know. If they haven’t in the past, then probably not without supervision and instruction. Enter the rower, or bike as an onramp to it while, perhaps skills are being developed. But do seniors need cardiovascular effort? Most definitely: yes! AND, that can be accomplished through mixed modal training, as for “life skills”, I don’t know that distance running is essential for functional activities of daily living.
I hope your senior (or pre-senior) brains are twirling right now with the likes of: “What can I do to improve my cardiovascular fitness….and every other element of fitness in the great read “What is Fitness”?. A lot of people say when seniors retire, they get bored, they slow down. How about a “personal project” to master the 10 physical skills? 3, 2, 1, GO!