Are You Ever Too Old to Start Exercising?
6/25/2007 02:50:00 PM
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Back when I was an evangelical fresh convert to working out, I got a job in a gym taking members through vigorous workouts, and selling memberships. I delighted in spreading the “No Pain, No Gain” gospel to anyone who would listen.
No one was immune to my enthusiasm, especially my parents. I badgered them relentlessly until they started working out with weight and cardio equipment. My father was 60 years old at the time, and my mother, 49. Neither had ever lifted a weight in their lives, and I vividly remember my father’s arms trembling with the unfamiliar sensation of a bench press.
Yet he continued to work out. Not regularly, but consistently, always coming back to it after work commitments had interfered with his routine.
Fast forward 10 years. My fiancé and I fly into town to visit my parents. My father isn’t looking so good, kind of grey all over, and he’s grumpy to boot. Not the homecoming I expected...
Several hours later he’s in the Emergency Room (could it have been meeting my fiancé??) and doesn’t leave the hospital until he’s had sextuple bypass surgery. That means a six pack of bypasses in one handy operation. He always did like to go for it.
So what good was all his working out, if he still ended up with bypasses? The surgeon was quite clear in his opinion. He told us that given how little blood was actually making its way to my father’s heart, it was a miracle he survived. The surgeon said that the only reason he made it through was that my father had been working out for 10 years. The heart strength he had gained during that time kept him going. If he hadn’t been working out, he never would have made it.
And made it he did. My father went on to live another 12 years, to see the marriage of his two children, and the birth of his four grandchildren. Pretty worthwhile stuff I would say. And if that hasn't got you running to the gym, here’s a recent picture of my mother, who started working out at age 49. She was also one of my first weight loss clients. I’m forbidden to disclose her age, but you can work out the numbers. ;)
No one was immune to my enthusiasm, especially my parents. I badgered them relentlessly until they started working out with weight and cardio equipment. My father was 60 years old at the time, and my mother, 49. Neither had ever lifted a weight in their lives, and I vividly remember my father’s arms trembling with the unfamiliar sensation of a bench press.
Yet he continued to work out. Not regularly, but consistently, always coming back to it after work commitments had interfered with his routine.
Fast forward 10 years. My fiancé and I fly into town to visit my parents. My father isn’t looking so good, kind of grey all over, and he’s grumpy to boot. Not the homecoming I expected...
Several hours later he’s in the Emergency Room (could it have been meeting my fiancé??) and doesn’t leave the hospital until he’s had sextuple bypass surgery. That means a six pack of bypasses in one handy operation. He always did like to go for it.
So what good was all his working out, if he still ended up with bypasses? The surgeon was quite clear in his opinion. He told us that given how little blood was actually making its way to my father’s heart, it was a miracle he survived. The surgeon said that the only reason he made it through was that my father had been working out for 10 years. The heart strength he had gained during that time kept him going. If he hadn’t been working out, he never would have made it.
And made it he did. My father went on to live another 12 years, to see the marriage of his two children, and the birth of his four grandchildren. Pretty worthwhile stuff I would say. And if that hasn't got you running to the gym, here’s a recent picture of my mother, who started working out at age 49. She was also one of my first weight loss clients. I’m forbidden to disclose her age, but you can work out the numbers. ;)
Labels: ageing, Exercise, working out
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