Fit for Duty

Fitness and diet have become two of the most important things in our lives, in the last half decade. Before that, we didn’t give them the correct weighting in our daily life. When we were young we wielded them like weapons, to achieve one goal or another and then we would resheath them until we needed them again, to lose weight or get in shape for a hunting expedition or some other goal.

I believe we had an understanding, albeit limited, that fitness and diet were lifestyle choices, not a modality that we could implement for awhile and then put on the shelf until we needed it again. But that’s exactly what happened numerous times as we continued to kick the can down the road. I remember talking the talk, I even remember changing our lifestyle for months, even years at a time, before backsliding.

No Backsliding

As senior citizens or elders if you prefer, I do; we’re beginning to understand that there’s not much leeway to backslide. A mis-step from our present fitness and nutrition protocol could send us careening over the high side. The only real choice we have for a healthy and happy future is to stay “fit for duty.” When I worked in the oil industry, it was an OSHA requirement on some jobs to go in for an assessment to determine if I was capable of performing the essential tasks required on the job – A “Fit for Duty” test.

Some folks like to say that age is just a number and I won’t disagree but “old” isn’t a number, it’s a category. It’s a category that we fully intend to avoid, as long as possible. Back a few centuries ago, the “old” category was about the loss of the ability to perform useful tasks, not about what birthday was coming up. Various cultures and periods of history valued elders quite differently. Eastern and Latin cultures integrated elders into the home to care for the children, allowing breadwinners to work outside the home.

Dignity or Decreptitude

Greek and Roman cultures didn’t have much use for old folks at all. They valued youth, beauty and strength. Old age, decline and decreptitude repelled them. During the Medieval and Renaissance periods it was common for old folks to be put to death. They saw it as living in decreptitude vs. dying with dignity. In modern times many are forced into assisted living facilities or nursing homes. Family dynamics have changed dramatically in the present, with more grandparents than children to care for.

One of the things I notice with a lot of seniors, is the lack of mobility that they have. They remind me of turtles. If I put them on the ground on their back, they would struggle mightily just to right themselves and getting to their feet without assistance would be nearly impossible for many of them. Loss of mobility is sneaky too. I thought I was in pretty good shape; still climbing the occaisional mountain and biking a couple centuries a year, but I too had trouble getting up off the ground.

Exponential Deterioration

We’ve learned as we’ve aged that the older we get, the faster we deteriorate. It looks a lot like an exponential decay model. At 40, we lose ground 4 times faster than at twenty but at 60 the rate of deterioration is significantly higher and at 80, it’s off the charts. The same is true for maintaining fitness. We must work 8 times as hard; maybe even more, to stay fit and keep decreptitude at bay than when we were youngsters.

Cognitive fitness deteriorates on roughly the same timeline as physical fitness. The ability to read and gather information drifts away, along with perceptive dialogue. Deductive reasoning, awareness and judgement all seem to head south like so many bellies and boobs, as the years stack up. Like a snow ball rolling downhill, we can’t stop it but we can at least slow it down and stay, “Fit for Duty” as long as possible. 95% of elders suffer from at least one chronic condition and 80% suffer from 2 or more.

Here’s the top ten list:

• COPD
• Alzheimer’s
• Depression
• Heart Failure
• KIdney disease
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Arthritis
• Cholesterol issues
• Hypertension

I found that list on the National Council on Aging, so I’m not exactly sure if those conditions kill the most elders or if they’re rated by the number of seniors that are prescribed medication for one or more of them. In either case being “Fit for Duty” is about living and training to avoid these chronic conditions and many others; sarcopenia for example. Ironically that list is significantly shorter:

Fit for Duty list – The Sooner You Get Started the Better

• Stay Active – Cardio and resistance training are required. Daily for at least 45 minutes.
• Get quality sleep. 7-8 hours.
• Proper diet. Quit eating processed foods – all of them; they’re loaded with shit that will kill you, slowly and painfully. No seed oils, no industrial sweetners.
• Quit Drinking & Smoking.
• Manage stress. If you do the first 4 you probably won’t need to worry about stress.

Movement is the key. Our ancestors averaged 15,000 steps per day, presently in the US, we average 5000. Long term studies show that folks who sit more than 6 hours a day, get sick and die at a significantly higher rate than folks that sit for less than 3 hours a day. Elder-hood was never meant to be about decay and decreptitude. It’s supposed to be the culmination of a life well lived. A season to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

“Fit for Duty” looks a lot different as you age but it’s never too late to get started on a program that will get you there.

So Get Started – The Sooner the Better