Geezer Fitness

Motus Est Vita

Geezer fitness is fitness for old people and mainly for old men. Geezer fitness is functional fitness. Functional fitness is fitness that enables the activities of life.  In this brief article, I describe a basic fitness framework for geezers.

Geezer fitness has six main parts: outlook, diet, strength, aerobic fitness, flexibility, and movement.

Outlook comes first. A positive outlook makes everything work better. I’m no psychologist but I have noticed that it seems to become more difficult to remain positive as we age. Some of my age cohort peers are just plain grumpy. Sometimes they are grumpy for good reason and sometimes they are just grumpy. Stealing a turn of phrase from the movie - grumpy, fat, and drunk is no way to get through the latter stages of life.

Diet comes next. Fitness starts in the kitchen. You cannot achieve optimum fitness on a garbage diet. Nutrition is essential to all fitness efforts. There is no single answer to diet, but all good diets have common attributes. Adequate protein, adequate fat, the right amount of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and little or no sugar are the basics of a good diet. I like the Crossfit[1] explanation of a good diet. It puts everything you need into one sentence.

“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.”

Strength is critical to geezer fitness. Strength gets you up off the shitter without a grab rail; strength enables balance; strength lets you pick up your grandchildren; strength lets you start your lawnmower; strength gets you up staircases; and it goes on and on. Strength is critical. There is no situation in life where you are “just too strong” but there can be plenty of situations in life where you are “just too weak”.

Geezer strength means functional strength. It means the ability to lift, carry, and move heavy things. It can mean weight room strength but weight room strength is not the goal of geezer fitness. Functional strength is strength that enables the functions of life. Basic exercises create and preserve functional strength. You do not need a gym membership and you do not need any equipment.

Aerobic (or cardio-respiratory) fitness is just as important as strength. Aerobic fitness enables putting your strength to work. Your muscles (and indeed your entire body) need oxygen to work. There is research out there that indicates cardio-respiratory fitness is the single most accurate predictor of mortality in your age cohort. See this article (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2707428).

Flexibility is important. From tasks as simple as tying your shoes to as enjoyable as swinging a golf club; flexibility is important. There’s nothing complicated about it; flexibility is important.

Motus Est Vita – movement is life. The first five parts of the framework enable movement. That’s the point; right?  Move and enjoy life. If you can’t move, you can’t enjoy very much.

Finally, the disclaimer that our litigious times require: I’m not a doctor nor am I a physical therapist. Checking with your doctor or physical therapist is always a good idea before starting any new exercise program.

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[1] https://www.crossfit.com/faq/nutrition