By Sean Schniederjan RKC

Strength: The Secret to Staying Young

My day job has me working, often times, with senior citizens.  Today I spent the morning with a woman of 93.  She was in phenomenal shape.  She was very quick getting out of chairs, going up and down stairs, and walking.  She was very astute mentally as well.  She still drives.  It was great to spend the morning with her and asking her questions.

I asked her what her secret to longevity.  She attributed it mostly to genetics. Not satisfied with that answer I pressed her further.  She told me that she had walked three miles a day with her husband up until about 10 years ago. She said she didn’t go out on walks as often because she doesn’t go out as much.

Still Moving and Overcoming Resistance

She told me doesn’t like to sit still and so walks around her house she’s lived in for close to sixty years and up and down the two flights of stairs in the home.  Her hips were strong, probably from the stairs.

What really struck me was that she was just a strong person, generally.  A few times she grabbed my arm and one time she sort of punched me.  It didn’t hurt (tongue in cheek there) but it was noticeable, especially for a woman of 93.  I wish I could get her to try to close an easy captain of crush gripper, like the trainer, because I would not be surprised if she could do it.

How is it that some people fall apart and some don’t?

I really think the answer is to stay mobile and stay strong.  This 93 year old woman has done that.  She also reads for at least 4 hours per day to keep her mind up with her body.

Strength Gives You More Strength: Resiliency

Another very important of staying strong as we age is resiliency.  

We were talking about the weather and I mentioned “the really hot day” that we had had in Minnesota this summer.  She said she knew the date because that is the day she “fell on her face.”

How many elderly people fall down and don’t get up?

I tried to determine if she was exaggerating someone by saying she had fallen on her face and she wasn’t.  She tripped over something and her forehead slammed into the ground.  She said a fall like that “isn’t a big deal,” its falling and hitting the back of your head you want to avoid.  ”I was black and blue for a few weeks.”  93 years old and still a veritable tank!

There is ice on the ground here in the Twin Cities and I asked her if we should avoid the icey parts of the parking lot.  ”That’s why I wear my boots!”  This woman is awesome.

You don’t have a choice.  If you want to stay young, you have to stay strong.

I wish I would have asked her what she did with her hands to keep her grip strength, but I didn’t.

OK, now I wanted to mention this woman because getting strong and staying strong is one of the most important things we have to do to stay young.  Strength is the mother of all physical qualities.

How Do I Get Strong?

Enter Andrew Read, RKC 2 and head of www.dragondooraustralia.com.  He recently shared some training information about his mother, Noela Read, 70 years young and some of the results she is enjoying.

Here is a sample of her workouts and a video of her deadlifting well over her bodyweight easily:

“Today my mother and I celebrated her birthday by doing DL singles. Warm up was 10 swings with a 16kg and a get up each side with a 10kg, twice.

Then we did 32kg x 2 reps, then:

40kg x 1
45kg x 1
50kg x 1
55kg x 1
60kg x 1
65kg x 1
Missed 70kg, which she was really pissed about. The video of 65kg is here

(this will only work if you have a facebook account)

- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v…type=2&theater

In training all we do is super joints, swings and get ups, then DLs and Goblet squats along with some rib pulls, crawls and a few more swings.

She goblet squats 20kg for 5s easily and has done 24kg, but doesn’t like it. She swings a 20kg for sets of 10 pretty easily.

She hits a golf ball further than most young lady pros she caddies for (which leads to all kinds of problems when it comes to recommending clubs for them) .
My point? She’s awesome  Also great proof of how well the body can still work when you pay attention to strength and mobility even at an advanced age. Go mum.”