improving the quality and quantity of life is hard work as you age

Jul 23, 2023

According to a CDC study, 28% of Americans over 50 are inactive. If you’re logging 7,500 to 10,000 steps a day, you’d find yourself in the moderate — or somewhat active — level. CDC also says (am I the only one that struggles believing the CDC on anything since the pandemic?) that we should perform at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity OR 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week.

If you have a desk job, 12,500 steps is a lot to get in a day. I get up to let the dogs out and try to stand a couple minutes out of every hour, but that doesn’t add up to a whole bunch of steps. If not for the treadmill, I’d be in that 28% of inactive, sedentary Americans.

I’d much rather sit under an umbrella and drink iced tea.

People always ask, “Bit don’t you feel better when you exercise?NO! I don’t. The only thing that’s feels better when I exercise is my back — and that’s only if I don’t try to do crazy lifting or twisting with something heavy. I hate it. I dread it. I make myself do it and keep it as a habit.

I’m currently teetering between somewhat and highly active. My steps average 10K, sometimes just a little more. The past couple days, they’ve been less.

Where within the spectrum do you fall when it comes to exercise?

If you’re aging, I hope you’re working on upping your game. To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Experts say to add strength training a couple times a week, but I’ve yet to tackle that. There’s always tomorrow. 😉

Today I Learned: Bud Light’s big marketing push in the 80s was Spuds Mackenzie, a dog presented as “a cool dude.” Spuds was played by a female dog, named Honey Tree Evil Eye.