Regaining the Power of Youth at Any Age

 

Learning to Age More Slowly

My wife doesn’t like me to use the word, “old.”  But I’m one of those people who had prematurely gray hair and now white hair.  She, on the other hand, takes after her father who was still salt and peter on top when he passed away at 96.   Also, this past week I visited Louise for her 103^rd—you read correctly, her 103^rd birthday.  Until about eighteen months ago, she still took her usual place helping to dry dishes at our church suppers. But, in contrast, I also heard about a friend who is struggling with giving up and they have not yet reached eighty years old and the doctors can’t find any health crises involved.  

These circumstances made it a very good time for me to find a book by Kenneth H. Cooper of Aerobics fame called Regaining the Power of Youth at Any Age (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1998).   I have been devouring it all week.  This book was different from the usual promotion for daily aerobic workouts.  It contains some plugs, to be sure, but it is so much broader.  It comprises a wide-ranging and highly practical discussion of what habits, attitudes and values lead to aging more slowly.   Now the years don’t go by any differently, obviously, but people who live into the patterns that Cooper describes find renewed vigor, positive attitudes and better health lasting longer and enabling them to do more activities for more years.  The book majors in fixing so many stressful issues that empty-nesters and seniors often find irritating— things like joint and muscle issues, nagging fatigue, and blue days.  I highly recommend this book!

Cooper begins in chapter one by whetting our appetite for the book’s remedies by reminding us of what he labels “causes of youth drain.”   They sound way too familiar and include: recurrent health complaints, feelings of no longer competing at a high level, tension caused by time pressures, the punishing emotional and physical effects of too much travel, financial worries, unexpected effects of menopause, frustrations of child rearing, and exhaustion from technology and information overload.   

Cooper’s first level of Rx for “youth drain” begins with three types of exercise—striking, strengthening, and stretching (Chapter 2).    Exercise that he labels as “striking” is exercise that puts sufficient stress on the bones– usually because there is some kind of impact strain involved –so that the bone density is built.  This is obviously important for successful aging because bones naturally get thinner with age and we need to work to slow that.   Also broken bones from falls are one of the most serious problems faced by many seniors.   Dr. Cooper tells us that the ability to take in oxygen and use it also decreases with age, so aerobic exercise is needed just to slow this loss, if nothing else.  But he insists that as we age we need to counteract the natural loss of muscle by targeting exercises to strengthen certain muscles.   Finally, stretching can help us get ready for a day, and avoid injury when doing occasional sports.   Stiffness is also a challenge as we age, and increased stretching helps. 

In chapters three and four Dr. Cooper broadens the discussion of the aging issues in a very helpful way.  He discusses challenges in managing stress, overcoming depression, getting enough sleep and maintaining a positive attitude.  He also digs deeper into the causes of “youth drain.” 

Chapter 5 offers new and surprising coping strategies, a second tier of antidotes for “youth drain.”   These he labels as four secret sources of stamina.   The first of this second group of strategies is to ramp up our creativity.  It’s not crucial where we express creativity, whether in music, traditional arts, or in something like gardening.  The important thing is the feeling of accomplishment and the satisfaction of creating.     The second “hidden energy source” is finding a “peaceful place.”   This might include spending quiet time for oneself and having devotional time with God.   It might have to do with finding a quieter place to work or rearranging our space to find greater quiet.   Maybe we need to spend time in a garden for our quiet space.  The third hidden energy source was the most surprising.  It is laughter.    Yes, being able to laugh and doing so often is a very positive thing for our mental and physical health.

“Research has shown that humor has the power to distract patients from their discomforts and increase their pain tolerance” (p. 141).  

The fourth “hidden energy source” are “advanced spiritual disciplines.”   He cites multiple studies as examples that have shown that those who attend church regularly had lower mortality rates and better physical functioning later in life than non-attending peers.  He concludes;

“Regular pursuit of religious disciplines, such as service attendance and prayer, will increase the likelihood that you’ll remain vigorous and healthy, well into old age” (p. 145).

Chapter seven was an especially useful chapter that zeroed in on one of the strategies recommended in the book–targeting our health maintaining plans to exactly what we personally need.   For example, people my age are always worried about staying sharp. There is a section on targeting the mind.  Dr. Cooper recommends that we

• Stay optimistic
• Develop memory techniques
• Keep exercising your mind (pp. 225, 226)

“Experts in the aging brain suggest that vigorous exercise—especially endurance activities like jogging—will stimulate mental as well as physical functioning” (p. 226). 

The goal for Dr. Cooper is to become a “senior powerhouse” an ideal that he holds out for us in chapter eight.   He urges us to remember that we cannot “retire” from good health maintenance.  If we do, age-related deterioration will be swift.