Lifting heavy things is about all I can do.
I am useless at everything else.
Tonight I was squatting 140kg (310lb), which is a little over 1.5x my body weight, but I can't go deep with it. At 100kg (220lb) I can though, so that is okay in my condition. I used to be better at this I feel, but it has only in the last couple months that I have started squatting again at all. Not that I skipped leg day, but I wasn't going too heavy. I keep it pretty simple in the gym, with large compound exercises for the most part, as I am trying to get my body working well together, rather than focusing on particular parts. Even with all the physical ailments I have, I am in better shape than the average 46 year old.
Which is sad.
Because I am not in great shape.
I think a lot of people are doing themselves a disservice by not putting a little more attention into improving their health, especially when they are younger and have more energy, and faster recovery. Investing at that point and building the muscle memory and daily habits pays off well into the future. At my age, it is all catch up and trying to slow the rapid decline. It is like trying to save fore retirement, starting at 50 years of age, with an average income.
It isn't going to be easy.
I guess at some point physical improvement is not possible at all and it is all just about slowing the fall off the cliff. However, setting the base as high as possible means that there is "more to lose" on the way down. It is a bit like how Alzheimer sufferers lose the widest brain connections last, as they are thicker and well travelled. I actually believe that unless there is a cure, the younger generations today are going to be having earlier and earlier early onset dementia, because of the overconsumption of random, short-form content. The daily habits for living aren't being developed.
Forever reliant.
Being reliant on others for my daily living is one of my fears and I guess I am going to get to that point one day, if I make it that far, so will have to accept it. Yet, I hope to prolong self-sufficiency for as long as possible. As a parent, a big part of the job is ensuring my daughter will be able to operate effectively in the world, and that means helping her gain the skills for self-sufficiency. My parents didn't do a good job of this, but they didn't do a bad job either - they did almost no job. I had to work most of it out for myself.
Perhaps it was better that way.
Froom what I experienced in childhood, I reckon it was probably better not to be taught too much by them, though it would have been nice to have healthy role models to learn from. Maybe there should be a website of healthy role models for different kinds of kids to learn from, though I suspect there aren't many good role models left in the world. There might be "contextual role models" though, like skill-based people, but when it comes to a good way to live, do you know anyone?
From the outside looking in, maybe.
But that never tells the whole story, so having a mentor that is qualified in one area, might not be a great mentor in another. Many very smart people might be great role models for their profession, but if their personal life is falling apart, is that who you want to learn from? Perhaps this is the problem today, because we want the best of everything, without compromise. But that is impossible.
There is always compromise.
If I spend all my time trying too maximise my health, I will neglect other parts of my life and will have a worse experience for it. If I maximise my family life, my health will suffer, or my work. To be the absolute best we can be at a single thing, everything else will be diminished. But, this doesn't mean we can't be the best in terms of balance though, does it?
Maybe it does.
Maybe we all just have to accept that we are going to be failures at most things, average at best for some things, and really good at very little. And, we have to accept that the people around us are going to be equally crappy at a lot of things too, average at some, and only good at a few.
At least for now, I can still lift heavy things.
Taraz
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