Issue #387: Are You Past Your Prime?
Good morning. It’s Friday, September 20th.
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In today’s email:
Focus: Are You Past Your Prime?
Move: 5 Min Posture Routine
Read: Blind Spots
In the News: Workaholics Anonymous
Brain Games: Pick Your Fruit
Stat of the Day
The age when Millennials say “youth ends.” But enjoy it while it lasts because they say “old age” apparently starts at 59. (source)
Focus
Are You Past Your Prime?
36.
That’s the age Millennials consider as the “prime of life.”
No wonder we’re all focused on longevity - who wants to spend 52-56% of their life on the downslope??*
For most categories this is probably about right -
Our speed peaks between 26-28 (even Usain Bolt retired by 31).
Our knack for innovation (great discoveries) is in our 30’s.
Even our productivity starts going down by 40.
There are instances when I feel “my age” - like when I see my Apple Watch after running a 5K or 10K. I’m not even close to my peak race times.
Maybe you feel that when you go to the gym, go on an extreme hike, or try to play a game of pick-up basketball.
But is that how we define the “prime of our life?”
I’d argue, first - we don’t define our prime the right way, and two - we can change it to be much, much later in life.
1. We Can Change our Biology
What we call “Functional Age” - or what we’re capable of doing, is absolutely essential to our longevity. We have so much control over maintaining aerobic capacity (VO2 Max), muscle strength, and stability.
That’s why we see professional athletes playing well past what used to be considered their “prime” years and changing our expectations of what’s possible.
We can do the same thing - our metabolism doesn’t really slow down until we’ve gone around the sun about 60 times, if (a big IF) we stay as active in our 40’s and 50’s as we did in our earlier years.
Eventually time wins and we have to accept that we will slow down. But that doesn’t mean we have to stop. There are ultramarathon athletes who peak in their 60’s because it’s not about speed - it’s about grit and endurance.
2. Change the Game
Just like the ultramarathon runner doesn’t measure their performance by speed - we don’t have to measure our prime by what we can do.
Take Tom Brady - he finally retired from football. But now he’s putting in just as much time and effort into his future career as a TV analyst. He wasn’t great in his first game (that’s putting it mildly) - but made big improvements in just one week and seems to be as committed to greatness in this next stage as he was under center.
That’s why Arthur Brooks argues we shouldn’t try to fight for the skills we might be losing - but double down on our new strengths. Things like better emotional intelligence (EQ), intuition (trusting ourselves), even memory get better with age.
NOTE: We tend to associate cognitive decline with “episodic memory” (what did you have for dinner last night). This does typically degrade with age - although like any other muscle it can be bolstered with hard work and practice. For example - John Basinger spent the ten years between his 60th and 70th birthdays to memorize the 60,000 word poem Paradise Lost.
As we age, we might be coming up with some novel new idea - but we’re able to take what knowledge we do have and better make sense of it all. Brooks calls this “crystallized intelligence.”
For example - our ability to identify patterns doesn’t peak for most people until after age 60.
So how do we use these new found skills?
We might not be the player anymore - but the world needs world-class coaches to support the next generation. That’s why parents, teachers, mentors, leaders all get better with age.
And really - the impact you can have when guiding others is exponentially greater than what you can achieve yourself.
3. Reframe Getting Older
Aging is something many of us fear - the stereotype of what we have to look forward to.
But going into it with a positive mindset might be just as powerful as going for that extra workout.
In fact, being optimistic about what’s ahead instead of fearing the stereotypes of aging actually improves our cognitive and physical health.
It’s been shown to reduce our C-Reactive Protein (biomarker measuring inflammation). And - it might even give us an additional 7 healthy years.
And don’t worry - our prime gets older as we age. Boomers believe we don’t hit our prime at 50. And they might be right. You know what peaks for most people in their 60’s and 70’s - satisfaction and happiness.
So keep crushing it to keep your cognitive and physical health in top performance for as long as possible - and don’t fear the future because the best is yet to come.
—
* A 36 yr old male in the U.S. will, on average, live to 76, while a 36 yr old female will, on average, live to 81. (Social Security). NOTE: This number is higher for those in the top 40 percent by income - with both men and women living in their low to mid-80’s.
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Move
5 Minute Posture Routine
Here’s a quick few workouts to get those shoulders back and keep your head high:
Read
Blind Spots
Want to know why it takes so long for the medical establishment to change their minds about stuff that’s wrong? Then check out Marty Makary’s new book, "Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health.”
It’s “groupthink” and the inability for medical boards to be questioned (and even individual doctors to change their minds) that led to massive peanut allergies among kids, the overuse of antibiotics, too many appendix surgeries, demonizing hormone replacement for women and many other terrible health outcomes.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to educate and empower yourself to at least ask the right questions and start to own your health!
H&L in the News
Exercise Even Makes Our Fat Healthier: Regular exercise changes fat tissue, making it healthier and better at storing fat in safer areas of the body. Discover how staying active can improve your fat's function and reduce health risks, even without weight loss. (StudyFinds.org)
Blood Test for ALS: A new blood test can diagnose ALS with 98% accuracy, potentially reducing diagnosis time and improving treatment outcomes. Researchers aim to make this groundbreaking tool available to neurologists soon. (Source)
Workaholics Anonymous: Are you a workaholic? Learn how to recognize the signs, understand the risks, and find practical steps to break free from an unhealthy obsession with work in today’s always-on culture. (Big Think)
Brain Games
Pick Your Fruit
There are 3 crates - 1 with apples, 1 with oranges, and 1 with BOTH apples and oranges mixed. Each crate is closed and labeled with one of three labels: Apples, Oranges, or Apples and Oranges. The label maker broke and labeled all of the crates incorrectly.
How could you pick just one fruit from one crate to figure out what’s in each crate?
Credit: Parade
**For answer, scroll to the bottom of the post
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** Brain Games Answer **
Pick a fruit from the crate marked Apples and Oranges.
If that fruit is an apple, you know that the crate should be labeled Apples because all of the labels are incorrect as they are. Therefore, you know the crate marked Apples must be Oranges (if it were labeled Apples and Oranges, the Oranges crate would be labeled correctly, and we know it isn’t), and the one marked Oranges is Apples and Oranges.
Alternatively, if you picked an orange from the crate marked Apples and Oranges, you know that crate should be marked Oranges, the one marked Oranges must be Apples, and the one marked Apples must be Apples and Oranges.
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25, Inc. does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.