Thank you for reviewing this open message to many, many backers who have voted in this year’s Mr. Health and Fitness competition, and /or have donated to the Mr. Health and Fitness-designated charity.
May I re-share my convictions?
What fuels your passion for health and fitness?
My passion boost is (sadly) the millions of unhealthy Americans who can benefit from a lifeline like mine.
My proven 7s.fit process to thrive and strive is dedicated to them and their journeys..
It is my nature to tackle complex issues, such as healthspan and longevity, to help my clients and followers succeed.
My three specialty books and scores of weblog posts are sweat-based and science-backed to help them and you.
My personal experiences as a Master’s champion underscore my art of the possible with GenX and BOOMER followers. Yes, we can change the trajectory of PREVENTABLE Diseases with motion and clean, lifestyle sustenance!
What’s your favorite way to train or stay fit?
Fifty + years of elite athletics, and lifestyle lessons taught me that a successful Dolce VITA stems from progressive Volume, Intensity, Tempo, & Adaptations.
✓ My favorite sport is rowing. Yet rucking, road bicycling, swimming & good-old functional training with heavy stuff complement my lifelong passion for guiding others.
It is vital to enjoy what I do to improve my “healthitude“.
Only sexercise and Grandpa activities are as fun for me as mentoring others & competitive rowing.
What would you do with $20,000?
I will charitably donate it all to non-profit causes that Mr. Health and Fitness acknowledges.
✓ I never want money to impede the efforts of committed Americans who want to improve their physical bank accounts.
It would be a true honor to contribute that treasure, plus my time and talent as a Master Fitness Trainer, KABOOMER role model, and coach to the emerging Big KAHUNA project. Thank You.
Please Stay Tuned!
As a refresher; I was sought out for the Mr Health and Fitness 2026 Invitational competition in January. About 700 dudes agreed to compete.
Sure it might be nice to get featured in Muscle and Fitness magazine.
And sure, the prospect, however slim, of getting to the Podium as the Lone Survivor in a long competition can be appealing.
Yet, I accepted this competitive offer because my Big KAHUNA movement can always leverage donations, such as these prize monies.
In my third act, I am all about giving back and fortifying this pro bono platform to Keep America’s Healthspan UNAbated. America’s Glothic habits are costly and deadly!
Yup, Gluttony and Sloth, as two original sins are a big part of bulging waistlines, polypharmacy, and of living a bit longer but certainly not better.
Together, we can do much better!
Stay Well Past Forty!
Koach Dave
Ps. (1) The next round of the competition begins on March 9th, 2026.
I will be honored and truly grateful if you cast your Ballot for “Doc” Frost.
Friggatriskaidekaphobiaafflicts millions of people when Fridays fall on the 13th day of a calendar month. These Friday-the-13ths, like today, happen justy1 to 3 times in each of our solar laps.
I am a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat. So I don’t like or watch Jason Voorhees attack people at summer camp, or view Freddy Krueger scissoring folks on Elm Street…
Credit: Gemini.Google.com
Superstition
Like many notable days in our zany world, including tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day, the rest of the story about their origins is fascinating.
Our Greek word origin comes from triskaideka, meaning 13, and phobia, meaning “fear”.
Irrational, intense fear of the number 13, particularly when it lands on a Friday, started with Christian traditions about a 13th guest at Christ’s Last Supper. Good Friday wasn’t all that good for three people crucified on a Friday, was it?
Not to be outdone, Scandinavian mythology asserts that a trickster named Lodi showed up as guest #13 at a party before bad things happened to good people. This was definitely not a case of wintry hygge!
This superstitioncauses avoidance of the “baker’s dozen” floor number in buildings like Hilton hotels, shown on this elevator panel here:
Some commercial airline flights skip row 13, and our daily lives can be impacted financially or mentally. Wedding planners tend to avoid Friday the 13th, and some frigga-fearful folks will not fly on Friday the 13th.
As the lyrics of a classic song by Stevie Wonder go, seven years of bad luck for things you don’t understand can become the way.
What would Emerson share?
You may recall that I share written pearls from a forbear of mine, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Well, my great-great-great uncle shared that we should “break through cobwebs of fear“. Sounds appealing – yes?
I offer yet another Frosty acronym for you to ponder:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real.
This beckons the question, “What about you, Koach Dave?”
My mini-fears?
I get white-knuckled and knee-buckled when I am at a height where I can see over the edge like a restraining rail at the Empire State Building’s observation deck, or see clear to the ground or waterline – like walking on the “catwalks” from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.
An episodic dream in my REM sleep is that I miss flights or classes. I have read that “missing movement” is a common dream and fear of sorts.
One Newsweek report offered that “Planes take off, and rise higher and higher and take you places, so the dreams of missing a plane likely represent the pressure to accomplish something that will ‘take off’ and help you rise in your career or reach a high goal before it is too late.”
Could it be a Frosty case of FOMO, or that Fear of missing out?
And/or is it my quest to promote the big KAHUNA movement to Keep America’s Healthspan UNAbated?
I sense that these answers are YES.
Dream on, and believe in achieving. Forego Friggatriskaidekaphobiaand work your way through cobwebs of false expectations as I do.
Do you recall that the name of our shortest month of each year comes from Ancient Rome’s celebration of purification and atonement, called Februalia? Who is ready for atonement and purification – before and after:
Super Bowl LX this Sunday
Girl Scout cookie consumption
Valentine’s Day bubbly and irresistible chocolate?
Credit: Nano Banana
Your Heart!
Ah, it is that time to help my Live Well San Diego volunteers screen our community members for Blood Pressure and to coach about ways to Love Their Hearts.
Cupid Chocolate
Hmmm, Did Hallmark Cards and Willy Wonka invent this great American Holiday?
I’ll begin by sharing that I get behind Valentine’s Day far better than I support Punxsutawney Phil’s shadowy prognostics yesterday. 🙂
Duh –
Next, what’s not to LOVE about a day with its roots in a mix of: ancient Roman, pagan, and Christian traditions? Now, that is diversity! Fertility and pairing certainly come in varied sizes, shapes and colors – don’t they?
I’m told that “VD” dually originated from the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia in mid-February, and the martyrdom of Saint Valentine on February 14th in the year 270 AD.
I reckon that a buying trip to SEE’s Candies is a better way to celebrate with Cupid, then it is to be clubbed, beaten and beheaded as Saint Valentine was….
What’s not to love about a snuggly day with moderate consumption of healthy dark chocolate, and a little break from a eating-to-live lifestyle? I argue that I won’t become a glutton as long as I quickly reboard the wellness train.
Supplement of da Month
You know my experiential bent for sharing – right? It is in my nature to transform scientific knowledge to practicality to help you on your journey..
Within that context, let’s examine Fenugreek and learn from my year-long trial, plus leverage centuries of Ayurvedic and Chinese healing.
Fenugreek herbs sniff-test like maple syrup and offer no-kidding benefits for your metabolic health. Here are the three biggest reasons why it’s worth remembering as a natural supplement:
🌱 1. It’s Buffers your blood sugar: Fenugreek seeds are high in soluble fiber. This helps slow carbohydrate absorption and may improve how your body handles insulin.
🤱 2. It’s a New Mom Favorite: It is widely used traditionally to help boost milk supply during breastfeeding.
🔥 3. Drumroll – Fenugreek Just Might Boost Libido: Some smaller credible studies suggest fenugreek may support healthy testosterone levels and libido in men.
Fun Fact: If you amp up your ingestion of Fenugreek, you might smell faintly of maple syrup, says this Vermonter. And, guys might get a little bump for their sexercise too.
Do chat with your MD or Care Team before starting a new supplement or ergogenic, particularly if you are managing blood sugar issues.
Jejune
Today, this word jejune suggests that something or someone is uninteresting or dry. Closer to its Latin origin, jejunus meant Fasting – which is the reason for my paragraph of sharing.
As your personal KaBoomer Lab Rat and Field Mouse, I have tried time-restricted eating (TRE) for 18-24 hour periods once a week in this New Year.
My principal reason is to learn and share.
Yet, I also believe a little hunger is very good for our bodily systems to counteract cellular senescence (I do drink water and coffee, so it is not a total FASTING period – a la Ramadan).
Take a moment to read why Autophagy is important for healthy aging in my personaltrainertoday blog, or in the valid research from “Doctor Google”.
My quicklook?
Yes, I jigger my daily energy equation by missing two meals.
Yes, my HR, HRV and resilience are favorably changed.
Yes, the lining of my gut has a healing, rather than working window.
Yes, my “Dolphin Brain” is more engaged, and I do better on NY Times puzzles under the influence of TRE.
No, I do not perform heavy resistance training or HIIT when fasted, as there is a likelihood of going catatonic.
Unless your medical care team says, NO, I suggest that you give it a whirl as did I. Using the active process of autophagy (called exercise to sweat), and the passive lifestyle process of time restricted eating – you just might defer or avoid a Nursing Home. More about that is available in the podcast that Pamela Wilson and I had in CoVid days (2021)
This image below looks more familiar to you than it does for us Cali denizens. I hope that warm Epsom soaks are easing your back strain from snow-shoveling! I just heard from a rowing and bike-riding buddy in North Carolina who was monitoring his heart rate while shoveling. Yup, it is very good exercise!
What’s Going On?!
I just read that colorectal cancer is going non-linear for those under age 50 in America. Oy!
According to the Wall Street Journal, Colorectal cancers surpassed breast cancer for American deaths (aged 20-49) in 2023.
It was colorectal cancers in men – not prostate cancer that was a top issue in prior studies.
Now, colorectal cancer is the sad chart-topper for both Mars and Venus 🙁
In conventional thought, cancers were thought to rise with age. A Doctor named Madapa Kundranda in Phoenix advised that this new finding is “absolutely disconcerting.”
We do know that these insidious cancers can progress more rapidly in young people than in folks like me. [I am on a 3-year cycle for screening due to my age, and prior intestinal polyps (thankfully benign ones].
Is it processed foods that are killing our young?
Why did our western medicine system think that 45 years old was a benchmark for starting colorectal cancer screening?
Much remains to be studied and concluded about what is going on with the colorectal death rates, and what is a proper age for screening – in cases of genetic risk, and no risk from heredity.
Yet, clearly HOUSTON – We have a big problem!
Next, another big and truly unhealthy problem is getting just press…
I suppose we can feel a wee bit better as this trend is not for what we used to call “cancer sticks” smoked by Marlboro men and housewives. Rather, these rises are for nicotine pouches and vaping.
Is this a social phenomenon of concern? You bet, Red Ryder.The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research reported last August (2025) that ““The patterns of substance use are changing over time, with cannabis use, vaping of both nicotine and cannabis, and psychedelic drug use increasing across all age groups.” What is good about that trend , absolutely nada.
4. Good? Grief!
No, I’m not quoting a Peanuts character. I am working my way through the untimely and tragic loss of a fine man of God.
This now-heavenly soul was my Reverend for a fleeting period of time.
A Grief Observed, written by C.S. Lewis is now on my reading list!
Here is my reason why as suggested by another man of the cloth, Iowa’s Evan Welcher …
“Those of us in bereavement must continue to take care of ourselves. We must try to eat right, exercise, keep house, do laundry, and for the sake of our fellow man, shower.
We must continue to stimulate our minds even though it hurts to not be able to share new things with our cherished one. We must endeavor … to work at our vocation and hobbies, because whether we find the joy in it all at the moment: we still live.”
Keep Calm and Carry on?!
5. Akkermansia Municiphila
Does a good gut support glory? I think so! So let’s broach a “gut bomb” that is gaining visibility – the Akkermansia bacteria.
These microbes “break down mucin in the gut, which strengthens the gut lining. This helps prevent toxins and harmful particles from leaking into your body and causing inflammation. Less inflammation means better control of blood sugar and a healthier metabolism. This makes Akkermansia important for managing conditions like obesity, Type II diabetes, and even some heart diseases.”
However, comma… we don’t know what we don’t know about long term effects. We do know that high levels of this bacteria correlate to the incidence of Parkinson’s Disease – yup. And, if it becomes excessive in some folks, leaky guts may result which is the opposite of what is intended for metabolic health,
“monitoring how much Akkermansia is in your gut is essential”,
especially if you have underlying health issues. Talking to a healthcare provider before taking Akkermansia supplements is always good.” Stay tuned as I’ll report back as your lab rat with a sample size of one…
.
6. Sugar Substitutes ?!
A topic that has bothered me for a half-century is America’s growing use of sugar substitutes such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium (ACE-K), and sucralose.
Science Direct offers a “big picture” (below) of what Ace-K can impact – from developing babies in womb, to the gut, endocrine system, and our liver.
Sure, our FDA approved the measured use of ACE-K.
Yet some concerned citizens like me shy away from ACE-K and artificialities as crutches for America’s sweet tooths.
I wager that you aren’t surprised that the American Beverage Association claims artificial sweeteners are safe to ingest.
We know that sugar can be inflammatory and lead to obesity and diabetes. What about artificial sugars? Results are mixed.
The Wall Street Journal just reported that “large scientific studies show a connection between consumption of non-sugar sweeteners and certain health problems and gut dysfunction.”
I ask – Who needs more of those? You may recall that I quote the legendary Jack LaLanne often about processed and unnatural foodstuffs:
“If man made it, don’t eat it.”
Shifting from these public service notifications – – – how is your vitality faring in your winter wonderland?
Opting in to a monthly “Wire” from Well Past Forty LLC and me is your act of trust. For that trust, I am grateful. These Wires are not marketing or sales-oriented. I’m not sellin’ nuttin’ – to coin a phrase.
I am sharing vetted information and knowledge to help you gain and sustain your healthitude. Think sweat-based and science-backed!
Peptides?!
If you are like me, you have recently seen and heard much ado about “ buzzy” Peptides as ergogenic nutrients for muscle gain, weight loss, skin support, and more.
Let’s start bottom-up with four organic elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Recall that ~90 percent of our healthy bodies constituted these four elements.
With the right chemical bonds, these elements can form vital biochemical building blocks for us that are called amino acids. What is an amine, and what is an acid?
Well, an amine is a molecule that has nitrogen (N), that is it.
An acid is a molecule that can accept electrons and form “covalent” chemical bonds. An acid does not always contain Hydrogen. An acid turns blue litmus paper red, and has a pH of 7 or less. The lower the pH, te “more acidic” is the substance. An acid often can taste sour – like citric acid. Yet don’t be cavalier in tasting possible acids – trust me.
These four [C,H,O, and N] elements can form nine (9) essential and eleven 11 non-essential amino acids that scientists know of. All can be found in macronutrients, or the 11 non-essential amino acids are fabricated in our quite amazing bodies.
The essential amino acids – nine of ‘em – cannot be made in our GI system, so we need to consume complete essential amino acids from individual food items or from groups of macronutrients. Yes, it is possible for vegans to consume adequate amino acids…
The mnemonic PVT TIM HILL helps folks remember most or all of our nine essential AAs –
P – Phenylalanine
V – Valine
T – Threonine
T – Tryptophan
I – Isoleucine
M – Methionine
H – Histidine
I – LeucIne (note that this second ‘I’ in the mnemonic is stylized to make the PVT TIM HILL acronym work)
L – Lysine (We skip the last “L” in HILL 🙂)
Brick Building
From little building blocks to impressive 3-D structures, here is a physical metaphor for how amino acids, peptides, and proteins are constructed::
Amino Acids are Individual bricks: Imagine them as the individual, unique bricks you have in your bin. Each brick has a slightly different shape or “color” appendage that gives it unique properties. Let’s take Leucine as an example, with essential AA food sources like these to promote muscle synthesis and growth:
Sarcopenia is the result of insufficient muscle synthesis from aging, underuse, or glandular dysfunctions. Most adult Americans, particularly baby boomer women are protein (and leucine deficient).
Next, Peptides are short “2 dimensional” brick-to-brick constructs of amino acids: Peptides can be from 2 to around 50 amino acids in length. Peptides are your simpler creations. If you were using a certain Danish version of plastic bricks, you could make a railroad, or a planar surface. Peptides have specific jobs in the body, like as hormones or signaling molecules.
An artificial sweetener – aspartame – is a dipeptide of 2 amino acids.
Long polypeptides – or those peptide chains of up to ~ 50 amino acids then become classified as proteins. Some proteins in our bodies can be formed from thousands of peptides. Now, that is POLY! These “polygons” have folded, three-dimensional shapes instead of linear chains.
Proteins (Long, Complex LEGO Structures): Proteins are much larger and more complex structures made by linking together a lot of amino acids (usually 50 or more, sometimes hundreds or even thousands!). Crucially, these long chains then fold up into very specific and often intricate three-dimensional shapes. This folding is essential for them to do their job. Think of a protein as a highly detailed, functional LEGO castle or spaceship. These complex structures allow proteins to perform a huge variety of functions in your body, from building tissues (like collagen) to carrying oxygen (like hemoglobin) to speeding up chemical reactions (like enzymes).
In a healthy walnut shell:
Amino acids: The individual building blocks.
Peptides: Short chains of amino acids.
Proteins: “Long and folded “3D” structures of 50 or more amino acids.
Danger Zone !
Prolonged use of what seems to be goodness may very well have its dark and dangerous side. Trust me.
Quoting Hone Health, “Long-term effects of many peptides remain poorly understood. Although some studies have demonstrated benefits such as increased lean body mass and improved body composition (in populations with clinical need for the drugs), these gains have not consistently translated to enhanced muscle strength, physical performance, or overall quality of life.
“Data on the safety and efficacy of such therapies over decades are lacking, creating uncertainty about their role in chronic use,” Roberts says. “while short-term outcomes appear favorable, the cumulative risks associated with prolonged GH manipulation remain a significant concern.”
Remember that I ask each committed Strong to Save person to be a true student or your endeavor, and to only take risks for which you are accountable. Period.
X Factors
As your experiential coach and operating system tester, I am inevitably on the lookout for X-Factors that I use to enhance my healthitude and to help me down-age. I do not suggest your investment in an X Factor item unless I have tried it and experienced a favorable outcome. For this month’s WIRE, I offer my feedback to you about my positive experiences with:
Heat, Vibration, and Red Light Therapy Device or “Sleeve”
TENS electrical stimulation unit and
Vibration Stands
Mindful of costs, I let you as an informed follower to do your own market survey for “best value” items. It is little surprise that a majority of X-Factor items are built offshore, many in a certain Asian country nicknamed “The Middle Kingdom.” Caveat Emptor.
=> A Heat, Vibration, and Red Light therapy “sleeve” or device may look like this model:
This device is great for my elbows, shoulders and ankles too. USB-rechargeable. The varied light wavelengths have different healing properties. Go ahead and make waves!
=> Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Unit
These reasonably priced units are USB-chargeable. I have had great success in use of a TENS unit for stimulation and healing.
My acupuncturist used a TENS with her acupuncture needles to promote healing of my Medial Cartilage tear:
I use a Vibration Plate for my personal training with a gent who has a spastic paraplegia. I also use the plate for me 🙂 This link provides some Vibration plate models with different features and functions. I spent about $85 for the plate that I’ve very happy with.
Benefits of Vibration may include:
balance, gait, posture, and motor coordination. Muscle strength and mass may also increase. Some reports suggest that a Plate can mollify fibromyalgia.
Safety first, and don’t invest more money than you afford for perceived benefits of X Factor.
August Haiku
Dog Days of Summer
Sirius crossing our Sky
Autumn draws closer.
Benefits of Exercise
As John Wayne’s character once shared on screen, “Life is tough enough without being stupid.”
And, as I believe, our Universe doesn’t exist to do me any favors.
So, what’s a KABOOMER or GenX to do?
Facing Cancer – Exercise.
Facing ASCVD – Exercise.
Staving off Dementia Related Diseases – Exercise.
Improve Night Life – Sexercise.
Carve out 7-12 extra healthy years – Exercise.
What’s not to Love?
It is my goal to help you learn to immerse and enjoy your “Motion as Lotion.”
Please contact me to build your habitual success to thrive and strive longer than your peers.
First, I offer Ingest More Red – Later Dead as a call to action for anti-inflammatory sustenance.
Now – that color Red explicitly excludes Red Dye #40. I see no reason to add Red dye #40 to Doritos TM – do you? In fact, I see nil reasons to munch on DoritosTM at all/ as I’m more than sorta adverse to ultra-processed foods that inflame us and shorten too many lives.
Red in these clean, anti-inflammatory fruits and vegetables is all-natural!
International Yoga Day 2025
Note the red mufti for these happy folks 🙂
Clicck on over to this September 2024 Healthline Article that offers, “84% of American adults feel the impact of prolonged stress.” You can also get a dozen reminders of why?! Yoga routines are so good for you and me – like stress management. So, enjoy a Cobra pose (this yogi is more advanced than am I!)
or a gentle and soothing Upward Dog asana like this lady:
While we do, reflect on what others have known for centuries –
Tap the warmth and healing of sunlight (yet watch those harmful UV times!)
My sainted Mum advised that early and later-in-day sunlight and Vermont honey were therapies to use and remember!
Healing colors in our natural and man-made environments – look right and feel right with red hues aand tones.
As my healthitude journey progresses, my internal sense and response system is more attuned to colors of nature. our birds and bees, flowers and trees in our season of change. For my mates and acquaintances in our Southern hemisphere, all these thoughts for six more months :-).
Can we combine seasonal change in color to rainbows as healthitude themes? Let’s find out.
If you you haven’t sensed my written and spoken emphases on Vitamin P for plants and ROYGIBV rainbow nutrients – that is my bad. I’m hoping to get the good word to your inbox and attention.
Aha
My savvy acupressurist, a boomer gent like myself, has attuned me to Natural practices used for centuries. Practices that can aid the flow of my Qi (chee) or vital force, and work on my yang /ying balance for harmony and homeostasis. What is a fave color for him? Yup – Red.
Would you hazard to guess which hue is in traditional Chinese medicines heart-healthy? Hit your Jeopardy game buzzer first with your question: “What is red?” You may win a healthy prize to be named later.
Now, red-hued nutrients are only part of my natural Vitamin P and rainbow arguments to feed your head and bodily systems. Yet Red is the first color in our rainbow mnemonic ROYGIBV so let’s start with the letter capital R.
Any chance that you want better blood circulation, boosted energy levels, or intend to address conditions related to your ticker? I am a renewed component of both Seeing Red and Ingesting non-dyed Red nutrients like these.
Red Yeast Rice(can you guess what an ingredient in synthetic statins is?)
Red Tomatoes (gents – the wonderful anti-oxidant lycopene in a tomato is uber-good for one’s prostate gland health). Caught me. A Tomato is classified as a fruit, and other colored tomato colors have plenty of anti-oxidants too!
Beets & Beetroot (Check out my other writings about Doctor Nitric Oxide or Dr. NO)
Whether we chat about infrared saunas, or therapeutic joint wraps with heat vibration, and light features, the waves of red light and near-redlight are well documented for healthy recovery therapies. Another big word to dazzle your healthy friends – – – Photobiomodulation. Let’s give a big shout for Endre Mester, who impacted our world in different ways that his Hungarian countrymates – Harry Houdini and Erno Rubik. As an editorial note, some folks think that Nikola Tesla was a Hungarian. I believe he came to the USA from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, yet he was Serbian by birth. Enough of the history of notables.
Yet, in closing – please think about historical perspectives of “good” Reds for health and “Eat the Rainbow” colors at least 6 times daily.
Stay well past forty,
DF
Postscript: Can I hear an Amen? Let’s celebrate America’s cessation of using artificial red dye 40 in our processed and ultra-processed foods. Why do we feel we need to artificially dye our sustenance? Oh that is America’s deadly way.. Okay that is my intended overstatement. Whether we process and consume less artificiality is an issue I will love to pursue with you
The linkage of Red dye 40 to allergies and migraine headaches is pretty solid. And I certainly wouldn’t discount artificial ingredients’ propensity for gut dysfunction. Shucks, Adam ate an apple, not a Cheetoh TM!
Consuming DoritosTM and TwizzlersTMisn’t a healthy practice to begin with. Adding consensual dysfunction of more artificial stuff to our microbiome isn’t a brainy practice. America – the consensual or Darwinian Inflammation Nation! Oh my!
Well, May Gray days have passed for those of us in Southern California. And, with our May flowers brought to bloom, some of those allergenic (achoo) histamines that hit folks like me are lessening.
You won’t get complaints from me for that seasonal advancement, nor for the added “eco” presence of bees and monarch butterflies…
June Gloom in my San Diego region is upon us.
When we wake up to dog day summer mornings in July and August we can reflect that cool and gray days of May and June were appreciated.
About the only downside at our home is lesser power generation and energy storage in our solar panel roof system.
Odds Are
Our newsgram addresses what I call our 1-3-5-7 Summer Span Ex. And yes, I hope that we committed folks will make the most of our longer days in the northern hemisphere to thrive and strive a little bit extra. Even for vacation or staycation time… We have more daylight hours to take charge and move out after a rise and shine and of course making our bed. Do contact me if you want more rationale or context for these Odd number Challenges for June.
1 – Move 15% more each day to get ready for the pool or beach.
3 – Make it a 3-D day!
Move in all three of our body planes daily –
a. Front to back (sagittal movements)
b. Side to side (frontal plane movements) and
c. Twisting / Corkscrew (transverse plane efforts.)
5 – Move your body isotonically with 5 types of resisted movements
Lift things
Push Things
Pull Things
Twist while holding things and
Carry things.
7 – No, I don’t ask you to pursue extra METAs on all seven days of the week, or on the Beatles’ 8 days a week 🙂
I do suggest that you and I take a META holiday one day each week. (I use the term META to mean Metabolic Equivalent of Tasks and Activity.) I made a separate post that details this caloric accounting system for our physical banking.
Again, I don’t mean total skipping of motion on your “off day.”
I do mean a taper day with some stretching, plus balancing acts, so to speak, for spatial awareness/fall prevention, and perhaps a little bodyweight work in your activity of daily life (ADL).
When you resume your HEALTHITUDE movements on the following day, you will be revitalized.
Rest and Restoration are important at any any, yet more so when those calendar years creep up on us. Trust me…
Span Ex
7. And, the last entry in our 1-3-5-7 Rubric is a combination of Upgrade and X-Factors in my new book, Burden? Or Banish!
Are you ready, Healthituders?
Mentalspan (yup – Mind-Body Alignment or MBA reminder to treat your hippocampi well.)
Socialspan (No man or woman is an island – right? The social aspect of pickleball is nearly as important as the physical activity.)
Strongspan (Commit to 2 or 3 dedicated sessions of moving stuff or isometric muscle contractions every week. I do 2X/week, at my calendar age of 72. Gen X or younger may do nicely with 3 resistance workouts weekly.)
Windspan (strive for at least 15% more aerobic motion above our Government’s guidelines). And I quote, “Adults who sit less and perform any amount of moderate to vigorous activity achieve some health benefits.”
PNSspan (enhance parasympathetic feed and restore efforts including restorative sleep, as opposed to chronic fight or flight stressors)
Safespan (Remember that your living to 100 calculator highlights proper use of seat belts, dental floss, and sunscreen. Limit your exposure to forever chemicals, plastics, blue wavelength light, and beware of electronic radiation (5G EMF).
Here’s to your and my daily progress for HEALTHITUDE.
As a refresher, I use eleven (11) HEALTHITUDE letters to encapsulate enablers to Keep America’s Healthspan UNAbated – yup – the big KAHUNA:
Heart
Endocrines (Hormones)
Adaptation
Lungs (Cardiovascular Health and mindful breaths) and Liver function
Transcend for that “lil bit extra” –
Hormesis and Homeostasis
Investment in our physical portfolios
Training
Upbeat Attitude
Desire to move past glothic ways (of sinful gluttony and sloth)
Exercise efficiently and effectively
Stay well past forty,
Dave
Postscript. Here is my “gloomy” humor of this June day to help with our weather-guessing:
“I’m pretty sure the fog is just jealous of how beautiful and sunny our neighborhood is supposed to be.”
Today, in addition to being a ‘ol college roomie’s birthday, marks the 50th anniversary of my Graduation from America’s Naval Academy.
We were sailors then, and are salty veterans now. We had 801 Graduates in our exceptional class on June 4th, 1975. Four years earlier, 1330 young men raised their right hands and made their solemn oaths to protect and defend.
Yes, that is an uncovered me at the right side of this polaroid picture, with a botttle of bubble in my right hand, and with “Ensigns’ “butter bars” on my shoulders. As a newly commissioned officer, I had a monthly pay of $666.00. Those were different days, with Vietnam just evacuated and with a Red Storm Rising in the Cold War. I was in love, yet not yet married to a saint who has tolerated me for 49 years of marriage.
Wayback then, I had just received two awards in addition to my B.S. Diploma. I was a co-recipient of the Rusty Callow Award for Navy Crew. I was one of 7 recipients in my class for “Outstanding Student Athlete” status.
Those were meaningful service recognitions that stick with me to this day.
What does the next half-century 🙂 look like for this 1975 college graduate?
Heck if I know. After all, predictions about the future are hard to make, according to Yogi Berra.
I intend to keep on truckin’ as long as I am able.
A third non-fiction book, to be released this year, is one goal that I will crack a bit more bubbly over.
Stay tuned for more sharings of my big KAHUNA effort – to Keep America’s Healthspans UNAbated. Yes, we can. There is no affordable alternative. TINA.
Stay tuned, keep using motion as your very good medicine, and commit to a thriving and striving campaign as did I.