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.
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)
Welcome to our December edition, fellow Healthitude enthusiasts!
Thank you for investing a bit of your personal capital to sustain your long-term physical portfolio with a lifeline from my operating system!
When you reach the bottom of this article, you will find attractive Deals that become a Win-win for the big KAHUNA and for you.
Resolve?
We are halfway through this 2025-2026 Holiday season.
How are you doing, physically and mentally, at this Halftime show?
Those two to 5 pounds of added white fat for many Americans are harder to shed as we age. ‘Tis far better to avoid the storage of white fat – unless you plan to be a member of the next Donner Party…
Naughty and Nice
Here’s hope that those North Pole elves have you covered.
Please be uber-nice to those strangers, acquaintances, and compadres with whom you chinwag through and beyond this most wonderful time of the Year.
Well, whether the Holidays (Hannukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Festivus…) are truly wonderful depends on matters within and beyond our control. So, let’s commit to working on those factors that we can control – like mental anguish, loneliness, and poor lifestyle choices. Surely I know that you get plenty of coaching from Madison Avenue and digital sources about Holiday Happiness.
I pile on with my counsel that motion and sweat can tackle the causes of Holiday unhappiness. And, it does not take hours to move your muscles and joints or generate happy hormones. Here is one of my “atomic” Holiday habits:
a. before a party or social event – I do 25 bodyweight squats, 25 pushups, and 25 Dead Bug moves.
Granted, these are all in our sagittal (front to back) planes of motion. Yet I said “atomic”, didn’t I? If you go for the gusto before the fruitcake, eggnog, glögg, or lutefish helpings, add sets of side-to-side and twisting motions. Trust me that these little efforts count toward your enduring physical portfolio.
Recall that a prime reason for failing resolutions is that folks choose goals that are too ambitious and actions are too irregular. Yes, we can fix that!
Hoosier Daddy
Curt “I win, Google it” Cignetti is my unquestioned Coach of the Year. Talk about turnarounds! About-facing from the role of biggest loser in NCAA football history to this year’s undefeated Big Dog is remarkable.
Coach Cignetti is a mastermind of process. His key point for us aging athletes is that it is far more important to adapt and to work smarter than it is to work harder. I commend to you today’s Wall Street Journal article that highlighted Coach C’s adaptive, work-smarter system. Yes, it is important to do the work in that safe zone of your Dose-Response curve. When there, remember to adapt and make your movements count rather than count your movements. Go IU!
Stocking Stuff
This month, as we reflect on the past year and look forward to new beginnings, we’re focusing on the foundational element of Strength and a critical health topic: Hypertension.
Let’s dive in and keep our Healthspan UNAbated!
1. Medical Section: Avoid High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure, or HBP) is often called the “silent killer” because it frequently has no outward developmental symptoms. However, it significantly increases your risk for both a heart attack and a stroke. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is your best defense!
Dietary Changes: Follow the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, focusing on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins, and limiting saturated and total fats.
Sodium Reduction: Aim for less than 1 teaspoon of sodium per day, especially if you have HBP. – which too many countrymen do! Read nutrition labels carefully, as processed and ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a major source. Fact: We Americans average 2 teaspoons of sodium a day. Even if you sweat a lot from healthy exercise, it is prudent to consume and absorb “right” levels of sodium from natural foods.
Exercise: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (like brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Note that these are our Government’s “blanket” guidelines for Joe and Jill Six Pack. Many of you readers safely exceed these weekly guideline totals.
Limit Alcohol: For those who drink, it is prudent to limit intake to two drinks per day for men and one for women – or less. The jury is still out as to whether abstinence is a healthitude booster. For now, practically follow the adage that moderation is key!
Know Your Numbers: Regular blood pressure checks are essential. A normal blood pressure reading is generally considered below 120/80 mmHg when you are at rest.
2. 7-S Segment: Focus on STRENGTH
Strength is more than just lifting weights; it’s the foundational enabler for two other S’s in our framework – Stability and Stamina as we age. Building and maintaining muscle mass offers tangible benefits well past forty:
Boosted Metabolism: Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, even at rest.
Better Bone Health: Resistance exercises put needed stress on your bone matrices, stimulates bone density, and reduces risk of osteopenia/osteoporosis.
Improved Balance and Coordination: Stronger muscles support joint mobility, helping to prevent falls. Or, if a fall occurs, those sarcomeres serve as capable shock absorbers. Remember that rehearsed exercises for our neuromuscular systems and proprioception (as your sixth sense) are your flexible insurance riders.
Functional Fitness: Makes everyday activities—like carrying groceries or standing up from a chair—safer and easier.
Action Step: Incorporate 2 full-body strength training sessions per week if you are a Kaboomer. If you are a GenX, then 3 is your “go to” number of sessions per seek. Use resistance bands, free weights, or even your own body weight (squats, push-ups).
Repeat after me as your guide, resisted motion is fine medicine!
3. Myth Buster: The “Younger You” Myth
Myth: The key to longevity is trying to look, act, and exercise exactly as you did when you were 20-something.
Fact: Attempting to replicate your youthful self can lead to injury and burnout. The key to successful longevity is rational Adaptation and Consistency. Your body is constantly changing, but it remains incredibly adaptable. Take another look at Coach Cignetti’s winning recipe in this article to reinforce this point.
Focus on Healthspan, not just Lifespan: Prioritize exercises and habits that maintain your quality of life and ability to function independently, rather than chasing a personal best from decades ago.
Embrace Progressive Overload: Keep challenging your body safely (e.g., gradually increasing weight or distance), but always listen to what your body needs, including adequate recovery.
4. X Factors from KABOOMER, Strong to Save, and soon Burden? or Banish
X Factor aren’t secret pills, or fountains of youth. Rather, these “‘lil bit extras” can help us on our continuing adventures, with long-term returns in our physical portfolios.
Today’s subjective X Factor is Adopting a Growth Mindset and Purpose. With purposeful and immersive efforts- rather than brain-dead ones – (such as volunteering, mentoring, or mastering a new skill), your brain stays engaged, your stress levels decrease, and your motivation to maintain physical health soars. Purpose fuels Healthitude.
5. Dave’s Latest Checkout: Fitness Watches
This month, I’m highlighting the Apple Fitness Watch (or similar smartwatches/fitness trackers). These devices are powerful computational and tracking assets to monitor and motivate your Healthitude journey:
Activity Rings/Goals: Provides a visual, satisfying way to track daily movement, exercise, stress levels and resilience and step counts.
Heart Rate Monitoring: This watch function is crucial for tracking heart health, especially for those managing or preventing conditions like HBP (Hypertension) and even A-fibrillation. Remember that any device can offer false positives and miss actual occurrences.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Heart Age estimation are also vital measures for trending!
Sleep Tracking: Offers insight into the quality and duration of your restorative sleep. Yes, light sleep counts. Yet, Deep Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) segments are invaluable.
Fall Detection: A powerful safety feature that can automatically call emergency services if a serious fall is detected.
Tip: Use accessory data that the watch provides as insight, not as a stick to beat yourself with. Progress and favorable trends are our game for life!
6. Healthitude Humor
Why did the 40-year-old weightlifter break up with the 20-something cardio enthusiast?
He said their relationship didn’t have enough resistance!
7. December’s Fitness Haiku
Cold wind blows outside,
Strong muscles defy the frost,
Warm purpose remains!
8. Join Us in the Big KAHUNA Movement!
The KAHUNA Movement is about collective commitment to Keeping America’s Healthspan UNAbated.
We reject the notion that accelerated or “normal” decline is inevitable. We are committed to strength, stability, and purpose! Yes, we can change the nation’s trajectory of glothic behaviors, and prevent preventable dis-eases. Yes! We can chase yesterdays of 7-12 vital years. Trust me.
What is a personal KAHUNA Commitment?
Know Your Numbers (Blood pressure, cholesterol, weight).
Actively Engage in Strength Training and Stamina efforts.
Are you ready to become part of a Big KAHUNA? Share this newsletter with friends who are also dedicated to thriving well past forty. Let’s inspire the nation!
Here is the Deal (cited in your welcome above)
By joining the big KAHUNA movement and our mailing list by MLK’s Holiday (Monday, January 19th 2026) –
you will receive from Well Past Forty LLC a digital copy of either Kaboomer or Strong to Save as your Healthitude operating system and guide,
You will be eligible for a Buy one Get one (BOGO) Deal when our new FutureFit online training package is released in 2026,
You will be eligible for a Half-price offer for my new Book, Burden? or Banish! to be released in 2026.
Stay #strongtosave. Stay #wellpastforty.
Back with you next month for 2026’s first newsletter,
Greetings, and thanks for following these #strongtosave posts…
Before we consider my cryptic title, please tip your hat to the lone dozen survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor on that fateful Sunday morning, December 1941.
God bless this special dozen of centenarians for what they endured. We are indebted to them, and to the millions of service veterans who wore, wear, and will wear the fabric of our country in wartime and peacetime.
Can we agree that No one wants to catch Crabs?
Full disclosure:
I stand before you with a malignant disease, yet with the prospect of thriving and striving for a very long time…My words are words of conditional hope for coping and beating a dis-ease. They are cancers far more insidious than mine, as they are usually visible.. .See something, say something – right?
Please stay with me as your tour guide on this journey from ancient Egypt, to Hippocrates, to the Dermatology clinics of America that help some of us fend off America’s top Cancers.
Under My Skin
A decade ago, a Navy Dermatologist noted, then biopsied a freckle on the back of my left calf.
He offered, “I don’t think this spot is anything, yet let’s biopsy it – just in case…”
Then, a year ago, a civilian Dermatologist biopsied a freckle on the helix of my right ear. “Just in case”…
Are there similarities in my paired parable?
You betcha
I received same-same yet abnormal messages – outside office hours – to call them right away.
These skin problems of mine were defining issues with my largest bodily organ – namely my skin. As a six-foot mesomorph, the surface area of my skin is about 2 meters-squared.
Nature and nurture, by these I mean inherited and acquired cell growth that has gone viral, so to speak, are my kryptonite for the balance of my days.
Yes,… I have skin cancers. My first diagnosed skin cancers were about 40 years ago. I’ll likely trend for more for the rest of my days…
As an equal opportunity host for abnormal cell growth, I have “earned” multiple battle ribbons for:
basal,
squamous, and
melanoma cancers.
Plus, I sport more pre-cancerous knife fights and uncomfortable treatment scars than I care to count.
If you could see me now, I have blue eyes, very light skin, and I live in sunny climates. My traits are not exactly a royal hand for winning a card game with harmful UV rays as my adversary.
Nor can you examine the double helixes of my sainted Mom’s DNA after she succumbed to melanoma.
Remember inherited traits? Boy, do they matter. By the way, my younger sister has also been treated for melanoma… Three is bad company for inheritance of “onkos” gene sequences!
El Sol contributes to many, many deaths in our world. Yes, solar rays can inflame our bodily systems in the near-term and for decades after exposure.
Granted, the Universe doesn’t owe you or me anything at all.
So… we should be smart… We need to be smart in an uncaring universe.
We owe ourselves self care that is “in time”, affordable, and effective.
Yes, a PREVENT Defense can help you and me extend our game of life via self care and early interventions!
Back to that largest organ in our bodies, by “real estate” …that expansive Epidermis and its underlying layers… And, back to Crabs….
Did you know that the gent whose oath defines western medicine generated the term “Cancer” 25 centuries ago?
– Good ol’ Hippocrates observed bodily spots that were swollen, hard, and showed radiated blood vessels resembling CRABs or KARKINOS in his language.
– Or, perhaps the image of some “thing” grasping or pinching a body to generate pain factored into his terminology?
If a ancient Greek patient had KARKINOS, her or his treatments might include one of these 3, namely:
1) cauterization,
2) binding the CRAB (Tumor) site with fresh meat, then shifting to grease, honey and lint as topical treatments until the patient recovered, or DIDN’T.
3) Nothing – if the CRAB was growing in a female’s breast region.
Aren’t we fortunate that we have progressed from fresh meat and doing nothing?
I’ll toss in another scary word of Greek origin “ONKOS” meaning Tumor.
Do you remember the IMMACULATE RECEPTION in Pro Football history?
Well, 1 in about 100,000 patients with an ONKOS may miraculously gain Spontaneous Remission.
Yup – 0.001 percent of patients that oncologists treat heal themselves. Get this – The experts don’t know why Spontaneous Remission can occur.
Is the Universe laughing at us?
As laughter can be medicinal in our world, what do you think of this situation in an Oncology Ward…
An Oncologist walks into the exam room with 2 types of news . He says, I have not so good news – you have a tumor .
Our “Good news is that your small tumor has a big sense of humor.” The diseased patient asks, “Really? How do you know?” The oncologist replied: “Because we radiate it… and it lightens up.”
I told my Mohs skin surgeon I was worried. He said, “Stay positive — we’ll shrink the problem together.”
Whether it is nature or nurture that causes cell growth to grow outta control, what I call Fire water can be applied early and with gusto – for pre-cancerous patches and non-malignant, superficial tumors.
Fire water? Informally Yes. Formally no, although I have been tempted to swill an alcoholic fire water as an analgesic in this regimen…
For 35 years, my Dermatologists have prescribed my topical chemotherapies with the official name of Flurouoracil (phonetically pronounced floor-oh-YOOR-uh-sil or in medical shorthand 5-FU).
5-FU has marketing names like Efudix and Carac. 5-FU is a prescription-only topical chemotherapy that treats sun-damaged skin and some early forms of skin cancer. It works by destroying abnormal, rapidly growing cells while doing little harm to our normal healthy skin.
(Parenthetically this chemotherapy is also used for some major malignant cancers inside bodies…)
Well, you may get a Freddy Kruger and/or a bad sunburn appearance for a few weeks, as I do, with my wacko skin issues. This guy “has it easy”.
Keep this water soluble drug away from your eyes as it intentionally causes pharmacological irritation to its applied areas in short order
You just heard that 5-FU (Fire Water or ointment) does not affect malignant melanomas. Yeti, it can deny some squamous cells that can evolve into malignant melanomas.
So, apply (don’t drink 5-FU Efudix) as early as possible.
Accept discomfort and pain to gain an upperhand over non-linear cell growths like mine.
Note: Yes, there are other topical treatments for what 5-FU tackles that involve irradiation with light. I’ve tried those too and naturally nicknamed those as “blue light specials”.
I have nothing against the high income and easy lifestyle that Dermatologists earn for treating my epidermis and dermis.
I am against stupidity, as I showed in my case with my few deep sunburns as a teenager.
If trivial pursuits interest you,
The oldest ONKOS was found in a South African humanoid’s skeleton that was dated to be 1.7 million years old.
Melanomas in the USA had a death rate of about 2 per 100,000 people in 2021, about 8,000 deaths annually… That is a high number, yet Australia and New Zealand have higher incidences. It is good to rank low when melanomas are the morbid matter!
Muerto!
A melanoma death occurs each and every hour in America. I don’t have a precise number or percentage of how many melanomas are preventable. Yet, whatever the number, it is too lofty. We can do better. Let’s start today.
Takeaways?
Cancers are not new. Tumors and Crabs have been diagnosed since 3000 BC.
Most skin cancers are preventable with common sense and avoiding “bad” sun exposures.
When prevention wasn’t present, or when nature picked on you and your BRAF genes, see your medical teams often. I mean that!
By all means, Accept a month of redness and irritation from topical fire water to hopefully avoid the scalpel and malignant tumors that can kill if not treated early.
Be careful out there and protect the largest organ in your physical portfolio!
DF
ps – Conservative MDs want us to apply sunscreen every day, whatever the season or UV level.
With these early days of autumn in the northern hemisphere this is a perfect time to chat about The Great Outdoors and our interactions with it.
Store shelves are full of pumpkin and maple treats and some healthy items, However, I caution that we should remember the Immortal words of Jack LaLanne. He advised,
if man made it don’t eat it.
LaLanne foresaw the unhealthiness of processed and ultra-processed foods, and their future prevalence. Sure, American food has become convenient. However when we’re talking about the inflammation and oxidation caused by excess fat, too much salt, and too much hidden sugar – I think it’s appropriate to go au naturel – what do you think?
Back to our 10th calendar month of 2025 with its Harvest or Hunter’s Moon.
Let’s celebrate quiet and rowdy times in our Great Outdoors, including the treasures of our national parks, our local parks, our beaches, mountains, our urban and rural trails.
Before “man” discovered farming to feed the tribe, “he” was on the move as a hunter and gatherer. I appreciate that lifestyle, as heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and obesity were most likely unheard of.
When in doubt, try to emulate some of our globe’s healthiest populations in Scandinavia and in Blue Zones. Just check how big is the difference between time that Scandinavians spend out of doors compared to us!
And while you’re at it, try to properly pronounce Friluftsliv. This Norse world means open-air living…. Don’t you just love the Scandinavian saying,
“there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”?
Dressing in layers, as our Moms and Dads used to counsel us, is a great starting point to transcend “bad clothes”.
For me, early October meant donning “right” biking clothes for the hot, humid, and episodically wet Southeastern USA:
Next, I travel to Boston, then to Annapolis, Maryland for rowing and college reunion activities.
This year’s Head of the Charles Regatta is 17-19 October. Most of us know how dicey the autumn New England weather can be – from idyllic Indian Summer conditions to early sleet and snow… We Rowers will be on the water for ~ 90 to 120 minutes. The 3-mile race takes about 15-17 minutes depending on conditions for men’s crews on Saturday, October 18th. So, it is the warm-up and post-race time to get from and back to our boathouse that demands good clothing decisions.
Everyday a Holiday
With a mind-body alignment to make every day special, we can view holidays as milestones or benchmarks. And remember that living the open-air dream life doesn’t always mean exercise. Check out what Community Care Physicians offer as ten great autumn activities. Yup, raking leaves and rucking around to see fall colors are two of ‘em.
We can also celebrate that American Holiday of Skeletons, Ghosts, Goblins and Associates on October 31st.
At the Savannah/Hilton Head airport, I found my Economy class seatmate on American Airlines:
That passenger has a lean and hungry look – doesn’t it?
While checking on the Celtic origin of Halloween, I learned that the ancient festival of Samhain in Ireland marked the shift from light to dark days, and then from living to the dead. Irish immigrants wore costumes to ward off visiting spirits who crossed into the living world. Turnips were carved with spooky faces to ward off the spirits until pumpkins were substituted.
Then, sometime in the 8th century A.D, A Catholic Pope named Gregory established All Saint’s Day on November 1st. I find it interesting that some cultures honor deceased predecessors in their cultural or religious Days of the Dead. Honoring good folks, and not just miracle-performing Saints in the Catholic faith is a respected tradition.
Shifting from family to sweaty endeavors, you might ask:
Is there a “patron” saint of athletes and rigorous endeavors? – The answer is yes.
And wouldn’t you know that the designated saint was not himself an athlete?
We don’t need to, or don’t want to, be martyrs like that 3rd century Sebastien was. Yet, I see nothing wrong with a remembrance of a patron underdog who didn’t give up.
Mantras from Vince Lombardi, Yoda, Admiral McRaven, Sir Winston Churchill and countless others bolster my thesis for athletic perseverance and resilience.
Sebastien didn’t have the benefits of X Factors and many ergogenic aids that we can tap to be STRONG TO SAVE. Perhaps therein lies a lesson. Digital fitness devices, and synthetic X Factors cannot sweat for us.
I ask you to invest a little of your time for this chat about prudent and safe ergogenic (“work producing”) aids that can help us. You may recall my keen desire to have you pursue your endeavors and goals naturally. Thus, my emphases here will be on natural and legal aids that fall into these five classes:
Nutritional
Physiological
Psychological
Pharmacological, and
5. Mechanical.
You note that exercise pills, anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are rightfully missing from this classification of work producers.
I am not focused on #5, mechanical aids, such as shark-like body swimsuits that gave Olympians nicknames like “Human Thorpedo”. Luddite that I am – I advocate the same bike, clothing, rowing shell, etc for all competitors. I want to celebrate athletic achievement – not the boosted mechanical performance.
Nutrition? Caffeine drinks are a good example of natural and legal ergogenics that can be dietary or taken as supplements.
Physiological? I don’t like blood doping. Yet I do partake of massages, accupressure, and self-myofascial release (SMR).
Psychological? I advocate mental tips and hacks to get into a state of flow and inner peace to perform at my best. You and I certainly see Olympic gymnasts, and professional athletes wearing fancy headphones to listen to calming and/or motivational sounds before competitions.
Nutritional? I am just fine with 3rd-party approved substances like Acetyl L-Carnitine, and FDA-approved Creatine supplements. I speak from experience that my aging process impacts my metabolism and efforts to change my trajectory of sarcopenia. So, with physician awareness and approval, I do take carnitine to aid in my exercise recovery. Any creatine that I consume is from natural sources. Please know the difference between grass-fed and grass-finished meats. In short – if you don’t want grain-fed / corn-fed meats, invest a little more money to enjoy grass-finished meats.
Organ of the Month?
No – it isn’t the LA Dodgers’ organist that I’m mentioning. This month, it is our multi-talented and multifaceted liver to celebrate.
Thanks to Johns Hopkins for this image of a human liver”:
I ask you to be uber-enthusiastic about liver kindness – as in practical ways to make this invaluable organ healthier.
After all, healthy livers store glycogen to fuel endurance activities, and perform about 499 other important functions. Metabolic health is an overarching reason to treat our livers well!
Weighing in at about 3 pounds for an adult, our livers sit slightly to the right of centerline and just below our diaphragms.
Yes – these 5 guidelines for healthy livers sound simple. So – follow SIMPLE SELLS habits for Liver Health!
Moderate alcohol consumption
Exercise and be true to anti-inflammatory lifestyle diets
That’s a WRAP for the month of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Next month, I’ll delve into men’s health and tell you why I support the MOVEMBER Movement.
All Treats, not tricks in a spirit of Staying Well Past Forty,
Dave Frost
Ps. BOLO – Be on the lookout for Well Past Forty online training packages that are being produced.
META: Did you know that our valuable term, Metabolism, comes from a Grecian word metabole that means “to change” ?
Well before a Harvard dropout named Zuckerberg changed the name of the social network corporation he leads to Meta, this multi-purpose word had philosophical and self-reflective meaning.
Then along came a Monarch butterfly
Metamorphosis – such as the life cycle from a caterpillar to its chrysalis to a butterfly is a dramatic change of shape. Well, we certainly don’t change our shapes as radically as a butterfly, yet we can transform our body composition and shape to healthier profiles – can’t we?
Be or transform to a healthier pear-shaped profile rather than a relatively unhealthy Apple profile, please!
Just One
In a science quiz, one MET is measured as 3.5 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Whew, that is a breathful.
For a 70 kilogram person, one MET equates to a total of 1/4 liter of O2 per minute (70 times 0.0035 liters/kg/minute) .
METs quantify the energy expenditure of an activity relative to resting metabolism, with one MET equal to the energy cost and oxygen demands of sitting quietly. The higher the MET value of an activity or exercise, the higher the demand placed on one’s metabolism. And, we’ll delve into the key VO2 Max measure too, so stay tuned!
Incidentally, scientists do adjust the MET standard for age with a breakpoint at age 65. With lower heart rates, a bit of sarcopenia and slightly smaller lung capacity associated with aging, one MET older is about 20 % lower than the METyounger standard for a younger individual. For your quiz, that is 2.7 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute.
3 Key Components of a MET Table:
You may see a matrix or table that lists 3 components:
Activity: ranging from light to vigorous.
MET Value: The numerical value representing the energy expenditure of the activity, relative to resting metabolism.
Intensity Level: Categorized by their intensity level (e.g., light, moderate, vigorous) based on their MET value.
Three Levels of METAs with example activities are:
Vigorous Intensity: Singles tennis, shoveling, competitive soccer, running, rowing, and rucking in hilly terrain.
I want us to understand the intensity of different activities so that we can tailor our workouts at this stage of our periodization, and in line with our performance goals.
Example:
Weightlifting effort “generally” is in a moderate intensity range, with MET values between 3.0 and 5.9. A MET value of 6 or greater is considered “vigorous” or high intensity.
Moderate weightlifting for maintenance and tone, or nominally >12 repetitions exercises in a set with light resistance, is around 3.5 METs. Heavier weight or resistance training with 8-12 repetitions can reach 5 METs. Vigorous weight lifting, such as circuit training with minimal rest, or power lifting (3-6 repetitions with heavy weights) can reach 8 METs.
This Figure illustrates a Met and Time process calculation:
Using this illustrated walk example, a reasonable Daily META for us is based on our government’s recommendation of 90 Met minutes or 1.5 MET Hours daily – 5 times each week.
This totals 7.5 Met Hours per week to meet our Government standard – which is actually fairly low.
Remember that this ½ hour walking activity is in addition to the basic metabolic rates that are equated to sitting quietly or sleeping. Those sedentary or still “low level” MET hours far exceed the activity or exercise MET hours we just considered.
Next, let’s relate MET minutes / hours to the second half of our Government’s activity recommendation per week.
Seventy-five (75) minutes of MET level 6 – per week – are our Government’s suggestion for more intensive activity. These higher intensity efforts require more oxygen, and higher lub dub beats of our working hearts. See my blog article for more details of interval or higher intensity training.
Note that this alternate channel for activity also tallies 7.5 MET Hours per week, just as the lower intensity option did.
This too is a fairly low bar. Yet too many Americans do not get enough META, as the obesity and sickness of our unfit society shows in mortality statistics.
Those of us who strive to be better than decent may double, triple or triple- double the META recommendation (MET Hours).
For example, in this phase of my fitness periodization, I log 6-8 hours of low intensity exercise, and 1 to 1.5 hours of higher intensity and interval sessions each week. For this case, my low intensity is 7 hours x MET Level 3, or 21 MET Hours.
And, my higher intensity work per week (which I limit to about 20 percent of my total training time) results in level 7 x 1.5 hours for another ~10.5 MET Hours.
The Goverment suggests 7.5 MET Hours per week, and my investment average of 31.5 MET Hours is 4 times our Government’s minimum. Parenthetically, my weekly workload is about average for competitive rowers of my age.
Do I suggest that more folks raise their MET Hour bars? You betcha.
That is, of course, with medical approval, plus sense and respond awareness of exercise-induced stress and recovery needs.
I do acknowledge, and will delve into the uniqueness of exercise Dose-Response for “proper” metabolic effort. Too much of a very good thing, like exercise, is not wonderful when it is toxic or harmful.
This graphic shows a “safe range” between no-good risky, and good healthy exercise doses for an individual:
As we wind up this META overview, I virtually shout out to our down under Health professionals who kindly document how much exercise Medicare-aged folks (in any country) should pursue.
A ‘lil bit extra ?!
Just a slight increase in activity each day can improve our health and well being. Our revved-up metabolism at work and at rest can help:
I just learned that the title of a 1962 travel movie by two Italians, “Mondo Cane”, means “a dog’s world” in the King’s English. I have a tad of difficulty linking man’s best friend with globetrotting.
So it goes.
My newfound awareness stemmed from a Doctor Google search about “MORE.” Why was I looking for more? Well, most of us do.
Yet my trigger for that little bit extra was a local priest’s homily about “MORE” as a Easter transformation. I am not going all the way with transformation in a Christian sense, I promise. Yet, transforming is a fine verb for the lesser yet vital goal of self care and improvement. So, I’m not penning a metamorphosis from chrysalis to butterfly. Rather, I am musing about the maturation of that butterfly. So, now you have the start of a page 2 story for my little journey from a ’62 flick to church and now to us on April 29th, 2025. More from page 2: Sir Thomas More, that great thinker and author of Utopia [published in 1516 A.D.] sets my stage with his thought for individuals and their society:
“Nobody owns anything but everyone is rich.”
Sounds like Sir Thomas read and followed the rational thoughts and deeds of stoics. You see, stoics indifferently viewed ownership and wealth as means, not ends. “Stoics believed that true wealth resided within, in qualities like virtue, self-mastery, and contentment. They foresaw wealth’s potential to distract from the pursuit of inner well-being.
Everyone is Rich
Hmmm. This purported richness from antiquity beckons a 20th century metaphor of Earl Nightingale that we are in the midst of “acres of diamonds” – IF we look carefully. Inner wealth and soft skills of virtue, mastery, contentment and purpose sound valuable – don’t they?
Question: Do we need lots and lots of things to work on our self improvement and self care? The one-word answer is “no.”
Got a towel, a PBA-free water bottle, and a good mental outlook?
Then, my friend, you are good to go and to look carefully.
Surely… fitness appliances, workout accessories and products that are likely made in China :), and of course supplements or ergogenic things may selectively help you. Yet, those items are beyond “self” – right?
What time and effort are needed to find a wall, a small floor space, or free-standing space to move your joints for isotonic deeds? Just a little!
What more do you need to contract your muscles in isometric ways? Not much!
It is springtime in our hemisphere, so mindfully breathe in the renewed sensory wealth around us. Then, make the time to sweat a little in the spirit of Healthitude.
Remember that acronym of mine – Healthitude – and its components?
Here is a strong to save refresher:
H Hearty
E Endocrines
A Attitude (remember your Mind and Body are aligned)
L Lungs (Oxygen is life and breath)
T Transform
H Healthspan
I Invest
T Train
U Upbeat / Utopian riches
D Desire
E EXERCISE
I look forward to a chat with you about this combo approach for healthspan and attitude. Look around you, as there often is MORE – – – even in a competitive “dog’s world.”
Medical Section: Avoid High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
7-S Segment: Focus on STRENGTH
Myth Buster: The “Younger You” Myth
X Factors from KABOOMER, Strong to Save, and soon Burden? or Banish
Dave’s Latest Checkout: Fitness Watches
Healthitude Humor
December’s Fitness Haiku 
Join Us in the Big KAHUNA Movement!
, this multi-purpose word had 
