Why do you lift weights?

Really…why? The most obvious answer is sports enhancement. Rare is the sport or the athlete that doesn’t employ strength training in their preparations.

I remember back when Pete Rose was advocating for weightlifting among baseball players. It certainly seemed to work for him, but at that time, in Major League Baseball, it was considered taboo.

The comment that I recall hearing was that it would make you “muscle bound.” In other words, you couldn’t move effectively. It seems ridiculous now but it was a widely held belief.

Keep in mind, once upon a time, Tour de France riders would smoke on the Tour because they thought cigarettes opened up their lungs. History sometimes does correct itself.

Charlie Hustle (Pete Rose) forever changed the way players trained for baseball. The game later evolved to where big muscle hitters were everywhere, some (maybe many) using performance enhancing drugs. The era of huge muscles led to another era of greater drug testing and huge scrutiny in the game.

Another 70’s era baseball player, pitcher Rollie Fingers, forever changed the way baseball pitchers trained. Rollie advocated for strengthening of the muscles on the back of the shoulder in order to decelerate the pitching arm once the ball was released.

This was initially met with great skepticism. Now, we know that pitchers at all levels need to focus on strength training for those muscles in the upper back and the back of the shoulder.  If you see a dugout with players using an elastic band and pulling forward, they’re missing the point. 

Injuries happen when a throwing athlete cannot adequately decelerate, or slow down, their arm. That and young pitchers throwing too much junk or too many pitches are real problems in baseball.

So, other than for enhancing sports performance, why do you lift weights?

All females should be doing strength training. All of you. Research clearly shows that bone density in females is heavily impacted (no pun intended) by strength training and weightbearing activities. Osteoporosis can be largely prevented by an active lifestyle.

Some of us are using strength training in the pursuit of the Fountain of Youth. Well, maybe that’s too harsh. We know that adults lose ½-1% of muscle mass each year past 28. Unless you do something. Like lift weights.

Having the ability to lead an active lifestyle as we age adds years to our lives and helps us avoid most of the problems senior citizens have. So it’s not chasing the impossible (our youth), but keeping what we have. And staying active.

It would be easy for me to jump in here and condemn those that lift weights just to look good. For most of us, that’s part of it. Although I really don’t seek big biceps (curls for girls—ask a young person), I do take some pride in staying fit and trim.

And when someone says “you look good for a man your age,” yeah, I like that. I do take some pride in that.

But whatever your reason for lifting weights, I commend you. We would all be healthier if we did that. (Although I still don’t understand dropping weights when you lift.)

Old Dogs, New Tricks

I had several people comment about last week’s column.  Few had any idea that I had played the trumpet. I exchanged notes with one reader who had been a professional trumpet player and teacher. She had some really cool insight.

Since retirement, she has pursued a lot of different things, maybe things she always wanted to do. She didn’t say so, but it seems like retiring to a quiet, sedentary life was the last thing on her mind.

My point last week was to encourage your kids to pursue a wide variety of interests. Art, music, theater, and on and on. Being exposed to other worlds through experiences, books, or travel expands the developing brain.

I suggested that it was essential to the growth and development of young minds. That it is as essential as the pursuit of health and fitness. And even as important as good grades in school.

Early this week, I sat with a senior citizen who had a lot of questions about her health and wellbeing. Of primary interest to her was her mental health. She was fearful that she was developing dementia.

Declining mental health is a great fear for all of us as we age. Alzheimer's is a terrible, terrible thing. My mom had no idea where she was the last few years of her life and often didn’t know who I was.

Maybe this lady couldn’t remember someone’s name or has walked into a room and had to think twice about why she was there. Or it could be that she didn’t remember what she had for breakfast this morning. Anyway, medical testing later demonstrated to her that she was fine.

Those concerns are pretty normal for a lot of people at any age. I’m thankful for a calendar on my phone that tells me where I’m supposed to be on any given day. And if I didn’t eat the exact same thing for lunch every single day, I might not remember what I had.

That doesn’t mean that I’m losing my faculties. If you think about it, our brain is a marvelous tool. It is amazing what remains in there. I can still remember the words to songs that were popular 50 years ago. I remember my childhood phone number (458-3177).

But we need mental exercise and challenges to stay sharp. The retired trumpet player? Studying accounting. Playing the violin. Looking for different things to do.

The old saying is “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Well, I happen to disagree. I believe we can learn all kinds of new things. New pursuits. New hobbies. New sports. And those things will help our mental health.

I’ve talked about pickleball in the past. It’s the hottest growing sport in America. Am I interested in playing? No, I would rather play tennis with my grandson. But it is a sport that you can play at any age. And the geriatric set is flocking to the game. That’s a good thing.

Last fall, there was this really cool downtown festival in Maryville. In one of the booths in the event center on the 2^nd floor above Bill Cox Furniture was this artist exhibiting cold wax oil paintings. I loved her work.

So I chatted with the artist, later took a class from her, and have done about 50 paintings of my own using cold wax oil.  Old dog-new trick.

What better time than when you’re retired to learn something new?  Take up a new instrument. I always wanted to play a banjo. Maybe some day. Learn a new language. A lot of the rest of the world is bilingual.

Enjoy cooking? Take a class to expand your menu. Gardening your thing? You can learn a lot from a Master Gardner. You think it’s too late to join a gym and improve your fitness level?  Nope—it’s never too late. Sign up for yoga classes (I did). You will be amazed at how much it helps everything you do.

Those are the things that will keep us alive and lively.  Things that help make the golden years Golden.

Growing Young Minds

I was at one those events recently where everyone in the room was asked to tell something about themselves that nobody else in the room would know. It’s an ice breaker and conversation starter.

I find it interesting to hear what people choose to tell about themselves. I guess most people might guess I’ll share something to do with sports. Or maybe the outdoors, if they remember that I was a Boy Scout.

This time, I think I surprised almost everybody in the room. I told them that I used to play the trumpet. Like, a lot. I chose the trumpet in the 5^th grade because I thought it was cool. I was in the high school marching band in the 7^th and 8^th grades (I was actually pretty decent and it was a really small school). When I couldn’t do both in high school, I gave up the band, but I didn’t give up the trumpet.

This was the heyday of musical groups like Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Sly and the Family Stone, who used a lot of horns. I was a decent backup singer so I was in a variety of bands for the next several years. Sock hops (there really was such a thing—shoes weren’t allowed on the gym floor), tiny venues, talent shows, public events—we played lots of places.

Daryl Lunsford was the musical star of most of those bands. Daryl could play anything, but focused on the guitar. In jam sessions, he would move around the room and take other’s instruments and play them better than their owner. He was the one who made a career out of music.

College came along and the trumpet faded into the past and I finally sold it. I later got my music Jones by singing in a gospel quartet called Foothills Vocal Quartet, now defunct.

Here’s the point—we need things like music and art and good books in our lives.  We need theater and concerts and great meals. We need to get outside our comfort zone on a regular basis. It’s how we grow.

And it is incredibly important that our children experience those things. The young brain is still developing. If they aren’t allowed to explore and do those things, then their brain will not be fully developed.

That’s not an opinion, that’s medical fact. Different parts of the brain do different things. In order to be fully developed, we have to use those parts of our brain.

I know that some people, for example, are really great musicians. The part of their brain that controls their musical ability is likely well developed. Same thing for art. And theater.

Reading is another category. Study after study has shown that those that read a lot while growing up become more successful adults. Their brain is expanded by the worlds they explore through books.

I’m sure you know that physical activity is essential and that I believe that sports participation is vital in the physical and personal development of our young people. But to ignore those other parts is a mistake.

I know that parenting is tough enough without all the many activities that your kids want to participate in. Travel ball puts an all new strain on family time and resources. But (and you’re going to be surprised by this, coming from me) that music lesson or school play are just as important as the pitching lesson or time with a personal trainer.

Look at it like this: You only have a few years with your kids and when they hit double digits, your biggest job is preparing them to be good adults. So travel, visit art galleries, attend concerts, hike in the woods. Do all the things.

Do it all. Because before you can blink, they will be grown and gone.