My Health Club Adventure: The Importance of Exercise for Third Third Flourishing

About a year ago, I had my annual physical. As usual, Dr. Johnson asked about my exercise. And, as usual, I proudly reported on my regular exercise regimen. But this time Dr. Johnson wanted to know more about what I did when I exercised.

“Stationary bike, rowing machine, elliptical, hiking, and stretching,” I said.

“Good for you,” he responded. “But you really should consider adding in regular strength training. This is especially important as you get older.”

I told Dr. Johnson I used to do lots of weightlifting when I was young. (Believe it or not, I actually was a shot-putter in high school.) I added that I kept up that practice until COVID hit and I stopped going to a health club. “It would be good for you to start up again,” Dr. Johnson explained, “or perhaps to do regular resistance training at home. Let me recommend a book that will give you more insight into the value of exercise in general and strength training in particular.” He pointed me to Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity, by Peter Attia, MD.

Insights from Outlive

As I began reading Outlive, I was impressed by the scientific approach of the author, a respected medical doctor. I learned from every chapter in that book, not only the one Dr. Johnson had recommended to me. But Chapter 11, “Exercise: The Most Powerful Longevity Drug,” did help me understand in new ways the importance of strength/resistance training for older adults like me.

Let me share a few excerpts from that chapter:

More than any other tactical domain we discuss in this book, exercise has the greatest power to determine how you will live out the rest of your life (p. 217).

So if you adopt only one new set of habits based on reading this book, it must be in the realm of exercise (p. 218).

Study after study has found that regular exercisers live as much as a decade longer than sedentary people (p. 218).

The strong association between cardiorespiratory fitness and longevity has long been known. It might surprise you, as it did me, to learn that muscle may be almost as powerfully correlated with living longer (p. 223).

This is why I place such an emphasis on weight training—and doing it now, no matter your age. It is never too late to start. . . .There are dozens of studies showing that strength training programs can significantly improve the mobility and physical function of subjects who are obese, or recovering from cancer treatment, even those who are already elderly and frail (p. 228).

Attia provides many additional reasons why strength training improves the lives of older adults. So when I finished reading Chapter 11, I was convinced. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Attia had persuaded me that I needed to get back to regular strength training. At first, I tried to do it at home with resistance training, things like push-ups and sit-ups, but realized that I needed the equipment and discipline of a health club if I was going to be successful in my strength training effort.

Mixed Feelings About Joining a Health Club

I confess, however, that I had mixed feelings about joining my local club. I really did want to start lifting weights again. I was eager to improve my health and, if possible, my longevity. The club’s initiation fee and monthly dues were fairly reasonable if and only if I worked out regularly. But would I? Or would my enthusiasm for strength training quickly fade, leaving me a few hundred dollars poorer but no healthier?

My greatest fears, however, had to do with my physical ability as a 67-year-old man who hadn’t lifted weights in several years. When I was younger, I was proud of my physical strength. Even in my middle years, I had maintained a fair amount of strength. But now I was both older and out of “strength-shape.” I imagined a health club full of fit, young, beautiful people looking at me with pity and disdain. Could I endure the shame of starting up strength training again?

Finally, I figured that shame was more bearable than the negative health consequences of not beginning a regular strength-training regimen. So I joined my local club, paid the dues, and prepared myself to be embarrassed in front of a club full of glamorous young bodybuilders.

I imagined a health club full of fit, young, beautiful people looking at me with pity and disdain. Could I endure the shame of starting up strength training again?

My Health Club Surprise

Boy, was I surprised by what I discovered! Happily surprised, I should add. Yes, there were many well-muscled young folks at the club. But they had no interest in me, I’m pleased to report. The majority of the exercisers, however, were about my age. Some were even older than I was. And several were apparently struggling with difficult physical impairments. Yet, there they were, working out faithfully and without apparent embarrassment. I wasn’t feeling shame as I began to lift weights again. I was feeling unexpected camaraderie. And I was feeling proud of my third third fellows who, like me, were putting considerable effort into our wellbeing.

I wasn’t feeling shame as I began to lift weights again. I was feeling unexpected camaraderie.

One of my health club “heroes” is a man who appears to be at least ten years older than I am. His legs are injured in some way so he must use crutches to get around the club. But get around he does, faithfully, regularly, and without evidence of shame. He uses the same weightlifting machines as the rest of us, though lifting very little weight with his weakened legs. I admire this man and his commitment to health, as I do so many others whom I now recognize as regulars. Though we don’t know each other personally, I sense our mutual encouragement through our common dedication to exercise in the third third of life.

Conclusion

As Peter Attia observes, “[E]xercise has the greatest power to determine how you will live out the rest of your life.” All kinds of exercise, and strength training in particular, will help us flourish in the third third of life.

One way we can glorify God in our bodies is by stewarding them well so that they might be used for God’s glorious purposes. Exercise is one essential aspect of that stewardship.

To be sure, this is good news. But caring well for our bodies isn’t only something we do in order to flourish for our personal benefit. It’s also a way of honoring the God who has entrusted our bodies to us as a precious gift. As we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” One way we can glorify God in our bodies is by stewarding them well so that they might be used for God’s glorious purposes. Exercise is one essential aspect of that stewardship.

Recent Research on the Benefits of Strength Training for Older Adults

If you’re interested in some recent research related to the benefits of strength training for older adults, check out this article on my Substack: “Recent Research on the Benefits of Strength Training for Older Adults.”