Reflections: Reversing the "narrowing"; walking, lifting, and quality sleep
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
My June Reflection - No More Narrowing!
I've spent much time thinking about general health and how some, regardless of age, are thriving, while others with no known injury or illness are limiting themselves. I came across this concept from Dr. Luks, an orthopedic doctor for over 30 years. He has a term for it - the narrowing. Dr. Luks says, "...the thing I watch happen to people - more than injury or surgery - is what I call "the narrowing". Most of my patients have no idea it's happening. They think it's just old age. It's not."
The narrowing and how to avoid it is our focus today. Below is a great summary of the concept from Dhru Purohit.
Here's a little summary of how narrowing works: You used to carry four grocery bags. Now you take two. You used to get on the floor with the grandkids. Now you stay on the couch. Your body loses a little capacity, your habits shrink to match, and a few years later that smaller life is just... your life. Nobody chooses it. It happens by a thousand tiny surrenders. And the cruelest part? It feels exactly like aging, so people don't fight it.
Is some decline real? Yes, VO2 max drops about 10 percent per decade if you do nothing. Power fades twice as fast as strength after 50. But Luks says that's a sliver of what people actually lose. The rest is a death spiral. You stop lifting. You lose muscle. You get weaker. You lift even less. The loop tightens until the door you thought was open…closes.
Here's the hope: That loop runs both ways. Trained adults in their 70s routinely outperform sedentary people half their age. The ones who reverse the narrowing aren't genetic lottery winners. They just decided to stop accepting the losses. Luks is proof at 63. Most of your narrowing is reversible the moment you ask your body to work again.
Body - Walk, Lift, Sleep
We are going to make this simple; three things you can do for improved health and body composition.
Walk
In our last Reflection, I discussed getting back to the basics with walking and its many benefits. My weekly routine continues to focus on incline treadmill walking with a weighted vest and walking when golfing. I'm averaging 12,000 steps per day.
Lift
As I'm doing much golfing as of late, I don't like to combine my usual squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc. which all involve lots of legs. Instead, I'm opting for shoulder work with free weights, assisted pull-ups, and lots of band work. This upper body focus pairs nicely with walking.
How much time should I spend lifting? Dr. Mark Hyman responds. Roughly 90 to 120 minutes of strength training per week is the dose associated with the lowest risk of early death, and doing more than that doesn't lower the risk further. A 30-year Harvard study of 147,374 adults found that this range was associated with about a 13% lower all-cause mortality risk, a 19% lower cardiovascular mortality risk, and a 27% lower neurological disease mortality risk compared with people who did none.
Sleep
This should be sleep quality. We know it's important as are the hours right before our bedtime. Dr. Rhonda Patrick recently shared that eating your last bite of food three hours before bed pays big dividends. In fact, it might be one of the most effective ways to make your sleep more restorative and potentially, your metabolic health more robust.
She explains, when adults extended their overnight fast by about 3 hours and finished eating at least 3 hours before their habitual bedtime for roughly 8 weeks, their nighttime physiology looked meaningfully different. They had better cardiovascular regulation, lower heart rate and blood pressure, improved heart-rate variability, lower cortisol, and better glucose handling the next morning.
Challenge for you:
Take a quick assessment: are you incorporating walking into your daily life? Are you completing weekly resistance training? How close to bedtime do you stop eating? You can choose to stop the narrowing. Start with walking, lifting, and sleep quality.
Mind - Enjoy the process
Okay, so we discussed three actions we can take to improve our health and well-being and to keep the "narrowing" at bay. This is now when we need to discuss our discipline. Former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink enthusiastically reminds us that discipline equals freedom. Don't let the lure of sitting inside on the couch dictate to you your lack of motivation. Uncuff yourself from the chains of social media. You won't find what you need there - it's just a bottomless pit of nothing that keeps you from the person you want to become.
Here are three things to keep in mind for your journey plus a bonus reminder.
Your future starts with you. No one can or should be more invested in your future than you. Love yourself. Demand the best for yourself.
Iron sharpens iron. To improve, get better at something, or become someone better takes work. Sometimes it takes sacrificing and suffering. Don't avoid struggle, step into it.
Focus on the process. This can't be stated enough. This is where I see people fall short of their goals. One week of eating right and walking and exercising isn't going to lessen the effects of years or decades of neglect. Don't jump on the scale wondering why those 30 lbs didn't come off - stick with the process and learn to enjoy the journey.
"The ones who reverse the narrowing aren't genetic lottery winners. They just decided to stop accepting the losses. Luks is proof at 63. Most of your narrowing is reversible the moment you ask your body to work again. "
Challenge for you:
Love yourself and give yourself the gift of health.
Spirit - Nature Nurtures
If you are struggling right now to "enjoy the process", stay motivated, or are feeling a lack of energy, I strongly encourage you to step outside. Listen to the birds sing. Watch the sunset. Observe the smallest insect or the brightest flower. Take a few deep breaths. Know that you are worthy of love and health. You are capable of much more than you may believe right now. Keep coming back to nature again and again. Nature heals us.
Challenge for you:
Reread this paragraph.
Passage I’m pondering:
“…in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or 20, barring fatality, you will become someone. The question to ask yourself is: Who will your Future Self be? That is, perhaps, the most important question any human can ask themself.” ~ Ben Hardy - Be Your Future Self Now
To your reflection and health,
Lisa Schaffer
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