having recently retired early from an active job, and having seen how useless men in their 60's generally are, I decided to instigate a health and fitness plan that will hopefully save me from the more egregious aspects of old age. Weak ba$tards. I see them everywhere, old men you could push over with a feather duster, waddling down the street with little steps. Years ago a client told me that her husband, gone into the grave by that stage, had been fearful that he was weak and couldn't hold his own anymore. He'd been a big Irishman, tough as nails farmer type, but in his old age, retired in the city, he'd lost all his strength. It was a sobering tale.
There are also many famous men, strength fanatics who died in old age still able to hold their own. I want to be like them, at least to some degree.
The Might Atom was a true superhero, and he was best known for fighting intolerance.
In 1936 he hospitalized six disorderly longshoremen following a dramatic fight. The story was on the front page of many New York papers – the headline read “Little Giant Knocks Out Six’. In 1938, again in New York, The Mighty Atom tore a sign that stated “No Dogs or Jews Allowed” from the front of a building. In the fight that followed, The Mighty Atom injured, hospitalized or otherwise defeated 20 men. He was arrested for the incident but was released when the court refused to believe he worked alone.
Greenstein continued to perform well into his eighties. In his last public performance, on May 11, 1977, The Mighty Atom took the stage at Madison Square Garden wearing a leather vest with a golden Star of David emblazoned upon it. After stunning the audience by still bending horseshoes and driving a spike with his hands, The Mighty Atom took the opportunity to wish his great-grandchild a happy first birthday. On October 8, 1977 Yosselle Greenstein succumbed to cancer at the age of 84. He remains the mightiest little man to have ever walked the earth. JOSEPH GREENSTEIN - Circus Strongman The Mighty Atom
Well that tells me anything is possible if you put your mind and heart to it, and I have seen some miracles, men who came back to health from horrendous injury seemingly by the force of their own will. But such lofty aspirations aside, I simply want fitness and strength and am prepared to put in the effort to get it. To my surprise the amount of effort is really not that great! As an avid cyclist anyway I have found that 2 decent 10 to 15 mile rides a week is enough to keep my lower body in tip top shape and also my heart and lungs. That's two hours a week basically. A month and a half ago I bought an old wire pulley home gym to work my upper body and the results of working on that, in just over a month, have really surprised me! Three times a week, for about 45 minutes I pull the steel plates up and down according to a simple routine and I have the beginnings of well defined muscles, I can lift stuff with greater ease, and have less cricks in my back, less nerve pinching in my arms. These pinched nerves and joint problems were a real pain in the a$$ too, I can only imagine what I will feel like after 6 months. I'll be floating on air at this rate.
Maintaining the exercises is the key though, give them up, even for a few months and it's all downhill. It has to become a lifestyle, something you do like going shopping or filling up the gas tank, paying the property taxes. We all do these things, and some of them we don't always like, but we do them because we know the consequences if we slacken off. I don't know what's coming in the years ahead but I want to be prepared, prepared for anything. Having fitness and muscles isn't always something you need to employ either. Just looking well built and exuding the confidence this brings sends a message to the punks out there on the street. It telegraphs that you are a hard target, not just another old man. and easy pushover for a mugging. Of course this sort of lifestyle isn't for everyone, not even for many in fact. Most older men will find excuses why they can't or why they don't need to keep in shape. But for anyone who has ever considered this road, I'll tell you now, it's worth every step.
The choice, as always, is yours and yours alone.
There are also many famous men, strength fanatics who died in old age still able to hold their own. I want to be like them, at least to some degree.
The Might Atom was a true superhero, and he was best known for fighting intolerance.
In 1936 he hospitalized six disorderly longshoremen following a dramatic fight. The story was on the front page of many New York papers – the headline read “Little Giant Knocks Out Six’. In 1938, again in New York, The Mighty Atom tore a sign that stated “No Dogs or Jews Allowed” from the front of a building. In the fight that followed, The Mighty Atom injured, hospitalized or otherwise defeated 20 men. He was arrested for the incident but was released when the court refused to believe he worked alone.
Greenstein continued to perform well into his eighties. In his last public performance, on May 11, 1977, The Mighty Atom took the stage at Madison Square Garden wearing a leather vest with a golden Star of David emblazoned upon it. After stunning the audience by still bending horseshoes and driving a spike with his hands, The Mighty Atom took the opportunity to wish his great-grandchild a happy first birthday. On October 8, 1977 Yosselle Greenstein succumbed to cancer at the age of 84. He remains the mightiest little man to have ever walked the earth. JOSEPH GREENSTEIN - Circus Strongman The Mighty Atom
Well that tells me anything is possible if you put your mind and heart to it, and I have seen some miracles, men who came back to health from horrendous injury seemingly by the force of their own will. But such lofty aspirations aside, I simply want fitness and strength and am prepared to put in the effort to get it. To my surprise the amount of effort is really not that great! As an avid cyclist anyway I have found that 2 decent 10 to 15 mile rides a week is enough to keep my lower body in tip top shape and also my heart and lungs. That's two hours a week basically. A month and a half ago I bought an old wire pulley home gym to work my upper body and the results of working on that, in just over a month, have really surprised me! Three times a week, for about 45 minutes I pull the steel plates up and down according to a simple routine and I have the beginnings of well defined muscles, I can lift stuff with greater ease, and have less cricks in my back, less nerve pinching in my arms. These pinched nerves and joint problems were a real pain in the a$$ too, I can only imagine what I will feel like after 6 months. I'll be floating on air at this rate.
Maintaining the exercises is the key though, give them up, even for a few months and it's all downhill. It has to become a lifestyle, something you do like going shopping or filling up the gas tank, paying the property taxes. We all do these things, and some of them we don't always like, but we do them because we know the consequences if we slacken off. I don't know what's coming in the years ahead but I want to be prepared, prepared for anything. Having fitness and muscles isn't always something you need to employ either. Just looking well built and exuding the confidence this brings sends a message to the punks out there on the street. It telegraphs that you are a hard target, not just another old man. and easy pushover for a mugging. Of course this sort of lifestyle isn't for everyone, not even for many in fact. Most older men will find excuses why they can't or why they don't need to keep in shape. But for anyone who has ever considered this road, I'll tell you now, it's worth every step.
The choice, as always, is yours and yours alone.
