SPORTS SKILLS BUILD A BRIDGE

via epixpix.com

An old man, at least my age, pushes a three hundred pound bench press.

How does that happen? Sports skills.

The mom of four runs a three hour marathon. The retired teacher swims like a shark.

Older people have tapped into something. Call it inspiration. Call it perseverance. Call it good luck.

What can younger people learn from them? How can they absorb life lessons in a way that lets them feel like they knew all along?

Anyone over 50 who lifts, or runs, or exercises with vigor has more drive than their sedentary peers. Goes without saying. But what is the driver?

The non-fit crowd, the unfit hoards, the ill-fit gangs, all say it’s ego or narcissism. But that’s not it. The real driver, the one you come down to, is fear. Not the fear of being good enough, rich enough, tough enough.

That’s the sort of drive pumping twenty-somethings.

The over 50 fear is pride. Too much or too little.

Let go of pride at 40 and 50 is no big deal. Let go a little more. It’s okay. You’ve got ten years to let go until you hit 60. That’s when things start to show.

The man with the big bench didn’t get it the first time he laid down. He didn’t roll off the couch he’s been sleeping on to lay on a bench under the bar.

He’s been under the bar a while practicing his sports skills. You won’t push that load of heavy metal on the first try.

Push the bar without the background work and your rotator cuffs ricochet off the mirror.

Is there any connection between repping three hundred pounds and a successful life?

Man: “I get that question a lot from strangers who see me lift for the first time. They ask how I can push 300. I tell them I’ve had to lighten up with old age. In my fifties I pushed four fifty but my doctor said to cut back. So three hundred it is. Nothing special.”

The woman who runs distance regularly?

On the best of days a marathon is a crippling race. You’ve seen a finish where runners collapse with bleeding nipples? Run one of those without preparation and you’ll be down a few months.

And you won’t run another.

The swimmer who glides through the water? It’s not hollow bones keeping them buoyant.

They look like they’re moving above the surface because they’ve got the power to plane. You can’t ski behind them, so don’t ask.

The Greatest Generation questions fitness goals.

Why would anyone lift if they didn’t have too?

The only people their age who lifted weights were farmers, ranchers, and loggers. If they wanted to lift they’d grow hay and lift bales. Buy a herd and lift milk buckets. They’d buy a chain saw and turn logs.

Their later years? Nothing. If you don’t have to do anything, then do nothing, is their motto. Go to college for a white collar job and sit at a desk for thirty years.

Suggest exercise to an 80 year old and get ready for the stink-eye, then a cookie request. Love those cookies. No connection to type2.

Hard as it might be to believe, baby boomers need to encourage millennials to stay active. Don’t mention it if they’re playing video games. Wait until dinner. There’s a relationship between food and calories that doesn’t mix with video games.

Talk about their grandparents.

Tell them exercise would have helped them lead a better life. Don’t be afraid to say exercise would have kept them alive. Practice what you’d say.

After the talk, take a walk. Feel what it’s like to walk your walk. Feel the fear of letting go fade away.

That’s the most important sports skill that transfers to life: every game starts new.