I don’t know how it happened, but I got old.

I stretched the term middle-aged as long as I could.

When I was young, I figured 50 was old. My reasoning? If the average life span is around 75 years, and you divided it into thirds (young, middle-aged, and old) then ‘old’ would start at 50.

Then I turned 50. I felt great, so I recalculated.

Instead, I based my calculation on a nice long, active life of 90 years old. Dividing that into thirds, I’d be old at 60.

Any way you cut it now, I’m old, particularly since I just turned 62 and am eligible for Social Security.

The interesting thing is that our gym got old along with me!

Nearly 70% of our gym is over 60 years old!

So, I’m Chronologically Old. What Am I Going to Do About It?

We all know it’s not the number that counts. The only thing that really matters is how we feel and how we perform physically and mentally as we age.

Chris Crowley in his book Younger Next Year writes how good life can be for those 55 and older in their “Next Third”. (Its actually the Last Third, but no sense in being morbid about it.)

Chris explains how the science shows that it is a choice for many to allow themselves to decay like the typical old person does. You can choose to feel and act just as good in your 60’s and 70’s as you do in your 50’s.

But it takes work.

The science is clear that if we change away from our unhealthy habits and start doing the right things with exercise and diet, we can get biologically younger. We can have better physical and brain health as well as be more energized and optimistic.

If someone were to change their habits in their forties, their health could be redirected from the graph on the left to the graph on the right!

Based on what you see around you, you may not believe you can hold on to good health into your 80’s. Perhaps you’ve see so many that haven’t been aging gracefully. Perhaps you yourself have felt a steady decline.

But based on what I see in our gym, I definitely believe age is just a number. Our gym is filled with amazing examples of people that put in the work to stay fit and receive huge benefits. In fact, the benefits of good habits are multiplied with age.

Our New Mission

In 1993, we coined our mission statement as “Helping Women Succeed with Fitness”. We wanted to be the place where women could come to exercise to get fitter and relieve stress so they could be better to themselves and for those around them.

Our gym has evolved with no doing of our own. Now, we’re not just about women. We’re about people in their Next Third. People working to make this third the best part of their lives.

And we want this third to be your best. It absolutely is for me and others in the gym. No more financial struggles. No more working for idiots. More time for family and friends.

Barb asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I told her I want to do the same thing I do every day. Write, work on cars, nap, do some paperwork, go for a run, eat a good supper and then watch some television.

It’s a charmed life. And if I want it to last with good quality, I have to be willing to put the work in.

I strongly recommend Younger Next Year and my new book Young, Longer for all those in their Next Third.

Ron