The Progressing Pilgrim

Insights for developing a healthy body, mind and spirit

One Scientifically Proven Way To Reverse The Aging Process

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I remember when I was 15 years old thinking to myself, “If I live to be 65 years old, that means I’ll be around for 50 more years. Wow, that’s a long time!” When you were 15, 50 years seemed like forever, didn’t it?

We’ve all had these kinds of thoughts when we were young. Our bodies were strong and vital and we thought we’d never grow old. But years sneak up on us, don’t they?

At 40, you start to notice that you don’t recover from exercise like you used to. The aches and pains that disappeared after a few days now linger for months.

At 50, you realize that your body has definitely seen better days. Fifty-five brings a medicine cabinet that is starting to get populated with prescription meds for what our society calls lifestyle diseases. You know what they are: high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and even heart disease.

At 60, aging starts to become a concern. Maybe you notice it’s a little bit of a struggle getting up the stairs, maybe at times you forget where you put your car keys, maybe you hesitate to pick up your grandkids because your back isn’t as strong as it was 20 years ago.

Wow, isn’t this all kind of depressing? Is the best we have to look forward to a continuous descent into ever worsening physical decline? I mean, is a walker or a wheelchair or the assistance from a stranger just to go to the bathroom what we’re destined for?

No! It doesn’t have to be. In this post, I’m going to show you that it’s scientifically and empirically proven that we can delay the aging process or even, possibly, make our bodies young again. [Read more…]

How to Recompose Your Dad Bod in Less Than a Year (Even if You’re in Your 50s)

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How to Recompose Your Dad Bod in Less Than a Year

Okay, guys. You’ve put your kids through school. Your mortgage is almost paid. Your job… well, we won’t dwell on that. It could always be better, right?

You’ve come to that place in life where you can finally start to think about living the dream.

But then you start to notice little things about yourself. You’re a little (I’m being kind here) larger around the waist.

And you’re not really comfortable in a bathing suit because of your moobs and all.

You can’t bound up a flight of steps like you once did. And you hope none of your friends asks you to help him move because you know your back won’t stand the strain.

Then the reality of mortality really sets in. You visit your doctor, and he says to you, “Your cholesterol and blood pressure are a little high.” And, then he drops the final hammer, “Your blood sugar is high as well.

He doesn’t give you any medicine this time, but he tells you that if you don’t lose weight and your numbers don’t come down, he’ll have to give you a prescription for ___________ (you fill in the blank) at your next visit.

What do you do? If you gain weight or even keep the status quo, you’ll probably end up on a statin, BP meds, or a diabetes med for the rest of your life. And, remember, those meds don’t come without some adverse reactions.

And even if those meds reduce some symptoms, chronic disease will eventually take its toll.

Fortunately, you can pursue another course of action.

You can take control of your health and in the process transform that dreadful dad bod into a lean, metabolically healthy machine, similar to the one you had years ago or (if you’re like me) into one you never had. [Read more…]

Why I Needed To Recompose My Body At 60-Years Old: The Skinny-Fat Problem

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When I started strength training three and a half years ago, my main goal was to regain some of the muscle I had lost from years of inactivity due to chronic fatigue syndrome.

After my initial two and a half years of barbell training, I accomplished that goal and more. Not only had I improved my muscle mass, but I had become stronger than I’d been in the previous 27 years.

However, what I had failed to do was eliminate 40 years of excess fat around my abdomen and chest.

Here’s something I learned after three years of lifting. If you’re in my age range, you won’t lose significant pounds by simply weight training.

If you’re a serious lifter or doing a lot of high-intensity training you might induce weight loss if you’re burning huge amounts of calories.

But if you’re an older guy you won’t lose weight. Sorry, exercise doesn’t produce significant weight loss.

Now here was my specific problem. The excess fat I was carrying around posed a significant health risk.

Even though I wasn’t terribly overweight my waist was approaching obese territory. And it was out of proportion to my legs and hips. Also, I was carrying around a disproportionate amount of fat to muscle.

This is called a skinny-fat body type and is considered by health professionals to be metabolically unhealthy.

With that in mind, my goal now was not only to continue to get stronger but also to become leaner and healthier.

In part 1 of this series, I’ll discuss the problems associated with a high waist measurement and excess body fat.

In part two I’ll explain how I was able to increase my strength and lose body fat and significant inches off my waist.

[Read more…]

Adjusting My Programming As A Masters Intermediate Lifter – Weekly Workout 9/18

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Strength coaches will tell you that strength training programming for us older guys and gals can be difficult.  If we’re not careful, excess volume or intensity can wear us down very rapidly.

Since we don’t recover as well as 25-year-olds, the danger of over-training for us masters lifters (45 years old and up) is always something to be critically aware of.

However, under-training can also be problematic as it often leads to stagnation or regression.

Finding the proper balance between overtraining and undertraining requires experience and self-awareness. [Read more…]