|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
Some related articles :
|
 |
Ageless
Apostle of Muscle
By Gina Kolata
|
|
|
For anyone who might harbor a thought that frailty is inevitable with age, there is the abundantly robust exception of Jack LaLanne.
Most middle-aged Americans know him; he was a body builder and athlete who starred in a nationally televised exercise program from 1958 to 1985. As he aged, he continued to show up periodically in the news with astonishing feats of strength and endurance.
When Mr. LaLanne was 42, he did 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes on live television. When he was 61, more than a quarter century ago, he swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge underwater, towing a 1,000-pound boat behind him.
On the day he turned 70, he towed 70 boats, each with a passenger on board, a mile and a half through Long Beach Harbor. Some passengers, his wife, Elaine, said, weighed as much as 250 pounds.
Now, at 88, he says he's as vigorous as ever and attributes his strength and energy to a lifetime of attention to his diet and a lifetime of awe-inspiring exercise.
Mr. LaLanne starts each day with a workout that would put most people a quarter his age to shame — an hour of weight lifting followed by an hour of vigorous swimming. "My top priority in life is my workout each day," he says.
When he lifts weights, Mr. LaLanne says, "I do everything to muscle failure," meaning that he lifts weights so heavy that when he stops, he cannot lift that weight one more time.
When he swims, he says, he ties a rope around his waist and does the butterfly, a grueling stroke. Asked why he puts himself through his daily routine, Mr. LaLanne has a simple answer. "Results," he says. "It's the ego in me. I want to see how long I can keep it up." He has little sympathy for those who say they have no time or energy for exercise. "If you can't afford a half hour two or three times a week to take care of your body, you've got to be sick," Mr. LaLanne says.
Gerontologists say that while Mr. LaLanne may be an extreme example of what is possible, they think there is something to the "use it or lose it" notion of strength and endurance.
"Most of the changes that endure with aging are not inevitable, but are due to disuse," said Dr. Lewis A. Lipsitz, chief of gerontology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Dr. Jeremy Walston, a gerontologist at Johns Hopkins, said that while remaining strong might not prevent frailty, it could provide a crucial cushion when older people become ill. Disease can lead to a loss of muscle and a general debilitation that can tip an older person into a downward spiral of disability, ending with frailty, but those who start out strong may not fall that far.
"Skeletal muscle strength may not necessarily protect you against disease," Dr. Walston said. "But it can provide you with a reserve that can get you through the tough times."
Dr. Ronenn Roubenoff of Tufts University notes that even Jack LaLanne lost muscle as he aged. "Muscle loss happens to everyone," he said.
But when it comes to pushing someone into frailty, he said, the real questions are, How fast is the muscle being lost, and how much remains? "If you stay above the trouble zone, you're O.K.," Dr. Roubenoff said. "You've got that cushion."
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
