I wanted to review a book on “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, MD because of the benefit I got from the information in the book. I was depressed and depressed from getting older and having more and more health problems, when my friend Dan sent me the book and it helped me realize that I needed to prop myself up and get on with the business of life. I wanted to write this article in hopes of helping someone else in the same boat. The title says it all; it is a plan for the last third of your life, your golden years.
They say that when a student is ready the teacher appears. I was not thinking of myself as a student, nor of a book as a teacher. But it made me realize that we have to keep learning new things all our lives. About 6 months ago I found out that I had diabetes. My first reaction was fear and self-pity, I just wanted to go home, lie down and wait for the end. The doctor told me that I needed to change my diet and lose weight. I’ve been hearing that for a long time so it didn’t have an impact until he added that if he did those things maybe the diabetes would be cured. Cured I didn’t know you could cure this condition; now he had my attention.
The problem is, I had tried so many diets with no lasting results. So how could I do better this time? I was quite aware that successful weight loss has two parts, diet and exercise. In other words, the diet has to be part of an exercise program to be truly effective. Therefore, the teacher for the exercise part came in the form of a book, “Younger Next Year.”
The book is co-authored by retired attorney Chris Crowley and practicing physician Henry S. Lodge, MD. The book was written to show people how to enjoy the last third of their life more enjoyable. Chris tells the stories and emphasizes the points and Henry gives the facts and lays out the plan. The plan ends up being called Harry’s Rules and there are 7 of them. I’m only going to talk about the first one in this review and I hope you read the book yourself to find out the rest.
Harry’s first rule is “Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.” Are you kidding me? Is this how we are going to start? I better give this book back to Dan. I only had to go to work 5 days a week and they started by telling me that I had to exercise 6 days a week, for the rest of my life. Nuts, I’m retired, why would I want to do that to myself? I do not like to exercise. These are my golden years, rest and relaxation is the plan, no exercise 6 days a week.
Well the book delves into the science behind why it matters and I got it. It turns out that Dr. Lodge has been very active in studying anti-aging and in understanding why so many people don’t really experience a Golden Year, mostly experiencing aches and pains and not having as much fun. The book explains why this happens and what you must do to avoid it. Jack LaLanne (1) had the right idea, move or die.
The book explains how the evolution of man developed the endurance and strength to survive. It is only in the last 100 years that we have had to drive to the supermarket to get food. But for the other 25,000 years or so, man had to work quite hard to stay alive and find enough food to survive. That environment required people to exert themselves physically on a daily basis. And when we don’t, we deteriorate and so does our quality of life.
Returning to exercising six days a week for the rest of his life, Chris puts it in perspective by saying to consider this his new job. But they pay you in health, not in dollars. Also, it’s just a part-time job; the program says you should exercise for 45 minutes six days a week. Well, I guess I could take 45 minutes a day out of my busy retirement schedule. By the way, it’s 4 days of aerobic exercise between 70 and 80% of your maximum heart rate depending on your age, and two days of strength training in the gym. Research has shown that we have two types of muscle cells, some for endurance and some for strength, and we have to work both.
Now I’m not getting too deep into the science of the book, but I just want to tell you that I’m losing weight, my sugar levels are dropping, and I saw an improvement in my health and well-being almost immediately. Now I can play with my grandchildren without getting tired so quickly, and in fact I look forward to exercise, believe it or not. I have the motivation and I feel so much better, why would I want to stop and go back?
I hope you read the book and get all the details of what I have described, and that you practice what it says and see a benefit like me. The other six rules aren’t that bad and the show can be a life-changing event. Your physical condition will improve and greatly influence your emotional well-being and your whole attitude towards life. Like I said in my other article, I want to be around so I can make the funky chicken at my grandchildren’s weddings, and that’s going to be 5 parts so far. Good luck to all of you.
1. Francois Henri “Jack” LaLanne was an American fitness, exercise and nutrition expert and motivational speaker who is sometimes called “the godfather of fitness” and the “first fitness superhero.” Wikipedia
