Aging with Audacity:

Pushing Limits in the Pursuit of Strength and Longevity

Image by Ichigo121212 from Pixabay

How far would you go to push the limits of your own longevity?

Having brought myself back from the brink of body breakdown, I began to think about where to from here.

As I reset my life map for my septuagenarian decade, I went back to the drawing board for inspiration. I wandered the internet looking for inspiring people who sparked me.

I am fascinated by extremists.

Take David Goggins, of Can’t Hurt Me and Never Finished fame.

Toughest man on the planet, apparently.

Part masochist, part freak and 100% warrior, with his ‘discomfort is the new comfort zone’ message. He craves discomfort, what the average person would label pain and suffering, to pursue a bold life filled with accomplishments beyond capability.

I can feel my heart rate shift a gear up, my pulse quicken, and a squirt of adrenaline just thinking about it.

What appeals to me about his attitude? Who doesn’t want the euphoria of overcoming a huge obstacle and crushing an audacious goal?

Do I have a marathon or a Camino in me? Am I willing to do the actual grunt work? Never say never. I have habits dialled in. Could I ramp them up to that level?

My brain says yes, but my knees are flashing the orange caution light. I am not 40 anymore. I am not sure I would recover from broken small bones in my feet, stress fractures, and kidney failure to complete a Badwater event.

However, the takeaway from studying Goggins is about mind over matter. Andrew Huberman calls it ‘limbic friction’. It’s about overcoming the old brain’s (amygdala) need for comfort and empowering the new brain (pre-frontal cortex) to ‘Embrace the pain.’

Then there’s Bryan Johnson, the 46-year-old entrepreneur who sold his company Braintree to Paypal for $800m, walking away with a tidy $300m, which has allowed him to indulge his passion for exploring longevity.

He created the anti-aging Project Blueprint to document his protocols, making Dave Asprey pale into insignificance.

According to his website:

As the most measured person in history and a professional rejuvenation athlete, Bryan Johnson has achieved

• Inflammation 85% below average 18 year old

• Top 1.5% cardiovascular capacity of 18 year olds

• Pace of aging slower than 99% of 20 year olds

• Top 0.5% whole body muscle & fat via MRI

• Top 1% sleep performance & recovery

Impressive. You can do that with $2m a year and a burning desire to be 18 years old again.

He is the ultimate habit dude. His rigid and unchanging daily routine is entirely devoted to the science of longevity.

Now, I love my habits, and with $300m in the bank, I may be tempted to indulge in super habits to wear the ‘Don’t Die’ t-shirt.

Steady there, Robyn. Let’s get real.

Let’s take a look at some women who inspire me.

A group of Aussie strong women who lift boulders and pull trucks for fun are defying stereotypes.

Some moved from Crossfit to focus on strength.

Some moved from bodybuilding to Strongwoman. For one woman interviewed, Strongwoman meant a shift from an unhealthy obsession with how her body looked to focus on what her body could do.

They compete in the Arnold Sports Festival, initiated by Arnie himself in 1989, testing their limits in events like:

• Farmers walk

• Strongman squats

• Monster dumbell

as well as indulging in doughnuts for energy on competition day - a welcome break from the strict macro regime during training.

I watched a three-part series on the Arnie Classic in Melbourne. I love lifting, but I might not be cut out for the competitive side of it.

However, I can relate to one of the women’s comments, ‘I got addicted to seeing change in my body.’ I, too, love seeing muscles where there were none not long ago.

‘Aging with Attitude’ has also been adopted by a community of women around OldLadyGains apparel company. Its Instagram account showcases inspirational, badass, strong women past their prime and throws some terrific quotes at us.

Instagram @oldladygains

Perhaps my favourite role model is another Instagrammer Joan McDonald

She is exactly ten years older than me, at 77.

At 70, Joan MacDonald was overweight, had high blood pressure and painful arthritis and found it difficult to walk up a flight of stairs.

Seven years later, she’s a bona fide fitness influencer with over 1.9 million Instagram followers.

Thanks to Joan, I can see where I am going and still have time to crank up my strength.

Peloton Leaderboard Grannies.

Last week, I took a peek at the Peloton Leaderboard again after ignoring it while recovering from injury. These 60+ women were my downfall when I first took delivery of my Peloton. I thought then: If they can do it, I can too. How wrong I was.

Every month on the Peloton platform, there are several challenges we can sign up for:

• Annual minutes on the platform

• Current month total activity measured in the number of overall workouts

• Current month cycling challenge measured in kilometres

• Current month strength challenge measured in the number of strength workouts.

There are bronze, silver and gold badges to be earned.

God, I love a badge!!

I was checking out my strength stats for this month. It’s the 27th of April, and I have 16 workouts—Gold badge in the bag. Yay me!!

Then I looked at my Peloton buddies. Spin_dmusic has 69 strength workouts for the month, GrandmaBarb5 has 61, and even Embracingmy70s has 25! Holy guacamole. That’s badass.

But at the end of the day, these women—the Aussie Strongwomen, the women showcased on Instagram, the Peloton grannies—are just ordinary women doing extraordinary stuff. They are overcoming all sorts of challenges, showing their families and us what it means to be strong women, and changing lives forever.

I see what’s possible, and I want it. After a year of rebuilding my injured body, I am in much better shape to safely give the Aussie strongwomen, the oldladygains audience, or the Peloton grannies a run for their money.

I intend to spend my Septuagenarian decade as a member of the strongwomen brigade, which is changing the narrative of ‘aging as decline’.

Favourite Substacks this week:

New Science on What Speeds Up Brain Aging by Heather Hausenblas, Wellness Discovery

I'm pretty sure this is what RBG thinks. by Susan Niemann, Susan Speaks

make time to write, already by Todd Brison, What makes great writing?