LegendaryLife.com Blog

One day, predictably, we will all become elderly if something else doesn’t extinguish are internal flame of life earlier. Most people simply don’t realize how much of an impact this will have not only on their lives but of those around them.

Background

With incredible advances in medicine, treatment and technology in general, it’s now possible to live well beyond our natural life with proper intervention. This causes a conflict as we age, at what point do we allow nature to simply take its course as the medical conditions start to pile on. Do we want a quick death or one that drags on for decades? Do we want to allow our children the power to pull the plug should we no longer be in a condition to make the decision for ourselves? Do we want to burden our family and society with the costs of keeping us alive when there is no hope of reversing the constant onslaught of aging?

Summary

I encourage you to view this video but here is a summary in the meantime:

• Americans who are at least 85 are the fastest growing segment within the population
• medical advances allow longer lifespan but not necessarily better quality as we age
• America becoming a mass geriatric society for the first time in history
• not everybody gets a major disease such as Cancer or Stokes, but all do get a decrease in bodily function with age
• people are dying of chronic diseases and less of infectious diseases which is a reversal
• medical system not set-up to deal with diseases that take time to discover such as acute disease over time
• specialized training in geriatrics is not keeping up with upcoming demand of up to 20% of the population
• many doctors doing house calls to the most fragile who cannot make it to an office, house calls are growing
• expectations from elderly parents are rarely discussed with their children as they age
• most people dream of a quick and simple death but long, painful conditions are rarely taken into account for elderly care
• we all become old but rarely do we consider the ramifications this will have to those around us such as family and friends
• family care giving was once over a few months before death but now, due to advances in medical care, this may last up to several decades
• aged care housing or nursing homes are understaffed and underfunded
• 60% of elderly over 85 now live in nursing homes till their life ends and if they stay over 6 months, they will never leave
• nursing homes are places where some enjoy the social life or wait to die, it depends on perception
• loss of family, friends and independence takes its toll on the aged
• at the end of life, while waiting to die, friends and family become the most important to the elderly
• after 68 years of marriage, Parkinson’s’ and Alzheimer have taken its toll on a relationship, they notice their spouse has changed but not themselves
• in youth, people want to live forever but when they get old, this becomes their greatest fear
• due to large medical advances in geriatrics and their conditions, decisions as to when to stop treatment and allow nature to takes its course are all the more difficult
• most people wish to die at home but end up dying in a hospital
• dementia is a serious condition that occurs with aging that makes medical consent and treatment challenging
• diagnosing conditions in old age with tests often leads to a Pandoras box of other ailments
• death of a parent is a difficult situation for children to take, often leading to prolonged suffering for both involved
• depression and lack of purpose are rampant in the elderly population
• death is still a social taboo rarely discussed until the time comes
• within 25 years, there will be 70 million elderly in the United States

The Bottom Line

Simply wanting to live a long life isn’t good enough, if there is no quality or meaning then it quickly becomes a burden to yourself and those who care most about you.

Reference
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/livingold/view/

In the futile effort of many baby boomers to hold onto their youth as the effects of aging take their toll – many are moving to the a possible fountain of youth – Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

What is Growth Hormone?

Growth Hormone (GH) is a protein secreted by our pituitary gland which essentially tells the bodies cells to grow and multiply. Originally this hormone was taken out of cadavers (dead people) but due to the high risk of acquiring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), modern science now reproduces Growth Hormone synthetically. The “Human” addition to the Growth Hormone refers to the fake or synthetic derivative.

Why is HGH used in the medical profession?

The most common use of Human Growth Hormone was for treating children with biological retardation (ei: falling behind height curves) as a result of their own bodies not producing enough on their own. It’s also used in the case of people injured who can benefit from an increase in rapid muscle and bone mass production or to counteract conditions which lead to severe wasting. You must inject HGH to realize its effects, simply taking a pill, no matter the concentration of HGH present, DOES NOT WORK.

Why do people self-medicate (used loosely) themselves?

Although this has been in the news over the past few months, from Sylvester Stallone being caught entering Australia with a case of these hormones to the chronic abuse of HGH by athletes (bodybuilders in particular), there are various reasons for people taking the leap.

1.It works!
Inject enough HGH into your body and you WILL notice a dramatic change in not only your bodies composition but also strength and size. I have read report after report indicating that the users experience a rejuvenation of sorts, from amazing sleep to soft new skin and everything in between.

2.Easily available
Since HGH is synthetically produced, theoretically an unlimited supply can be created, although this has done little to cut treatment costs (running from $10K to $40K US a year), it does mean that finding sources, both legit and on the black market are easily found.

3.Everybody is doing it
Hey, if celebrities can do it, we can to right! WRONG… a rapidly growing population of baby boomers finding it socially acceptable to screw around with their hormonal balance does little to help “the cause” when supplementation isn’t medically warranted. If your friend jumps off a bridge, does that make it any safer for you to do it as well?

Hey, if it’s so great – why doesn’t everybody inject HGH!

Now, I know that most likely you are neither born with Acromegaly nor a professional bodybuilder so to the average baby boomer, what does HGH supplementation mean? What are the consequences? Well, think of Growth Hormone as gas. When you want to drive faster down the highway, you put “pedal to the metal” and as a result, end up loosing fuel efficiency at the cost of greater speed. Although not proven scientifically, the signs seem to indicate that taking extra GH has the same effect on your lifespan, sure you look great but at the cost of longevity. There is also a number of risks with HGH supplementation that you should know about as well, none to be taken lightly if I may add as they are avoidable by not taking it in the first place such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, joint pain (may become severe), decrease in insulin sensitivity, change in body morphology (increase in bone and muscle with reduction in fat), feeling of “pins and needles” on feet and hands and an increase in fluid retention.

Extremes of Growth Hormone Production and Supplementation

I would love to be 9ft tall weighing 850lbs of raw muscle but to be honest, life would be pretty cool being the planets only super hero Jokes aside, there are some severe consequences to having too much HGH in your system at any age.

Remember Andre Rene Roussimoff (also known as Andre “The Giant”) – he was a “up to” 7 ft 4 weighing over 600lbs (depending on the promotion). He was probably among the strongest people on earth and grew like a weed during his youth. The consequence of all this extra GH running through his veins? Acromegaly, which essentially is an over-production of tissue, bone and size which caused him severe pain once he got out of the great teenage years. Although he lived a very full life due to his condition, he also suffered greatly through many surgeries to relieve pressure causing pain throughout his body simply due to its bulk. Sadly, we cannot adjust our genetic potential as a species to fit extremes of most kinds.

Bodybuilders are incredibly abusive of HGH, unlike Andre “The Giant”, their growth plates have sealed up (ei: can’t grow in height) so with their constant self-induced injections, they simply grow across. If you notice in the past 15 years, bodybuilders these days, especially in the pro-ranks all seem to be 9 months pregnant, have a very strong (almost caveman like) facial features and most importantly, wider then most houses. You, my friend, are seeing what HGH can lead to when taken to medically unsafe, extreme quantities. Sure, these guys are approaching 285 lbs “cut” with almost no bodyfat to be found but I hope these extremes help you understand what “too much of a good thing” can cause.

HGH = Cancer?

There is heated debates as to how much a role GH plays in cancer production but more importantly, if supplementation with HGH causes or makes a Cancer worst then otherwise would have taken place. Cancer is essentially healthy cells going into overdrive, multiplying like crazy due to hormonal, physiological or genetic instructions – to say that GH may be like adding gas to a flame isn’t a stretch as all cells have GH receptors, it actually sounds very logical to say there is a cause/effect going on here. I believe the jury is still deliberating on this but keep this in mind, it isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Will I ever take HGH?

What bothers me most about medically unwarranted long term use of HGH supplementation is the benefits/consequences of self-medication are unknown… like laser eye surgery, I prefer to wait a few decades till clear guidelines to minimize risk are established. I am lucky in a way, baby boomers fighting against their own mortality will lead to incredible advances in Gerontology (treatment of age related conditions) that will benefit my lifespan greatly, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a doctor told me in a few decades to take it, that I would of course.

The Bottom Line

If you want to play with fire, don’t complain if you get burned.

No matter your personal views on how bodybuilders achieve their astonishing physiques, you can’t help but be amazed at how they are able to continually push the outer limits of the human body.

Better Living Through Chemistry

Bodybuilding is one of those few sports where experimentation in drug compounds is a requirement, suffice it to say that you need to take more then your daily multi-vitamin to even touch the top ranks of the sport No matter how hard Joe Weider has tried through the years to turn bodybuilding into an Olympic event, the use of drugs ensure it will never happen. I still consider bodybuilding among the toughest and most grueling physically, mentally and socially sports out there – from the exact nutrient timing to hours spent in the gym – bodybuilding is not a sport but a lifestyle that very few can adhere to, much less excel in.

What can we learn from bodybuilders?

Quite a lot actually, for instance, take a look at 50 year old Vince Taylor who has been living the bodybuilding lifestyle and competing for over two decades (http://www.vincetaylor.com). His skin looks free of wrinkles, the muscle mass and definition are not only beyond belief but put into question the entire concept that we “depreciate” with age. His external physical attributes put most of the young bodybuilders half his age to shame – he also competed directly against 31 year old Jay Cutler (http://www.jaycutler.com/) for the Mr. Universe title on September 30th 2006. The internal imagery we all have of getting older doesn’t need to happen – with an active and closely watched lifestyle you CAN make a very large difference in how you age.

Bodybuilders influence on sport development

I find this the most difficult aspect of bodybuilding, in the past few decades, as sport and chemical knowledge have increased, so has the level of athleticism in just about every sport. Are you a swimmer? A tennis player or even a basketball player – the push of bodybuilders into physique development has played a role in the evolution of your sport (and just about all the others). They are responsible for turning what use to be frown upon such as muscle development with high intensity training and diet into something not only mainstream but a requirement to compete at the higher levels. Just about any sport nowadays where the difference between a medal is sometimes only milliseconds has benefited greatly from their sacrifices.

When to draw the line

I do believe that bodybuilders are beyond the cutting edge at the moment though, they achieve phenomenal results but oddly enough, at the cost of their own health. The human body just isn’t engineered for constant, balls-out punishment year after year, decade after decade… no matter how good the nutrition or training, adaptation is a slow process that requires breaks. Yes, bodybuilders have passed the natural plateau but they pay a very high price for this achievement that won’t begin to be seen later in life. When you consider the heart of a 150lbs teenage boy is the same heart as the one found in a 300+ pound bodybuilder, you begin to realize how much our bodies are able to cope with stress, but like anything, cracks will appear.

Double Standards: Bodybuilders vs Couch Potatoes

What is worse for your body, being a bodybuilder or a couch potato? Well, if you go the drug free (or moderate) route, bodybuilding is fantastic for your body but like anything… you need to go slow and build on past success. What I have yet to understand is why governments around the world are hell bent on keeping steroid use underground (by banning them) and barring certain beneficial supplements (ei: creatine, ephedrine… ) yet have no problem with people smoking, drinking and purchasing incredibly unhealthy fast foods. Banning potentially beneficial products but keeping blatantly detrimental ones legal. This is a double standard which I believe is completely unfair. What bodybuilders are showing us is the potential for a true fountain of youth, if studied further by the scientific community.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I am a great fan of bodybuilding because it’s the extreme opposite of how most North Americans live their lives – don’t get me wrong – you wouldn’t want to be “in” neither of these bodies for any extended period of time – but they are great examples of how little we know about our own body… and how much we can learn if we allow the politics behind our very own health not get in the way. I believe a life of moderation, tough physical activities with proper diet BUT with adequate breaks to allow the body to fully recover is the best route to a long, healthy life.

The Bottom Line

Bodybuilders have a lot to teach all of us… if we allow our biases to pass.

I saw a news article on the front page of the Toronto Star today telling people the power of digital image manipulation and asked myself - why is this news? Image manipulation on just about everything has been taking place since computers with photo editing capabilities came into use… sadly - most people still don’t realize this and strive for an impossible perfection.

What’s beauty anyways?

Beauty means different things to different people, some of it comes from elitist ideas others are born from the history that cultures share. For instance, in Chinese culture, “whiter” skin is highly prized - if you have dark skin, there is a cultural taboo meaning you are a poor peasant - only farmers working in the hot sun on their rice fields all day would have dark skin. If you have whiter skin, it means you are wealthy and didn’t need to work physically to earn your income. You even see this in the black community where lighter skinned individuals are more highly sought after then darker skinned people - I do not know the reason but my guess it for the same reason as the Chinese.

How easy body image changes!

Up until about the 1930s, before food was plentiful, if you where obese - it was a status symbol of wealth and success - only rich people could afford to eat lots of food This was once very true but now that food is plentiful, obesity is frowned upon because it demonstrates a lack of control.

Video exposes extremes in digital manipulation

I urge you to check out this video to see how EXTREME beauty can be modified… and realize this… EVERY picture in just about EVERY magazine has had the exact same manipulations done to them as you see in this video… that includes billboards, web pictures, model shoots… you name it. So the next time you see a “perfect” model, please play this video in your head and realize that you are not looking at a real person - but a digitally altered one.

My picture… manipulated

As you see in the image, I did this in January ‘06 - I took a photograph of me in a badly lit room and manipulated it to the point where slightly improved on every aspect of my features… I go from looking like I crawled out from under a rock to what I consider handsome guy - I only modified skin tone, not facial features by the way. I could take it to the extreme as you will see in the video but I wanted my picture to be of ME, not somebody else.

The Bottom Line

If you are happy in your own skin and strive through diet and exercise to improve on what your parents gave to you - then you will always be the “perfect” you no matter what taboos come into fashion.

It seems I keep coming to the same themes in my quest to get health information out, I say one thing that sounds like a no-brainer and then a few months or years later, studies come out “discovering” what really is common sense. Cancer is no different.

I didn’t choose to get cancer

Let’s review, as much as 90% of ALL cancers are caused by lifestyle, the other 10% have strong genetic influences, for those unlucky 10%, I am truly sad for your plight and you have my deepest sympathies. If your entire family has gotten breast cancer by the age of 40 - there is a high likely hood that YOU will get it as well. What I don’t understand is why people simply accept this as a fact instead of doing lifestyle changes to reduce this likely hood. No, many people have not chosen to get cancer, nobody wants this condition but they do daily actions (knowingly or unknowingly) that lead to its development 90% of the time!

Two interesting studies to review if you have or worried about cancer

Here is a summary in plain English as to why people get cancer

Here is my list of things people do BY CHOICE to achieve the undesired goal of getting cancer:

1) Breath in contaminated air (smoking, smog, ozone, exhaust, particulate matter)
2) Eat contaminated food (fast food, processed food, junk food and “enriched” foods)
3) Sit on their ASS
4) Live within a contaminated body (if you maintain an unhealthy body, you are a cesspool of cancer causing agents waiting to get activated)
5) Drink unfiltered water (by the time city water gets to your tap, it has picked up so much junk that a mud pond is probably healthier to drink out of, reverse osmosis or distillation is the only way to go)
6) Avoid the doctor and dentist - these are your friends, a problem is easier to fix if you catch it EARLY.

But I have to…

Most of us live in a free society, we CHOOSE to go to work, we CHOOSE to commute, we CHOOSE to purchase junk food… the CHOICES are endless - if you make choices to stay in an unhealthy environment, then it is a choice. Don’t pass the buck and blame others or your boss, company, society or anybody else out there… YOU must make the choice. How important is your health to you? Well… how important is it? For me, my health is number one, above friends, family… anybody or anything. Without my health, I am nothing and neither are you.

“ME” Society

Right now, we live in a society that is “individualistic”, people prefer their own cars over public transportation, people want their own office instead of sharing, people want their own this, that and everything else. Cancer and many diseases are a warning sign that this kind of thinking is not healthy for any of us collectively as a species… natural selection is simply pecking off the weaker of us (genetically, habitually etc.) as it works it way up. Why are you obese? Because you don’t care about yourself… it’s that simple and guess what, others don’t care about you if you can’t take care of yourself.

Treatment vs Prevention

What does our society do in the wake of an epidemic? Forget about educating the public into doing some real action to prevent it, lets create a multi-billion dollar industry called “cancer treatment” whose sole focus is treating the people who have enough money to be able to undo the damage they have caused to themselves (again, directly or indirectly). We need a REAL change in our world societies, not this mickey mouse half-assed stuff we have done so far because of FEAR. EMBRASE change, don’t fear it!

The Bottom Line

Maybe I sound a bit rash, but I want you to get in your head that cancer in 90% can be traced back to lifestyle CHOICES, no matter how indirect. I am willing to wager that many other diseases would drop off the map as well.

Mornings are the toughest part of the day when you are acquire “Old Man Syndrome” If you work in an office environment and get paid to sit on your ass all day… you probably already suffer from the “old man syndrome”.

What is “Old Man Syndrome”

Old Man Syndrome is a name I invented to describe how I was starting to feel every morning out of bed. Gone where the days where I could jump out of bed and right into the days tasks… I would wake up, feeling stiff all over and for a few minutes each morning, I might as well be 70 years old because my joints where very stiff and each movement was giving me pain. After realizing how this was slowly creeping up on me, I decided immediately to do some lifestyle changes to counteract these awful effects. I am 30 years old… not a 70 year old! I also suffered from a sore back most of the day and thank God I exercise regularly because I have no idea how I would get through the day without the activity.

A little background…

I am starting to realize how the panacea of having a “desk job” is just that, a mirage. I now think of my desk job as a slow health killer, just as bad as junk food and inactivity. Think about it… you sit ALL DAY with the only movement occurring is moving a mouse and typing on a keyboard. Back in the good old days when we where on the Serengeti trying to catch our meal, we would be moving all over the place - our minds have not left our ancestral lands and if you remember to an article I wrote a few weeks back… the body is in a constant state of decay unless you move, at which point it reverses into a body of rejuvenation.

Lessons from Bruce Lee

To say this guy was a fitness fanatic would be a huge understatement… from what I continue to read, he was always working out, moving his body day in and day out. He had an incredible physique and strength… one even worshiped today by even bodybuilders! He did two things right… he never sat motionless for any extended period of time and he was always pushing his body (and mind) into new areas. So I decided to apply some of his principles into my life, every hour throughout the day, I get off my ass and for 10-15 minutes, do some weight training at 50% max weight. If you do a bench press of 200 pounds, then 50% of that would be 100 pounds. I have my muscle groups divided up over the week to avoid over training and you know what… at the end of the day I am exhausted and feel great. I do all reps to exhaustion, usually getting 3 sets in the 15 minutes… remember, it is a continuous exercise with no rest and until exhaustion.

Lessons from my Dad

I have a lot of heroes in my life, people I try to emulate a small aspect of to improve my life but nobody has had such a positive influence on my life as my dad. When I was a kid, I would always see him take very good care of his health, would watch him exercise and admired his fearlessness at change. If something needed a change, he was already taking steps to build it into his habits. I told my dad a while back how I was getting back pain and was sore, it was different then the soreness you get the day after a great workout and he told me he had similar problems until he started stretching throughout the day. I started doing stretches but it never really caught on into my habits.

Bruce Lee + Dad = eradication of “Old Man Syndrome”

So combining these two principles in less then a week all symptoms of my syndrome have disappeared and I feel great! I dropped the regular weight training 4 times a week for about 30-45 minutes and replaced it with what is essentially 6 mini workouts throughout the day with stretching mixed in and regular walks lasting 1-3 hours daily. The other benefit to this type of workout is since I already eat 6-8x a day, I find my appetite has increased and stuff doesn’t “sit in me” as long as it use to. My weight as so far remained constant but I expect to lean out as I continue this workout.

Current Schedule: Still a work in Progress

Monday
3 morning workouts/stretch sessions lasting 8-10 minutes of Chest & Back
noon 30 minute walk
3 morning workouts/stretch sessions lasting 8-10 minutes of Legs & Calves
end of day walk, 1-3 hours

The Bottom Line

You are never too young to acquire “Old Man Syndrome” nor ever too old to get rid of it

“We are not tired at the end of the day because we get too much exercise. We are mentally, emotionally and physically drained from being sedentary. Walking through the door exhausted each night is not a living; it is merely surviving large stretches of the only life we’re likely to have.” - Dr. Henry Lodge from the book Younger Next Year: turn back your biological clock

Excuses are just that- EXCUSES

Had a buddy tell me a few months back how he stopped exercising because he was simply too exhausted after work, had another friend who told me they where too busy for exercise- and the list goes on. I am sure you have heard this as well at your end, no matter what their justification, leading a sedentary lifestyle is simply a lazy excuse to not be active, to make it worse, it is a CHOICE!

Our bodies are meant for movement!

Try to imagine life 100 thousand years ago, before electricity, supermarkets or even any type of machinery - including agriculture. Life was tough! We where at the mercy of the climate, cycles of abundance and drought, never knowing if tomorrow we where eating or going to be eaten.

Survival Mechanisms - how our bodies work

If we did happen to sit around for a period of time, our bodies evolved to take that as a signal of famine, why else would you just sit there unless there was NOTHING to eat? Remember, there is no such thing as TVs, Computers, Internet or even a comfortable couch Lack of food- metabolism, critical functions, muscles breakdown (atrophy) and even your own mental alertness- they all slow down. Keep sitting there for an extended period of time- your body actually begins to decay and shut down- depression sets in and diseases get a leg up. Not a pretty sight, remember famine = little to no food- how does obesity occur in nature then? IT DOESN’T! You cannot gain weight by eating too little.

Use our survival mechanisms in our favor!

Here is a nice thought, our bodies have NOT EVOLVED to modern living, if you sit all day, even if you are surrounded by food, your body still thinks your in a famine situation. This is a survival mechanism developed over billions of years, and thank GOD we have it - it is among the most important gifts we have ever received!

The Bottom Line

You are never too old or “out of shape” to begin transforming your mind/body into a lean machine! I not only gave you this insight for FREE, but I also built an entire system to support your endeavors at NO COST to you- all I ask is that you use it anonymously! I hope I have taken away any excuses you may have for not getting into shape and staying that way.

From “life insurance” to writing your own will - we all have to deal with death either by choice or circumstance. No matter what you have done in your life, who you know or how much wealth you have accumulated, there is absolutely nothing that can be done about when it will all end. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that may lead to your demise such as forgetting to turn off the stove before going to bed or a number of unrelated events that all work together - either way, what is meant to happen will happen. Is there light at the end of the tunnel - nobody knows but one thing for sure, as we all have a limited amount of time on this earth to enjoy what life has to offer to us. We all owe it to ourselves to enjoy every second of our life and get the most out of it.