Just another update

So, I've been seriously neglecting my blog lately. My sincere apologies.

Not too much to report. We took one of our scheduled weeks off last week but are back at it this week. We've managed to finally get out and do some riding on the road. Longest day so far is only 24 miles, but we should have plenty more opportunity to increase on that. Upper body strength training is going fine

With this entry I also wanted to post a picture I've seen around. Not sure if it's photo-shopped or not. But I do know someone in his early 60's who has a physique somewhat like this guy's, so it's not a forgone conclusion that this is a photoshop product. The image comes from here--a not too terribly informative blurb on aging and fitness.

As an example, the following blurb from that site:

Here’s the bad news: You lose up to 5% of your strength, flexibility and balance for every decade after age 20. But here’s the good news: With a little effort and determination, you can maintain 90% of the strength, flexibility and balance you had at age 20 well into your 60s, 70s and even 80s.

Sounds hopeful. He's trying to present an optimistic view, obviously. But the math just don't add up. By reckoning using figures he provides, you're down to 90% of your strength, flexibility, and balance by the time you reach age 40. If the pace of loss that he informs us inexorably occurs is correct, then by age 70, regardless of what you do, you're down another 15%--to 75% of what you had at age 20.

This probably comes down to bad writing. Had he thought things out more carefully and been more intent on conveying something meaningful, he probably would have qualified the 5% loss figure with a statement such as "but you can lower that rate of loss by training, the result being that, even into your 60's, 70's and 80's you may be able to retain as much as 90% . . ." I think you get the idea.

More to come, hopefully a bit more regularly now.