You can do it! This 1981 Xennial just worked in on a cable machine with a 1934 Silent Generation
Posted by Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 64 comments
Dude owns a tire shop near me that I’ve used from time to time. I’ve probably known him for about 10 years on and off and all during that time I’d say he looked early 70s at most. Spry, witty, sharp as a tack and completely mobile. I saw him in the gym this morning and we went for the same machine. After we got to talking a bit he casually mentioned that at 92 he’s grateful for everything he’s able to do. I about fell over.
The possibility of not only having nearly 50 more years but 50 more QUALITY years ahead of me is mind blowing. I’d say that I’m not sure if genetics would be in my favor, but among my grandparents smoking and alcohol use was pretty universal as was obesity, poor diet and the idea that as you age you just stop moving. My grandfather’s sister who led a pretty clean lifestyle and was always slender lived to 96 while the rest of them (there were eight altogether) were lucky to make it to 70.
blackhawksq@reddit
Eating right, strength mobility training, cardio, and a little bit of luck go a long way to your health as you age.
As I tell my wife. At 40 my back was hurting, I could not stand up for more then 10 minutes and I was getting shots in my back. Had I not changed how I was handling that where would I be in 20 year when I retire? So I started working out. Deadlifting, squats, hip thrusts, hip adductor, abductors are my prime focus but I also bench, over head press, and a few more upper body accessories. Now, I walk 2.5 miles everyday at lunch with no problem. Today my deadlift was 1.5x my body weight x 5. I am feeling stronger and better then ever. Maybe I will be able to work when I am traveling through my retirement
zoddie3@reddit
I think I'm cooked because I read the title and thought "hey, what's a cable machine? Is that some old timey WWII-era communication device?"
Oh, it's a thing at a gym.
I'm pretty thin, but maybe I should step into a gym and use a cable machine, huh?
trainwreckhappening@reddit
Me too, and I'm a regular at the gym. One guy I'm friends with is in his 70s, and is an instructor who teaches more than anyone else except my wife (who is now his sort of boss).
Yamadog@reddit
I’m dying lol I had the exact same confusion and now, with your clarification, the exact same feeling of being absolutely toasted.
Automaticman01@reddit
I thought he used his Xennial skills to fix the guy's cable box for his tv.
cheerful_cynic@reddit
Yesssss like, using the flat screwdriver to attach the spade shapes & flip the round dial to channel 3
JamesMattDillon@reddit
That is exactly what I thought also
mcfetrja@reddit
Don’t be fatuous, Jeffery
doughnuts_not_donuts@reddit
Yes go to the gym oh my God it's not too late. Just remember nobody's looking at you; there's no need for anxiety. That being said I assumed he was talking about Comcast lol
sine_nomine_1@reddit
Yes
Da12khawk@reddit
I thought they meant cable tv
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Not carrying extra weight is definitely good, but strength and mobility are extremely important as you age. If you don’t stress your muscles regularly obviously your body doesn’t prioritize muscle maintenance, but it also doesn’t prioritize bone maintenance either. Think of it this way – keeping your strength and general mobility up will keep you from falling. However, if you’re active and strength training, if and when you do fall, you won’t get hurt as badly ie: break bones/tear ligaments.
Small_life@reddit
Last year I had a hiatal hernia and didn't know it. I fell and dislocated my elbow (a difficult feat) and jacked up my knee.
I spent the last 9 months in physical therapy and getting stomach surgery. It was a wakeup call and I joined a gym in January.
I now know what a cable machine is. I can tell when I've worked out and when I haven't. I'm so much more mobile and flexible when I consistently work out.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Nice-keep at it! I’m actually nursing a recently repaired bicep tendon tear. PSA-if you see something heavy falling-don’t try to catch it. Just let it fall-ask me how I know.
Small_life@reddit
Yikes. That sounds painful.
zoddie3@reddit
Oh, I'm keenly aware of the importance of keeping up muscle strength. I saw it with my dad, who had trouble lifting my kid without his arms shaking and having trouble getting up without rocking a bit.
But I'm also the procrastinating idiot who didn't floss enough and just had a root canal and crown on one of my molars.
Can I just do push-ups and crunches at home? Not enough? Fiiine.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
If you’re elevating your heart rate, sweating a bit and you feel some soreness in the muscles. You’ve worked a day or two after then that’s great! Maybe add a 30 minute brisk walk a couple times a week.
zoddie3@reddit
Heard, chef.
It probably can't hurt since I'm also going to hop on the dating market for the first time in a couple of decades!
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Not going to lie-getting divorced and dating again did spur me back to the gym after a 10 year hiatus or so. However, at nearly 45 with three kids and seeing what a bunch of 80 (and now a 90) year olds can do I’m continuing for a different reason. It doesn’t hurt that I also landed a Xennial (42) baddie along the way and we’re quite happy together.
cyberfx1024@reddit
I routinely go to the gym 3-4 times a week on average and had a bad motorcycle accident about a month ago now. I ended up breaking my leg at the tibia head and ended up with a number of plates and screws in the leg. That being said pretty much everyone has said that due to me going to the gym is the reason why my recovery is going so well.
I met many guys like him they would go in there lifting weights and doing cardio that look in their late 60's but in reality are in their 70's and 80's.
Stang1776@reddit
I was thinking television but im blaming it on lack of coffee this morning.
caramelpupcorn@reddit
You're not alone and I just woke up 🫠
Specialist-Leek8645@reddit
I was like, he worked in a sub on undersea cables from WW2 w a veteran??
59apache01@reddit
Wasn't at a gym, but a couple of years ago while working on a vehicle in the auto skills shop on an Army base, an older gentleman came rolling out from under a truck on a creeper. He got up, changed tools, got back down and got under the truck again. He hollered over at me and asked if I could hold a flashlight for him for a few minutes while he finished changing out a universal joint in his driveshaft. I obliged, as it's proper etiquette to help the guy next to you if he needs it.
We got to talking and he mentioned he had retired from the Army in the early years of Vietnam, then he retired again as a civil servant about 30 years prior. I started doing the math in my head and thought "no way". Come to find out, the guy was 97 and a few months shy of turning 98, and was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. You could have knocked me over with a feather. This guy could have passed for 65 easily and was getting around better than 45 year old me was at the time.
The only thing I could say to him besides thanking him for his service in the wars was "I want to be like you when I grow up!".
Geoff-Vader@reddit
Being fit as you age almost feels like having a super power.
I got back in the gym a few years ago and knew I'd been doing really well. But I'm surrounded by 20-something body builder types in there so it creates a warped perspective. But when we went to my daughter's college freshman orientation last fall (and were surrounded by hundreds of couples very close to our age) it really made me realize how much of an outlier I'd become.
And seeing my parents struggle with injuries and mobility issues after leading very sedentary lifestyles (especially in retirement) has only driven home the importance of maintaining fitness.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Being on this sub makes being reasonably fit at 45 seem like a superpower. People here who are in their late 30s post daily about how their bodies are falling apart.
viking_linuxbrother@reddit
Just grunt at him and then nod up and raise your eyebrows. If he nods down then you can hop in.
PickledPixie83@reddit
I’m trying so hard to get back into some kind of shape. I don’t have to be Ariana grande thin, I don’t need to compete in strongwoman contests. I’m just trying to have a body that will be here and functional for many more years.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
You don’t want to be Ariana Grande thin-that’s absurd and quite frankly unhealthy. Just eat more protein, more fiber, less carbs and keep moving.
PickledPixie83@reddit
No, I realize that, I was using it as an extreme example.
Sufficient_Turn_9209@reddit
Move. My dad moved up until he passed at 84, and always told me "when you stop doing a thing, you'll then find you can't the next time you try". This was when I finally convinced him to let me HELP him take care of his yard. I know 84 is not extremely old, but the thing is he was diagnosed with advanced pulmonary fibrosis three months before he passed. The fact that we and his doctors and missed it was because he never complained, and just kept going. He did not ever want to lie in a hospital bed, and he passed away doing what he did every morning of his entire life. Getting ready for the day. It was just that this day he was getting ready to meet God. Genetics got him, but he just never stopped, even with a disease that puts people in a hospital bed on oxygen, sometimes for years. He had a great quality of life right up until the last 6 months. Don't ever stop moving.
sine_nomine_1@reddit
MY FELLOW XENNIALS! Please lift weights! Especially do leg work so you have a healthy mobility for as long as you can.
Workouts don’t have to be long! A half hour three times a week will do wonders. I know we are at a busy time of our lives but don’t neglect your health!
whither_wander_you@reddit
ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN!! ladies, move your bodies and lift heavy weights. YOU WILL NOT GET BULKY! and stop listening to fitness influencers who get paid to look good and lie to you, and who have no idea how to train for our age.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Love seeing this kind of feedback rather than just snarky responses because I didn’t post “I DRANK WATER TOO HARD AND NOW I CAN’T MOVE MY HEAD – I’M DYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!”
sine_nomine_1@reddit
Ha well it is the internet. You gotta hope it gets through to some people. I am great with being active but I am definitely 20-30 lbs overweight so that’s the other piece. Keep getting after it!
whither_wander_you@reddit
the old dudes at the gym still putting up the weights are 100% my motivation every day. if I still have even 1/4 of what they have when im their age i will be so happy!!! i wish all the old women in the locker room who bitch about feeling bad would go upstairs and lift a weight or two, water aerobics will only get them so far.
MydniteSon@reddit
My grandfather made it to 98. My mom is 73 and isn't on a single medication.
Genetics in my favor. Which means ill probably get hit by a bus.
trashpanda6798@reddit
Right? Or it’ll be another one of these “once in a lifetime” things that keep happening
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
This place is so depressing sometimes-even when it’s not…LOL
GardenRafters@reddit
r/titlegore
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
likesblackcoffeebest@reddit
I love meeting older people in the gym. We don't have any 90+ people in my gym (yet) but my favorite CrossFit buddy is 64 (I am 44) and can basically do more bar muscle-ups in 2 minutes than I've ever done in my entire life. We all call him the GOAT because he is.
The thing I love the most about older people in the gym is that they show me what is possible in ways my own family didn't, just like you described. Not terribly long ago, my aunt whom I most resemble broke her hip and died at age 74. That is younger than average in my family. Ever since that happened I realize I am not working out to stay on the podium in CrossFit comps or be the best Masters athlete I can. I'm working out to save my own life so I don't become a 90 lb old lady who literally just withers away because that is what genetics has for me otherwise, I saw that clearly when my aunt died. Whether I'm doing bar muscle-ups at 64 like my friend or just being alive at 75+ with my bones intact, it's a win and it's because of the gym. I'm so grateful to all the older athletes showing me how to stay in it for life.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
^ This. We actually have a pretty solid crew of older men and women in their 70s and early 80s but this guy is the first 90-year-old I have ever known of. And black coffee FTW! I’m convinced that it’s a longevity booster if for nothing else than the fact that it removes the temptation to consume liquid calories. I drink it all the time, but in the summer will interchange with unsweetened iced tea.
Neither-Mycologist77@reddit
Hell yeah black coffee! Though I'm currently sipping a cup of green tea because health or whatever. This whole conversation is making me extra-glad that I didn't skip upper body and core last night when all I actually wanted to do was crawl onto the couch with a glass of wine.
I'll never win a fitness competition, but the dumbbells that used to be my heavies are now my lights, and that feels really good.
Azuras_Star8@reddit
Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your mind and body. He knows if you dont use it, you will lose it.
BuiltIN3days@reddit
I thought it was a story that one of us found a way to live an analog life working in a machine shop ran by a 90 year old.
Disappointed
tc_cad@reddit
My Dad died at 69 due to a heart attack. My Mom died at 67 due to complications with dementia. Their parents died at 81, 81, 72, and 63. I have a good chance to make it to 80, but disease seems to be kinda a damper on that. 63 due to ALS, 72, due to lung cancer. 81, stroke, 81, natural causes.
LaGorda54@reddit
Thought you were bragging out the lemon party you went to this morning there champ
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
What’s a lemon party?
balding_git@reddit
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
This is one of those times on Reddit that I’m thankful I don’t understand the meme.
balding_git@reddit
yea i wouldn’t go looking for context beyond a 30 rock joke 😉
Jennos23@reddit
My father is about to turn 89 and thriving. He does not stop moving. All day. My mom is 83 and sharp as a tack. She will answer an email on the laptop, then move to texting someone back on her watch while facetiming with my sister and I. They are awesome to see in action. The lessons I’ve learned from them on aging are: all things in moderation, learn for life, keep moving, and stay curios about new people, places, and ideas. May all of us that want to live long and healthfully be as lucky as they are.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
Awesome-the latter part of what you said is true. These 80 somethings are getting up and going somewhere with a purpose every day, talking to people, being social-the gym is as much mental as it is physical.
Late-External3249@reddit
I have a buddy like that. He is 86, still working as a doctor. A few years back i helped him with some chainsaw work (he lives near me). We worked all morning and then had a beer, got to talking and he casually mentioned he was over 80. I thought he was late 60's.
Stang1776@reddit
Living that long seems like a chore. Im good once I hit 80, give or take a couple years
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
My youngest is seven. I want to see her grow up, have a career, have a family and thrive.
Stang1776@reddit
Yeah same. 35 more years should give her enough time.
zoddie3@reddit
I'd agree with you except we're all having kids so late (if we do have kids), that the age of first being a grandparent is going to be damn near 80. I'd like the possibility of seeing that.
SeaSkimmer2@reddit
The original 1934 cable machine…
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
LOL bro was 10 years old on VE Day and probably vividly remembers it-and here he was at 7:00 a.m. on a Thursday doing tricep extensions with me 81 years later.
SeaSkimmer2@reddit
Happy he made it that long in good health. He’s the 0.01% who didn’t get some form of terminal cancer or heart disease.
BTW, I have no idea what “worked in on a cable machine” means.
Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit (OP)
WOMP WOMP-what a great first comment. BTW-it means we both wanted to use the same machine in the gym so we took turns. He did one set then I would do mine and we’d alternate from there. That’s how the conversation started. As I said before, all of my grandparents and their siblings ended up dying of (or at least complications from) some form of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc…but had they not been 40-50lbs overweight, sedentary, eating junk, smoking, what would have happened? I’m hoping to find out.
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
I had lunch the other day with a delightful woman who will be 97 this year. Sharp and spry and loving her busy, active life.