For lessons about aging well, the worst thing we can do is turn to Richard Morgan. At 93, the Irishman, a four-time world indoor rowing champion, has the aerobic capacity of a healthy 30 or 40-year-old and the body fat percentage of a greyhound.
It is also the subject of a new case study published last month in the journal Journal of Applied Physiologywho analyzed his training, diet and physiology, cites Washington Post.
Its findings suggest that it is, in many ways, an example of healthy aging and fitness. A 93-year-old man has the heart, muscles and lungs of someone less than half his age.
But in other ways, it is normal. A former baker and drum maker with creaky knees, he didn't exercise regularly until he was 70 and still practices mostly in his backyard shed.
Although his fitness routine began later in life, he has rowed nearly 10 times around the world and won four world championships. Then they asked themselves
Researchers, what is the effect of exercise on your aging body and on your aging body?
Workout lessons from the 93-year-old champion
“We need to look at very active older people if we want to understand aging,” said Bas van Houren, a doctoral researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and one of the study’s authors.
Many questions remain unanswered about the biology of aging. Likewise, whether the physical slowdown and decrease in muscle mass that typically occurs as we age is normal and inevitable. Or maybe it's due, at least in part, to lack of exercise.
“If some people stay strong and fit deep into their golden years, that means a lot of us can too,” he said.
What made Richard Morgan, the 93-year-old man, particularly interesting to researchers is that he did not participate in sports or sustained physical exercise until he was 73 years old.
He was retired but still had something to contribute, and attended rowing practice with one of his other grandchildren. The trainer invited him to use one of the machines and from there he did not stop.
