Plan B Forum

My personal trainer and I are always getting into arguments about what part of my body needs the most work. I'm not happy with my abs – I have the remains of a small spare tyre – but she says my bottom is a catastrophe because it's so flat. What we both agree on is that bodies can be remodelled, no matter how old you are.

I was a very sickly child. From the age of six I had constant headaches and chronic tonsilitis. I became pale, sluggish and my growth was slow. I remember noticing one day that my best friend, who was a year younger than me, was slightly taller and that I was very upset about it.

At 13, I had my tonsils removed and as my health improved, everything changed. I shot up and suddenly I was full of energy. I thought back to myself as a frail, sickly boy, and vowed never to be like that again. I took up boxing, rowing and rugby. Staying fit and strong became my priority.

After school I trained to be a dentist, but sport remained an important hobby. I only once let myself go. As I crept into my 40s, I adopted my wife's sedentary lifestyle. We spent a lot of time doing nothing. Inevitably, my blood pressure plummeted and one day I felt a sharp pain in my legs – only to discover the dark, earthworm-like patterns of varicose veins across my calves. It was my first brush with old age, and I didn't like it. Immediately I resumed rowing to stay fit.

Life went on. My wife and I divorced. At 60, I discovered veteran's rowing and started competing internationally, eventually winning 36 gold medals. I'm not a particularly talented sportsman, but I've always been a great trier. At 75, many of my friends began to pass away. People were getting older around me, but I was only just ready to retire. I carried on rowing and publishing a dentistry newsletter until I was 82.

Then at 85 I had a crisis. I looked at myself in the mirror one day, and saw an old man. I was overweight, my posture was terrible and there was skin hanging off me where muscle used to be. I looked like a wreck. I started to consider the fact that I was probably going to die soon. I knew I was supposed to slow down, but I'm vain. I missed my old body and wanted to be able to strut across the beach, turning heads.

I was already rowing six times a week, and there didn't seem any harm in pushing myself a bit harder to rebuild my muscles. So in my late-80s I joined a bodybuilding club.



There's no research into bodybuilding for the over-80s, so it's been an experiment. With weight-lifting and protein shakes, my body began to change. It became broader, more v-shaped, and my shoulders and biceps became more defined. People began to comment on how much younger I looked, and my new muscular frame drew a lot of admiring glances from women.

Everything I learned was tailored to help my body cope with old age. I took up judo to teach me how to fall properly. My circulation and posture improved, and I was told that there was a chance more muscle mass could protect my brain from Alzheimer's. I stopped thinking about dying. As I approached 90, my focus was on getting my body back.

In 2008, I signed up for my first championship. I was nervous, but although I was the oldest contestant by around 20 years, everyone was very welcoming. I got higher scores than all the women taking part, and a lot of the men. Then, at last year's event in Germany, I triumphed, scoring higher than any contestant in any age category for my 57 dips, 61 chin-ups, 50 push-ups and 48 abdominal crunches, each in 45 seconds. As I'm over 70, they did make allowances – I could do the push-ups on my knees, for example – but I proved I wasn't past it.

I'm not chasing youthfulness. I'm chasing health. People have been brainwashed to think that after you're 65, you're finished. We're told that old age is a continuous state of decline, and that we should stop working, slow down and prepare to die. I disagree. To me, a 65-year-old is young. I turn 92 this year. It is a frightening prospect – the law of averages is against me, and, yes, one day something will happen and that will be it. But until that day comes, I'm going to carry on working on my abs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... odybuilder

dgs49 wrote: And in fact, they have rules against members giving each other technical support (i.e., showing someone how to use a machine properly).

With interests ranging from canoeing to mono-skiing, Peter Woolsey says he does not consider himself "a stereotypical pensioner".

The 70-year-old, from Manchester, plans to kayak nearly 400 miles from Cumbria to London in just 16 days.

He will be retracing the journey he completed as a teenager 53 years ago.

Mr Woolsey said: "I don't know that I will do this trip in 16 days but I will have a damn good try."

Determined to achieve his personal goal he also hopes to highlight the importance of being active in old age.
'I was frightened'



"Seventy is kind of a watershed - if you don't use it, you lose it," he said.

With vivid memories of his first voyage aged 17, Mr Woolsey still remembers some of the delights such as the "phenomenal" view of Morecambe Bay, as well as the horrors he experienced during his travels.

"I remember travelling through a 2 mile tunnel with a cycle torch at six in the morning and I admit that I was frightened," he said.

"But the worst thing was hearing the sound of an engine when I was half way through, boy did I carry on quickly but no boat came by."

Despite the mixed memories, Mr Woolsey will travel again through the canal network in his 16ft (4.8m) fibre glass kayak through 173 locks and four tunnels.

Beating the odds has been a part of Mr Woolsey's life which is why he says he feels like an "ultimate survivor."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-13470851

John Lowe is flying through the air on a home-made trapeze at his bungalow.



His stockinged legs are straight out behind him, his lips clamped in concentration.

As he lands, he grins from ear to ear, a naughty, impish grin, as if having an audience is just the thing he thrives on.

‘The grandchildren love having a go on this, You can imagine. But my children have told me to slow up.

'They’ve forbidden me from doing 360-degree turns on it now. They’re worried that if I fall off, no one will find me. They’re probably right.’

It’s only natural that Lowe’s children urge him to take precautions during his ballet sessions.

At 91, he is surely Britain’s oldest practising ballet dancer.



Aside from the trapeze, there is a ballet bar lining one wall and roller skates in the corner.



There are also photographs of his four children and 11 grandchildren, mementoes of his Second World War days, a painting of his adored wife Catherine who died suddenly 25 years ago, and the kind of high-backed chair that people favour in their advancing years.

‘I made the trapeze myself by sawing off a bit of my ballet bar,’ says John, a long-retired theatre manager.

‘Then I attached it to the ceiling with a pulley system. I am a whiz at DIY. I moved into this place when I was 80 and the first thing I did was lay a wooden floor so I could roller skate on it and then I installed the ballet bar.’

Eleven years on and John has three ballet classes a week. In between, he practises every day at home.

‘John has an impressive second position,’ explains Helen Pettit,
his teacher at the Lantern Dance Theatre School near his home in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

‘It’s because of the trapeze. It helps him to get his leg across.’

As she’s speaking, John has wandered off into the studio and is gearing up to start moving.

‘No John, not jumping,’ Pettit says, but it’s too late, he is already up in the air, halfway through a full turn.

‘I can’t go as high as the girls,’ John says, as he lands in a slightly shaky arabesque en fondu move.

‘I’m going to do that again,’ he says, whipping himself up into the air and this time landing perfectly.

Next, he is going to cross the room diagonally in a series of posé turns. He spins and spins but is not pleased with his pirouettes.

‘I wish I could do them well,’ he says, frustrated.

‘Yes John. I know you wish you could do them,’ his teacher replies sympathetically. She explains: ‘I have to put the brakes on him a bit. I am careful. But he is very musical.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1PgJXRj13

The Serenity Prayer
Path

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Adrenaline junkie Reg Scott is still burning rubber as Britain's oldest motorcyclist - aged 94.





The great-granddad has covered a staggering 384,800 miles during his 74 years on the road, the equivalent of riding around the world more than 15 times.

He bought his first bike - a Norton 16H 490cc - on hire purchase for 73 pounds in 1937 and has had seven more since. The most powerful was a BMW Boxer 1000cc.

Reg now rides a Honda 250cc around his home town of Ludham, Norfolk, at least four times a week, often taking it out to do his weekly grocery shop.

He admits he has had to slow down over the years but still manages to top an impressive 60 miles per hour when out on the road.

He even meets with 20 other motorcycle enthusiasts every week to talk about their machines.

The retired power station engineer bought a motorbike aged 20 to visit friends and get between jobs because he could not afford a car.

He has since ridden the length and breadth of Britain - 'from Lands End to John O'Groats' - covering an average 5,000 miles a year.

He said: 'Ever since I bought the Norton I have had a real love for motorbikes.

'You are always in the open air and can feel the ground rushing past you. You just can't get that with a car.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1R5Fs8yhl

A 90-year-old man who has been sneaking out and running half-marathons has been caught out - after a neighbour told his wife they'd seen him on TV.


Wilf Cooper has secretly raced in six events - after telling wife Sylvia he was just going to stand on the sidelines. Mr Cooper has run half-marathons throughout most of his 80s - and is still planning one final race, even though his wife has learned his secret. The former Special Boat Service man was 83 when he ran his first half-marathon.After telling Sylvia, his wife of 67 years, that he was going along to help as a steward, he laced up his trainers and completed the race in a respectable three hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds - and hasn't rested on his laurels yet.

But Mrs Cooper, who also celebrates her 90th birthday later this year, learned of her husband's double life after a neighbour tipped her off. Through his running, Wilf Cooper has raised thousands of pounds for a local hospice which cared for one of his friends. She said: 'He told me he was going along to put up barriers and help with the race. 'I only found out he ran it because the neighbour told me they'd seen him on the television. He was in the doghouse that day, I can tell you.'



Mr Cooper once sneaked out to race even after dislocating his shoulder and breaking his ribs in a fall on the stairs. His wife added: 'I do worry about him. He had a heart attack about 20 years ago - but it doesn't stop him.' Mr Cooper, from Lockleaze, Bristol, said: 'I always like the feeling you get from exercise. I stay fit to stay healthy. I've got a static bike and a rowing machine and a few weights.
'I also go up and down the stairs 10 times and I do that three times a day. 'I like to run for a local charity, St Peter's Hospice, because I had a friend that had cancer who received a great deal of care from them.
'I raised £1,200 last year from my secret jaunts and the most I ever raised was £1,690. I'd like to beat that this year.'Even though the wife now knows my secret and will be less than impressed, I want to race one last time as I think my bones are ready to creak.' The couple, who have seven daughters, 14 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, met at St Johns Parish Church, in Bedminster, when they were both 14.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1X1mnn7h6

A fitness instructor who is celebrating her 80th birthday says she had no plans to retire.



Peggy Sullivan leads weekly aerobic classes at a sports centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf, where she is an ambassador for its Leisure for Life campaign.

Ms Sullivan began with keep-fit classes in the 1960s, at the age of 30, and then was asked to take a class herself.

She said: "They even had a stage for me to stand on while taking the class. I felt like a pop star."

She added: "By the second week of my aerobics classes, I had 166 women of all ages taking part - it was absolutely amazing."

The youngest person to attend her classes at the Michael Sobell Sports Centre in Aberdare is 16 but they range up to women in their 70s.

She said: "It was always something I had always wanted to do but never had the courage to take the first tentative steps and attend a class.

"That is why I always encourage people thinking of taking up exercise to actually take the plunge and doing it.

"Actually walking into a leisure centre for the first time is the most difficult part - I know, I did it myself all those years ago."

A great-great grandmother has become the oldest woman to do a tandem paraglide, after she took to the skies for her 101st birthday last year.



American Mary Hardison was inspired to give paragliding a go when her 75-year old son Allen took up the sport.

Guinness World Records confirmed that she had broken the record on Tuesday, beating a 100-year-old Cypriot woman.

"Just because you are old doesn't mean you have to sit on your duff all day," she told Reuters.

Ms Hardison flew with an instructor in September 2011 while four generations of her family cheered her on.

To celebrate her 90th birthday, she rode all of the adult rides at Disneyland. For her 102nd, she hopes to try out a mountain slide in her home state of Utah.

Ms Hardison told Associated Press: "My desire is for the elderly to keep on going. Do things as long as you are physically able. Be positive. Friends don't like a grumpy person."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17453275