Susan Wilder is training for the 2062 Centennial Olympics.
Wilder, 59, hopes that when 2062 arrives, she will still be able to travel, garden, play with her great-grandchildren and move freely — all things she can do now. For this, she is working hard to get fit.
Wilder is the CEO and founder of a family medical practice in Arizona, USA. "I'm walking two to five miles a day, doing some strength training and flexibility training," she said. "It's something that I can do in my daily life. Every choice I make is for my own good, and that's what I do. It’s about self-care.”
For most people, living a century is a luxurious goal, but some people are not satisfied, and they even set higher challenges for their 100-year-old selves: stay healthy, Vibrant and versatile. They hope the Centennial Olympics will help them achieve these goals. The "100-year-old Olympics" is different from the real Olympics. It is not a competition for gold medals, but a self-competition against the natural aging of the body.
What's the winner's reward? Even after a century, you're still living your ideal life, and that's the reward.
| Preparing for 100 |
Wilder was introduced to the Centennial Olympics while listening to a podcast from functional medicine mentor Mark Heyman. On the show, Heyman interviewed 49-year-old Canadian-American surgeon Peter Attia. Atiyah aspires to live to be 100 years old, and his research focuses on the secrets of longevity.
"The sooner you start maintaining muscle mass, the stronger and easier it is to maintain muscle mass into old age. But it's never too late to start exercising."
Atiyah said he came up with the idea at the funeral of a friend's parents. In the last years of life, the elderly cannot do the things they love most, such as playing golf and tending to flowers, due to impaired physiological functions.
"I was sitting at the funeral, dazed, and I just thought there had to be a way to stop this from happening," Atiyah said. So why don’t we train ourselves to be dynamic 90-year-olds?”
Atiyah first listed 18 things he wanted to do when he was 100, and then he chose some sports, Take 30-pound kettlebell squats, for example, and treat them as your own "100-year-old Olympics" event. Atiyah's "races" include everyday tasks such as carrying debris up the stairs, putting suitcases in the overhead racks, and getting up on one foot from the floor. Atiyah believes all of this will help him achieve his goal of living the life he wants when he turns 100. While completing these events may seem effortless to a young athlete, they are challenges for a centenarian body.
That's why Atiyah needs to start practicing now.
|"It's never too late"|
Of course, not everyone lives a century.
George Leeson, director of the Oxford Institute on Population Ageing, said: "Despite our preparations and our best efforts to prevent disease, no one is guaranteed to live to be 100 years old." Still, strength is key to maintaining autonomy in later life . "Research shows that even small improvements in muscle strength allow us to maintain autonomous movement and strength and delay a person's frailty and emotional instability," Lisson added.
As we age, our body's muscle mass and bone density begin to decline. Studies have shown that people lose up to 5 percent of their muscle mass every decade after the age of 30, but that lost muscle mass can be regained with training. Several studies have shown that men retain more muscle mass than women, Leeson said. The way to maintain muscle is to stay active, build muscle early, and maintain it.
"Ideally, we should start preparing to live to be 100 years old from birth," Leeson said. "Of course, the earlier you start maintaining muscle mass, the stronger and easier it will be to maintain muscle mass into old age. But as long as It’s never too late to start exercising.”
Even if the physical changes are gradual, it can still be hard for people to realize that things they could easily do when they were younger can’t be done now. For Wilder, the moment happened while traveling, and traveling is one of her favorite things. "It's hard for me to put the suitcase in the overhead rack, and I think it's a disability -- not being able to do the things I've done before," Wilder said. "The disability creeps into everyone. ."
Wilder got herself a trainer, and now she can put her suitcase, and everyone else's, in the overhead rack again. In addition, Wilder works out with her clients to help them achieve their life goals and work toward their Centennial Olympics. Wilder's team of physicians, nutritionists, and fitness experts thoroughly test clients and design customized diets, exercise and regimens that meet their goals. Wilder said some clients even want to live to be 120 years old.
"Here, our mindset is focused on self-care and self-optimization, and we're concerned with how we can go to the amusement park with our grandkids and great-grandchildren without being in a wheelchair," Wilder said. "I've been looking at Heyman. A doctor for 20 years, he often says his goal is 'to die young'. I think so too."
| Hurricane-like power |
Julia Hawkins, known as "Hurricane," is a talkative 106-year-old with pale curly hair. She lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is often seen walking up and down the street outside her house. Most of her workouts are slow-paced, but Hawkins is a sprinter who likes the feeling of running fast. Hawkins' quest for speed has led her to break two world records for this age group - she broke the world record in the 100-meter dash at age 101 and the 60-meter dash at 102.
Although Hawkins was 100 years old before the concept of the Centennial Olympics was born, she has been competing in the Seniors Olympics — an event in the U.S. for athletes over the age of 50 — since the 1980s. In fact, Hawkins only started training to run in his later years. She has been cycling for most of her life, only started running after she was 100 years old, and her cycling skills are not as good as they used to be.
Hawkins believes that cycling and constant physical activity will allow her to stay in shape at 100. "The main reason is that I've been very active all my life," Hawkins said. "Part of it is personal luck. But I'll take care of myself, I'll eat well, I've slept well, and I'll keep it up. Those things, as long as you can If you can do it, you must persevere."
Although she did not train specifically for the "100-year-old Olympics", decades of sports have laid the foundation for her to remain independent at the age of 100. This is Atiyah , Wilder, and others aspired to. Hawkins said she bought her first high-quality bike in 1942 to celebrate her wedding. She had to get married over the phone because her husband was sent to the front during World War II. Due to the shortage of rubber caused by the war, Hawkins was only allowed to buy one commuter bike. So Hawkins, who was teaching at the school at the time, started a seven-mile daily commute. She even threw a small party when she hit 20,000 miles on her bike.
Hawkins' training paid off -- she's usually the only athlete her age. However, if the concept of the "100-year-old Olympics" catches on, the centenarian group could see a lot more players in the next few years. The world is ageing, and statistics from the UK show that as the 21st century rolls on, one-third to one-half of the current UK population will reach 100, Leeson said.
| Facing Fear |
Training in later life may help us face the fear of growing old. A survey of 21 countries by the Oxford Institute on Population Ageing found that people's biggest fears about ageing are "becoming completely dependent on others" and "not being able to get the help they need".
"It's hard not to associate this time with disability and dependency," Leeson said. "We're in a society where people's perceptions of older age and later life are still very negative." For older people, the opposite is true. "They do have a very optimistic outlook," Leeson said. "The reality is not as dire as expected."
Hawkins agrees. But for those looking to hit the 100-year mark, her advice goes beyond staying physically active, but also to being positive, passionate, and appreciating life's "magic moments."
Hawkins said: "I have a few 'magical moments' notebooks where I record things that are unusual or wonderful. If you look carefully, you'll find a lot of interesting things. Sunrises, hummingbirds, shooting stars, morning glitters on bonsai Dew's cobwebs...if you have an eye for beauty, you can see a lot of wonderful things."
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