From The Desk Of Clarence Bass

Clarence at 79

Still Waiting for the Big Decline

As regular visitors know, we’ve been tracking my everyday condition (no dieting, no body color or hair removal, and no change in training) yearly using the photos in Take Charge as the baseline. That’s when I turned 75, the age when exercise physiologists say the “inevitable decline” begins in earnest for the lifetime trainer. Our first report was one years later, when I turned 76: http://www.cbass.com/ClarenceBass76.htm

I wrote in Take Charge that I intend to keep training hard and trying to improve. That’s what I’ve been doing. The photos below show the results in the form of the “Bass pose” in each of the following four years.

We’ve also included a photo at 70 taken from Great Expectations alongside a similar pose at 79.

The informal ab shot can be compared with the one taken last year in the same setting: http://www.cbass.com/ClarenceBass78.htm

Clarence at 76, 77, 78—and now 79—with no preparation except regular everyday eating and training

We are not so foolish as to believe that Father Time will not be served. We are, however, suggesting that regular, hard—and smart—training can make an remarkable difference in how we look, feel, and perform at every age. This website is dedicated to showing what healthy living can do for us. No doctor or drug can match what we can do for ourselves. As Professor Joseph Signorile explained in Bending the Aging Curve, the neuromuscular function of the trained person soars above that of the untrained person at every stage of life.

No matter what your age, trying to improve in some way makes training more productive—and makes you want to come back for more. That doesn’t mean trying to do as much or more at 79 as at 30 or 50. It does mean looking for new ways to train and improve. The article on resistance bands in this update includes two examples. The first is trying something new, such as the bands themselves; the second is using the bands to improve on the Concept 2 Ski Erg.

Don’t be satisfied doing the same thing workout after workout; no change means no progress. Sit down before every workout and think about ways to change or improve. In my experience, you can almost always find ways to make your training more interesting and productive. When you top out, find something new and start over again. Plan for success in every workout.

 The photo on the left, taken by Laszlo Bencze, faces the title page of Great Expectations. The photo on the right was taken nine years later.
 

My abs were better at 40 and 60, but I still like what I see every morning.

November 2016

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