45

Post date: Sep 29, 2017 10:26:43 PM

45

I am following up to another article I wrote which was entitled, “Are you a survivor?”

With this one titled 45.

What the title refers to is NOT my age. Nor to a caliber.

Not how many children or grandchildren or relatives I have.

It refers to my BPM. Beats Per Minute, as you may or may not have guessed, I visited my cardiologist today.

He said that I look fit and asked me how I felt. I said never better, even though I am older.

He said to me, “Your resting heart rate is 45 bpm.” I said, “So put that in context for me.” He laughed and said, “Well, a tennis player, like Bjorn Borg [see Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Borg]

“His heart rate is 36 bpm.” He continued, “Your heart rate is very good considering your age and that you are not a professional tennis player.”

Now just so you know I don’t play any sports but played basketball, softball and volleyball for fun. I even dragon boat raced for fun for several years but that was long ago. [Again thanks to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_boat]

About 4 years ago, I made a pact with my wife, we said, “You take care of you for me and I’ll take care of me for you.”

So we have. We both work out. I use more weights than cardio but do some cardio. I DON’T RUN! Too hard on the knees for me but we walk together.

I do more muscle building at my age to retain my strength and my testosterone.

The point is to maintain what you have otherwise it deteriorates over the years. Sitting in the chair typing is not very good exercise, nor is reading a book. It exercises the brain but we, as humans need much more.

I know a guy at my work whose score on his wellness exam was zero.

Yes, ZERO, and it scores from 0 to 100 (100 being the best). I’m older than he is and never had anywhere close to zero. It is obvious some people need to do more. Even me, but for now I’m doing great and will continue so my breaths are deeper and more meaningful.

By the way, this does not happen overnight. Prepare to have it get better after keeping at it day after day, week after week, and month after month until you get some years at it and your bpm will show just how fantastic you also getting to be.

I owe a lot, I’ve had many experiences and I am passing those experiences on to you, Dear Readers and Dear Writers, who are also survivors.

It would be interesting to hear your stories.

“What are we hear for, if not to help each other?” David Alan Binder