[1091] Discipline and Physical Health

I've been blogging lately about my continued attempts to achieve a healthier lifestyle to extend my health span. I will admit it is very challenging for someone like me.

I love to eat, and when things aren't going my way I tend to eat to make me feel better. Not only that, but I also have times during the week when I decide I'll eat a bit more just so I don't start feeling bad.

Here's the thing, though. No matter what happens I have to push myself to do at least three or four exercises a week. It used to be walks, jogs, and or a bike ride. Recently I've started incorporating kettlebell high intensity interval trainings or to change things up some kettlebell complexes.

I can't say I'm at my strongest or healthiest. I think I'm way to far gone from my physical prime, and my joints are starting to ache. What I can do is to push through and keep my discipline so I can improve the quality of body.

Like I wrote in a previous blog, I'm after quality of life, flexibility, mobility, and independence as I (hopefully) reach my golden years.

Out.

[1090] Bike Upgrades

Not that I can afford them, but I also keep internally discussing with myself if I really do need upgrades when I rarely ride anymore.

One thing is for sure, safety will always be the main reason why I plan on upgrading.

Now that that's out of the way, I once again started thinking of bike frames earlier this morning. I was wondering if it was an upgrade or just a "sidegrade" if I got the aluminum gravel frame from the same brand as my bike frame now. Honestly while the frame is affordable I'm not sure it's worth it getting that. I'd rather get a slightly better brand's frame for my bike.

Unfortunately Ritchey Logic frames are way too expensive and will just be a pipe dream for me in the near and medium future. One possibility though is the State Bicycle 6061 Black Label All-Road bike frame. I became aware of this because of Drew Dillman, a member of the Bonk Bros Podcast I listen to. The frame isn't cheap, but it's also not as expensive as a Ritchey Logic frame. Plus being aluminum with a carbon fiber fork I'm guessing this bike will also be lighter.

Biggest "issue" for me is that it's internally routed. I'm not a fan of internal routing but it's something I can live with. Besides, it's not like I'm buying a bike frame anytime soon.

Out.

[1089] Car Mods

I've been recently discussing with a friend about quality of life modifications I'd like to do to a car. Here are some modifications I've thought about, as well as why I'd want them.

• Better car horn. Some cars just have really weak sounding (both quality and loudness of the sound) horns. I think a simple upgrade to better sounding and louder horns might help improve making the car more "visible" by being heard better, if you understand what I mean. I'm actually liking PIAA Superior Bass Horns myself.
• Fog lamps for the front and a rear fog light. I've noticed quite a number of newer model cars have white headlamps. I guess this is okay for normal days, but on days when the rain is heavy I think having yellow-ish fog lamps may help improve visibility, specially when you can't find a place to stop to let the rain weaken. This goes the same with a rear fog light, added visibility for those heavy rainfall days just so your car can be seen even in bad weather.
• Front and rear HD dash cam. Just in case.
• Better speakers and maybe a new head unit and amplifier. Again I have no more ideas about radios and how easy it is to replace them or upgrade them. I guess a safer bet would be to get better quality speakers and even add an amplifier to make the sound quality better. Throw in a pair of tweeters too for better audio. Just not a subwoofer since that may take up space inside the cargo compartment of the vehicle.
• Upgraded suspension, even an adjustable coilover kit. No, I don't want to lower a vehicle. In fact, I want to raise it by two or three centimeters to improve ground clearance. Or depending on what car we're talking about lower it a bit. Better ground clearance and slightly stiffer suspension for improved handling.
• Aftermarket rims. It may be the same size as the stock rims or it could be +1 for better handling. Rims will make the car more unique and if I do get +1 it can help with ride handling at the expense of comfort.

That's basically it. If you notice the first three modifications I listed are safety related, and those are also my priority modifications should I have the opportunity to modify a car. Safety first.

Out.

[1088] Health and Fitness Goals

I'm going to keep it simple. My health and fitness goals are:

• Functional mobility and flexibility. I want to be able to be able to keep walking at a decent pace, be able to bend over to pick stuff up, be strong enough to pick stuff up, be strong enough to lift up some light stuff above my head, stand up and sit down with little to no assistance, and basically be independent as I enter the twilight of my life.

That basically means I want to have a good quality health span. Checking google I found this as a definition of health span. I am copy-pasting a line from that link in the next paragraph.

"A revolutionary increase in life span has already occurred. A corresponding increase in health span, the maintenance of full function as nearly as possible to the end of life, should be the next gerontological goal." — John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn, Science, 10 July 1987"

So there it is. I want to live as a functional human being until the day I die. I'm taking baby steps to do this, and the most recent thing that I've modified to help me achieve my goals was the workout I do when I do my HIIT/Tabata training.

I basically added one more set/cycle in my interval training to add one more set of kettlebell exercises that will hopefully keep me fit enough to achieve my goals. Most of my weight training include squats, both Romanian deadlifts and suitcase deadlifts, bicep curls, tricep extensions, kettlebell standing upright rows, kettlebell, two-handed kettlebell press, and bent over kettlebell rows.

All of these exercises are tied down to the mobility and flexibility goals I have. Squats help with standing up and sitting down, and hopefully help keep my core strong. Deadlifts and bent over rows help with bending forward to lift stuff up. The standing upright rows and two-handed press help with lifting stuff up. Biceps and triceps workouts help keep my arms relatively strong.

It's still very draining doing the work outs, which is something I appreciate. As I said in a previous post, I've been trying to be consistent with the quality of my movements rather than quantity of movements. Anyway I'm doing interval training with 20-second exercises so I'd rather maximize the movement in that span of time.

While I'm happy with my 20 lbs kettlebells I am also considering getting a 30 lbs or 35 lbs kettlebell just in case I need to increase the weight to improve the quality of my exercises. I might just push through with this so I can hopefully increase my strength as I keep exercising.

Out.

[1087] One Car

If I could have any one car that was locally sold here in the Philippines as my daily driver for the rest of my life, what would it be?

I was originally going to answer the third generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi automatic hatchback. It combines the sportiness of a rally car with the space of a hatchback. Plus it's automatic!

However as I began writing this I realized there's an even better, more practical answer. The second generation Honda Jazz, 1.5L VTEC automatic variant.

Yes, it may be smaller than the STi, but it does have magic seats. And since it's a naturally aspirated 1.5L engine fuel consumption will be decent. Space for both cars may be an issue, but that's nothing if you add a roof rack system that can carry a bike rack and/or a cargo box.

The Honda Jazz may not be as collectible now as the Impreza WRX STi, but if it will be my daily driver for the rest of my life then I guess the simplicity of a non-turbo engine, coupled with parts availability of something I still see driving around everywhere and I guess I do want a second generation Honda Jazz as my forever car.

Of course we'll be doing modifications to it for quality of life. Maintenance and upgrades will also be done so it stays reliable and economical.

Out.

[1086] Healthspan

I've been following GCN's Dan Lloyd and his videos about longevity and health in youtube. Aside from that I also heard Dr. Peter Attia when he was a guest in The Smoking Tire podcast mention healthspan versus lifespan.

It's gotten me really curious and open to the idea. I'm in my mid-40s and not getting any younger, and I do want to enjoy my life moving forward as healthy, mobile, and independent as possible.

I'm starting small, focusing on being consistent with my weekly exercise goals. Mainly to do at least four sessions of twenty-minute exercises a week. I usually do two-to-three 40-minute walks a week, occasionally replacing one or two sessions with around a 20-minute jog.

I've also added a twenty-five minute Tabata/HIIT workout but it's still basically intense cardio with a 20 lbs kettlebell. I've also started focusing on the quality of my reps during these HIIT workouts rather than the quantity of reps. When I was doing these a few years ago I was targeting getting more reps per twenty seconds but now I realize I should make sure each rep is as close to a perfect form as possible so I'm back to less reps of squats, deadlifts, and other kettlebell exercises.

I honestly don't know if I could have done this at a younger age. I was too immature and shortsighted to consider my long term health. I honestly hope I am not too late, but I am hoping I'm doing enough nowadays to help me improve my healthspan.

Out.