If you’re pushing 40 and were inspired by Manny Pacquiao’s latest performance, here’s some solid advice from The GAME’s fitness guru.
It was my exercise physiology professor back in University who first got me thinking about it. My classmates and I were young, strong, and cocky sports science and physical education majors in our late teens and early 20s. Our only worry about health was what new program to try out in our old, dilapidated weight room.
We were being particularly rowdy in class, and really out of nowhere, he blurts out, “Wait until you are 35.”
I don’t really remember the topic, but I do remember the context. There he was, a 35-year-old professor, self-described as “middle-aged,” and there we were, young hooligans full of young energy. He was an exemplary teacher. I learned many things from him. But those words really stuck with me.
From then on, I would wait in anticipation for the big 3-5 to come. Eager to prove a point that I can beat Father Time. Funnily enough, my 35th year fell in 2020, along with the global pandemic, so my priorities shifted. Now, five years later, and as I wait eagerly to turn 40, I find myself looking back at my 35-year-old self with envy. And I know that the majority of us turning 40 can relate.
And then there’s Manny Pacquiao.
Forty-six-year-old Manny Pacquiao, who just a few weeks ago went twelve rounds with Mario Barrios, who was 16 years younger, all the way to a majority draw. Say and think what you want about the guy and his political aspirations. But when it comes to being prepared to go to war, and going to war in the boxing ring, Manny is arguably the greatest Filipino to do so.
To be doing this at this age is incredible. And yes, age is “just a number,” but in reality, no one and nothing beats Father Time. Boxing, being such an intense and physical sport, imposes high demands on the human body even for young athletes, more so as we get older. So Manny Pacquiao is quite literally a physical specimen. But what can we, mere mortals, learn from Manny that we can try to emulate in our own personal fitness and wellness journey? And again, I’m not talking about politics.
What’s his secret?
I was fortunate enough to see first-hand the preparation that Manny goes through when I was a consultant for the boxing gym where he was training, in Baguio, back in his heyday. I saw just how much preparation and effort it took for him to get ready for a fight. His schedule was packed from the crack of dawn until late at night. Everything was calculated, including his nutrition (not so much his sleep, but that’s for a different topic). The goal was clear: to be as prepared as he could be to beat his opponent come fight night.
Of course, we are not all professional athletes who can pack up their families, move to Baguio, where the air is much nicer, the food fresher, and have a dedicated team of professionals tend to us 24/7. So what can we 40-year-olds and up do to try and stave off Father Time for as long as we can?
Before we answer that, we need to first know what is happening to our bodies as we age. The main and most perceivable thing that happens is a gradual and noticeable decline in physiological resiliency. In other words, what used to take us a day (or even half) to recover before, now we will need more than a day or two to recover.
You see, our cells die every day, and new cells are born as well. But when we were younger, the “birth rate,” so to speak, of cells would be in pace or even sometimes outpace the “death rate” of cells. The shift that happens in our 40s and really in our mid-30s happens when our cell production can’t keep up with our cell death, especially in some areas like our muscles, nerve cells, and even some parts of the heart. This leads to a longer recovery time and generally less “energy” than when we were younger.
Now don’t be discouraged. This is why science is important, and nowadays, the trend in health sciences is towards increasing one’s health span, rather than just increasing life span. Health span is basically the length of time in your life that you are healthy, able, and without disability. We would want to prolong this for as much as we can, so that we can enjoy our long lives. It’s one thing to live long, it’s another to live long and healthy. The thing is, there are a lot of things that we can do now as we go towards and past our mid-life, which will influence our health span as we age into older adulthood.
Outside of taking expensive medication like peptides, and such (which we will explore in a later article), the most impactful thing you can do for your health is to exercise.
There’s just no going around the science that supports exercise. In fact, if by some miracle, the effects of exercise, particularly mechanical tension from resistance training and cardio-respiratory positive stress from cardiovascular training, can be bottled in a pill, that would be the greatest breakthrough in pharmaceutical sciences in the history of mankind.
Unfortunately, we are not there yet. So you will still have to sweat and challenge your bodies for the positive effects of exercise to take place.
Exercise, nutrition, and sleep
How much exercise, you ask? Really, it’s not that much, but it’s not going to be only four minutes either (those who know, know. Wink wink).
To keep things simple, every other day, do something that will make your muscles stronger. On the alternate days, do something that will make your heart and lungs stronger, then once a week, take a break.
The particulars of that will really not be a “one size fits all” recommendation, but sticking to that pattern is a great start.
If you stop here and do everything the same way, you will be healthier than most people your age who don’t exercise. But why stop there? The cousin of a good physical program is good nutrition. For this, I still turn to author Michael Pollan, who in his book In Defense of Food said, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
I don’t entirely agree with the last statement, but the first two can be your golden rules when it comes to eating. Eat food. Meaning eat real food. Not the ultra-processed fast food that does nothing for you. Secondly, and where we are all guilty of: not too much. If you are wondering what too much is, whatever you are eating, less than that. At least for most of us. The funny thing is, if we follow the first rule, the second rule becomes almost automatic. Because it’s hard to overeat real, high-quality, nutrient-dense food.
Finally, and aptly, sleep.
One thing that makes Manny even more of an enigma was that his days were early and nights were long, back when he was training in Baguio. But I digress. Sleep is essential. It is when our bodies recover the most, and we already know how much harder it is to recover as we age.
So, take care of your sleep hygiene. This means keeping your rooms cool, dark, and away from black light. So if you’re reading this in bed and it’s past your bedtime, let it be the last thing you read, put the phone away when you’re done, and get some good quality shut-eye.
Now, these tips aren’t really just for those of us in the fourth decade of our lives. In fact, everyone should do this at a minimum if we want the highest chances of living long and healthy lives.
But if you are pushing 40 like I am, it’s really high time that we do what we can to at least slow down Father Time, because, unlike Manny Pacquiao, Father Time is undefeated.
Banner images from Viva Productions on Facebook.