Life Maximus

Our bodies are built to move. Yet, many of us barely move at all on a daily basis. Sure, we walk to the car, drive to the office, park close to the door, take the elevator and then sit at our desks all day with an occasional stroll to the break room or bathroom. Then we reverse the process, get home, plop down on the couch, go to bed and start all over the next day. But that’s not really active movement.

Regular movement helps our bodies and brains stay healthy and fit. You don’t need to train for a marathon to benefit from movement. All it takes is some regular walking to realize the benefits.

In this episode we’ll talk about some simple steps you can take to get moving and make movement a regular part of your day.

You can view full show notes, links and other information discussed in this episode by visiting lifemaximus.co/LM009

Food is key to our health and well being. All of us need to eat and healthy eating can greatly improve the quality of our lives. The problem is that, today, many of us are eating food that is making us less healthy and, in many cases, just plain sick.

This episode will cover the importance of the food we eat to our overall health, how our standard American diet is making us sick and how eating well can improve our health. We then discuss 5 key actions all of us can take to vastly improve our lives through healthy eating.

You can view full show notes, links and other information discussed in this episode by visiting lifemaximus.co/LM007

Balance is vital to all we do on a daily basis. Building your balance is one of the best things you can do to increase athletic performance, improve daily life and reduce the likelihood of debilitating or deadly falls as you get older.

In this episode, we will cover what balance is, the key benefits of having a strong sense of balance and learn 5 simple exercises that you can do at home to improve your balance.

You can view full show notes, links and other information discussed in this episode by visiting lifemaximus.co/LM006

As we get older our bodies change and we need to think about how that will effect our exercise and workouts.

I have personally experienced this in the past 31 years as I've gone from a young newlywed at age 25 to a 56 year old celebrating 31 years of marriage. Over those years I have been consistently exercising and have noticed a number of areas that I have had to adapt and adjust.

I talk about each of these areas and how I have adapted my training to allow me to stay strong and fit as I get older. I also review my recent training and talk about a new Strava Club that you can join.

You can leave comments and view full show notes at https://www.lifemaximus.co/LM005

If you care about living a long and healthy life, the word Healthspan should be top of mind. The idea of living longer, while also having good health, is what distinguishes healthspan from lifespan. Currently the average lifespan is 79 years but the average healthspan is only 63 years. That's a significant number of years that people are living but not healthy. Reducing the incidence of major disease, good nutrition and building our bodies and brains can all help increase the amount of time we are alive and healthy. In this episode we'll discuss what we can do to decrease the current 16 year gap between the average person's healthspan and lifespan. In Maximus of the week I share a tasty recipe for Spicy/Crispy pork and cabbage.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app, share this podcast with others and leave a positive review if you like what you are hearing.

For full show notes, links and other information related to this episode, please visit https://www.lifemaximus.co/LM004

We were built to move but, today, our sedentary lives are slowly killing us. One of the best things we can do to improve our lives, both physically and mentally, is get in the habit of moving on a regular basis.

Research has shown that frequent moderate to vigorous “ground-contact” activities like walking, jogging/running increases our motor control, builds our muscular and cardiac capacity, and fortifies our brains.

This episode explores the evolutionary importance of movement and how regular movement can help stay fit, build our brains, and ultimately live a longer, more vital life.

In the Maximus of The Week segment I talk about a tasty beer and a dreamy tweet.

For full show notes, links and other information related to this episode, please visit https://www.lifemaximus.co/LM003

How long will you live? Probably longer than you think. Because of this you will want to plan on living a long life and do what you can, starting today, to make that long life as good as possible.

Don't Underestimate

If you're alive while you're reading this (hopefully you are!), chances are that you will most likely live longer than you think.

Most of us vastly underestimate how long we will live. In my day job as a financial planner I experience this on a weekly basis when I'm helping people plan for the rest of their life. When preparing a financial plan, my default lifespan is 95. This surprises many people and elicits responses like "My Grandmother died at 79 so I don't think I'll live any longer than that", etc, etc. The fact is that most of us will live into our late 80's or 90's. Now, while we may live that long, the quality of our lives is another matter.

That's why it's important to be realistic about your lifespan and do what you can to make your years on earth as healthy and enjoyable as possible.

How Long?

Is living a long life possible? How long will someone born today (2021) live? Take a look at this chart from Macrotrends.net for some insight:

Living a long life is getting easier!

The chart shows average life expectancy at birth from 1950 to 2050 (estimated). The vertical dotted line is today and shows an average (males and females) life expectancy at birth in 2021 of ~79 years. If you go out to 2050 the average is just under 89 years.

Now, for the bigger question. What if you make it to age 65? How much longer can you expect to live? Well, according to the OECD, if you turned 65 back in 2019 you can expect to live, on the average, another 20.7 years for women and 18.1 years for women. That's basically age 86 and 83 and it only goes up from there.

The reason the life expectancy is higher for age 65 than "at birth" in the chart above is that if you make it to 65 you have already avoided many early life causes of death that reduces the average for someone that we start tracking at birth. Think of it as your reward for outliving all the stupid stuff you did back in your teens and 20's!

Key Point: Life In Your Years

While we can't specifically predict how long we will live, we can take action toward living the best life possible, whether we live a long life or not.

The whole goal of Life Maximus is to help you get the most out of life. Because, ultimately, it's not the "Years in your life" that matters. It's more about the "Life in your years". In other words, how well do you live while you're alive.

Now that I've set the stage, future episodes will start digging into all the things we can do to improve and/or extend our life and the enjoyment we get from it.

Maximus of The Week

Each week I will highlight particular items, news articles, videos, recipes, books, music, etc. that I came across and think you will find interesting and helpful as you work to make the most of your life.

Full disclosure: some of the links listed below are affiliate links, meaning I will earn a small amount if you purchase anything from the links. This does not in any way, increase the cost to you and you are not required to use these links in order to purchase any of the items. Thanks in advance for any support!

Here's this week's Maximus of the week.

Enjoy!

Recipe of the week:

For the last few months we've been getting a weekly box of fresh, organic veggies from Misfits Market (highly recommended!). One of the items we picked in a recent box was Swiss chard. I was looking for an uncomplicated recipe in which to use said chard and found this one on food.com: Ground Beef with Swiss Chard.We tried it in our Instant Pot and really enjoyed it. We used grass-fed beef from Crowd Cow and instead of the suggested orzo pasta I just made a little rice and served everything in a large bowl. It was a very tasty meal!

YouTube of the week:

Welcome to Life Maximus! This is the premier episode of a podcast dedicated to helping all of us not just live life, but Live Life Better.

Life Maximus is a project I came up with to help me positively impact the lives of anyone who is interested in making the most of life, staying healthy and fit, aging with grace, building their brain, and generally giving the proverbial middle finger to the idea that getting older has to come with decreased health and vitality. If that sounds like you then I invite you to come along for the ride!

Who Am I

Good question. My name is Mark Sinderson and I'm a 56 year-old guy who is doing my best to keep my ever advancing age from catching up with me. I've been married for over thirty years to a very patient (and understanding) wife.

I've been an "aerobic athlete" since high school, where I ran track and cross-country. Over the years running has been my go-to activity but I've taken a few breaks to pursue road cycling along the way. I have always enjoyed the individual accountability that running or cycling involves. The results I get in race or ride are dependent on the work that I do. If things go well it's because of me. If things don't go so well, it's because of me. In addition to running I've dabbled in strength and flexibility training over the years but I know I need to get more serious about it if I want to continue to improve.

Outside of my running I'm a fan of tasty craft beer, bbq (especially on my beloved Big Green Egg), two channel audio, reading, and struggling to learn various musical instruments. I also enjoy practicing mindfulness meditation.

Why Am I Doing This

Life Maximus is a way for me to share my passion for health, exercise and enjoying life with as large an audience as possible.

I'm interested in doing what I can to make the most of my life as I get older and hopefully maintain a vital physical and mental outlook as long as possible into life. I see Life Maximus as a tool to help me along the way, while keeping myself accountable to the process.

What Will Be Covered

Living our best life possible requires that we focus on our bodies and our brains. It also is helpful to make sure we are doing what we can to best provide for ourselves over time. So, each episode will cover one or multiple topics from the general areas listed below:

Physical health and wellnessAerobic exerciseStrength trainingFunctional fitnessFlexibility, speed and balanceDisease preventionMental health and wellnessHow to learnPreventing cognitive declineBrain function/neuroplasticityEmotional healthMindfulness and intentionalityNutrition and dietHow to feed our bodiesNutrition requirementsDiet optionsDisease preventionFueling for activityRecipesFinancial wellnessMoney as a tool to improve lifeWork/life balanceBudgetingGoal setting

How to Participate

I'm looking forward to creating this podcast but I can't do it alone. So, I am looking to you, the listener, to help me out. Here's how:

Subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive reviewShare your comments and let me know your thoughts.Email me your ideas, comments and suggestions at [email protected]

Support My Efforts

If you like what you hear and want to support the show, you can drop by my Patreon page and signup as a supporter. Many thanks in advance for your support!