Issue #210: Walk Back Your Age
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Today’s Quick Win
Inspiration: Walk Your Age Backwards
Moment of Fun: Traveling this Summer
Brain Games: Axe
Question: Like a Baby
“Sleep is the key to unlocking our full potential; it enables us to be more productive and perform at our peak!”
The percentage of high schoolers that report insufficient sleep. It doesn’t get much better as we go younger - 57.8% of middle school students get insufficient sleep. (Source)
This Week
This week we covered the symbiotic relationship of sleep with performance, and activity with sleep.
Issue #208 - discover the importance of prioritizing sleep for optimal physical, cognitive, and emotional performance. Sufficient sleep enhances learning, memory, and emotional wellbeing
Issue #209 - uncover the importance of sleep pressure in promoting quality sleep and overall wellbeing. Explore practical ways to incorporate walking into your daily routine to build sleep pressure naturally
Click HERE to check out previous issues in the Thrive25 archive.
Inspiration | Mack Carneal
When I first met my father-in-law, he was reasonably fit for a guy in his late 60’s. He didn’t smoke, didn’t drink much, and wasn’t really overweight. But I don’t think he would have called himself “an athlete.”
Fast forward to today - at the age of 72, friends now ask him “Mack - you’re in really great shape. How do you do it?”
Well - he started walking. On an average day, Mack walks 16K+ steps (almost 8 miles). Some days he challenges himself to see just how far he can walk - he’s hit 20 miles on multiple occasions.
In the past 18 months, he’s gone from 202 lbs down to 178 and has calf muscles that even Johnny Drama would envy.
But more important than the numbers he’ll tell you - “I just feel lighter.”
When he retired, he realized there were no more excuses to take care of his body - he lives right on the longest continuous sidewalk in the U.S. (Bayshore Blvd in Tampa). He called BS on himself for all the reasons he didn’t workout and just started walking.
Every morning became a ritual - 5 miles at 5am.
But when you walk, you get that bounce in your step and you don’t want it to go away. He started to realize how he felt after eating crap food. So he changed his diet.
His post-walk consists of 3 eggs, chicken sausage and peppers - followed by a lunch of a big bowl of Greek yogurt with berries, mixed nuts, and honey.
It’s also helped him sleep (see Issue #209). Mack goes to bed around 9:30pm and feels great at 5am ready for his next walk.
With all this energy - he came to me and asked, “What’s next? How do I put on more muscle?” Now he adds a routine at the gym multiple times per week and is getting stronger than he’s ever been - he’s ready to prove that his grip strength really will increase his longevity!
And to think - it all started with walking.
So what’s his secret?
Motivation - you’ve got to know why you’re doing it. For Mack, he now has young grandkids. He doesn’t fear death, but fears the 20 years before death and wants to be as healthy as long as possible to enjoy life with them.
Enjoyment - if you don’t enjoy something you won’t stick with it. He never walks on Sundays so that by the time Monday morning rolls around he’s excited to get back out there for another walk to start the week. He also has found walking buddies for engaging conversation.
The Right Equipment - wait, equipment to walk? He looks at it the same way we used to buy suits for work. Invest in the $150 shoes, get great socks, and wear clothes that you’re excited to put on for the workout (he goes with ON Shoes). Put ‘em on as soon as you get out of bed - look the part so you can be an athlete as soon as you wake up.
Change Your Mindset - there was a day last year when he asked me to lunch. The restaurant was 3.5 miles away and he said, “Ready?” We walked there, had an awesome meal, and walked back. Places are a lot more accessible by foot than we realize if we change how we think about getting there.
Don’t Take it for Granted - a friend of his recently had a stroke and all he wants to do is walk. Mack walks because he can and doesn’t forget how fortunate he is to be able to do it every morning.
BONUS: Surround yourself with people that support your goals and live the same lifestyle. It makes it super easy to stay active and aspire to be healthy when everyone around you is healthy too.
One last thing - I told him that - um, I’m not retired and his grandkids take up a bit of my time. How can those of us do this with a job and kids?
His answer - There’s a lot of “dead time” during our day when we can walk - like when I see people sitting in their Tesla’s watching Netflix during the 30+ min it takes to charge.
If you walk 1.5 mi in the AM (20-25 min), pick just one work call a day that you can walk another 1.5 mi (20-25 min), and walk 1.5 mi after dinner with the kids - you don’t lose any family time, you get outside, and you’ve probably gotten the steps you need.
Mack - here’s to the next 25+ years of walking, fun times with your grandkids, and good health!
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Moment of Fun | Traveling this Summer
Brain Games | Axe
You have a big axe and a small horseshoe. Can you chop the horseshoe into 6 pieces with 2 blows? PS - the pieces cannot be moved after the first blow
**For answer, scroll to the bottom of the post
Weekend Q | Like a Baby*
When was the last time you slept like a baby? What did you do that day that helped enable this deep state of hibernation?
*Like a baby that doesn’t wake up every 3 hours, you know the one your friend has that started sleeping through the night at 3-weeks old (jealous)
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Thanks for another great week! Just Walk This Way…
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** Brain Games Answer **
To get 6 pieces, the axe blows should fall like this, or similar fashion on either side of the horseshoe…
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