WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:03.799 Welcome. This is Marsha for Radio I. Today I will 2 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:08.560 be reading National Geographic magazine dated October twenty twenty five, 3 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:12.640 which is donated by the publisher as a reminder. RADIOI 4 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.120 is a reading service intended for people who are blind 5 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.160 or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read 6 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.640 printed material. Please join me now for the continuation of 7 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:28.760 the article I began last time, entitled how to Age 8 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:36.920 Like an Athlete by Chris Ballard. No neoprene, no gloves, 9 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:41.039 no warm hat. Kennedy had always enjoyed pushing limits. He 10 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.000 gave it a go immediately he took to it. In 11 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:47.439 twenty thirteen, at a Ribbon lake in Ireland, he attempted 12 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.439 an ice mile, one of the most daunting and dangerous 13 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.880 feats in extreme sports, a test of mental and physical 14 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.960 endurance that requires covering a mile in ice swimming conditions. 15 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.560 Most who try don't make it. Kennedy not only pulled 16 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.280 it off, becoming the fifty fifth person in the world 17 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.439 to do so, but that was only the beginning. He 18 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.560 took on marathon swims, entered ice swimming championships, and in 19 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.879 twenty nineteen became the first man to complete the ice 20 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:20.200 seven's challenge swimming an ice mile on all seven continents 21 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:23.760 and in a polar body of water. Nothing about these 22 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.920 swims was easy, which is part of the appeal. Similar 23 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.280 to an ultra marathon, ice swimming forces you out of 24 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.599 your comfort zone. The urge to quit, to just get 25 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:37.519 out of the water is overwhelming, hypothermia looms. But if 26 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.319 you stay in, the sense of accomplishment and self confidence 27 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:44.799 is galvanizing. Interestingly, Kennedy credits his age, or at least 28 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.680 his experience, as an important factor in his success. I 29 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:52.480 think your own life journey and work adds to your endurance, 30 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.959 he says. Kennedy ticks off stressers. He's faced, his body crumbling, 31 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.439 his divorce, parenting, his job as a plumber. I think 32 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.640 all these challenges make you pretty bloody strong. Kennedy refers 33 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:08.719 to this as the endurance brain, a term he used 34 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:12.400 sees as a key to success for aging competitors. I 35 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:14.599 think that's why a lot of older athletes, even in 36 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:19.000 American swimming, not just ice swimming, modern swimming, are achieving 37 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:22.360 into their sixties because they've got all this knowledge and 38 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:27.479 skills behind between motherhood and fatherhood, between screw ups and life. 39 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.120 Now fifty four. Kennedy has completed nineteen official ice miles 40 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:35.719 and competed in swimming events around the world. He is 41 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.840 the cheer person of the Ireland arm of the International 42 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:42.719 Ice Swimming Association. He doesn't take any of it too seriously, 43 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:45.479 and this may be just as important as anything else. 44 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:48.199 We do hard core stuff, but we also have great 45 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:51.919 fun and we enjoy the company, says Kennedy, who was 46 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.960 headed out to an Anthrax show with his mates after 47 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.319 a recent interview. We have a few beers and we 48 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.520 laugh at each other. He's determined to swim as long 49 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.319 as his body will allow, and still relishes the moments 50 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.800 when he can surprise people, like when he recently completed 51 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.439 a swim at seventy eight degrees north latitude in the Arctic. 52 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:15.479 No one expected it, he says with a grin. They 53 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:19.240 were like, holy mumm, and I said, yep, the old 54 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.680 man still got it. Looking ahead, Kennedy is planning for 55 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:25.479 another ice mile. It's a theme that runs through the 56 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:28.400 lives of all these athletes and countless others. You don't 57 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.639 stop taking on challenges because you grow old. You grow 58 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.199 old when you stop taking on challenges. Next article A 59 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:42.639 game plan for fighting Father Time by Chris Cohen. Here 60 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.680 for your brain by being social. Most people understand that 61 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:48.680 making an investment in your physical health, like quitting smoking 62 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.120 or getting in shape, could lead to a longer, healthier life. 63 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.360 It turns out that the same can be said for 64 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:58.120 investing in your personal relationships. Spending time with friends and 65 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.199 family or signing up for a recreation sports league team 66 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:05.319 could pay the dividends down the road. Maintaining social ties 67 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.159 seems to work like mental exercise by promoting new connections 68 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:13.560 in your brain and slowing down age related cognitive decline. 69 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.720 And you don't need to be a social butterfly butterfly 70 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.120 to reap the benefits of connecting with other people. A 71 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:23.879 recent study found that having even one social interaction a 72 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.279 month can cut the incidents of developing dementia in half, 73 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.920 and the benefits are even greater if you connect with 74 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.759 a person that you can confide in. It is very 75 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:37.800 important to be socially active for our brains, says Suraje Samtani, 76 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.040 a lead author of the study and a dementia researcher 77 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.360 at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. But 78 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:46.959 we don't need that much to make a big difference. 79 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.600 Since conducting this research, Stani has ramped up his own 80 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:54.519 social life through exercise. I started karate, and I catch 81 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.639 up with friends and gopher walks every week, he says. 82 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.920 It has just changed the way I do things. Broaden 83 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.839 your definition of exercise. It's almost impossible to overstate how 84 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.759 good physical activity is for your health, no matter how 85 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:11.199 old you are. But you don't necessarily need to be 86 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:14.680 dead lifting four hundred pounds or running an ultra marathon. 87 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.560 Just a little bit of movement, taking the stairs, carrying 88 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:22.839 groceries has significant health advantages for otherwise inactive people. Any 89 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.240 little good that you can do is great, says I 90 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:29.720 Min Lee, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard University. 91 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.920 We are only now verifying these insights, Lee says, because 92 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.160 of a new generation of long term studies that equipped 93 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:43.160 participants with accelerometers think fitness trackers, and she found that, 94 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:47.319 contrary to popular thinking, the longevity benefits of walking hit 95 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:51.160 much sooner than ten thousand steps. Other studies have linked 96 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:56.959 shorter walks to improved mental and cardiovascular health. Similar benefits 97 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.360 come from short bursts of more vigorous activity, such as 98 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.639 walking up a hill. Really tiny amounts, anything from two 99 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.360 to four minutes per day, says Immanuel Stamatakis, professor of 100 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.519 Physical activity and Population Health at Australia's University of Sydney. 101 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.519 In one study, he discovered that these bursts of activity 102 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.959 are associated with a substantial reduction in the isn't incidents 103 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:26.800 of various types of cancer. In other research, using comparable data, 104 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:31.399 Leonard Wiermann, a professor of public health at Griffith University 105 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.959 in Gold Coast, Australia, found that for the least active 106 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:39.319 portion of the population, each hour of walking translates to 107 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:43.000 six extra hours of life. That's quite a good return 108 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:48.319 on investment, he says. Build up your cardio capacity. No 109 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:52.519 matter what new longevity science comes out, many researchers still 110 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:56.639 consider cardiovascular fitness level as one of the best measures 111 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.600 of overall health. Luckily, it can be improved with consistent 112 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:05.160 exercise and easily tracked. The gold standard for evaluating your 113 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.839 performance level is to calculate the maximum rate of oxygen 114 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.959 you use during exhausting physical activity, which occurs as the 115 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:18.160 period during your exercise when your breathing hardest. This figure 116 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:22.720 is called VO two max, and a precise measurer. Measurement 117 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:26.120 of it usually requires breathing into a mass connected to 118 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:30.120 a tube in a lab, but consumer wearable devices like 119 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:34.759 GPS running watches provide a general estimate. Whether your number 120 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:37.720 is in a good or a bad range depends on 121 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:41.120 your age and gender. For example, a VO two max 122 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:46.920 of forty milliliters of oxygen per kilogram per minute would 123 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:50.000 be considered below average for a twenty five year old man, 124 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:53.279 but excellent for a seventy five year old. Either way, 125 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:58.160 that number strongly correlates to your heart health and overall lifespan. 126 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:02.480 Individuals who have a high two max may have a 127 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:06.199 lower risk of dying from all causes, says Martin Gibbala, 128 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:12.079 a professor of kinnesy'siology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. 129 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.279 Over time, moderate to vigorous cardio workouts of all kinds 130 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.399 can boost your VO two max, training your body to 131 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:25.160 more efficiently process oxygen and turn it into energy. A 132 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:29.000 quick workout to do just that is a high intensity exercise, 133 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:32.960 for example, a twenty minute workout that includes three vigorous 134 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.360 five minute efforts. The specific movement matters less than the intensity. 135 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.960 It could be cycling, running, or using an elliptical or 136 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.720 rowing machine. Don't let your muscles go to waste. Raw 137 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.000 strength is strongly associated with a healthier life. If you 138 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.320 train for stronger muscles and bone density now, you'll have 139 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.559 a greater chance of remaining independent as you age. The 140 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:00.159 American College of Sports Medicine recommends everyone perform some or 141 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.240 of resistance training at least twice a week. But what's 142 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:06.879 the best strategy to actually make those strength gains? The 143 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.440 helpful answer is emerging from science and is already common 144 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.480 knowledge at your local gym. Lift weights that are heavy 145 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.600 for you, and try to progressively add way over time. 146 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:21.519 How heavy is heavy? An important concept is muscular failure, 147 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:25.639 the point at which you can't perform even one more repetition. 148 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:28.440 You need to know where failure is to know how 149 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:32.720 hard you're supposed to be training, explains Brad Schoenfeld, a 150 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.879 leading strength training researcher at Lehman College in the Bronx, 151 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.120 New York. While you can make appreciable gains in other ways, 152 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:44.799 studies show the optimal strength workouts consist of low numbers 153 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:48.559 of reps one to six performed relatively close to failure 154 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.519 two or three reps away in other words, strength workouts 155 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:56.360 are ideally quite strenuous, but this training only needs to 156 00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:58.799 take an hour or so each week. You can make 157 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:02.360 very nice gains with a fairly minimal routine in three 158 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.679 or even two days a week. Shown Feld explains, provided 159 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:10.799 you train hard cultivate good eating and sleeping habits, you'll 160 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.200 only get the gains you deserve from your workouts if 161 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.360 they are paired with solid recovery and nutrition. And while 162 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.919 the wellness industry would like to sell your gadgets and 163 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.759 supplements for that, it's best to start with some basics 164 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:24.879 for recovery from the gym and from life. Nothing is 165 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.039 more important than sleep, and a foundation for better rest 166 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.879 is simply routine. Studies indicate that people who go to 167 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.480 sleep and wake up on a regular rhythm get more 168 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:37.759 and higher quality sleep. This is because your body is 169 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.240 hard wire to operate on a roughly twenty four hour 170 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:46.679 circadian cycle. Disruptions can lead to increased risk for cardiovascular disease, 171 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:50.759 increased risk for cancer, changes in mental health, all those 172 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.440 sorts of things, says Tira Legates, a professor at the 173 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:57.960 University of Maryland School of Medicine. And while the prevailing 174 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.399 diet advice often focuses on what you can't eat. A 175 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.559 better approach is to find a way you feel full 176 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.720 and satisfied from whole, unprocessed foods. Fill your plate with vegetables, grains, 177 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.519 and meat, fish or plant proteins. Stuff you enjoy. One 178 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:17.200 landmark study provides some insight as to why. Researchers compared 179 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.840 a diet of ultra processed foods factory made ready to 180 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.879 eat items, and a diet of whole foods. While the 181 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:27.840 two diets were nutritionally equivalent, study participants who went on 182 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.240 both diets for two weeks each gained weight on the 183 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.159 processed diet indus industrially prepared foods seem to mess with 184 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:39.600 your sense of hunger. The study subjects said. The taste 185 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:42.399 of the two options was equally appealing, but they ate 186 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.519 more of the altra processed foods. All the same, the 187 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:49.240 good news is that your whole foods diet can should 188 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.840 be delicious. The more you can do to structure your 189 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.919 life so that you're not having to constantly resist temptation, 190 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:00.519 the better, says Zachary Knight, a physiology professor the University 191 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.360 of California, San Francisco who studies the internal processes that 192 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:09.559 govern hunger. That means having healthier foods at home. Next, 193 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.080 I want to live to be one hundred. As told 194 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:17.320 to Devon Gordon, these iconic athletes were the greatest of 195 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.600 all time at what they did, so who better to 196 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:21.879 ask about getting the most out of their bodies? As 197 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.559 we age. We came in search of wisdom, but they 198 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:30.440 gave us something even better motivation. Nadia Komanice sixty three. 199 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.559 Comaniche was just fourteen years old when she scored the 200 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.799 first ever perfect ten by an Olympic gymnast at the 201 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.440 nineteen seventy six Summer Games in Montreal, and then she 202 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.960 did six more times in what many sports historians consider 203 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.559 the greatest performance of the modern Games. Her combination of 204 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:53.120 athleticism in our artistry captivated a global television audience. Five 205 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.759 years after her retirement, in nineteen eighty four, she defected 206 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.960 from communists Romania to the United States and later made 207 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.759 married US Olympic gymnast Bart Connor. They now run a 208 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:09.279 gymnastics academy in Norman, Oklahoma. In my time, athletes used 209 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.799 to compete, and then they retired. I stopped exercising in 210 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.879 the nineteen eighties because there was not enough information yet 211 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.440 on how keeping your body in good shape would help 212 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.960 you navigate your long term health better. I thought all 213 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.240 that came from genetics. But I was playing soccer for 214 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.960 fun and some of my friends and I realized I 215 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:31.480 was gasping to breathe, and I was like, oh my gosh, 216 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:35.840 that doesn't seem right, especially for a former athlete I have. 217 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:37.919 It's changed when I came to the United States and 218 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.919 discovered Gold's gym. We have a house in Venice Beach, California, 219 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.840 and the original one was right across the street where 220 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:48.120 Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out. I saw him there a lot. 221 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:51.120 It was an introduction to a different kind of lifestyle, 222 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.159 and then it becomes a part of your day to 223 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:55.960 day life. I realized over time that my body was 224 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:59.240 developing different muscles and that I felt better. That was 225 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:02.840 the most important thing. I was even thinking better now. 226 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.919 I work out forty minutes a day no matter where 227 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.320 I am, and I'm very realistic. Your body tells you 228 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.960 what you can do. I don't run, for example, because 229 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.840 I feel my joints will go out too fast. People 230 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.159 often say to me, Nadia, you're in good shape. Then 231 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:21.039 I say, yeah, like a human shape. I'm in okay shape, 232 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.840 but don't expect me to do a double twist. If 233 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.720 I missed that feeling, I go and get it by 234 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.840 walking on a beam, doing some turns, getting out on 235 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.559 the floor, doing some artistic moves. I stopped competing many 236 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.960 years ago, but I didn't get away from the sport. 237 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.000 It's always there for me. Carl Lewis sixty four. In 238 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.720 an era when top American sprinters were major celebrities, Lewis 239 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.799 was a towering figure, not just in the world of 240 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.240 track and field, but across sports. The fastest man alive 241 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.879 throughout the nineteen eighties and early nineties. At age thirty, 242 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.080 he broke the world one hundred meter record, finishing in 243 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.840 nine point eight six seconds. He likes to say when 244 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.679 athletes started going to Las Vegas in the eighties, he 245 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:04.639 hired a chef to improve his diet. Today, he's head 246 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.240 coach of the track and field program at is alma mater, 247 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:14.440 the University of Houston. It feels like everything changed. When 248 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:17.919 I turned sixty. Forty was nothing, Fifty was nothing. Sixty 249 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:20.159 it's a lot harder now. It's just a lot of 250 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:23.559 little things. It feels like if I took. If I 251 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:25.679 look at a calorie, now I gain weight and I 252 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:28.679 can't sleep through the night anymore. That's one thing that's 253 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:31.240 kind of frustrating. And of course I wake up twice 254 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.360 a week wondering why does my back hurt or why 255 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:38.279 is my hamstring tight? In the history of time, we've 256 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.240 only been getting old for like three seconds. We haven't 257 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.039 lived this long for very long, so we're finding out 258 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.679 how so much about aging ourselves. I get fulfillment now 259 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.320 from doing something every year that I never thought I 260 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:54.200 would do. I decided I wanted to bench three hundred 261 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.559 pounds at age sixty, which is crazy. I got to 262 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:00.679 two eighty five. Then one year I went skyded for 263 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.360 sixty three. I wanted to do a split. I started 264 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.320 training about six months beforehand, and I still haven't done 265 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.240 the split. It may take me until sixty five, but 266 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.120 I'm going to do that damn split. And when I'm 267 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:14.919 sixty five, I want to ride sixty five miles on 268 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.000 my bicycle in one day. The most I've gone is 269 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.480 like forty. I've always felt like you need to have 270 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.000 two or three reasons why you want to push yourself. 271 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:27.440 For me, I just feel better physically and emotionally when 272 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.039 I work out and keep my weight down, and there's 273 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.159 definitely some vanity in there. I mean, come on, let's 274 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:35.559 be real. I ran around with more or less no 275 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:37.759 clothes on. But also I want to live to be 276 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.559 a hundred. I try not to fall into the tramp 277 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.559 of saying, oh, you are a super athlete, so you're 278 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:48.039 a super human. I'm a normal human. Cheryl Miller sixty 279 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.799 one basketball player, nineteen eighty four Olympic gold medalist, Basketball 280 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:56.399 Hall of Famer, four time College All American, three time 281 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.799 College Player of the Year, two time nc Double A champion, 282 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:06.640 three thousand, eighteen total career points, fifteen hundred thirty four rebounds. 283 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:10.599 Women's basketball history goes back further than Miller, but she 284 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.359 was the sport's first crossover superstar, leaving the University of 285 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:18.839 Southern California to two NCAA titles in the mid nineteen 286 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.960 eighties and being the centerpiece of the gold medal winning 287 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.160 Team USA at the nineteen eighty four Summer Olympics in 288 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.359 Los Angeles. The w n b A didn't come until 289 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.839 well after her retirement, but she was one of the 290 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:36.240 league inaugural head coaches, with the Phoenix Mercury. The last 291 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.359 time I played in a pick up game, I was 292 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.240 twenty seven, maybe twenty eight, But since then I haven't 293 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.799 picked up a basketball competitively. The pain was already too 294 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.920 bad back then, the crunching and the popping and the swelling. 295 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:50.319 It wasn't worth it. I had bone spurs in the 296 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:52.400 front and in the back of my knee. I could 297 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.880 only walk for twenty minutes, and then I'd immediately have 298 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.880 to get home and do the icing the elevation, but 299 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:01.000 there was no relief. I was miserable. But the only 300 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:04.839 reason why I finally got knee replacements, one around Thanksgiving 301 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:07.240 of twenty three, the other in April of twenty four 302 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.240 is I couldn't ride a bike any more. Why do 303 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:14.000 I wait so long because of that old warrior mentality? 304 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.200 Because I was a big dummy. Now I have a 305 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.680 second lease on life. I'm a kid in the candy 306 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.200 store and learning how to run again. I can at 307 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:23.319 least get out there and put some shots up and 308 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.759 move around. I wake up at four in the morning, 309 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.839 get myself organized for the day, do my Bible study, 310 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.079 and then I'm out the door and walking up hills 311 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:34.480 and jogging and it's such a joy. I'll see a 312 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:36.640 pick up game and I want to possibly get into it, 313 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:40.519 but I'm not quite there yet. That curiosity is there, though. 314 00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:42.799 It's like I wonder if I can still get up 315 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:45.839 and down the floor, get hit a little bit, set 316 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.119 a screen, try to box somebody out, grab a rebound, 317 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.440 make that outlet pass sprint down, finish the lay up. 318 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:54.880 Those are still things in the back of my mind. 319 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.039 I wonder, with a smile on my heart, I wonder. 320 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:02.400 Cherry Rice sixty two football player, three times Super Bowl winner, 321 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.000 Pro Football Hall of Famer, twenty two thousand, eight hundred 322 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.319 ninety five receiving yards, fifteen hundred forty nine catches, two 323 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:14.759 hundred eight total touchdowns. Rice is the NFL's all time 324 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:18.680 leader in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns, and yet, coming 325 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.599 out of little known Mississippi Valley State University, Rice faced 326 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.720 concerns he might be too slow and too untested. He 327 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.799 wound up playing twenty seasons as a wide receiver while 328 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:31.400 earning a reputation for out working every one on the 329 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.920 field and always staying in flawless shape. He won three 330 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.240 Super Bowls with the San Francisco forty Niners. He still 331 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:40.759 lives in the Bay Area and co founded an energy 332 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:44.359 drink business, g O A T Fuel with his daughter 333 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:48.039 and son in law. I wasn't the greatest athlete out there. 334 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.720 I wasn't the fastest. There were guys so much more 335 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.440 gifted than I was. Chris Carter, Michael Irvin, Randy Moss. 336 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.119 What they could do on the football field was amazing. 337 00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.720 I'm not saying those guys didn't work hard, but I 338 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.920 knew I had to work harder. I was always reaching 339 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.599 when I played, and I'm still reaching after retiring from 340 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:09.240 the game. I'm not dialing anything back now. Man. I'm 341 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.279 always challenging myself to be the best individual that I 342 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.759 can be. It's just in my DNA. I want people 343 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:17.920 to know that after you step away from something that 344 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:20.640 you've been doing for a long long time, life is 345 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.960 not over. I actually believe that when people have nothing 346 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.160 to do after their careers, that's when everything goes downhill. 347 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:29.920 There's nothing to wake up for and be excited about. 348 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.720 I wake up every morning and well, I'm not going 349 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:35.039 to say I'm excited to work out because I know 350 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.319 it's going to hurt, but it's going to put me 351 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:40.359 in a frame of mind that hey, I really did 352 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.160 something productive for my body, and now I'm ready to 353 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.519 be the greatest person that I can be during the day. 354 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:48.920 I'm actually down to my playing weight now, and I've 355 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:51.240 been out of the game for a long time. I 356 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:54.440 do a lot of peloton, a lot of CrossFit. I 357 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.880 also have a big South African mastiff and he likes 358 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.200 to run, so he get out there. And yet the 359 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:02.720 knee is going to swell sometimes and you might be 360 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:04.920 a little stiff when you get out of bed, but 361 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:07.440 you've got to fight through that pain knowing that the 362 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:10.279 ultimate goal is that you're still going to be flexible 363 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.640 and active as you get older. So that's my motivational speech. 364 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.759 Challenge yourself every day and it's going to reward you 365 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:21.400 in the end. Next article How an American icon helped 366 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:26.920 save Egypt's ancient temples by Kate Story. Sixty five years ago, 367 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:31.319 the temple of Abu Simbal were destined to disappear beneath 368 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.279 the murky waters of a new dam. Then Jackie Kennedy 369 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.960 got involved to secure its future. Egypt had made the 370 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.440 hard decision to let go of its past. It was 371 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.160 nineteen sixty in construction had just begun on southern Egypt's 372 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:48.480 a Swan high dam, which would generate hydroelectric power, provide 373 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.799 more arable land, and control the flood prone Nile River. 374 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:54.119 But for all the good a dam would do, it 375 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:57.519 was also going to be disastrous for the area's archaeological wonders. 376 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:02.680 The massive reservoar was expected to destroy dozens of priceless 377 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.799 historic sites, including the majestic twin Temples of Abu Symbol 378 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.799 built more than three millennia ago. The monument was commissioned 379 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:14.440 by Rameses the Second and chiseled directly into a sandstone 380 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:17.799 cliff on the western bank of the river. The imposing 381 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:20.759 facade of the main temple was guarded by four towering 382 00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:25.519 Rameses the Second Colossi, each sixty seven feet high, and 383 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:29.960 the nearby smaller temple was dedicated to Queen Nefertari and Hathor, 384 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:33.839 the goddess of love, music and dance. The temple's inner 385 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:36.720 sanctums were carved deep into the cliff and filled with 386 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:41.519 statues of Egyptian gods and reliefs depicting victorious military battles. 387 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:46.039 It was one of Egypt's finest pharoonic treasures, and it 388 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:50.640 was about to be lost forever. In October nineteen sixty five, 389 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:54.039 the nineteen ton visage of Rameses the second was carefully 390 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:57.319 cut from the Egyptian Riverbank mountain, where it had stood 391 00:22:57.319 --> 00:22:59.920 for more than three thousand years and hoisted onto a 392 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.640 truck headed to a new site. If not for an 393 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:07.160 alley halfway around the world, Abu Symbols famous statues may 394 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.039 have been lost to a vast lake created by the 395 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:15.160 Aswan High Dam. To save Abu Symbol, an international consortium 396 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:19.559 of conservationists launched an unprecedented rescue mission before the dam's 397 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:22.680 completion in nineteen seventy. The plan was to cut the 398 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.799 entire complex out of the mountain by meticulously deconstructing each 399 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.640 stately chin, cheek and crown, more than a thousand pieces 400 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:34.480 in total, and then transporting and reassembling them on higher ground. 401 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.720