Here’s your post-Thanksgiving regimen
I’m all for keeping fit, but Robert Durbin is a bit extreme. He’s 64 and lost 70 pounds seven years ago by radically transforming his health habits, going on a rigorous diet and exercising. He had already quit smoking and drinking some years before that.
Did I say “exercising”? There should be a stronger word for what Durbin does:
Every morning right after he wakes up, he does about a mile on his elliptical ski glider, followed by 1,200 to 1,800 repetitions of abdominal exercises.
Then it’s off to the gym, where he spends three hours doing CrossFit, weight training and skills training.
At night, he repeats his ski glider workout and abdominal exercises before he goes to bed. And he visits the gym several evenings per week for kettlebell, yoga and kickboxing classes.
Durbin isn’t quite satisfied, though, “I’d still like to get a little bit of the skin gone down there, you know, around my lower stomach.”
In the video of Durbin at the link (I can’t find a way to embed it, so you have to go here to view it) he says that one of his motivations for getting fit was that he was afraid that he wouldn’t have much time left with his grandchildren. He may have improved his chances for longevity—and he’s most definitely improved his mobility, because before beginning his regimen he was even having trouble walking. But I’m not at all sure he’s got more time now on a day-to-day basis to see his grandkids, with a schedule like that.
For someone like Durbin, the line between conscientious and obsessed can be a fine one. I’m well aware of the problem. I don’t have a physique anything like his (or rather, anything like the female version of his). But I’ve long been accused of being somewhat obsessive about exercise, and back in my dancing days I definitely was—as most dancers are.
Here’s Durbin:
“I just go bonkers if I can’t get to the gym or something,” he said. “My gym, I think it’s closed (on Thanksgiving) so I’m going to have a fit.”
That doesn’t seem all that…healthy.
There is an endorphin high that comes with exercise. It can be quite addicting. This is a very familiar story to me. I never was 70 pounds over my high school weight of 175, but did reach 45 pounds (220) over a couple of times in my life.
I had always been active – running during my Navy and early airline days, then shifting to rock climbing and skiing in my forties and fifties. I learned to use Nautilus equipment as a way to improve my strength and endurance for rock climbing. I quit high level rock climbing when I could no longer do the hard routes and found it difficult to find partners to climb with.
When I retired at age 60 I decided to make a commitment to physical fitness because work and family responsibilities had always distracted me from getting and maintaining top physical condition. I joined a gym, did a lot of outdoor physical labor while building our house as well as hiking up steep mountains in our area. In the winter I did a lot of cross country skiing and snow shoveling in addition to going to the gym.
At the gym there was another fellow my age who was in fantastic shape and had an unbelievable physique. He was a committed body builder, and after three years, he talked me into joining him in entering Masters (over 60) body building contests around the Pacific Northwest. He taught me the finer points of weight lifting, aerobics, and dieting to prepare for contests. It was fun, even addictive, but also very time consuming. Additionally, my wife tolerated, but was not pleased with, all the time and dietary restrictions that went into the effort. It lasted for four years and ended when my friend fell off his roof (repairing a shingle and caulking his chimney.) and was severely injured – putting an end to his pursuit of a national Masters title. (Yes, he was that good.) Without his prodding and enthusiasm, I reverted to just staying in shape while trying to lead a more normal life. At times I think I might try to get back in contest shape and do a few shows. I used to show at a weight of + or -182 pounds. However, I now weigh 185 pounds and it’s obvious that I’m still 10-12 pounds from contest shape. Obviously, I have lost muscle in the last 13 years. Also, my body now gives up fat very grudgingly. Getting to 173 would require very, very strict dieting. At this point in time, I’m just not willing to spend the time and obsessive effort – there is more to life for me than being ripped.
I wish Durbin well in his pursuit of fitness, but I hope he eventually realizes he can stay fit and healthy without putting in quite so much time. My guess is that his family would appreciate it. I know mine did when my bodybuilding days ended.
J.J.:
I figure we’d be hearing from you. I had remembered you were very much into fitness.
I’ve never been into it to that degree—and never into bodybuilding at all—but dancers are obsessive. I used to dance at least two hours every day, and that included Sundays. Going away on a trip was very hard for me to do, and I would take a portable bar with me (actually, a chinup bar, although I never did chinups) to put in doorways and workout in motels.
I still try to walk 45 minutes every day, 3 miles. It doesn’t compare in effort and time put in, but it has that same obsessive quality.
And then, of course, there’s blogging, which is also an activity that takes a certain amount of OCD.
What are the psychological roots of OCD?
Does Durbin ever talk about anything but his exercise regimen? If not, he would be a pretty boring guy. Sort of like women who dwell on their gluten intolerance, or vegans.
I’m sort of with Neo’s hero, Winston: No Sports.
My mom enrolled my in dance class when I was 5. I was terrible and not very happy. Shortly before I started 1st grade, I told my mother I wanted to quit because I thought I would need all my spare time for school. I took 3 different swimming classes and never really became a swimmer, although I certainly understood how one should do it. I used to like being in water and paddling around, but strenuous swimming was not my thing.
I tell people my physical hobby is martial arts, although that is not entirely accurate.
I did weight training in school but found my natural flexibility getting killed because of gaining 15-30 or so pounds while weight lifting. I could bench my body weight and jump up from a standing start, up near chest height and land balanced. But I could no longer lock my hands behind my shoulder, one up one down. I could no longer reach from my right side to the back of my left shoulder using my right hand.
One of the benefits of researching martial arts is how old injuries and weaknesses with age (such as reduced reflexes, burst speed, etc) aren’t so much weaknesses as opportunities to learn the truths about physical power. Unlike body building, martial arts training that I personally do refines the muscles and elongates them. So that the foot is connected to the hand in a series of flexible, long, muscle chains. Similar to a boxer, but without the boxer’s need for the heavy shoulders and triceps given a reliance on gravity rather than muscle power. Rory Miller also mentioned in his book that smaller people, like him, had to learn how to use gravity to face off against larger, stronger opponents. A swimmer’s physique is probably very similar to the goal.
One thing I did mention to a guest at the food table was that people who do martial arts as a hobby, more of a lifestyle kind of thing, treats it as a toy. When people are bored, some watch movies, ready ebooks on kindle. Those who like martial arts or physical stuff, start doing that when they are bored. If they can do it while waiting in line, they do. If they can do it while cooking dinner in the kitchen, they’ll start “thinking” of it and doing it.
So for modern life, it’s nice to have a hobby that consists of only using your own body and mind, not any external tools, as you can carry it around a lot more conveniently than an ipod or kindle. Also recharging the “toy” merely requires that you do what you would normally do (eat, sleep, and not get killed).
Mastery level individuals often consider their chosen topic in the same fashion as a child does. As something to play around with. It is that very flexibility of thought, that is often shared between geniuses and those meeting mastery requirements (10,000 hours of practice or simulation time). Those who seek the fire of competition, sport, social status, and success will of course have a higher chance of burning out. They won’t be able to do it their own entire life, because the physical energy requirements are too high, the injury rate is too high, and the downtime from recovery is too long. As with Mozart, the brighter the blame, the faster the candle burns down. Same for geniuses and prodigies. It’s often necessary to introduce a breaker or moderation function if you want something to last.
In the Taoist philosophy, too much yang is self defeating, as it negates itself. That means too much struggle (as Jihad is struggle, in that context) wastes a lot of energy.
Durbin, like so many others, just wants to be the star in his own freak show. He’s it all right. A freak. But then again there are endless numbers of blighted souls wanting everyone to pay attention to their private freak shows.
Tank is giving. Shortened to Thanksgiving. Burrrrp.
I filled up my tank and then retired to the damn couch where after awhile the bloat required a relief trip to the outdoors.
Roger Simon just wrote about his fitness. I think that’s great. There’s a balance and right now that balance is escaping out my ass if you know what I mean.
JJ, you goddamn beautiful body you. If you can do it, so can I. Thanks for proving it. I think I’ll have another piece of pumpking pie!
Everyone over 50, check out creatine. Gets your ATP levels back up, boosts yr muscles’ Krebs cycle, ergo builds muscles and energy. My doc says its the only supplement he takes. Ive been using it and you feel the afterburners kick on in week one. Oh and both knee specialists I’ve seen said glucosamine Is worthless.
Growth hormones, or artificial hormones, should help the body function at older ages. The better the hormone levels, the more the body can heal itself.
Back in 2006 there was a doctor in our area who was offering Hgh supplementation. My wife and I were on it for about a year. It took a couple of months to find out what level of dosage was effective. For nine months we enjoyed the benefits of feeling much more energetic and an overall feeling of wellness. We slept much better and were less achy overall. Then, much to our dismay, the FDA cracked down on doctors providing Hgh in Washington state. We could no longer obtain it legally. We believe, based on our experience, that it is a very useful supplement for older people when used under the supervision of a doctor. If it was legal and widely available, it might reduce some of the healthcare costs for the elderly. It would not retard aging much, if at all, but would certainly allow old people to feel better and be more mobile longer. However, as long as the FDA believes it is a dangerous drug we’ll never know for sure.
I had an internship with a woman who got into a fitness craze at age 40 and was in tremendous shape at 50. But she was freaked out over aging so much that when I commented once that it’s great to see older women who are active and artistic (talking about my mother’s generation), she heard “old” and took me aside about four days later to chew me up.
I felt really bad that my apologizing wasn’t enough. Then an older gentleman explained that she’d not just gotten fit in her 40s; she’d divorced her husband of 20 years and taken up with younger men. By the time we met, young men were no longer interested in her and she was finding herself alone (her ex had remarried a nice but dumpy lady).
That was my first real glimpse of the self-obsession by an older person. I was quite aware of young girls trying to act older and starving to stay thin.
As for exercise, I used to run until I was hit by a car and landed on one knee. A friend got me some yoga DVDs to try (that’s this afternoon’s task: Move a TV into the livingroom where there’s room for a mat.) I gave up gym membership because I’d rather work outdoors and it seems ridiculous to drive to a treadmill when I can walk laps in the nearby high school.
I don’t know about losing pounds per se but I’d like to be able to lift more weight. I’m taking down yards of wallpaper and my arms get tired after just a half hour.
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a completely different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design.
Superb choice of colors!
If only Obama’s regime was as unobtrusive in their marketing of “stuff” as this energy guy. At least they get paid for a service. What does Obama get paid for? Stepping on new borns?
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