TN50#150_Lessons From a 93-Year-Old Rowing Champion_29 January 2024
Hi Team,
I’d like to introduce you all to Richard Morgan, a 93-year-old 4X World Champion in Indoor Rowing. Mr. Morgan didn’t get on a rower until he was 73, this is also when he began exercising.
Happy Monday and welcome to The Next 50 #150. I like to think of personal performance in 3 components: physical, mental and emotional. My frameworks focus on 4 Buckets: Eat, Sleep, Move and Think. This blog is my sandbox for sharing information that you might find useful for your personal performance.
The Washington Post published an article on Mr. Morgan this month. Here’s a couple quotes from the article
“We need to look at very active older people if we want to understand aging,” said Bas Van Hooren, a doctoral researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands
“If some people stay strong and fit deep into their golden years, the implication is that many of the rest of us might be able to as well, he said.”
If you read through the very short article, you’ll see a lot of similarities regarding Mr. Morgan’s routine and anything you’d see or hear from the likes of today’s aging experts, like Dr. Peter Attia, author of the best seller, Outlive.
- Morgan, rows about 40 minutes a day. His weekly volume is broken up as follows: 70% Low Intensity (Z2), 20% Medium Intensity (Z3), 10% High Intensity (Z4/5).
- Morgan, lifts weights, 2 or 3 times a week, till he gets tired.
- Morgan, eats a lot of protein
Here’s something the article doesn’t mention but I picked up on.
Morgan appears to have really good relationships. He picked up rowing, in his 70’s, when he was with his grandson. I really want to be running around with my grandkids when I’m in my 70’s! And look at this picture with a lovely cake and his wife, Rita (pix: snipped from the Washington Post article, don’t sue me!)
Look at the vein in this guy’s forearm; and you have to love the instant coffee (reminds me of hunting trips with my dad) next to the boiler on the counter.
Here are 3 possible take aways from reading this post and the attached article:
- Sweet! I don’t have to start taking care of myself until my mid-70s!
- Concept 2 Rowers are magical “Youth” machines!
- A good life includes: good relationships and good personal performance.
For me, one of these statements is absolutely true, one is pretty freaking true. If you aren’t sure which one’s which, drop me a note: alex@fpp.llc
If you want to see the case study on Mr. Morgan, here’s the link:
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00698.2023
Who do you know that could use this information? I bet you can think of a couple of folks before you click the next email!
As always share the post with your team and anyone who might find it useful and let me know what you think!
Have a good one, Alex
PS. Do you have a Performance question I can answer? Let me know: alex@fpp.llc
PPS. If your new to First Principles Performance Coaching, here’s a one stop shop for all my stuff.
