Contemplative Fitness

10/18/2026

I hear this far too often, usually accompanied by a frown, a sigh, or silence…

“Getting old sucks…“

Actually, that’s not true. At least in my case. The older I get, the more I seem to enjoy and appreciate my life.

Getting older shouldn’t suck.

What actually sucks, which gets blamed on age for too often, is getting unhealthy over the course of a lifetime. Becoming less healthy over time, though, has far less to do with aging than most people realize. Becoming less healthy over time is directly related to the decisions we make as we age. Getting less healthy is tied to the adaptations we make as we age, relative to the environments that we live within and navigate each day.

Getting old doesn’t have to suck. It shouldn’t suck.

In evolutionary terms, throughout human history, it’s only recently that getting old has become a problem. If a person keeps active, and continues to do so as they age, the aging curve flattens out — considerably. Yes, one‘s abilities will decline as they age, and some dings, pings, and aches may manifest over time, but not at the same level they will if one is less active as the age.

No matter how hard we try, we will lose muscle mass, we will lose bone density, we will lose flexibility, we will lose balance, and we will lose energy over time. That said, all of those losses can be kept in check and minimized through regular activity. As long as we are active, those will all decline at a much slower pace than if we just choose to be old and avoid activity, including regular exercise.

An hour of moderate strength training done twice a week, and 20 minutes of continuous walking done 4 to 5 days a week, can flatten out the aging decline significantly. And the truth is, regular exercise isn’t as hard or time-consuming as you might think…

10/09/2026

Don’t Aim To Gain More Muscle — Improve On What You Already Have…

It’s rare when a week passes by that I don’t read, see, or hear something about the importance of gaining muscle over the age of 60. Whether it’s from social media influencers, conversations I overhear in the gym, or questions from clients reflecting what their doctors suggested to them, it’s apparently been established by those in the know that it’s important to gain muscle over the age of 60. Now here’s the thing…

Gaining muscle isn’t easy. In fact, it’s a chore. I’ve worked with male athletes who produce high levels of testosterone, workout two hours a day, and eat everything but the family cat, and they still struggle to gain muscle. For the casual strength trainer over the age of 60, male or female, gaining muscle shouldn’t be the primary goal. The goal should be to take the muscle you already have and get better at using it — don’t focus on building a bigger machine. Focus on learning how to use the machine you already have.

I don’t think training to gain muscle over the age of 60 is a bad goal, but to benefit from strength training, gaining muscle isn’t necessary. Gaining tangible muscle comes with a higher price than most people realize or are prepared to pay. Getting more familiar with your muscular skeleton and learning how to use it better can have life-changing effects, and with the right approach, can improve your health as well as your overall state of being. No need to gain an ounce of mass.

Training your muscles regularly to better perform the jobs that are required of them in everyday life is more sustainable for most casual strength trainers, and the results can be observed in just a matter of weeks from the time you begin astrength training program. Regular strength training, even without the intention of gaining muscle, will help slow down the inevitable loss of muscle tissue that begins at the approximate age of 35. Training with moderate weights will also slow down the loss of bone density.

I’m in my mid 60s. I’ve been training with weights since I was 12 years old. I still strength train for roughly an hour a day, 5 to 6 days a week. But what I’m training for these days isn’t more muscle mass. What I’m training for is to have an absolute awareness and complete command of my muscular skeleton, so that when it gets called into action to perform any function, I’ll be able to do it to the best of my ability, and hopefully without any help. I think that’s a good goal, and if you’re over 60, if I’m being honest, I think that should be your goal too…

rc

10/06/2026

It’s sad to me, in this era of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, that so many people get their fitness and exercise advice from those platforms, and the so-called influencers who dominate those platforms. It’s something I pay attention to regularly, and I have no problem saying this — the ridiculous advice offered on social media on exercise and nutrition far exceeds any good advice.

Once upon a time, and before social media, maybe 15 to 20 years ago, a person had to use the process trial and error, over periods of time, to explore what techniques worked, and which ones didn’t. You tracked your workouts, you tracked your eating, you took notes, and you correlated that information over periods of time, and adjusted accordingly. People sought advice where they could, applied it, and if it didn’t work, they moved on.

For most everyone, it was all trial and error — the process of learning on one’s own self, by experimenting in the gym and at the dinner table. Personally, I learned a great deal through that process, and it’s a process that still continues. The knowledge and experience I gained has helped make me very good at what I do for a living.

When I look at fitness and fitness influencers on social media, with very few exceptions, I shake my head. In-part, because I see how ridiculous their advice usually is. But I also shake my head, knowing that millions of people will try the most ridiculous things, before they move onto the next ridiculous thing offered by the next influencer, never stopping to consider for themselves what may and may not work, and why.

Experimentation, both in the gym and at the dinner table should be the foundations of learning, and in my opinion, is the best source of knowledge one can hope for in changing and improving their body….

Jhciacb

PS: Oh, and if you dress like the Eddie Vedder of 1989 in the gym, people avoid you, and that’s a beautiful thing… 

10/05/2026

Pro Tip:

If you want to set a personal record for 30 minutes on a stationary bike, the best thing to do is take three days off prior, and during those three days, eat nothing but bread and candy. Worked for me anyway… 

09/30/2026

Good morning…

This page is now nearly 20 years old. When I went to post a link for my blog this morning, Meta notified me that I can only post two links per month. If I wish to post more than two links per month, of my own intellectual property, for my own page, Meta wishes to now charge me $49 a month. No joke, $49 a month.

If you’d like to read my blog, please check out my main page, Roy Jhciacb Cohen.

And to you, Meta, you can go f**k yourself with all the f**k you’re capable of f**king yoursrlf with.

If it’s possible to f**k yourself with more f**k than that, that’s how much you can go f**k yourself…!!!

09/27/2026

Breaking Bad Times...

Gains are good. Plateaus are bad. And trees are made out of wood.

If one Googles the phrase, breaking exercise plateaus, roughly 190,000 responses are listed. Of course not all of those responses are linked directly to scientific methods for breaking exercise plateaus, but it’s fair to suggest that many of them are. Google the phrase, breaking weight loss plateaus, and roughly 76,000 responses are listed.

No, this will not be a tip on breaking exercise or weight loss plateaus.

A point of fact: The idea of breaking weight loss or exercise plateaus is not rooted anywhere in science or physiology. The idea of breaking weight loss and exercise plateaus is rooted exclusively in the land of expectations.

Whether we are pursuing weight loss, or muscular gains, we know that we will hit plateaus, and we expect that there will be some scientifically proven method to break through those plateaus.

Here’s a thought: Plateaus might actually be good. They can test our resolve, and commitment. They teach us the utility of honest observation. They can teach us to get more from the methods we are already using. They can illuminate our lofty expectations. Not withstanding, they are just another (long-term) form of recovery.

I’m not suggesting that we don’t explore and use scientifically proven methods to breakthrough our exercise and weight loss plateaus. I am suggesting that we more closely examine our expectations that we should.

Perhaps the best method for breaking through an exercise or weight loss plateau is to simply outlast it — with diligence and commitment for all… rc

09/21/2026

On my commutes back-and-forth to Fallbrook, I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts about fitness, strength training, and endurance training. I’ve come to the belief that it’s all just f**king madness. I get aggravated and sickened every time I listen, but I keep listening because I want to stay in touch with where the “experts“ stand on so many of these variables.

The more I listen, the more I go back to my basic values when I begin that business 30-years ago…

- If you’re breathing hard and sweating you’re head of the game.

- Lift heavy things regularly, but do so properly.

- Eat more vegetables than anything else.

- Rest when you can, if time allows and stress doesn’t get the better of you.

- Be consistent. Do something physical every day for at least 30- minutes.

Really, to me that’s fitness, and Health even, in a nutshell. Everything else is just commentary and speculation.

Science is important, there’s no doubt, but we can overcomplicate some basic principles by applying too much science too frequently, and establishing metrics that, in the big picture, are meaningless.

There, I said it… 

09/17/2026

Little daily victories….

09/17/2026

And the band played on…

On Tuesday evening, November 8, 2016, I went to bed believing I’d wake up the next morning with Hillary Clinton having been elected the next president of the United States.

09/14/2026

Yesterday, I went off the rails with my eating. It wasn’t a sight for kids. Pancakes, spaghetti, ice cream, and that was all before 4 PM. One rule of thumb I use after a day when I come off the rails is simply this…

I don’t try to compensate for it the next day. I don’t eat lighter. I don’t skip meals. And I don’t starve myself to make up for a bad day of eating the day before.

I know many people who do this — after a bad day of eating, they’ll skip eating the next day until dinner time, or just eat as little as possible. The problem with that is, due to an imbalance of glucose and insulin caused by the bad eating day, a person who skips meals to make up for bad eating is likely to become so hungry at the end of the day that they over eat.

So if you have a bad day eating, like I did yesterday, simply wipe it off the books, try to forget about it, and eat a normal healthy day ahead — without skipping meals or eating less to compensate for a bad rating day. That simply doesn’t work.

Think of it this way — under eating during the day usually leads to over eating at night.

So, after a bad day of eating, shrug it off and eat normally the next day. I promise you’ll be better off. I know I will…

rc