09/12/2026
Growing up, I was not a gifted athlete. (Nothing has changed!)
I was a below average baseball player, an average basketball player, and an average football player. (In 1982, the NFL went out on strike and teams were crisscrossing the nation holding three day mini-tryouts of walk-ons trying to put together "scab teams." When the Minnesota Vikings—my favorite NFL team—held a tryout here in Memphis, I signed up. I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. Long story made short. I didn't make the team. When I was cut after two days, the coach said, "Well, Ludlow, you've got pretty good hands (I was trying out to be a wide-receiver), but unfortunately, those hands are attached to a guy who's too short and too slow. Thanks for coming out." 😢
I didn't start exercising weekly, on purpose as a personal choice without being compelled by others, until I was 18. I've been doing it regularly, three or more times a week, ever since: for 50 years, from 1976 to 2026.
In all those fifty years, my workouts have never been more important than they are now.
Youth has a way of covering a multitude of poor lifestyle choices. But once I hit my early 30s, I could sense the importance of regular, weekly, exercise. The importance has only grown with every passing year.
Once upon a time, physical fitness was important to participating in athletic events like triathlons and tennis, and for trying to look my best. You can't discount the role vanity plays in our decision to exercise.
But now ... the overwhelming motivation behind my exercise is health and quality of life. Only about 70% of American men make it to 69—my current age. My grandfathers didn't make it to 69 and my father didn't make it to 70. Of those 70% who make it to 69, only about 20% report having a good to great quality of life.
Of course, there are things outside of our control. Unpreventable illness, accident, and injury can have catastrophic effects on our quality of life. Which only make our physical fitness even MORE important because healthy people fight off illness better and recover from injury better. In fact, lack of muscle mass is one of the most common contributing factors to people's declining health when illness comes.
The older we get, the MORE protein we need because our body doesn't synthesize protein as effectively and efficiently as it did when we were younger.
How important is muscle to health and life?
If you have a 10% loss of muscle mass, your risk of death is 20%; if you have a 20% loss of muscle mass, your risk of death is 30%; if you have a 30% loss of muscle mass, your risk of death goes up to 50%; and a 40% loss of muscle mass leads to death. A 40% loss of muscle mass is incompatible with life.
I have an admission to make. There is an expiration date to my time on the stage. At some point, that'll be it for me. Ashley has told me I have to make it to 104 and I'm gonna do my best, but ...
I want to have the best quality of life all the way up to the end. And that won't happen without proactive and intentional effort on my part. Passivity will only lead to more passivity ... and more passivity will lead to ... well ... you know.
Adults over 40 need at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, plus muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week.
If your first Goggle looked like this photo, you need to workout with me!
