A Body in Motion
I’d like to introduce you to John DeFord, pictured here. John and I met a couple weeks back while Carol, Simon and I were hiking in Yosemite National Park. The first time we met was after we reached the top of a dome where we got amazing views of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. We were on our way down and there was John eating a Danish pastry.
We stopped to ask some directions as we were thinking of going in a different direction from where we started. He was very helpful and immediately started chatting us up. “Where are you from?” he asked. And off we went, into a thorough give and take of personal information.
We learned that John is a Physics professor at the University of Utah, where he has been teaching for 59 years. Imagine that! I can’t, I’m 59 years old. The only things I can think of that I’ve been doing for that long are the basic functions of life; breathing, sleeping, eating, you get the rest. I haven’t even been walking that long.
Like me, John’s a skier. He has a house in the Rocky Mountains. He enters endurance ski races and always wins his age group. Of course, he does, there is no one else in his age group racing. As he said, “all I have to do is finish.” However, that’s not a given as endurance races are tough. So is John.
I told John that he was my idol as I have a goal to ski until I’m 85. At 85 years old, John’s already accomplished that.
The next day we crossed paths with John again. I asked if he remembered me. To which he said, of course I do. Then I asked if I could take his picture. Then I said, “your students shouldn’t be learning physics from you, they should be learning how to live a long and healthy life.” To which John responded, “Do you want to know how I do it?” Absolutely, I replied.
He proceeded to tell me: I eat a high fat diet, avoid as many greens as possible and I climb 110 flights of steps daily. My jaw almost dropped. 110 flights a day. That’s on average between 1320 – 1430 steps up a day. I later spoke with his wife and she confirmed he works out every day. We proceeded on our hike and as you might imagine, John went further and faster than us. His wife turned back as he continued on with his son. While I don’t endorse his diet regimen, clearly his physical activity makes a difference.
By contrast, my parents are 87 and 86. My dad worked out hard throughout his life, however, he ran. As a big man, running took a toll on his body. He ended up with spinal stenosis, and multiple hip replacements. Over time, his strength and balance declined, as did his activity. His physical decline, combined with dementia, has resulted in his being afraid to get up, so he’s become confined to a bed.
My mother was a strong, vibrant woman up until 84 ½ when she had a stroke. While she’s recovered reasonably well, it has certainly slowed her down and now she uses a rollator most of the time to support her balance. The difference is, my mother refuses to succumb to her physical limitations. She is adamant about being independent and is working hard with a physical therapist to ensure she maintains her mobility as long as possible.
Carol and I work out with a trainer multiple times a week and the most important lesson I’ve learned is that what I need at this stage of my life is functional strength. The strength to be able to function, to do the things I/we want to do to enjoy in our lives. I can tell you after working out with a trainer for three years, functional strength makes a difference.
The day after our second encounter with John, Carol, Simon, and I did a 9.5-mile hike that included us climbing over 2200 vertical feet, while starting from an elevation of 4000ft. While we weren’t the oldest on the trail that we encountered, we were among the oldest. That makes me proud.
As I mentioned, John is a physics professor. Clearly, John has internalized and is applying physics to his life. Issac Newton’s first law of motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. John keeps his body in motion, and it continues in motion.
We can’t determine our genetic make-up, but we can take actions which enable us to thrive as we age. Time to go. It’s a beautiful day and I’m going out to climb some hills.