Workout or die: Optimum fitness at 68

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 83

A decade ago Mark Figearo’s health was in such a perilous state that his doctors feared the worst. With a family history of heart problems the California businessman knew he had to take drastic action to reverse the inevitable decline in his health.

 Now aged 68, Mark works out five days a week and is a keen obstacle course racer. 

In this interview with LLAMA’s Peter Bowes, Mark explains his daily regime and shares the secrets behind his journey to optimum fitness and mental clarity.

This is the second in our series of interviews at Results Fitness, in Newhall, California, featuring older athletes enjoying the best health of their lives.

Obstacle race solution to mid-life fitness crisis

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 82 

Rachel Cosgrove was always the coach and mentor that everyone in the gym looked up to. Lean, strong and successful she was the model, middle-aged athlete – a go-getter fitness coach who inspired her clients. But as Rachel turned 40 she realized that the body she once had was no longer that of an elite athlete. The co-owner of Results Fitness in Newhall, California, was putting on weight and becoming “a statistic” in her 40s. What happened next is nothing short of remarkable.

In this LLAMA podcast interview Rachel opens up about a personal journey that grew out of an alarming realization that she was facing a mid-life fitness crisis.

This is the first of three episodes, featuring older adults (between 40 and 80), who find their form and achieve extraordinary results as obstacle course racers.

Living beyond the battlefield, building medical devices

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 81

When Captain Derek Herrera was shot by a sniper in Afghanistan his life was forever changed. Paralysed from the chest down, he left the military to embark on a new career in medical technology. He devoured the scientific literature to try to find solutions to the chronic disabilities he faced. One problem, neurogenic bladder dysfunction – an inability to control the bladder – mirrored the difficulties faced by millions of people with spinal injuries and other conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Cpt. Herrera set up a company, Spinal Singularity, and working with doctors, engineers and potential users, he has developed a new device, known as the Connected Catheter, which could significantly improve the lives of sufferers. In this interview with Peter Bowes, Cpt. Herrera describes the dramatic moment when his life was almost taken away; how he reinvented himself as an entrepreneur and built a company to change the way medical devices are developed.

Travis Longcore: Wildfire expert

Travis Longcore, assistant professor, University of Southern California School of Architecture and Spatial Sciences Institute, joined me and Rhod Sharp to discuss the horrific wildfires which have devastated parts of California this week. The blaze in Paradise, in the north of the state, is the most destructive and deadliest on record in California. 

Broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tuesday 13th November, 2018

LISTEN HERE

Aging in extraordinary times

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 80

Advancements in science and technology make it easier and more fulfilling to grow old. But Paul Irving, chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, says if we are to realize the “longevity dividend,” society must play a bigger role in promoting healthy and purposeful aging.

Paul is also the chairman of Encore.org and distinguished scholar in residence at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. He says while medical breakthroughs make it possible to extend lifespans, older people face huge challenges as they embrace longer lives.

In a return visit to the podcast, Paul tells Peter Bowes aging should be part of the curriculum for younger people and explains why he believes "intergenerational connection" should be a policy priority for institutions across society and for each one of us individually.