In November, I am going to experience a dramatic ageing event. It’s science apparently. It’s coming and I better get ready.
Research published in the journal Nature Aging last year announced that rather than being a slow and steady process, ageing occurs in two accelerated bursts, when you turn 44 and then again at 60 (hopefully it’s clear that I’m turning the former rather than the latter this year).
Senior author of the study Professor Michael Snyder, who is also director of the Center for Genomics and Personalised Medicine at Stanford University, declared: “We’re not just changing gradually over time. There are some really dramatic changes. It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s – and that’s true no matter what class of molecules you look at.”
If it wasn’t for my next birthday I probably would have completely glossed over the write-ups of the study, but it’s a sobering reminder that no matter what age I manage to get to before checking out, I have more energetic and active years behind me than I do in front of me.
It also reminded me of what a NHS nurse cheerily told me during a check-up when I turned 40. Apparently, it’s “all downhill from here”. Charming.
There are clearly two ways to approach this horrific prospect of ageing dramatically, either just go “ah screw it, we had a good run” and give into it and keep shoving mince pies into my face, or… I could actually try and do something that might lessen the impact of turning 44.
2024 was a brutally hard year for me and my family for reasons I’ve documented before (our baby daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder). I did try (kinda, not really) to do a bit of healthy living and focussed exercise. I’d be the first to admit though that I was utterly exhausted for 12 months and failed miserably (I went to three boot camp sessions before needing months of physio to get over the damage I did to my knees. I tried intermittent fasting and… put on weight).
So 2025 has to be the year I sort it out. At the end of last year I started having to wear glasses for the first time in my life, so the decline is real, it’s coming and I’m up for trying anything to slow it down. Also, I want to be the fittest version of me possible so I can be the best parent to my daughters.
My first plan then is to give up booze, starting with Dry January, then aiming for the year, then hoping to quit forever. Alcohol now takes so much from me and gives very little back. I’ve been legally drinking for a quarter of a century. I think that’s enough, a good innings, time to retire and pivot to something that actually provides me with energy and enjoyment rather than sapping it all.
I’ve signed up for a half marathon in March (the knees are screaming at the prospect already). These things are all so predictable, though. “Drink less, exercise more” must be the most repeated new year’s resolution of all time.
Fortunately for me a couple of my oldest friends are leading fitness experts and never fail to put the dad bod to endless shame. If I’m really going to try and defeat science and inevitability this year, do they have any suggestions on how to prevent the car going over the cliff at 44?
Shaun Stafford, the founder and director of City Athletic Performance Gym, had a number of quite clear tips for preventing the catastrophic ageing event coming when I open my next birthday card:
- Get your heart rate up for a long life
- Lift weights 2/3x a week for better quality of life
- Stretch and mobilise for a pain free life
“Run or cycle a couple of times a week, get to the gym and lift weights a couple of times a week. Make sure you warm up and stretch after these is the very obvious life hack you need to avoid oblivion,” he added. (Oblivion is such a great word.)
Shaun’s lowest-hanging fruit was getting those much-publicised eight hours of sleep – not time in bed, actual sleep. “You literally age slower as recovery is optimised,” he said. Which is great, but with a three year old and a one year old I haven’t slept eight hours for… three years. That one might be pretty hard to do initially, but the others all seem doable.
Fitness expert Tom Brazier told me “nutrition is the fundamental part of longevity, it’s the one thing that if you’re doing well, nothing else really matters”. Which is pretty interesting given my diet sometimes consists of just giant cookies.
“One thing everyone in the health industry agrees upon is the importance of resistance training in later life,” he added, saying a decent level of cardiovascular fitness was also imperative. So it seems like this tired 43-year-old seriously needs to get himself to the gym for the first time in his life. What a sight that is going to be.
Tom also recommended getting blood tests done: “Too many men over 40 suffer in silence with low testosterone”.
And so we reach a crossroads as I settle into the soft, exhausted familiarity of 43. I can either let this supposed ageing event hit me and propel me further into exhaustion and a lack of fitness, or I can give myself a good shake and have a serious go at slowing down and lessening the impact of this supposed dramatic birthday.
I owe my young daughters that – especially with everything we have going on.
Wish me luck.
