2023
ADDRESSING AGING
Referee
News bulletin: We’re all aging, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll progressively become slower and less limber. Having left the football field and moved to the replay booth a few years ago, after a 43‑year onfield career, I can attest to the sense of wonder that one feels when it’s all over and the question is, “Where did the time go?”
Until retirement day comes, however, what can you do to keep performing at an optimal (or near) level as the years slip by? If you take proper preventive measures, you can push the point at which you have to give it up, without people talking behind your back and asking why you’re still hanging around.
One thing you can do is keep the weight off. For years people have dwelled on the myriad reasons you need to stay slim and trim, but it becomes even more necessary as you get older. If you keep the pounds off, you won’t slow up as much.
As you get older it also becomes more important that you stay in good physical condition by lifting light weights and doing aerobic exercise.
Give some thought to altering your workout routine. I stopped jogging when I reached my mid‑50s. I had been jogging since I quit playing baseball in 1969, because I found that it took an increasingly greater toll on my hips and knees.
Instead, I took up bicycling. I often bike on hilly terrain at a good, consistent pace for as much as three hours, and I find that when I’m finished, I got a heckuva workout and nothing hurts.
