Redefine Aging with Eric

10/25/2026

“Why would anyone want to live longer if it means eating food only animals would enjoy and spending hours at the gym?”

That's what a friend recently asked in our WhatsApp longevity group. To make his point, he shared an old Soviet joke.

A man applying to join the Communist Party is asked:

“Will you give up drinking?” — “Yes.”
“Women?” — “Yes.”
“Would you sacrifice your life for the Party?” — “Absolutely!”
“How can you agree to that so easily?”
“Who wants to live a life like that anyway?” 😄

It's a good joke. And I actually agree with the underlying point. If longevity means giving up everything that makes life enjoyable, count me out!

But I think we've got the whole idea backward.

I don't spend time taking care of my health just to live longer. I do it so I can keep skiing, traveling, playing pickleball, dancing with my wife, enjoying time with friends, and keeping up with my grandchildren.

And I want to keep doing something else I find deeply rewarding—helping others enjoy those same possibilities through longevity coaching.

And about my friend's comment on food...

I pay attention to nutrition, but I also love good food. I have no intention of turning every meal into a nutritional calculation. Great dinners with friends, occasional indulgences, even lazy afternoons—those aren't obstacles to a healthy life. They're a normal part of it.

🎯 Longevity isn't about sacrificing today's pleasures for a few extra years tomorrow. It's about staying strong, mobile, and independent—so we can keep enjoying the life we have.

After all, what matters isn't just how many years we add to our lives. It's how much life we keep in those years.

🤔 What's something you want to keep enjoying well into your 80s or 90s?

Aging is inevitable. Decline is optional.

— Eric
Redefine Aging

10/21/2026

10/18/2026

Sometimes I have my morning coffee sitting on the ground. Other times, breakfast.

Not because I'm exercising. Because I think we've forgotten something important.

For most of human history, we spent much more time close to the ground. Sitting. Squatting. Kneeling. Resting. Moving naturally between different positions.

Today, we've replaced much of that with chairs, couches, and elevated surfaces. And our bodies have adapted.

⚠️ What we stop doing gradually becomes harder to do.

Here's what we often overlook: mobility isn't just about exercises. It's also about how we live.

👉 Try having your coffee on the floor. Or reading a book. Or watching TV. Spend a few minutes sitting in different comfortable positions. Shift occasionally. Use a cushion or support if needed.

Not as a workout. Just as part of your day.

Purposeful training builds our physical abilities. Everyday life gives us opportunities to use them.

Because staying capable as we age isn't just about exercise. It's about preserving the freedom to do what we love.

🌱 And the ground is a great place to start.

🎯 If this made you think differently about healthy aging, follow Redefine Aging with Eric for more practical insights on staying strong, mobile, and capable for the next 20–30 years.

Aging is inevitable, decline is optional

- Eric
Redefine Aging

10/11/2026

One of my clients came over for her longevity coaching session looking exhausted.

Before we even started, she said: “I'm really tired today. I'm not even sure I want to do this.”

Our longevity coaching sessions aren't simply workouts. We work through a curriculum covering exercise, nutrition, sleep, recovery, habits and other pieces of healthspan.

Depending on where we are in the curriculum, we might be sitting on my couch talking about sleep or nutrition—or working on strength, cardio, power, balance, mobility or core stability.

That day, we were going to exercise.

😴 But she was tired. Really tired. She wasn't sick or unusually run down. It was more of that familiar: “I just don't have the energy today.”

So I suggested: “Let's just start. We can always stop.”

She got on the elliptical. At first, she was simply going through the motions. But after a few minutes, something changed.

She started talking more. Moving faster. Her face changed. And she told me she was actually starting to feel better.

As the session continued, more and more energy seemed to come back. By the end, the person standing in front of me looked very different from the tired person who had walked through the door.

She was energized. She was smiling. And she was very happy she had decided to give it a try.

That session reminded me of something that's easy to forget:

⚡ SOMETIMES YOU NEED ENERGY TO EXERCISE.
SOMETIMES YOU EXERCISE TO GET ENERGY.

Of course, sometimes fatigue really does mean your body needs recovery. But ordinary “I just don't feel like doing anything” tiredness can be different.

🔄 Sometimes waiting for energy before you move gets the sequence backward.

👉 THE MOVEMENT MAY BE WHAT CREATES THE ENERGY.

That's part of what I teach in longevity coaching—how to train with a purpose, understand why you're doing it, and eventually make good decisions on your own. And that works whether we're together in person or remotely.

That day, my client didn't need a harder workout. She just needed a little nudge to start.

A few minutes later, her own body took over.

Have you ever started exercising when you really didn't feel like it—and felt completely different afterward?

Aging is inevitable. Decline is optional.

— Eric
Redefine Aging

10/04/2026

Some friends recently came back from a vacation abroad. They were telling me about the trip when one of them said proudly:

“We were doing 20,000 steps a day. Quite a workout!”

Twenty thousand steps? I was impressed.

Apparently they went on vacation and accidentally joined an endurance event. 😄

It also reminded me how fascinated we've become with one particular number:

10,000 steps.

Our watches congratulate us.
Our phones celebrate.
We compare numbers with friends.

Hit 10,000 and somehow it feels like:

Mission accomplished. I exercised today. ✓

And to be clear—20,000 steps really can be quite a workout. And getting 10,000 steps instead of spending most of the day sitting is absolutely something to feel good about.

But here's the distinction I think we sometimes miss:

👉 BEING ACTIVE ISN'T THE SAME AS TRAINING ALL THE ABILITIES WE WANT TO KEEP.

Your step count tells you that you moved. But your step counter doesn't know whether you can:

• Lift something heavy
• Get off the floor easily
• Catch yourself when you stumble
• Push your heart and lungs considerably harder

🎯 10,000 STEPS TELLS YOU HOW MUCH YOU MOVED.
IT DOESN'T TELL YOU WHAT YOUR BODY CAN DO.

That's why walking should absolutely be part of a longevity plan. But it shouldn't be the plan.

We need to challenge the body in multiple ways because life is eventually going to ask us to do something other than walk in a straight line.

So walk. Get your steps. Be proud of them.

👏 Just don't mistake one excellent habit for a fitness plan.

And don't let your watch convince you that you're done. 😄

👉 If you like practical ways to think differently about exercise and healthy aging, follow Redefine Aging with Eric and share this with another walker.

Aging is inevitable. Decline is optional.

— Eric
Redefine Aging

09/27/2026

I exercise regularly. I play pickleball, lift weights, run and ski.

And I still deliberately get down on the floor and practice getting back up.

Not because I have trouble doing it.

BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TROUBLE DOING IT.

Getting off the floor looks like one simple movement. It isn’t:
- It asks your ankles, knees and hips to move well.
- Your legs have to produce enough strength.
- Your core has to control your body.
- Your balance and coordination have to organize the whole thing.

Take away enough of any one of those, and something that once required no thought starts requiring a strategy:
- A hand on the floor.
- A knee down.
- A piece of furniture for support.
- And eventually, perhaps, avoiding the floor altogether.

That’s one of the things I find fascinating about aging:

⚠️ We often don’t notice an ability disappearing. We simply find ways to stop using it.

I’d rather work on these abilities while they’re still easy.

So I spend time on the floor. I sit there. I move between different positions. I get up in different ways. I always try to do it without using my hands.

It doesn’t feel much like a workout and that’s the point. I’m not training to become better at getting off the floor today.

🎯 I’m training so that getting off the floor still feels pretty easy 10, 20 years from now.**

Your body keeps many of the abilities you continue to ask it to use.

👇 So here's a small challenge: Spend a few minutes on the floor today. Then get up, try to do it without hands if you can. Not as a test. Just notice what feels easy—and what doesn’t.

The best time to protect an ability may be while you still take it for granted.

👉 Want to stay strong, capable and independent as you age? Follow Redefine Aging with Eric for practical ideas you can actually use.

- Eric
Redefine Aging