"Greenwood Grinders" Healthspan Micro Group

Our goal is to increase our healthspan. 

This group will be relentless in its pursuit of better health. At our age, this effort can be a bit of a grind. That's why we're "grinders". We love a tough challenge and are eager to get better, no matter what. Life is short so let's give it our best effort.

Our motto is "No man left behind". It doesn't matter how poor your physical condition is or what disability you have. There is always something you can do. 

We support the following principles:

• Mutual support and camaraderie.
• Celebration of small successes.
• Education.
• Exploration of new ways to increase healthspan.
• No man left behind.

Relevant Articles

We will start posting articles with the aim of helping you to improve your healthspan, in particular your physical health and fitness.

• Four Worst Exercises for People Over 40

What Is Healthspan?

You're familiar with what lifespan means. It’s literally just the number of years you live. 

But your healthspan is different. It measures not just how long you live, but how long you stay healthy. As the saying goes, “It’s not about the years in your life, but the life in your years.” 

While your genetics may play a role in both your lifespan and healthspan, there are steps you can take to stay healthy longer. This micro group intends to take those health-building steps.

Exercise Is the Low-Hanging Fruit

Increasing your healthspan is a multi-faceted process. Rather than try to do everything all at once and risk failure, we intend to focus on the most critical variable first.

That critical variable is physical activity and exercise. 

We will move on to other factors such as nutrition after we have nailed exercise.

Exercise and Healthspan Go Together

Exercise significantly lengthens healthspan by delaying age-related diseases and maintaining physical and mental function, acting as a powerful "medicine" that reshapes the molecular basis of multiple organ systems, including cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, neurological, and immune systems.

Research shows a strong correlation between increased physical fitness and a reduced risk of all-cause mortality and chronic illnesses like heart disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer.

What's not to like about exercise?

Weaker Men Die Sooner

Males with the least strength die sooner!!

Sedentary Men Lose Muscle Faster - Much Faster!

The red line below shows the relatively rapid, relentless loss of muscle among sedentary people. The green line shows that active people do much better in retaining their muscles.

Active people do much better in retaining their muscular strength

UPDATE: We have identified a Gym in Greenwood that we may incorporate into our future program. 

Their "Elevate" program is a specialized program for active older adults. It focuses on many factors essential for fitness of older adults including strength, mobility and balance. Their goal is to improve quality of life through functional movement as well as build community that carries on outside the gym.

Setting a Baseline for Our Program

The first step in our group is to assess where we are with respect to our physical fitness. We'll set up a few possible assessments before we get started with increasing our physical activity. Some assessment are listed below. 

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Evaluation

We'll probably select from the following cardiorespiratory tests.

6‑Minute Walk Test.

The 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) measures your exercise capacity by having you walk as far as possible on a flat surface for six minutes, assessing heart/lung function and endurance.

• You walk back and forth along a marked corridor (often 30 meters) for six minutes.
• You walk at your own brisk pace, but running/jogging isn't allowed; you can stop to rest if necessary and then resume walking when ready.
• We note how far you walked.

Note to athletic types: You will do a simplified version of the Cooper Test, where you will walk or run as far as possible within 12 minutes, on a track.

Six‑Minute Step/Stepper Test

This measures the total number of steps taken on a portable stepper device in 6 minutes. The stepper device could be about 6 inches high.

Two‑Minute Step Test

This test involves counting the maximum number of full steps you can take in place in two minutes, with knee-lifts reaching a marked target.

Timed Up‑and‑Go Test

In this test, you start seated in a chair. Stand up, walk 3 meters, turn, walk back, and sit down again while being timed. 

Strength Assessment

Coming soon.

The mission of of seattleseniormen.com and greenwoodmensgroup.com is to provide a supportive environment where men from diverse backgrounds can foster camaraderie, develop friendships, share wisdom, enrich one another's lives -- and contribute to all Seattle communities, including Greenwood, Ballard, Crown Hill, Fremont, Green Lake, Licton Springs, Loyal Heights, Magnolia, Phinney Ridge, Ravenna, Sunset Hill, Wallingford, Wedgwood, Whittier Heights. Bitter Lake, Broadview, Haller Lake, Queen Anne, and beyond.

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