VegOn wrote:Isn't 10 push-ups rather an arbitrary standard? On what research is this recommendation based?
According to Navy PRT standards, 5 push-ups is satisfactory in females aged 40-49, 2 for females age 50-65, and 1 for females over 65.
Seeing as how they adjust their expectation based on gender and age does make it seem inadvisable to accept a blanket mandate of 10 push-ups to demonstrate graceful aging.
If you had read my original post you would have seen the following:
"For some, that may be knee push ups and for others full push ups, but each requires a minimum amount of arm and core strength"
If you look at the Navy PRT standards you mention, you would see the following;
"Note that push-ups by males and females are done in the same fashion and cannot be done with the knees resting on the ground."
As everyone who has done both types knows, there is a huge difference in effort needed to do each type.
Many women who can't do a single regular push up can easily do 10 knee push ups.
This is called the Lounge. I did not know discussions about health that involved physical fitness were relegated only to certain forums. I guess no one mentioned that when we had 194 posts and over 6,500 views in the other thread about push ups.
Never saw one person complain about that thread which went on for about a year.
Clearly any discussion about what constitutes nice goals for those of us who are aging seems dangerous as it might offend someone who doesn't see that as part of their health.
How different that is when discussion of eating takes place.
IN those threads its all about hitting the 10% mark, or the 15% mark and how eating 20% or 30% is steering well clear of the proper goal.
No one seems to have any hesitancy about saying what constitutes healthy eating in their opinion, or what level one should strive for regarding cholesterol.
But mention something as moderate as doing 10 knee push-ups and it sends some into a uproar.
Really a double standard. I don't see my fitness health as being separate from my dietary health.
BTW, no one was saying that everyone had to be at that standard now, but rather that we might think about it as being something we'd want to obtain as a part of healthy living as we enter our 60's and 70's. Many of us are already in that age range and know first hand about the loss of muscle that happens to all adults as they age.
The touchy objection to any such discussion really makes me wonder what some think is health for middle aged and older adults.
AS you see, I always made allowances for those who had disabilities and/or excess weight. Clearly people in that category would have a difficult time doing even 10 knee push ups.
However that doesn't mean that others can't discuss it as optimist goal for healthy aging.
If you don't think 10 knee push ups is OK for healthy women, then how about 5..?
Or is even suggesting 1 single knee push up being too disruptive?
How can people be such strong proponents of precise dietary goals, and then object to even the mildest discussion of other health goals.
I'm perplexed. As Golden Ghost posted,
"I’m with you but I got tired of beating my head against the wall so I stopped posting about muscle fitness"
Fortunately in his own life, Dr. McDougall sees a significant need to have enough muscles so that he can continue his outdoor activities well past age 70. While we all can't expect to windsurf as he does, there is much value in having some minimum goals so as to make our senior years much more enjoyable and independent.