Why bodybuilding at age 93 is a great idea: Charles Eugster at TEDxZurich

Transcriber: Robert Tucker Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo

Let me start first with a brief story.

Before attending a dinner at my rowing club, I went into the bar.

Seeing an attractive young lady...

(Laughter)

I thought that I would chat her up.

Suddenly, there was an influx of people, and we were pressed together.

My nose was squashed in the cleavage between two magnificent breasts.

My embarrassment made me realize how tall the lovely lady was.

(Laughter)

I had, in fact, been introduced to one of the many continuing rapid changes

related to our human bodies.

The increase of height of 10cm during the last few hundred years

seems to have peeked in 1970.

Here I am, rowing at the age of 91

with a 15 year old, who is already well over a head taller than me.

There is continuing increase in girth.

Obesity is now a major world health problem.

World obesity has doubled since 1980.

12% of the world's population is obese.

In the Americas, it is even 26%.

Obesity can cause diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Already 10% of the world's population suffer from diabetes.

A world pandemic of diabetes is already a reality.

By 2030 it is estimated that 50% of the US population will be obese.

In obesity, it is the prefrontal part of the brain that shrinks.

The prospect of the most powerful nation of the world

with 50% of the US population having shrinking brains is frightening!

(Laughter, Applause)

Never in human history have so many humans been so overweight and so obese.

The world's population is now 7 billion.

Very soon there will be 8 billion people inhabiting the Earth.

If at this point, a pandemic were to destroy

half of the world's population,

there would still be double the amount of people that existed when I was a child!

The continuing aging of the population

is one of the most remarkable success stories

of the human race in modern history.

There will soon be more people over 60 than children under 15.

But man has destroyed the wonder of aging

by transforming it into an age of degeneration and disease.

92.2% of the over 65 in the United States has one or more chronic diseases.

40% of the 60+ take 5 or more medicaments a day.

45% of the 85+ have Alzheimer's.

Natural, healthy aging is unseen,

covered by a blanket of disease.

In fact, it is falsely assumed

that disease is a natural consequence of aging.

Lift up the blanket and there could be surprises.

(Laughter)

Lifelong work, continuous education, competition in strenuous sports,

beauty queens in old age could be a reality.

The aged now, however, are over nourished, over medicated

and physically and mentally inactive.

Inactivity is a major cause of death.

How did this happen?

Our bodies are still those of the Paleolithic era.

When we were hunter-gatherers, food was scarce,

that as much food as possible was consumed and the excess stored as fat,

so that we could survive the next famine.

As physical and mental activity was enormous,

unnecessary activity was avoided.

Today, with an excess of food,

and survival no longer dependent on huge physical and mental effort,

our instincts still tell us

to consume an excess of food and avoid activity as much as possible.

Those instincts that in the past

enabled us to survive are now destroying us.

But successful aging is possible.

There are three factors that contribute to successful aging.

They are work, diet, and exercise, in that order.

(Laughter)

I will address each in turn.

Work.

The aged suffer from inactivity, poor diet, overweight, diabetes etc,

just as the general population does, but in addition,

this is severely compounded by retirement.

Retirement is voluntary

or involuntary unemployment for up to 30 years.

We know that unemployment causes chronic disease

and mental problems,

as well as poor health, disability,

more medical consultations, more medication,

more hospital admissions.

Work, on the other hand,

is therapeutic, good for health,

and is an intrinsic part of improving and maintaining health.

Work is a determinant of self-worth,

family esteem, identity,

and standing in the community.

This graph shows the energy expenditure at different ages.

One can see that in retirement,

the physical energy expenditure for occupation is removed,

and the pensioner is left with little or no physical or mental activity.

Remember, inactivity kills!

In the UK, retirement was reduced from the age of 70 to 65 in 1946,

when life expectancy was 65 years.

The retirement age was never intended to be earlier than life expectancy.

Today, however, retirement can start 25 to 30 years

earlier than life expectancy.

Our pension schemes are financially unsustainable.

It is that destructive effects of retirement

on physical and mental health that have not only been ignored,

but vastly underestimated.

It is essential that the aged be integrated into the workforce,

not only for financial, but also for health reasons.

Retirement is not the end,

it can be a new beginning,

a chance...

(Applause)

... a chance to build a new body,

develop dormant talents, and start a new life for the next 30 years.

Start a new successful company.

The 55 to 65 decade is the highest decade of entrepreneurial activity,

with the highest long-term success rate.

You have nothing to lose except the chains of convention.

(Applause)

Retirement is a massive health calamity

and a future financial disaster.

Diet.

Fast, processed and junk food together with soft drinks

take advantage of our cravings.

Consuming these foods can lead to nutritional imbalance.

Exercise.

Vanity is a huge asset.

(Laughter)

Even at 87, I wanted an Adonis body

in order to turn the heads

of these sexy, young 70 year-old girls on the beach.

I wanted a six pack, but my coach said,

we must first work on my bottom, which, she said, was a catastrophe.

(Laughter)

Exercise is both a preventive measure and a treatment.

The success rate of exercise therapy for a number of conditions

is well over 40%.

The number of diseases that are treatable by exercise is continuously increasing.

Research has shown that those who participate

in strenuous competitive sports live longer.

Obviously, training for competition is more intense,

and in addition,

competition gives valuable adrenaline rushes.

At present, longer life expectancy means an ever-extending period

of state-supported or company-financed retirement,

more disability and more health costs.

This was never anticipated.

By 2025 it is estimated that the cost of interest payments,

Medicare, Medicaid and social security

will consume all US federal income.

The economic consequences of chronic disease are so substantial

that if present trends continue

nation states could be bankrupted.

In the near future, it will be those countries

that have the healthiest populations

with the healthiest brains that will rule the world.

What can you do?

Save your health and save humanity.

One of the most interesting developments is the fact

that we can rebuild old bodies.

The body of an 80-year-old has lost about 50% of his muscle mass

since the age of 50,

which has been replaced by fat.

By removing the fat and regenerating lost muscle,

we can give the 80-year-old a body composition

similar to that one of 20 or even 30 years younger.

Two men.

The first is 20 years older than the second.

Not the other way around.

A beach party at 90 is no longer a dream but a real possibility.

I have little time to tell you more,

but you have no time to lose.

You can rebuild your body at any age.

It's like trading in your car for a new one.

When I was in Chicago in 1950,

I traded in my Chevrolet, list price $3,000,

for an Oldsmobile 98, list price $5,000.

I asked the salesman:

What is the difference between these two cars?

He said two words:

more car.

What do you get when you trade in your body for a new one?

More body, more mind, more spirit!

Go for it!

(Applause)

Dania Gerhardt: This was wonderful Charles.

I mean, I don't have to add anything, the reaction is so obvious.

I really love it that bodybuilding will save humanity, I guess.

So, I can also imagine that after this

a lot of people will, in the next break,

maybe go for the fruit rather than for the cake,

and maybe run home instead of taking the train.

Would that make you happy?

Charles Eugster: Well, as far as fruit [is] concerned,

I would just like to say that in the Garden of Eden,

if Adam had refused the fruit offered by Eve,

and instead eaten the snake, protein,

(Laughter)

the world would be different.

(Laughter) (Applause)

Dania Gerhardt: Thank you, Charles. Thank you so much. Thank you. Wonderful.

(Applause)