From:         "D. Tweed" <[log in to unmask]>

<snip Ming's posting and D Tweed's comments>

However, the other piece of evidence that doesn't seem to fit with the
theory is the way that there seems to an strong general trend towards
growing more obese as you get older all over the world, with only a very
weak dependence on processed/unprocessed/ev-fit-acceptable food or the
degree of physical exertion required by the lifestyle. It would be nice,
and convincing about evfit, if there were some statistically
valid (i.e., epidemiological) evidence that the principles expounded by ev
fit do correlate with improved health and energy.

___cheers,_dave________________________________________________________
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Dave

I row 3-4 mornings a week along with 20 other men aged 48-73.  The best of
us are pretty competitive at the international level for our age.  Recently
one of our crew (who is a cardiologist and has accompanied the Australian
Olympic) tested our members.  He was interested to see if the public
standards for health, fitness, heart health etc. which are generally
thought to correlate decline with age are actually far more closely
correlated to a decline in physical activity.

His research bore out his hypothesis.  There is an article currently on the
New York Times site which demolishes the "220 minus your age" formula for
working out maximum heart rate.  It shows how the formula was derived from
a sample over-representing people with heart problems and was thrown
together at the last
 minute.  The testing of our squad members seems to
indicate that a lot of other standards may well be over-represented with
people who have had to visit their doctors for ill-health.  We all went up
to our maximum heart rates on a treadmill.  No dropping out at 75% or 90% -
that WAS NOT FUN.  But I came out - at 52 years - with a VO2 Max of 71. The
threshold to get into the Australian Olympic rowing squad is 72.

So, although the possibility exists that Art is genetically endowed - hell,
even I might be similarly endowed - the fact is we both exercise regularly
and intensely in a variety of activities.  So the possibility also exists
that we are physically genetically normal but it is our "endowed"
exercising (since 1965 in my case) which - by the Ockham's Razor principle -
 is the most likely causal factor.

My wife, despite my example (which I do not press her to follow) has tried
on a few occasio
ns to get into exercise.  She has always dropped out.  It
is possible that Art and I are genetically endowed with the willpower to
exercise regularly and intensely, or that we do not experience the same
extreme discomfort, or that we are more inclined to press through the
discomfort.  This would also explain why people like us appear to be
intolerant of others who do not persist with their good
exercise/diet/health practices.  We find it is easy and cannot, therefore,
see why others should not find it similarly easy.

These are just speculations, but they fit the facts as I have observed them.

Keith