What are Centenarian Olympics, and how can they help you live longer?

Abraham Lincoln has a great quote about life, energy, and longevity. 

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count; it’s the life in your years. ”

Abraham Lincoln

What can we extract out of this quote? That it is not important how long you live but how well you live. This is a feeling that we share, and have always pondered about it as a team.

According to the data of the Oxford Institute of population aging, “The number of centenarians in England and Wales would reach around 1.8 million by the end of the century.”

England / Wales expects a sharp increase in citizen longevity.

Predicting almost two million centenarians by the end of the century. 

Yet, the mere fact of living long should not be a goal by itself in our opinions either, but the quality of the life you live. 

As longevity in life is a hard concept to grasp. Why? Because we are in an immediate rewards societal mindset.

A good example of an immediate reward would be to get a buzz of energy by sipping an energy drink. You get the reward you were looking for but at the expense of your blood sugar spiking (among others.)

Another example of a delayed reward would be, stretching daily.
Its rewards will not be huge in the short term, yet, in the long run, it can contribute to your posture, energy, and mood. 

The concept of the centenary Olympics relies on one core concept and question. What would you like to be able to do (physically) given the assumption that you will get to live to at least 100 years of Age? 

A good example is Susan Wilder. She is currently training for the year 2062. She is currently 57 and she wants to be able to garden, play with her grandchildren, and even get in and out of the ‘deep end of a pool without much effort when she reaches 100 years of age.

Ideally from birth, we should prepare to live to 100

George Leeson

The most common goals for the centenarian Olympics are:

• Getting off the floor
• Climbing out of a pool
• Lifting kids off the ground
• Carrying groceries up and downstairs
• Helping passengers lift their suitcases into the overhead bin
  
• (All done without much effort at age 100+)

Could a standing desk help with the centenarian Olympic goals?
In our opinion, it is a loud and clears yes. Why? 

• Standing consumes more calories
• Switching between sitting and standing helps strengthen the lower back
• Standing while working helps develop stable muscles
• Standing helps improve blood flow
• Helps reduce blood sugar levels
  
  *When compared to sitting

If you look at the way that people are aging now and what they can do at 80+, it seems unreal to expect to have almost 2 million centenarians in England alone.

How would their lives look like? Will they be active and lively or will they need life support in their life in a semi-artificial way? 

Only time will tell.

Yet, we are happy to be providing a product that can contribute to the goals of the to-be-centenarians. As well as reducing the time they spend sitting while working.

Interested in the topic? Want to dive deeper into the concept of longevity and centenarian olympics?

We recommend you to check the following post from the Tim Ferris Blog, with M.D Peter Attia.

https://tim.blog/2019/11/27/peter-attia-fasting-metformin-longevity/

All you flexible people should go bang some iron, and all you big weight lifters should go do some yoga. . . . We always gravitate toward our strengths because we want to be in our glory.

Laird Hamilton

Have thoughts or opinions on the centenary Olympics? Let us know in the comments! What would you like to achieve by age 100?