General fitness attributes

At the recommendation of my friend Mark, whom I will visit soon, I am reading a book called The Barbell Prescription which argues -- as the title hints -- that the Athlete of Aging should lift more free weights because strength and muscle mass are super-important to people as they age. Mark's counsel is generally good, because as a general practitioner physician, he has thought about this stuff a lot and sees a lot of aging people, and can attest that those who age well are those that are strong and have muscle mass. On the other hand, Mark is a freaking monomaniac who goes through phases of doing things like running ultramarathons in thong sandals, like the Navajo or somesuch tribe of First People used to do. He has been known on occasion to let his enthusiasm get the better of him and then injure himself.

For me, the idea of focusing on a specific set of General Fitness Attributes, defined by the authors of this books as strength, power, endurance, mobility, balance, and body composition flies in the face of my long-evolving practice of seasonal cross-training, which involves having a changing mix of sports/exercise (running, soccer, tennis, walking, swimming, biking, raking, weights) depending on what the prevailing weather is outside. And I do really dig the being outside part, whenever possible.

I also have been meaning to incorporate some yoga into the mix. I've been thinking about this since about 1991.

Moreover, prizing the building of bulk flies in the face of what I've always wanted to look like: Flash vs. Superman, Ryan Giggs or Roger Federer instead of the Hulk. But I am reading the book and trying to take it in because, for one thing, Mark says I should and also because the authors are building a solid case. Also, I increasingly have to take seriously the concerns about injury from soccer, tennis, and even running. Actually, I am rarely at risk of injuring myself from running too much.