Join me to kick of this year's 100 Alabama Miles Challenge on 3/2!

Look for me on March 2 at 9 AM at Birmingham's Railroad Park to kick off this year's 100 Alabama Miles Challenge!

There will be a 1 mile walk, and I'll Nordic walk it. I'll bring extra poles for anyone who wants to join me. Look for the guy wearing a Nordic walking shirt.

Join me in walking, running, hiking, biking, swimming, paddling, riding, or rolling 100 miles this year. I plan to Nordic walk those 100 miles!

Nordic Walking Guy wants you in a Nordic walking group!

So 60 is becoming the new 40, eh?

I came across an interesting article about how more and more active agers are taking up more strenuous exercise.

Main point: "...physical decline is not just a result of getting older – it’s a result of being less active as we age."

Why is this happening?

• "One factor is the rise of age-group sport."
• "...the trend for consumers to focus more of their spending on experiences instead of material items"

What are some impacts?

• "Books...offer athletes advice for those in their later years."
• "...increasing numbers of gyms are targeting 60-somethings."

Why the optimism?

• "...the decline that many people see is related to their slow drift away from physical activity"
• "As for muscle mass, that’s something you can hang on well into your later years by training correctly. Ditto bone density."
• "Cardiovascular fitness, which can feel like the first thing to go, can be maintained with training."

Nordic walking is a way to latch on to this trend. Some thoughts:

• You can Nordic walk as your primary exercise because it involves your whole body.
• If you haven't exercised in a while, Nordic walking's low impact full-body regime provides a good transition to more intense activity.
• If you feel like you want to do more, you can integrate more strenuous exercises into your routine. For example:
• Nordic walk before weightlifting to get a good warmup.
• Do body weight exercises during your walk (parks with exercise stations are good venues for this).