Muscle mania is the newest affliction of the aging class.  It’s not enough to do 10,000 steps a day.  It is entirely insufficient to do only cardio at the gym. It is not enough to run, jog, dance, practice yoga, play pickleball or tennis, swim laps or hike mountains.

All the advice for healthy aging my entire life has been to keep moving till you drop.  I walk miles a day, hit the treadmill and bike, take yoga classes and hike mountains on my vacations. Run up and down the stairs.

It. Is. Not. Enough.

The latest news is that we need strong muscles to support our bone and cardio health.   We don’t need to become musclebound meatheads…but we do need to be able to lift weights. Big weights. And I am now desperately trying to get me some muscles.

So, here’s the deal.  I can’t seem to grow a bicep.  No matter how hard I try, the coveted arm bump just won’t budge.  Even my little grandsons have real biceps. Mine are half-hearted little protrusions that yield to the touch.  It’s embarrassing but also, apparently, a sign of fitness failure.

Recently, we joined a special program offered at our YMCA called eGym.  It’s a series of workout machines tied to Ai that provides a full body muscle circuit with instant feedback and charts on how you’re doing. 

Each session, we log into a circuit of weight machines for various body parts.  Each machine has been pre-set to our current fitness and strength levels.  While pushing weights, we get to play a pac-man like videogame that helps to ensure good form and speed.  It’s engaging and motivating to crash intol all the little dots while trying to stay within the lines!

The first time through the system, a trainer helped me set up each machine for my current strength level.  At the end of my first workout, I saw my personal, ai-generated fitness report.  Despite my lack of biceps, my BioAge was computed to be 59 years old!  More than a decade younger than my current age. Now, that’s what I call positive feedback.

I felt young. I felt invincible.  I am woman. Hear me roar! Let me at ‘em.

My youthful BioAge and the enjoyable video-game aspect of running through the circuit has turned my husband and I into gym rats.  We go at least three times a week now.  And just today, we biked to the gym and back.

As proof of my fitness progress, I increase the weights on the leg and upper body machines a pound or two each week.  I am clearly getting stronger everywhere…

…except for my biceps.  I have not raised the weight once. I can barely stay within the pacman lines.  It has not gotten any easier. I cannot lift 15 pounds/10 times. Not yet.

But, at least I’m getting younger.  Yes, you read that right.  With my increased weights, improved cardio and other computed measures, yours truly now has acheived a BioAge of 55!

I will keep trying to grow a bicep that can’t be easily squeezed back to a pancake.  I won’t give up.  But if anyone knows a secret to inflating a bicep, I beg you to share. I even eat spinach in hopes of achieving a Popeye pop.

It would be great to show off some beefcake biceps… before I turn back my BioAge clock to 50!

For more info on eGym: egym.com