What makes Olga run?

I just finished a fascinating book called What makes Olga run? The mystery of the 90-something track star, and what she can teach us about living longer, happier lives. The author, Bruce Grierson, accompanies Olga to track meets as well as to medical-research facilities where he and scientists hope to learn the secrets of her thriving tissues and age-resistant DNA. At 94 Olga is consistently breaking records on the track. The author who is in his forties, can barely keep up with her off the track!

There are many lessons to be learned from Olga and her peers – there are more of them emerging all the time. But in the final analysis, the book lists nine rules from the masters that promote vitality, longevity, and happiness. Some might surprise you; others will likely not.

1. Keep moving – we must move, not continuously, but continually to prevent, or slow, the deterioration of the body.
2. Create routines (but sometimes break them) – routines correlate with academic success and with accomplishing things, and they seem to matter more the older we get. Our bodies crave regularity and routine frees up the mind for the things that matter to us.
3. Be opportunistic – spend your energy wisely; figure out the 20 per cent of every task that’s most important and devote 80 per cent of your energy to it
4. Be a mensch – being kind is an obvious virtue backed up by science. Doing good feels good and it works.
5. Believe in something – believe something rather than nothing, allowing for the possibility that your belief may change over time.
6. Lighten up – exercise may be the best way to de-stress but a healthy mental attitude that says there’s really no time for complaining, only for grace and gratitude will serve us well to limit our stress.
7. Cultivate a sense of progress – we need to feel as if we are improving. As time goes on, it may be necessary to adjust your expectations of yourself, then improve upon them, even by the smallest margin. That’s still progress.
8. Don’t do it if you don’t love it – find something you love and fun doing it. Make whatever you’re doing play, not work.
9. Begin now – One of my favourite quotes is: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now!” This book shows us that not only is midlife not too late to get into shape, in some ways it is the best time. Our bodies, from whom we may have become disconnected during the middle decades, are calling to us: let’s get back together.

At least half of these rules, the author notes, involve attitude.  If personality is fixed, attitude is flexible. It can be adjusted using simple strategies. As   turns out, attitude matters a great deal in the quality and probably even the length of our lives.

On the physical side, the masters tell us to break a sweat daily, differently and with others.  This means the effort must be intense, the movements various, and there must be a social component. The fact that many seniors can move faster and exert more strenuously than people think, is one of the great surprises of this book.

Brierson uses humour and the skillful prose to create a compelling narrative. I recommend this book to anyone interested in aging (and not aging) and longevity. But even if you don’t read it, take the advice of the masters and begin to live better now.