He'll be no sex champion now that he's come out of retirement and has committed to training for his eighth Tour de France. But Lance Armstrong sure hopes to champion another cycling win, adding to his record of seven consecutive first-place Tour finishes. Let the training begin. The sex? On the sidelines for now.

The fact is, says the 36-year-old elite athlete, cancer survivor, and celebrity hook-up guy, that if he's riding his bike five, six, seven hours a day, he just can't be a winner in the sex department. "You have fatigue, low testosterone and a lower libido," says Armstrong.

Imagine what he will have, though -- strength, endurance, and an impressive level of fitness as he begins his quest for what might be one of sport's biggest ever comebacks.

Live Strong, Lance. Live Strong!

Source

After winning the Tour de France seven times, Lance Armstrong is certainly worthy of a relaxing retirement. However, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Since his retirement, the 35-year-old has found himself constantly on the road, promoting LiveStrong Challenges, the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research, joining with Nike and Apple to publicize his involvement in their partnership, and trying to be home to spend time with his kids. Still, his crazy schedule hasn't stopped him from running marathons.

Source

When it comes to life changes, retirement is certainly a big one. Though retirement means the end of your career, it's also a beginning of sorts. Studies show that it's never too late to start being physically active. In spite of that fact, only about 1/4 of people over 50 get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day.

Whether you're going to maintain a fitness routine or want to start a new one, with your doctor's advice you should be able to have a fit, healthy retirement. Forbes has some excellent tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle in your later decades, and they include:

• Check into corporate wellness programs before you retire and get a health evaluation done.
• Experiment with different workouts to find your workout style.
• Rediscover your passion, you know, the one you never had time for when you were working.
• Walk as much as you can, wherever you can.
• Leave intimidation at the door and be proud of your workouts.
• Find a workout buddy to join you.
• Keep track of your progress.
• Build fitness into your daily routine and make it a habit.

Come to think of it, that's good advice for people of all ages!

Source

We'd all like to know that we're going to make it to our retirement and still have a few good years in us to finally enjoy some time off. But the sad reality is that many of us won't make it to those golden years, or won't have the health to enjoy it, and in many cases, this is mostly preventable. As diet guru Julia Havey points out, there are five things that could very well keep you from enjoying you old age:

1. You smoke. Haven't you heard the news? It will kill you, man.
   
2. You don't walk enough. True, cars and elevators are great inventions, but they're also making you a little rounder in the waistline. If you have a couple of minutes to spare (come on, who doesn't?), walk.
   
3. You eat too much saturated fat. Saturated fat is only healthy in moderate amounts. Use with caution.
   
4. You eat too much trans fat. Unlike saturated fats, trans fats are never healthy, no matter what the amount. Rid them from your diet.
   
5. You don't eat enough fruits and veggies. 5-10 a day, that's all it takes.

Source

Are you looking forward to your golden years, the time when you can finally stop working and start living your life? If you're obese, those golden years might not be so golden, new studies are showing. In general, findings found the obesity significantly hindered senior's ability to participate in normal physical activities like getting dressed and walking between rooms. Non-obese elders, on the other hand, were unlikely to become functionally impaired.

So, if you're planning for your retirement, make sure you're not just putting away money -- It's more crucial that you have your health.

Source

Does it sometimes seem like the fitness industry is geared towards peppy twenty-somethings with boundless energy and enviable waistlines? Well, we're heading into a time when today's baby boomers will be retiring and starting to focus on their health, and I imagine the face of fitness will be changing too. In fact, I think it already is -- there are dozens of fitness programs, websites and DVD devoted solely to working out after 50. Like this one. And these. And these.

If you're a baby boomer who's thinking of starting or re-starting a workout routine, keep these tips in mind:

• Stretch, to prevent injury and soreness.
  
• Workout a bit every day -- don't try to compress everything into the weekend
• Listen to your body -- stop when it's time to
• Take lessons to ensure you do it right.

Want to know more? Click here.

Source

For many people, thoughts of retirement begin as soon as they join the workforce after college. But new studies are showing that people who spend to much time thinking about their retirement may actually be depressed. In fact, the findings also showed that those who were depressed were more likely to retire early.

I think these findings make a lot of sense -- I'd venture a guess that those who enjoy their jobs and feel fulfilled and challenged by them are less likely to think about retiring, and less likely to be depressed. But for those people, there's another kind of risk -- trying to tear them away from the job when it really is time to retire.

What do you think?

Source

Considering retirement? We all dream of the day we can kick our feet up and start having fun instead of being a slave to the timeclock. But new research suggests that many men and women make the decision to retire for the wrong reason: because they're depressed.

Of course I'm sure it's rarely a conscious influence, but experts say that 1 in 10 working adults will experience depression in any given year and that adults who have symptoms of depression are more likely to retire earlier. The study included 3,000 adults from Finland, where (in theory) depression should have a lesser effect than here in the States due to a better post-retirement "safety net" provided by the Finnish government. I guess it makes sense that unhappy people are less motivated to continue working, but it's sad that a negative state of mind can influence such a major decision in somebody's life.

So if so many people suffer from depression, if it's such a common occurrence, what are we doing wrong? What can be done to avoid it?

Source

Source

My experience with people older than me is they tend to give me the once over and with a far-off look in their eye, tell me, 'those were the days, when I was young like you'. I visit my great aunt in a nursing home on a weekly basis and encounter many a wheel-chair bound person looking glancing at me with envy, jealous that I can come and go as I please and navigated the hallways and life with the ease of youth and good health. But happiness and youthfulness don't go hand in hand as the following study shows.

According to recent findings, more people in their 70s claim to be happy with their lives than those in their 40s or 60s. On average, 89% of those in their 70s said they were happy, compared to 87% of those in their 60s and 78% of those in their 40s. Why do you think this is? If I had to guess, I'd say that retirement plays a big role -- people in their 70s finally have a chance to slow down and enjoy life after years of hard work. But I'm sure there's more to than that. What do you think?

Source

Being fit is important, no matter what your age. So if you're thinking that once you get your AARP card you're off the hook, think again. It's just as important to stay in shape when you're in your golden years.

That's why there are a whole slew of fitness centre designed for the 50+ crowd popping up. Nifty After Fifty in Salt Lake City is one such fitness centre -- where loud, hip music and 20-somethings in spandex are a thing of the past, replaced with an easy-going atmosphere and lots of classes designed with aching joints in mind, like water aerobics and Tai Chi. There's also a driving simulator for seniors who want to practice their skills safely.

I think this kind of fitness centre is a great idea ... do you agree?

Source

It's been in the news lately that aviation regulatory agencies have either been raising, or at least considering raising, the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots. The whole idea has sparked some debate, and a new study is out questioning the idea of an age limit at all.

The study came up with three major findings, and although younger pilots tested out better overall than their aging counterparts, in some areas the older pilots showed their years of experience -- for example by performing better than the younger ones on traffic-avoidance tasks.

I have to say I agree with the idea of doing away with standardized age requirements and going to some other method of individually assessing a pilot's abilities. I think there are some awesome 60 or 65 year old experienced pilots that are being forced to retire, while the occasional 50 year old who's lost his edge continues logging flight hours.

Source