I think we need to highlight the importance of simply being active. Not everyone is athletic enough to run marathons or lift heavy weights. Everybody can get off their ass and do something, however. I used to spend a lot of time at the gym but lately I spend more time at the golf course. It’s amazing how some of the older guys well into their eighties are doing. I think we intimidate people about exercise when there are a lot of things they could be doing as they age. Moving around and engaging with others has tremendous health benefits as well.
It gets a lot of flak but one neat thing about pickleball is seeing so many old people active - I’d never seen so many 60 year olds actually running before playing the game
Could not agree more. As I commented on Slow Boring recently, I’m grateful every day that I learned to love exercise despite having been a runty and unathletic child. I’m also grateful to live in a walkable place (DC, despite the current unpleasantness) with good transit and decent bike infrastructure. I can see the toll the auto-only lifestyle takes on my friends and family in the midwest.
There’s a documentary on Netflix called Blue Zones (or something similar) and “being active” was one of the common traits across the zones.
In Japan, it was as simple as them sitting on the ground a lot, so they’d have to effectively do squats to get up. Gardening was another common activity there.
They also talked about a city in Italy built into a mountain where the population had to walk up and down hills to go see their friends or go to the store.
So it could almost be as simple as “not sitting on a chair/couch or in a car” to qualify as a healthy lifestyle today.
If anyone will pay for gym memberships be my guest:). In the meantime I would probably encourage people to run or walk for free. I think it also takes out the barrier of taking out more time to commute to the workout.
PPS. I don’t know much about it but my parents have access to - but don’t use - a SilverSneakers program thru their Medicare plan that does cover gym memberships. They happen to walk / run instead.
I was thinking about this post on my morning walk this AM 🤣 Plus re: the epidemic of loneliness - it also gets you interacting with your neighbors too.
Simply paying a gym membership does not necessary mean they will use it. I think the major problem holding Americans back from exercising let alone being active, is that they are victims to their built environment. It’s so EASY to be inactive. DoorDash, driving to get fast food, not having to walk to go to places leads to an inactive lifestyle.
There are few walkable areas like S.F. and NYC that makes being active a lifestyle not a chore like exercising at a gym.
In Denver, once you turn 60, membership at the large network of city recreation centers is free. All the equipment, all the classes, all the swimming pools -- free. It's one of the best things the city spends money on, IMHO.
Walking is free. If more people spent time walking, the physical, and mental health, of our populations would increase greatly. Unfortunately, part of the problem is we've created a world so comfortable, most people would rather walk over to the cabinet and pop a pill instead of going outside for a walk.
I obtained a "Silver "Sneakers" card when I signed up for Medicare, I guess I have the advantage plan /plus I have anthem as my secondary. I can go to the local YMCA & Planet fitness, for free. I thought everybody was eligible for this when they signed up for Medicare.
Yes! I was going to make the same comment—technically Medicare does cover gym memberships as my parents have had both silver sneakers and another one (I forget the name at the moment). This type of program both gets “seniors” exercising and gets them out of the house socializing—another crucial ingredient to quality of life.
It is astounding how impactful exercise is. I'm really keen to see what the $101 million Xprize Healthspan uncovers in the next five years. There are many dozens of teams with a variety of approaches and combinations of interventions (exercise, biologics, pharmaceuticals, supplements, etc.).
Even though exercise is significantly better than being chronically sedentary, people who regularly exercise still have decent risk of age-related pathologies, simply due to the biology of aging. I'd be supportive of research that aims to help people who already do the basics of a reasonably healthy diet and exercise. The ARPA-H program PROSPR by Andrew Brack may help shed light on this, as aging biomarkers are an important focus.
Re: thought bubble / Medicare covering gym memberships. This would most likely increase “advantageous selection” i.e targeting of healthy, active patients who are likely to cost less than a private Medicare plan (aka Medicare advantage/MA) is payed by the government. Selection in MA is estimated to cost >$40B annually in excess spending (how’s that for waste!) and as of 2025 exceeding excess spend due to “upcoding” as explained nicely on Plain English recently). Btw, a similar mechanism is also the reason private plans offer gym reimbursements and why your auto insurance may offer a discount if you take a drivers ed class… it’s less about getting you to DO things and more about getting information ABOUT you!
Incredible how a few billionaires convinced millions of Christians to ignore everything Christ said about helping the poor so already wealthy people can pay less taxes. And the cuts will have no impact on the larger debt problem, so we’re condemning millions for nothing.
re: Medicare/Medicaid not covering gym memberships:
Remember the business model for most gyms: sign up as many people as possible in the hope that most of them will only show up a few times and stop coming while still paying. Sleazier operations make it as difficult as possible to cancel a membership.
So not hard to imagine how this could become a massive boondoggle where gyms sign up large numbers of elderly and poor people, collect money from the Federal government and the new members never show up.
A much better plan would be to reward people for actually exercising, tracking it via an app or similar.
That this is something private health insurance should do too goes without saying, but there may be issues: when I first signed up with my insurance company, they had a program where you would tie your step tracker to their app. Every day you logged more than 12K steps you got a dollar, up to $100.
And for the first three years, I got that $100, but then year four it went down to $50 and now it's down to just $10. Meaning they were clearly losing money. Why they didn't just up the number of steps reqiured instead is curious but to your greater point, we should be rewarding people for exercising.
Great points regarding the importance of exercise. No doubt there was a time in human history when people were active in ways that made it possible for them to go without exercising as such. But as we have become more sedentary, exercising has become necessary for maintaining our health. This doesn't mean you have to exercise assiduously and for hours, but it does mean that you need to break periods of sitting and lying down with physical activities. I walk every day (I try to make it a brisk walk but at times my dog has other ideas!). Additionally, I do a mix of Yoga and Pilates every day. It is important to stay strong and flexible. Facility and balance are also essential. Exercising clears the mind and replenishes the body. There is no good reason that Medicare and Medicaid don't cover gym costs. They should. They should also cover dental--teeth require lots of maintenance and affect health dramatically. Some Medicare Advantage plans do cover gym fees and provide dental insurance, but there are major issues with Advantage plans. I think it is better to stay with regular Medicare. Clearly, our public health insurance programs are long overdue for reform to better serve Americans. And, it is terrible that we have cut USAID--tragic and shameful.
Derek, this is something I'm very passionate about. At the age of 64 this month, I have over 30 marathons under my belt and two ultras, training for another one in October. People my age who don't exercise are declining and I'm thriving! Silver Sneakers is a program that many seniors use for a free gym membership. The caveat is they have to be in a Medicare Advantage plan. I've been warned not to sign up for one of those next July. Fortunately, our health insurance through the New Mexico healthcare exchange offers free gym memberships. I go twice a week for weight training and run almost every day. If you get a chance, please check out my Substack where I talk about running and other topics, including how people might respond as individuals to the shuttering of USAID. Thanks.
In response to your thought bubble: public health care programs covering things like gym memberships don’t happen because the concept of prevention is not central to the health systems of most western countries.
I think we need to highlight the importance of simply being active. Not everyone is athletic enough to run marathons or lift heavy weights. Everybody can get off their ass and do something, however. I used to spend a lot of time at the gym but lately I spend more time at the golf course. It’s amazing how some of the older guys well into their eighties are doing. I think we intimidate people about exercise when there are a lot of things they could be doing as they age. Moving around and engaging with others has tremendous health benefits as well.
It gets a lot of flak but one neat thing about pickleball is seeing so many old people active - I’d never seen so many 60 year olds actually running before playing the game
Pickleball is so fun with it's ease of play that I can't understand being upset about it.
Agreed that not everybody needs to run marathons.
But everyone should be doing weight training ( unless physically incapable of it of course)
Even eighty year, old people can do weight training and get results
Could not agree more. As I commented on Slow Boring recently, I’m grateful every day that I learned to love exercise despite having been a runty and unathletic child. I’m also grateful to live in a walkable place (DC, despite the current unpleasantness) with good transit and decent bike infrastructure. I can see the toll the auto-only lifestyle takes on my friends and family in the midwest.
Nearly everyone can lift weights, just needs to be an amount just below what is too hard, e.g heavy for them.
This right here 👆🏾☝🏾
Get up and walk.
Touch grass.
Be socially engaged.
Be in your purpose daily.
Be present.
There’s a documentary on Netflix called Blue Zones (or something similar) and “being active” was one of the common traits across the zones.
In Japan, it was as simple as them sitting on the ground a lot, so they’d have to effectively do squats to get up. Gardening was another common activity there.
They also talked about a city in Italy built into a mountain where the population had to walk up and down hills to go see their friends or go to the store.
So it could almost be as simple as “not sitting on a chair/couch or in a car” to qualify as a healthy lifestyle today.
If anyone will pay for gym memberships be my guest:). In the meantime I would probably encourage people to run or walk for free. I think it also takes out the barrier of taking out more time to commute to the workout.
Same with dumbbells. Buy a few and lift them at home 3 times a week. No driving, no fee.
PPS. I don’t know much about it but my parents have access to - but don’t use - a SilverSneakers program thru their Medicare plan that does cover gym memberships. They happen to walk / run instead.
I was thinking about this post on my morning walk this AM 🤣 Plus re: the epidemic of loneliness - it also gets you interacting with your neighbors too.
Also the barrier of a lot of expensive equipment!
Not necessary. Body-weight exercises are very effective, require no equipment, and can be done in 10 minutes.
Or you use surgical tubing.
Shuttering USAID is shameful. People forget all the famine from the 80s that let to its creation.
Simply paying a gym membership does not necessary mean they will use it. I think the major problem holding Americans back from exercising let alone being active, is that they are victims to their built environment. It’s so EASY to be inactive. DoorDash, driving to get fast food, not having to walk to go to places leads to an inactive lifestyle.
There are few walkable areas like S.F. and NYC that makes being active a lifestyle not a chore like exercising at a gym.
In Denver, once you turn 60, membership at the large network of city recreation centers is free. All the equipment, all the classes, all the swimming pools -- free. It's one of the best things the city spends money on, IMHO.
Walking is free. If more people spent time walking, the physical, and mental health, of our populations would increase greatly. Unfortunately, part of the problem is we've created a world so comfortable, most people would rather walk over to the cabinet and pop a pill instead of going outside for a walk.
I obtained a "Silver "Sneakers" card when I signed up for Medicare, I guess I have the advantage plan /plus I have anthem as my secondary. I can go to the local YMCA & Planet fitness, for free. I thought everybody was eligible for this when they signed up for Medicare.
Yes! I was going to make the same comment—technically Medicare does cover gym memberships as my parents have had both silver sneakers and another one (I forget the name at the moment). This type of program both gets “seniors” exercising and gets them out of the house socializing—another crucial ingredient to quality of life.
I have an Apple Watch.. the two things I monitor daily are my 3300 step goal and my sleep.. It’s a life changer..I’m 74….
Move it or lose it. Especially as you age.
It is astounding how impactful exercise is. I'm really keen to see what the $101 million Xprize Healthspan uncovers in the next five years. There are many dozens of teams with a variety of approaches and combinations of interventions (exercise, biologics, pharmaceuticals, supplements, etc.).
Even though exercise is significantly better than being chronically sedentary, people who regularly exercise still have decent risk of age-related pathologies, simply due to the biology of aging. I'd be supportive of research that aims to help people who already do the basics of a reasonably healthy diet and exercise. The ARPA-H program PROSPR by Andrew Brack may help shed light on this, as aging biomarkers are an important focus.
Re: thought bubble / Medicare covering gym memberships. This would most likely increase “advantageous selection” i.e targeting of healthy, active patients who are likely to cost less than a private Medicare plan (aka Medicare advantage/MA) is payed by the government. Selection in MA is estimated to cost >$40B annually in excess spending (how’s that for waste!) and as of 2025 exceeding excess spend due to “upcoding” as explained nicely on Plain English recently). Btw, a similar mechanism is also the reason private plans offer gym reimbursements and why your auto insurance may offer a discount if you take a drivers ed class… it’s less about getting you to DO things and more about getting information ABOUT you!
It would also fund a lot of well-intended but unused gym memberships.
Incredible how a few billionaires convinced millions of Christians to ignore everything Christ said about helping the poor so already wealthy people can pay less taxes. And the cuts will have no impact on the larger debt problem, so we’re condemning millions for nothing.
re: Medicare/Medicaid not covering gym memberships:
Remember the business model for most gyms: sign up as many people as possible in the hope that most of them will only show up a few times and stop coming while still paying. Sleazier operations make it as difficult as possible to cancel a membership.
So not hard to imagine how this could become a massive boondoggle where gyms sign up large numbers of elderly and poor people, collect money from the Federal government and the new members never show up.
A much better plan would be to reward people for actually exercising, tracking it via an app or similar.
That this is something private health insurance should do too goes without saying, but there may be issues: when I first signed up with my insurance company, they had a program where you would tie your step tracker to their app. Every day you logged more than 12K steps you got a dollar, up to $100.
And for the first three years, I got that $100, but then year four it went down to $50 and now it's down to just $10. Meaning they were clearly losing money. Why they didn't just up the number of steps reqiured instead is curious but to your greater point, we should be rewarding people for exercising.
Very much agreed.
I would go further and argue that if you are on medicaid, you should be doing your part to reduce those expenses.
Which means staying a healthy weight and being fit
Great points regarding the importance of exercise. No doubt there was a time in human history when people were active in ways that made it possible for them to go without exercising as such. But as we have become more sedentary, exercising has become necessary for maintaining our health. This doesn't mean you have to exercise assiduously and for hours, but it does mean that you need to break periods of sitting and lying down with physical activities. I walk every day (I try to make it a brisk walk but at times my dog has other ideas!). Additionally, I do a mix of Yoga and Pilates every day. It is important to stay strong and flexible. Facility and balance are also essential. Exercising clears the mind and replenishes the body. There is no good reason that Medicare and Medicaid don't cover gym costs. They should. They should also cover dental--teeth require lots of maintenance and affect health dramatically. Some Medicare Advantage plans do cover gym fees and provide dental insurance, but there are major issues with Advantage plans. I think it is better to stay with regular Medicare. Clearly, our public health insurance programs are long overdue for reform to better serve Americans. And, it is terrible that we have cut USAID--tragic and shameful.
Derek, this is something I'm very passionate about. At the age of 64 this month, I have over 30 marathons under my belt and two ultras, training for another one in October. People my age who don't exercise are declining and I'm thriving! Silver Sneakers is a program that many seniors use for a free gym membership. The caveat is they have to be in a Medicare Advantage plan. I've been warned not to sign up for one of those next July. Fortunately, our health insurance through the New Mexico healthcare exchange offers free gym memberships. I go twice a week for weight training and run almost every day. If you get a chance, please check out my Substack where I talk about running and other topics, including how people might respond as individuals to the shuttering of USAID. Thanks.
In response to your thought bubble: public health care programs covering things like gym memberships don’t happen because the concept of prevention is not central to the health systems of most western countries.