Exercise To Look Younger, Especially With Your Hat On!

I walk by this place often, and it always makes me think of my inner 21-year old. I wonder what he’s up to, today. Photo by FitOldDog.

You can exercise to look younger, I’ve noticed, as I continue Ironman training into my 70s. It works best, Deb tells me, when I keep my hat on to hide my white, yes, white, not grey, hair. Exercise-induced youthfulness comes with many benefits, especially when you need to attract a good mate, and keep them. Bit like fishing with the right bait, don’t you think?

Deb loves to fish. Here she is catching a Spot in the Chesapeake Bay. Photo by FitOldDog, with permission.

When I was actually young, in my 20s, people thought I was even younger, due to my shorter stature (5′ 6″) and ginger hair. This, especially applied to craggy farmers, who would complain that the veterinary practice was sending children to treat their stock (farm animals) – I was working as a large animal veterinarian at the time. They would even say it to my face, but being my mother’s son, I could deal with them with a few choice words. The follow up had better be skilled treatment on my part, however, but I did OK. Even today, people will sometimes guess my age as early 50s, if, and only if, I keep my hat on.

So, I recommend regular exercise, as long as you can balance it against the potentially skin aging effects of excessive sun exposure. My approach is to use lots of sunscreen, and take regular doses of vitamin D, that would be better manufactured by my skin in response to sunlight. As I keep having solar keratoses (pre-cancerous skin lesions) cut off my hair line, due to sunburn as a kid, I opt for sunscreen.

It’s, like everything else in life, a bit of a balancing act.

It also helps to think young to stay young. Frown, and you’ll wrinkle your face, especially if the wind changes.