Want to Succeed at Work and in Life? Get Off Your Butt!

I am not my knee.

Or my shoulder.

Or any of the parts of my body that ache many mornings at 5 a.m. as I rise to head to the gym.

Okay, I have to claim them. They—and their annoying reminders that I am no longer the twenty- or thirty-something physical specimen I once was—are here to stay. As long as I am. So I'll claim them. I'll even call them badges of honor.

But I will not be defined by them. Not by any stretch.

Not as long as I can hang with many of the guys at the gym who are much younger. Some might be able to lift more, or curl those crazy eights. Some may be able to do more weighted pull-ups or what not.

But I hold my own, as do many of the other Boomers who are there on the regular. Every weekday morning. Doing what we do, and proud to be doing it.

Aging is a blessing. Each day is a new opportunity to fight the fight—on every front.

Physically, like many of you, I am waging war against aging. Unlike most of our parents, who sat idly by as it brought them cupcakes of aches, pains, and illnesses with their morning coffee, we're kicking "age" and taking names. At Men's Fitness, where our median age is in the low 30s, I get almost as many emails from readers in their 50s and even 60s as I receive from readers in their 20s and younger.

Statistics not only show we exercise more than our parents ever thought of exercising, but that on average we're exercising more than the average person. We're eating better and adding vitamins and supplements to our daily regiments. So don't blame America's obesity epidemic on us! (Fact is, we can't even tackle childhood obesity until we conquer grown-up obesity.)

It's one reason we're living longer and living better longer. But that it not the sole root of our motivation. At least not mine.

I don't get up before dawn every weekday, poo-pooing the myriad aches and tweaks that say "Good morning" to me just after my iPhone alarm goes off, just because of some long-range goal to live until I'm 90. No, I do it for today.

I do it because I want to stay "in the game" longer than society thinks I should. I know more than I did twenty years ago, so why shouldn't I do things society often says I shouldn't be doing?

Five years ago I was laid off from my job in an industry that was changing at light-speed due to the Internet and how it was altering the way people accessed the information magazines, newspapers, television, and radio stations produced.

I was an early adopter. I had long embraced this rapidly changing paradigm and was one of the few "old-school" journalists who not only accepted the new realties of "new" journalism but was excited about the possibilities. Many of my colleagues fretted and moaned and simply buried their heads firmly in the sands of woe.

And yet as I pursued jobs—many in the emerging digital sector of the media industry—it became clear that one of the factors preventing me from being hired was my age. How could anyone that "old" be "savvy.com"?

I'm sure it happens in other industries, as well. But this is fact: Those among us with a passion for fitness are most likely to also be the most successful among us. Strong bodies, aligned with the wisdom of age, are a formidable team in the workplace.

In other words, the path to the corner office (or at least the executive toilet) winds through the gym. Career success and being fit, if not twins, are certainly close kin.

One of my good friends is a 50+ CEO of a major media corporation, but what get's him excited are his twice-weekly boxing workouts and the bike runs he does on other days. He's as strong, trim, and fit as most men half his age, and could pretty much drop many of them with a good right cross. Or at least outrun them.

If you're not already a fitness devotee, there's no reason you can't start now. And you don't need to join a gym to start, either.

Here are five ways to jump-start your way to living better longer:

• Start walking. Wherever you are. With your dog. With a neighbor. Or simply alone with your thoughts about how much better you're going to feel and look. After a week, jog for 30 seconds every five minutes. After a month change walk/jog routine to a jog/sprint regiment.
• Stretch. If you're too intimidated to actually join a yoga class, go to one of the myriad websites that offer either full classes or at least breakdowns of some of the moves and start trying them out. Take a class soon, though, to insure you're doing the moves correctly
• Buy a jump rope. It's maybe the most critical workout "machine" ever. Even if you think you can only jump twice today, do as many as you can in a minute. Write the number down and watch it grow. After two weeks shoot for two minutes. Two weeks later, go three minutes. Once you can jump steadily for three minutes, I'm scared of you!
• Get a medicine ball. Nothing too heavy; 8 pounds is enough to start. Use it to work your core and upper body. Lift it during sit ups. Hold it between your feet during leg lifts. Do squats, bicept and and tricept work with it. Within a month, you'll want a heavier ball.
• Take salsa classes! What, you thought I wasn't going to let you have any fun? You'll not only work up a sweat and learn a few new moves, but you just might meet someone as well. Someone who can massage those new achy places all over your fitter, stronger body.

Just keep thinking: Badges of honor. Badges of honor…