Winter Ruth - Fitness After 40

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FITNESS AFTER 40

Second Edition

YOUR STRONG BODY AT 40, 50, 60, AND BEYOND

Includes a 6-Week Total-Body Workout Program

Vonda Wright, M.D., M.S.
Director of PRIMA
(Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes),
UPMC Center for Sports Medicine;
and Medical Director,
UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex

WITH Ruth Winter, M.S.

The contents of Fitness After 40, such as text, graphics, images, information obtained from Fitness After 40s licensors, and other material contained in the book (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in Fitness After 40.

Caring for masters athletes, whether they are winning races or stepping back into a life of mobility, is a true joy and inspiration. I am forever grateful for their persistence in life and for helping me dispel the myth that aging is an inevitable decline from vitality to frailty! Masters athletes prove we can be healthy, vital, active, and joyful at every age and skill level.

LOVE, and all my best, to my husband, PETER; our blended family of six who are keeping us young, PAT, JOHN, ANDREW, LOUIS, COREY, and ISABELLA; and my ever-youthful parents, GENE and JOY.

Dr. Vonda

The growth of Fitness After 40, from merely an inspiration to the force igniting a national platform for changing the way we age in this country, has been an incredible journey for me and the thousands of athletes, adult-onset exercisers, and once-upon-a-timers who have taken control of our aging process and believe that the best days of our lives are now!

When I wrote the first edition of Fitness After 40, I had to convince people that 40 and beyond were not just birthdays mourned with black balloons and sad farewells to youth. Now I am overjoyed that crowds of people agree with me that 40 and older is not just a cool age but can actually be the prime of our lives. As I step back to appraise the last six years since Fitness After 40 first ignited a national conversation on active aging, I realize that I have many contributors to whom I am very grateful.

Of course, I must thank God and my family. God for giving me a mind capable of invention, and the hands and drive to make it happen. My parents, Gene and Joy Wright, who raised me to believe that anything I wanted to do was possible. My husband, Peter Taglianetti, for being a solid rock of support as I follow my passions. I am most thankful for my precious blessing, Isabella, who is smart, sweet, and adventurous and motivates everything I do now.

I thank Ruth Winter, my coauthor, for her experience that guided me through the literary forest, one that is so different from medicine. Ruth would like to thank her late husband, Arthur Winter, M.D., for his support. I thank Ruth for introducing me to Linda Konner, our fabulous literary agent, who courageously championed our original proposal to publishers and continues to skillfully guide me through the process, embracing my vision even when I push. Like a surgeon, she is both tough and compassionate; I like that.

I thank Amacom for bringing Fitness After 40 out of my office and to the world. Specifically, I thank Robert Nirkind, our editor, for giving my vision renewed life and for being the cohesive force that combined all the elements of this book. I am thankful to the Amacom team: Michael Sivilli, our associate editor, for expertly managing the details of the manuscript preparation; Irene Majuk, for charging forth with PR; Jacqueline Laks Gorman and Alison Hagge, for their hard work in envisioning how this book should be presented visually; and the army of behind-the-scenes people at Amacom, whom I never had the privilege to meet, but who worked diligently on this book.

Special thanks to Chad Biddinger, masters sprint tri-athlete, and Laura Petrilla, our photographer (misslphotography.com).

Studying Senior Olympians and maturing athletes is both fascinating and inspiring. I am thankful to the National Senior Games Association for allowing me access to their remarkable athletes during the 2001 and 2005 games, and to the more than 3,000 senior athletes who participated in our studies. Also, I cannot forget the guidance of Peter Z. Cohen, M.D., who first turned me on to the Senior Olympics, and Robin Waxenberg, who built the media and PR base for Fitness After 40.

Finally, I must thank my chairman, Dr. Freddie H. Fu, and my colleagues at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine who helped me turn my vision for a Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes (PRIMA) into a thriving venue for maturing athletes of all skill levels. Through our PRIMA programs, PRIMA Start and PRIMA Athlete, we assist these remarkable people to raise their performances to the next level while minimizing injury.

Fitness After 40 captures the conversations I have with my patients daily. My patients inspire me to keep thinking of new ideas and to always strive to be a better surgeon. It is a privilege to be their doctor.

Vonda Wright, M.D.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau, American author, poet, and philosopher

My vision is to change the way we age in this country. There is a myth out there that aging involves an inevitable decline from the vitality of youth to the frailty of old age. This simply is not true. You have the power to dispel that myth in your own life.

You control more than 70 percent of your health and aging process by the decisions you make today. Only 30 percent of how you age is determined by your genetics (so its time to stop blaming your parents). You are in the drivers seat and you control both today and much of your future.

The first edition of Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age helped ignite a national conversation on active aging and empowered youin the best half of your lifeto take control of your body and master how it ages. At the time of its launch, interest in this topic was in its infancy and the book brought the topic into focus. In fact, it served as the nationwide foundation to explain and urge active aging. Fitness After 40 empowered thousands of active agers and masters athletes alike. They, in turn, have participated in multiple community and corporate fitness programs based on the book during the last five years.