I’m really excited to share this episode with Dr. Howard Luks. Dr. Luks is an orthopedic surgeon by trade, but his writing, whether it’s his book Longevity Simplified or Substack called Built to Move: Born to Heal, encompasses so much more than fixing broken bones.

This episode takes special meaning for me now, as just this week I lost a grandparent. He’s undoubtedly in a better place now, but a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go help him and spent some time in a memory care facility. Between my grandpa and the other people in the memory care unit, it was striking just how much physical and cognitive capacity we lose at these end stages. Of course, that comes for us all at some point, but as Dr. Luks and I talk about today, there are ways to make those final 5 to 10 years of our life vastly more engaging and enjoyable. Through his writing and this conversation, Dr. Luks shares how to take care of our health in a way that allows us to continue doing the things we love doing for as long as we can.

Find out more about Dr. Luks:

• Built to Move, Born to Heal - Dr. Luks' Substack
• Longevity Simplified Book

This episode goes hand in hand with part of my conversation with Justin Daerr. If you haven’t listened to it, I highly suggest it, as Justin talks about a study done on collegiate athletes and how they were no more likely to exercise later in life than someone who had never exercised. I’m increasingly finding this balance between chasing performance versus moving to be healthy a fascinating topic.

Clearly, training and movement can take many shapes and forms, and if you’re interested in doing a marathon, Ironman, or ultra but want to blend it with this idea of staying healthy for the long haul, I’d love to chat. One of my athletes recently completed a 100 miler, which was a big goal of his, but our main priority is helping him be healthy for life. Like Dr. Luks mentions, those finish line feelings are fleeting, and while I love them as much as the next person, I also want to make sure that my athletes are enjoying the process and doing things in a way that sets them up for health in the long haul. Find out more at forgingirontraining.fit.

Until next time, happy training!

Coach Griffin