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• After the meet-up with YY.T, I realized CRE fitness (or speed) is not a priority to me. Longevity > freedom from illness > intimacy > good sleep and appetite
  BMI .. seems to be a key indicator/predictor of many of the above.
• As of Mar 2022,free_from_ill > BMI green zone > ▲ full-body esp. upper-body strength relative to body weight > flexible >▼CRE ..
• As of Dec 2021, free_from_ill > healthy_longevity > BMI > ▲ flexible > ▲ strength > ▼CRE
• As of Jul 2021, free_from_ill_health > healthy_longevity > BMI green zone > ▲flexible > ▼endurance > ▲strength .. identical to 2018 !
• As of 2020, freedom_from_ill_health > healthy_longevity > endurance > strength > flexible
• As of Jan 2019, I have achieved the greatest success in weight, and I was making the biggest effort (against greatest resistance) in flexibility
• As of 2018, If I must chose between the two, in 2018 I would choose to prioritize flexibility over bodyweight. I conceived this pyramid of fitness priorities in July 2018:

1. weight? Affects endurance, strength, flexibility, speed, leaping, …
2. Y-junction (central) flexibility? toughest to improve. Central means lower waist till thigh. All other parts are much, much, much, , much, much better in terms of my gap behind other (mostly female) yoga students. See ##toughest yoga poses ranked
3. stamina in heart and lung etc
   • depends on weight
   • less visible, less keenly felt as a weakness
   • easier to improve and maintain, due to my absorbency advantage.
4. strength (including muscle endurance) relative to weight. See notes below
   1. depends on weight
5. speed of distance running; leap length/height
   • depends on weight

Even though my shoulder joint is unable to extend up to 180 degrees, it’s not preventing any yoga poses. It only makes “poor form” or forces me to take on modified poses. In contrast, my Y-junction inflexibility does render some yoga poses unattainable.

▲ means “gaining relative mindshare now than earlier”
▼ means “losing mindshare but still important (usually)”

This blogpost is mostly about my personal priorities. How about the priorities for my son/daughter (or a family member or a colleague/friend)? That priority list is usually BMI > CRE > strength > flexibility. Note BMI is the most important wellness factor for my family.

— aspect: intimacy … sexual gratification and longer active sex life…  sometimes more important to me than improving BMI to 64 kg. If BMI improvement affect my intimacy, then let go of the BMI. My intimacy is more important.

— aspect: healthy appetite.. Losing your healthy appetite, and becoming someone like grandpa in his late 80s, can reduce your BMI, but do you want that?

During my covid infection, I lost appetite and BMI, but it is not worth it.

— aspect: Freedom from ill health
“Freedom” includes things like immunity, recovery, and karma. The perspective is shorter-term and slightly more achievable and predictable than longevity.
— aspect: longevity
longevity-but-in-poor-health is not really my goal.
— aspect: stamina [endurance/CRE//]
Jolt: endurance .. also required in yoga, chin-up, jump-rope etc, and has a massive psychological impact.

“Fitness” is vague and means slightly more than stamina. Stamina means cardio-respiratory endurance (CRE) to me. For me, fitness (and also most strengths) is measured against body weight.

— aspect: muscle mass and Strength, esp. against body weight
Strength is slightly more than muscles strength. Muscle mass is a low priority to me.

Amputation can “improve” your BMI but do you want it?

(Note muscle mass vs body fat .. is a recurring debate, but body fat is hard to measure.)

Those (sportspeople) who gain muscle mass often have a hard time maintaining BMI in old age.

For bone health and some other elements of health, adequate muscle strength is crucial.

Plank and other stationary exercises fall into the Strength category.

Many workout classes focus on minor muscles seldom exercised. I tend to think those are important and deserve some attention.

— the need to balance enjoyments with wellness priorities
some people (mostly men) enjoy muscle training and nothing else .. I think some Americans do. It can affect BMI and flexibility, two of the most important aspects of wellness. I am unlikely to become bulky, but flexibility is a traditionally neglected area.

some people enjoy jogging and nothing else. It can lead to loss of flexibility and muscle as we age.

Some women do mostly yoga including some limited strength training, so they lack CRE. Therefore, some combine yoga with cardio.

Ideally, you would want to enjoy a range of workouts, but few individuals are so lucky. For every adult and child, consistent workout is repetitive and requires a lot of effort and absorbency. Team sports and golf are more fun but requires a lot of external help.

Yoga trains some less-used muscles and includes many stationary exercises.

— Q: which aspect is easiest to accumulate? Stamina
Q: which are the easiest to lose? BMI
Q: which are the easiest to rebuild/recover? Strength

— Q: which aspect generates the most reassurance? free_from_ill_health;
Q: which component has the biggest weightage in overall self-esteem/self-confidence? BMI

==== Aging .. Even though ▲flexibility is the weakest weakness and #1 area that needs the most ‘sunshine’, I still need to work on stamina, muscle strength etc as I age.

As we age, each part of the engine must be kept in working condition, including the more durable parts (probably heart and bones).

BMI wellness would show declines in both sexes, affects stamina, strength, and flexibility.

Stamina is 80% heart and lung, but joints and bones also need continuous /boost/ and strengthening through strength training. I feel positive that I have a natural advantage in stamina, but stamina needs active maintenance.

I think 1) muscle and 2) flexibility are likely to experience the most declines.  You will always see exceptions, but those rare cases can be misleading and /breed/ a sense of complacency, a false sense of /invincibility/ and overconfidence

— upper body strength relative to weight, as we age
As we age, lower body strength is easier to maintain, thanks to climing, jogging, cardios (predominantly leg work). In contrast, upper body muscles are almost never deployed to support FULL body weight, except in 1) chin-up 2) dip. Therefore, as we age, we would lose these abilities quite early. I have many male colleagues to tell me “At my age I can’t do chin-up any more.”

In late 2021, I met a group of body builders at the Blk 79A exercise corner. I think they have lean muscles, strengths, balance, but how about upper body strengthRelative2Weight? I would guess that for most of them, as they age the bulky muscles are likely to become a problem rather than an asset.  Bodybuilders, boxers, weight lifters tend to become overweight in older age.

Similar to flexibility, upper body strength training (esp. chin-up) is less sustainable, more boring than outdoor cardio, or lower-body strength training. It requires more /absorbency/, sunshine. Classes could help. See chin-up #muscle-up