To the doghouse

Almost seven months ago, Pierini Fitness composed a reflection showcasing his darker side as a jaded old man.  The composition can be viewed here: Go find less.

While it reflects my mindset when I’m in a stinking thinking mode, it’s not honorable behavior by any stretch of anyone’s imagination.  It may reflect the mindset of cantankerous and jaded old men who have an axe to grind with their wives and significant female others, but it isn’t a mindset that’ll get us to Heaven.

Mrs. Pierini Fitness recently stumbled across this reflection on my blog, and my ears have been ringing ever since.  It resulted in me being sent to the doghouse, again, rightfully so, and has given me time to reflect on how what I expressed in this reflection is at odds with the person I desire to be. 

There may be others who read this who took similar offense.  To all who did, I ask for your forgiveness and want you to know that the message I expressed is not my playbook by which I try to live my life.

But there were some truths in what I expressed.  Specifically, I said that a kind heart often co-exists deep within our psyche and soul if you’re willing to peel off the layers of thick skin we’ve grown over the years.  This is true, but our and my propensity to relapse to a lower level and undesirable behavior will always be there in the bowels of our old man minds.

So, what should we do? 

Be aware of this and pray for the strength to avoid relapse with a behavior that isn’t the kind and gentle older men that we strive to be.

Because this behavior is one that will, often, send us to the doghouse.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

  

2026 fitness and health goals

Happy New Year 2026 greetings Pierini Fitness sports fans.  Wishing that all your aspirations and dreams for the new year are realized.

 

Some of your goals may be fitness and health related; mine are too.  I’d like to share with you my 2026 fitness and health goals.  Mine is a list of five and here they are:

 

Goal #1 – Continue being prescription medicine 

According to one internet source, the Merk Manual Consumer Version writes that “older adults tend to take more medications than younger people because they are more likely to have more than one chronic medical disorder, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or arthritis.”

 

This source goes on to say that “approximately 90% of older adults regularly take at least 1 prescription medication, and 43% regularly take at least 5 different prescription medications.”

 

Thus far, Pierini Fitness has been blessed with good health and does not take any prescription medicine, so my first goal is to continue being prescription medicine free in 2026.  This goal has an asterisk next to it in that if I somehow develop a bacterial infection and take an antibiotic briefly, this won’t preclude me from achieving my goal.

Goal #2 - Complete 100 burpees with jumps in under ten minutes

Burpees continue to be my go-to exercise for cardiovascular conditioning and strength endurance and I’ll continue regularly doing them in 2026.  My best time completing 100 burpees with a jump is 9 minutes and 42 seconds that I did on May 1, 2024.  Afterwards, I relaxed and have since done them at a slower gentleman’s pace.

 

My second goal is to complete 100 burpees with jumps in ten minutes or less by my 71^st birthday, which is less than two months away, and I’m currently training to accomplish this.  If I achieve this goal, this will be great but if I don’t, it’s not the end of my fitness world and I’ll keep on chugging along with a regular serving of burpees for my fitness nutrition.

Goal #3 – Run, run, run, and have fun, fun, fun in 2026

I’ve had an on-again and off-again relationship with running as a regular fitness training activity; currently it’s “on.” 

 

Currently my relationship with running as a fitness training activity is on again, so I plan on entering a 5k distance fun run in 2026 with a goal of completing it at a pace of 8 minutes and 45 seconds per mile. 

 

The last run I entered a fun run was on July 4, 2024.  It was a 5-mile distance, and my time to complete it was 52 minutes and 31 seconds, a 10 minutes and 29 seconds mile pace.  This is slower from 25 years earlier when I could run this distance at a 7 minute and 10 second mile pace.  Gracefully aging and my lack of consistent running has created this slower pace. 

 

Let’s see if I can do something about it and achieve my third goal mile pace this year.

Goal #4 – Train smart, rest and recover, and remain injury free in 2026

I’ll train smart with plenty of rest and recovery to remain injury free in 2026.  While I may engage in pedal to the metal workouts from time to time, I’ll always be mindful that I’m an older man, training for upper percentile, age-adjusted cardiovascular conditioning, and strength endurance.  

I’m not training to make the 2028 Olympic team but to gracefully age and enjoy my life. 

Training smart, with plenty of rest and recovery, is how I’ll plan on remaining injury free in 2026.

Goal #5 – Lighter and leaner in 2026

I’m training to weigh 172 lbs. by my 71^st birthday in less than two months.  This morning, I tipped the scale at 174 lbs. so I’m getting close.

A second goal is to weigh 161 lbs. by the first day of Summer 2026. This was my weight in late 1972 when I took my Army entrance physical exam.

I was a dripping wet 17-year-old in late 1972, over 50 years ago, when I had this physical exam.  Three years later, in November 1975, I tipped the scale at 169 lbs. for my Army discharge physical exam.

At this older age of my life, lighter is better.  It makes it easier for me to do burpees, pull-ups and running, fitness training exercises I regularly do.  Plus, it’s easier on my old man knees and hips.

We’ll see if I accomplish my fifth and final goal.  I’ll relax my dietary discipline once I achieve it and may climb back to 169 lbs. which, as I previously said, was my Army discharge physical exam weight.  The last time I weighed this was in 2020.  

Tell me one of your goals.

Take care, Pierini Fitness sports fans, be safe and enjoy the new year.  I’m Pierini Fitness #FITAT70 and blessed, signing off. Until we meet again, I’ll be diligently working to achieve my 2026 fitness and health goals.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Merry Christmas 2025 greetings!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Aging is not for sissies

With over nine months in septuagenarian-land, Pierini Fitness now regularly identifies himself as an old man.  Honestly, it’s not a label that I view unfavorably, rather it embraces the golden years existence-sphere to which I have successfully arrived.

 

I’m happy to be aging because it beats the alternative.  I’ve been aging since the day I was born and will continue doing so until that unknown date in the future when my life ends.   

 

But the old man I am now is different than the young man I once was.  While I enjoy good health and physical fitness, there are many reminders of my old man status.  I don’t see as well, I don’t hear as well, and I move slower, unless I’m intentionally doing an intense speed-oriented workout. 

 

I don’t have many aches and pains thus far, knock on wood, but my wrists and hands do hurt which could be arthritis-light, or the result of the cumulative things I’ve done in my fitness training that have created this result. My knees, hips and shoulders feel fine, but they sometimes wake up to stiffness, and they don’t have the flexibility they once did.

 

Overall, today, I’m doing pretty good for a 70-year-old man, but it can all change in a moment.  This I’m fully aware of and am prepared as an old man can be.  When this day comes, my thinking about aging will undoubtedly be different and that is, aging is not for sissies.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Chapters left to be written

Longevity expert Peter Attia has been making the social media rounds this past week at a higher pace than normal after appearing on the television news program 60 Minutes last Sunday. If his name doesn’t ring your bell, he’s a Canadian American author, physician and researcher known for his work in longevity medicine. He’s one of many peddling to the crowd of those wanting to live forever. 

 

I didn’t view this 60 Minutes segment because I don’t own a television, a luxury for “rich people.” But I was able to read various internet articles and view several videos highlighting his message. I won’t repeat all that he had to say, but there were a couple of soundbites striking a chord with me.  

 

The one hitting me like a hard slap in the face was him talking about the “marginal decade,” defined as the final 10 to 15 years of life when many are plagued with sickness and immobility; when strength, balance, and independence collapse for most.  He explained that at age 75, both men and women fall off a cliff. At this population level, he explains, it’s unmistakable what happens at the age of 75.  That’s what we’re up against. 

 

His longevity ministry evangelizes that the best “drug” to delay physical and cognitive decline is exercise, something he does in large doses.  He personally targets 10 hours of exercise a week and what he does includes cardiovascular training to burn fat and improve his VO2 max (a measure of respiratory fitness) and weightlifting to maintain his strength and muscle mass.  It was reassuring to know that the exercise he advocates for longevity is what Pierini Fitness does daily. And I best continue because I’m less than five years away from falling off this cliff he talks about. 

 

So, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing because it serves me well.  As social media fitness guy Chandler Marchman recently said, “If you always do what you did, you’ll always get what you always got.” I like what I’m doing and what it has got me in my upper percentile fitness, health, and wellness department. 

 

Talking to myself, I’ll keep training knowing that my gracefully aging physical fitness is a success story with chapters left to be written. 

 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum 

5-year anniversary being a retired man

Five years ago, I became a retired man after 40 years of hard work as a self-employed business owner. How time flies when you're having fun!

Retirement is an honorable profession, and I highly recommend it. Work hard, live an honorable life, and God willing, you'll get your turn if you're not already there. 

Yup, today I’m celebrating my 5-year anniversary of being a retired man.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

 

There’s a law of the vital few named the Pareto Principle; it’s sometimes described as the 80/20 rule. Simply stated, it’s that roughly 80 percent of effects come from 20 percent of the causes.  I’ve heard about it before but never paid much attention to better understanding it.  Today, I decided to read more about it and see where this leads me.

An internet search indicates that in 1941, management consultant Joseph M. Juran, developed the concept in the context of quality control and improvement after reading the works of Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto.  Pareto first wrote about the 80/20 connection while teaching at a university.  Pareto noted that approximately 80% of Italy's land was owned by 20% of the population.  

Might the Pareto Principle be relevant to my fitness training?

Absolutely and there’s no shortage of articles on the internet that you can find and read if you’re interested.  There’s no need for me to add my lengthy blabbering to what’s already out there.

For example, fitness training can be measured by its frequency and duration, such as the number of training days per week or the number of hours of fitness training per workout session.  Can I achieve 80 percent of my fitness results with 20 percent of effort?

What do you think?

I think so but I’m going to have to think about this some more and ask the tough question of what’s my 20 percent?

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Service to our country

How time flies when we’re getting old.  Today I fondly remember my dearly departed Dad on his 99^th birthday.  I privately refer to him as the original, first generation, Pierini Fitness. 

While he has NOW been gone for twelve years, it seems like it was only yesterday when I was with him at our local YMCA weight room and he was explaining to me the nuances of performing barbell exercises correctly and safely.  My joy of fitness training has its origin in many sources but most notably the examples he set. 

He was a member of the “Great Generation” of men, defined as people born from 1901 to 1927.  They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary generation composing military forces during World War II. 

They became sailors and soldiers at an age when some had not officially entered manhood, an age that nowadays many are still acting like young boys playing video games in their parent’s basement.  

My Dad and many others answered the call to duty to serve their country during World War II and, today, we live in a better country because of them. 

Rest in peace sailor and thank you for your service to our country.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Due every day

 

The perspectives I have as a 70-year-old man are different than ones I had when younger and youthful. Like, there’s no free lunch, even as a retired guy like Pierini Fitness, so I must work every day to earn my gracefully aging fitness, health and wellness “meals.”

This means eating well, but not excessively, exercising smartly and efficiently, not stupidly and strenuously, and being grateful for all my blessings, rather than lamenting about my life burdens or toils.

What would I do better if I could?  My answer is that if I could have done better, I would. 

What I have is what I’ve earned.  My success is never owned, it’s rented, and the rent is due every day. 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Go find less

As a 70-year-old man, I’ve had lots of time to become full of my bloviating self on a large-scale and felonious basis.  I suspect this is also true for most old men, excepting the small crowd of gentle, humble, and kind old men.  It goes with the old man turf, or the old macho man world turf, and we old men, or rather old and cantankerous codgers, can’t help ourselves. 

 

But the good news is that despite being afflicted with this “condition”, along with being annoyingly jaded, loud, rude and anything else you can think of, a caring and kind heart often co-exists deep within our psyche and soul if you’re willing to peel off the layers of thick skin we’ve grown over the years to protect ourselves from the evils of the world to which we’re exposed. It’s as if we’re a macho bipolar codger of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind, capable of sending confusing signals and soundbites, along with threats to all who dare cross us and our paths. 

 

Meanwhile, our wives and significant female others have spent a lifetime trying to change us, taking up this treacherous assignment when they, and we, were young, believing that it was in their power to turn us around to the person they thought they had caught, only to discover the person we really were and are.  They constantly ooze in frustration after many years of futile efforts, and discover that what they got, long ago, is what they still have today. 

 

To our damsels in distress, us older guys can often be heard telling them, “If I’m too much, go find less.” 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum