I was thinking about that Nena video I embedded the other day, and was comparing how my grandmother and other people I knew in North Florida looked in their 50s vs. how she looks.

Hard living ages you. My grandmother when she was 57 looked 80. A hard 80. My uncle, about the same. My mother looked 70 when she was less than 40.

When I joined the Army, I was a bit confused when I saw regular people in their 50s who looked to be in their mid-30s. I thought that only happened to celebrities. But that’s what working out and not taking drugs, smoking cigarettes, and being grindingly poor can do for you.

On working out, Nena definitely does. In the side lighting you can see her arms well. She has muscles. And you don’t get shoulders like that from not working out.

Just a reminder that resistance training is one of the few scientifically-validated ways to both improve quality of life and lifespan. And you feel better too; more energy and more stamina. You probably won’t ever look like Nena, at any age, but you definitely will not if you become one with your couch.