Edwin Moses - who is in incredible shape at 66 - shares his fitness secret. Diet is key!!

Eat more veggies wrote:

Diet is key, absolutely!

I wish LRC would promote that much more.

There are so many young kids here which need to learn to cook and eat healthy in order to be lifelong runners.

In the vast majority of cases, the only people who are going to be lifelong runners are people who like to run a lot. And in that group, very, very few (or none?!) are going to have diets so poor that it interferes with them continuing to run.

Are there "better" diets and "worse" diets? Sure. But is a "worse" diet going to stop anyone from running for much/all of their life? No.

Put another way, courtesy of the 40-Year Old Virgin, "Don't put p**, uh, diet up on a pedestal !"

The only variable that actually belongs up on a pedestal is simple MOTIVATION.

i read this article in "On!" magazine at the grocery store checkout

I think the issue is that most of get into running as teenagers. When you’re a teenager your metabolism is through the roof. So when you run 5-6 miles a day it’s not hard to be super thin despite whatever your diet is.

But then you hit your 20s+ and that metabolism starts to slow down. You can still run 5-6 miles a day, which is far more exercise than most, but still gain weight if your diet isn’t good. Every decade it gets harder and harder without that good diet.

Point is that as you get older diet becomes more impactful on your body composition. One must adjust accordingly.

I would absolutely not rule out Moses and perhaps those who were born in the late 80s and beyond don't remember his dominance or how he took the world record down 4 times over a 7 year period. In general tracks are faster, shoes are better, and so is nutrition technology to maximize training. Winning over 120 straight races in insane and unparalleled.

As others have noted it is hard to compare athletes cross-generationally but its not a stretch to say Moses would have better PRs if he had the benefit of modern tracks and technology.

Tell me what male running records still stand from the 80s or even early 90s for that matter? There were a few female outliers but most from the doping era of the 80s where East Germany and the Soviet Union were most definitely giving their female athletes steroids and question performances from western athletes occurred as well.

I am on the wrong side of 40 but I weigh what I did when I was 16.

It's not hard to be healthy.

I agree, I cut back on my sugar, pizza, and potato chips and lost 5-6 lbs in about 3 weeks even though I'm only running 3 days a week. I'm at my college weight when I was running 2 times a day. I also don't indulge in alcohol.

Zev wrote:

I am on the wrong side of 40 but I weigh what I did when I was 16.

It's not hard to be healthy.

It depends.

If you know how to buy healthy food and prepare a meal on a daily basis, than it is easy for you.

If you have never learned to do that and you are depending on fast food and processed precooked meals, than it is very difficult. That's the main reason why so many people are obese.

DinoZ wrote:

Warholm is only 25 years old, he isn't done running PR's. By the time he is done no telling where he'll have that world record at.

Moses was great but not on the same level with this guy.

No doubt Warholm and Rai are awesome athletes, but the tech that has been mentioned is very real, especially with the track surface/material. It may have aided them both as much as 2%. Apply that to Edwin's 47.03. Bottom line, the track was juiced, because Mondo designed it that way. They have been experimenting with energy return as far back as the Mondo Super X technology that used directional rubber below the top colored layer or rubber. The new stuff is even better.

Moses shows that diet helps but genes probably help more.

Thank you for posting. Much respect for anyone who maintains fitness late in life.

Whonose wrote:

Probably your most useful post in some time. Diet is important but most of us just sort of don’t seem to care too much. Edwin Moses in his prime vs Warholm with today’s tech would be must see TV.

Key board warrior taking a shot at the host. Ok. Edwin Moses is in a league of his own and obviously is maintaining it.

Yep

Yes genes are the #1 factor by far. That said, there is growing realization that running doesn't really help with weight loss that much. Diet has a lot more effect.

Since college 40 yrs ago I have run average 4-5 times a week.... and still put on 35 lbs. I'm at the point of getting fit by eating less - much easier!

[quote]rojo wrote:

The guy only weighs 4-5 pounds more now than in his prime.

“Diet is No. 1,” said Moses. “You can exercise all you want, but if you’re putting the wrong things in your body, it doesn’t matter. I come from a family that has a history of heart disease and diabetes. Thirty years ago, I really didn’t think about it, but when I hit my 50s I made a conscious decision that that was not going to be me. So, excess sugar, salt, sauces, mayonnaise and fried foods, those are the five big no-nos for me".

On the contrary, eating a lot of salt is actually necessary for some runners. If you are a heavy sweater, a low sodium diet could be absolutely detrimental. If you are losing a lot of sodium and fail to replace it through your diet, you are greatly increasing the risk of heat illness and electrolyte imbalances.

I am Sam wrote:

rojo wrote:

The guy only weighs 4-5 pounds more now than in his prime.

Me too..still the same size jeans and denim top (now back in fashion ) as the 70's

Motto has always been, if the clothes start feeling tight, don't get a size up, get rid of that excess cm's instead

You wear a denim 'top'?!

NEWS FLASH - NEWS FLASH-NEWS FLASH-NEWS FLASH

An American gets older but doesn't get fat, who'd thunk it.

john akii-bua is the most talented long hurdler ever

Limit sugar, salt, mayo, sauces, etc....

But I run so I CAN eat all those things! (62 years old - 158 lbs)

Truth Speaker wrote:

I think the issue is that most of get into running as teenagers. When you’re a teenager your metabolism is through the roof. So when you run 5-6 miles a day it’s not hard to be super thin despite whatever your diet is.

But then you hit your 20s+ and that metabolism starts to slow down. You can still run 5-6 miles a day, which is far more exercise than most, but still gain weight if your diet isn’t good. Every decade it gets harder and harder without that good diet.

Point is that as you get older diet becomes more impactful on your body composition. One must adjust accordingly.

Groundbreaking