Why do we spend so much time getting into shape when our bodies are ultimately gonna be broken if we live long enough?

Well think about the quality of your life until that happens. Also think that staying fit might push that point to later in your life so you have a more fulfilling life.

Umm you might see more good but you'll also see more bad the longer you live.

I'm a PT. I work with the 65+ year olds who never formally exercised. Do not be like them.

You are right that eventually either due to age or illness, we lose all of what we did, and eventually we do die.

There are still reasons to stay fit.

1) Physical exercise has shown to HELP stave off dementia.

2) Physical exercise greatly lowers your cholesterol, and a heart attack or stroke can end your life well before you might otherwise want to have it end.

3) Helps reduce pain. Really overweight people have pain, often constant pain. They have a hard time getting up from a seated position, might not be able to get up of the floor if they fall, etc.

4) Logical uses. If you are strong, it is easier to do certain tasks...any heavy lifting that needs to be done, etc.

5) Finally, if you want to be a little vain, fit people look better.

It's about living good and feeling good, in the moment. If you like exercising, competing, it makes you feel good and you enjoy the process, it's worth it. If you're doing it avoid death, then it's not.

While exercising and racing won't allow you to avoid death or aging, being fit at any age is better than not being fit at that age. I'm 48, and already, I see people around me who've given up on exercise and dietary control, and there's no amount of money that would make me trade places with them.

Whether you're 28, 48, or 78, chances are life will be better and you'll feel better if you're fit, than if you are not, especially if you enjoy the process.

So that pathetic people like you can obsess over our muscular thighs.

When you work in healthcare and see the wide chasm of quality of life between people who take care of themselves and those who don’t, you understand the importance of exercise and living well.

we all break down and die…true enough, but the onset and severity of the breakdown can be lessened and delayed quite a bit through common sense activity and diet.

As a 54 year old that does a lot to stay in shape, I can tell you that compared to my compadres that did nothing to stay in shape, my daily life is much much easier. I watch friends struggle to enjoy simple things, like a hike in a park, a night at a concert, or simply going to the beach! Heck, just walking around the grocery store if you pack on 80+lbs is going to give you issues.

I'm not one of these runners that thinks I'm immune to deadly disease just because I run, I do think it keeps me trim and aerobically fit and that is a huge benefit late in life.

Yeah, we're all going to die. Nothing really matters, but might as well make life as pleasurable as possible for yourself (obviously without harming others) and staying healthy as long as possible is part of that.

My 62nd birthday is 5 weeks away. I thought it was a big deal that 3 days ago, I ran 5K under 9:00/mile for the first time this year (27:48). Now that I've read this thread, my dinner tonight will be a large sausage and pepperoni extra cheese pizza and a bottle of chianti.

Thanks.

Well that puts you in a state of cognitive dissonance. You THINK you can keep up with the 20/30 yr old runners and you might be able to but you're also OLD and no one is going to take you seriously as a competitive threat. You're more prone to health issues and will be sidelined longer than someone much younger who had a similar issue.

Even worse, it makes you look like you're in a midlife crisis and trying to relive your younger days. In a sense it almost looks pathetic. You'll never have the finishing kick of a much younger person.

Guys your age probably has to use testosterone replacement therapy just to hit those times. We try to cheat aging but anyone over 50 running moderately fast is probably on testosterone treatments.

Having seen many older people over the years, it is better to be in shape in your later years unless you don't mind someone else doing your hygiene for you.

So when are you getting your shotgun with one shell?

I do not see anywhere that the person talked about keeping up with younger people. No one is saying their kick is faster than a much younger person; well maybe if that much younger person is not very fit---look at some times from the over 50 crowd and they are better than many high schoolers who run track are running.

Okay so I am more prone to some health issues than a younger person. So what? I am likely far less prone than my age cohort. Let's say I do have a heart attack tomorrow (genetics and family history are powerful although in my case work in my favor). The odds are I do not die from a same severity of MI as my less fit friend of the same age in worse physical condition. Odds are I also recover fast because I am healthier.

Let's take knee replacement. Fit people bounce back from this faster than less fit.

You asked a question and several folks gave you the rationale for why exercising is a good thing. I suspect that you did not really care for a dialogue. So lay out the reasons not to exercise. Also, do you really believe this and have you stopped exercising? Stand up for your belief.

Sadly some people who are fit die at a young age. Sometimes our bodies do not work right. Give me my fitness level now compared to my dad who barely reached this age and had massive health problems that would not have occurred at the age they did were it not for some of his lifestyle choices (smoking being #1).

Maybe not immune, but reduces the likelihood of many things and increases the likelihood you survive whatever happens at least for your age relative to non-fit.

"In a sense it almost looks pathetic."

Kind of like every post of yours. Wait, they don't almost look pathetic, they are pathetic.

In the end there is no point. In a hundred years no one living will remember who you were or what you did. In the short time you have staying healthy/fit can help optimize your quality of life though. So many people consider that important.