Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: Richard Morgan, a 93-year-old four-time indoor rowing champion, became a participant in a study on healthy ageing, as his heart, muscles, and lungs are twice as youthful as those of an average 40-year-old.
An Irish octogenarian is defying ageing norms by becoming the focus of a groundbreaking case study that reveals his remarkable fitness journey.
Richard Morgan, a 93-year-old four-time indoor rowing champion, has astounded doctors by maintaining the heart and physique of someone decades younger, even though he only started his fitness regimen in his 70s.
Morgan, weighing 165 pounds with 80% muscle mass, became a participant in a study on healthy ageing, as his heart, muscles, and lungs are twice as youthful as those of a 40-year-old, according to the Washington Post.
During the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Morgan underwent a 2,000-metre rowing challenge, revealing a heart rate of 153 beats per minute – an astonishingly high rate for someone of his age, according to Professor Philip Jakemen, co-author of the study.
Describing the experience as “one of the most inspiring days” in the lab, Jakemen highlighted Morgan’s unique approach to fitness.
Unlike intense workout routines like the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s, Morgan adopts a straightforward and sustainable regimen.
MORGAN’S EXERCISE ROUTINE AND DIET
Mix of workouts: He dedicates around 40 minutes daily to the rowing machine, with 70% at an easy pace, 20% at a medium pace, which is a bit more difficult but tolerable, and the final 10% at high intensity and vigorous.
Consistency: He rows roughly 18.5 miles (approx 30 km) for around 40 minutes a day.
Strength training: He also uses adjustable dumbbells two or three times a week for approximately three sets of squats and arm curls, repeating each movement until his muscles are too tired to continue.
High-protein diet: He consumes a lot of protein, regularly exceeding the typical dietary recommendation (about 60g of protein for a person of his weight).
In contrast to complex and often risky fitness trends, Morgan’s uncomplicated self-made model offers a refreshing alternative, which is potentially replicable even without the presumed genetic advantages.
His grandson, Lorcan Daly, an assistant lecturer in exercise science at Ireland’s Technological University of the Shannon, shared that Morgan embraced fitness at the age of 73 on a whim, after attending a rowing practice session with one of his grandsons.
“He never looked back,” remarked Daly, exemplifying Morgan’s healthy ageing philosophy and highlighting the fact that it’s never too late for fitness.
