According to findings published in the November 2022 issue of "Preventive Medicine," people over 50 years of age, who had a high level of life purpose, had about a 15% risk of death compared to the people with the lowest level of purpose, whose risk of death skyrocketed to nearly 37%! That is more than double the risk of death for people lacking purpose in their lives!

Specifically, those with low/no sense of purpose had a 2.43 times greater risk of dying than those with a very high purpose. Those with a medium sense of purpose had a 1.7 times greater risk of dying than those with a very high purpose.

This conclusion was based on researchers following 13,000 Americans over the age of 50 and tracking their mortality for over 8 years.

According to Dr. Koichiro Shiba, Asst. Professor of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health: "Having a purpose in life is defined as the extent to which people perceive their lives as having a sense of direction and goals."

Since OUR PURPOSE as IFPA Certified Personal Trainers is to help every man, woman, and child live a longer, healthier, and happier life, the obvious conclusion of this research is to help our clients find their purpose and stick to it.

I'm sure you've heard me previously mention the Ancient Greeks' Philosophy of the "Whole Man Concept." Today, of course, we would modify it to the "Whole PERSON Concept."

The Greeks presented the case that someone was not WHOLE, not COMPLETE, not living up to their potential unless they developed themselves fully: Mentally, Emotionally, Physically, Spiritually, and Artistically. These 5 areas lead us to our greatest potential as humans. If you think that our role as personal trainers only involves physical aspects, I will ask that you expand your thought process and consider that 11 of the 12 IFPA Components of Fitness deal specifically with the Physical, but the 12th IFPA Component of Fitness: Biochemical Balance, forms the foundation of the other 4 areas of the Whole Person Concept.

Without Biochemical Balance, your personal training clients will not be able to operate at maximum effort in any of the 5 areas mentioned above. Biochemical Balance enables you to exercise effectively (Physical), to think clearly (Mental), to behave rationally (Emotional), to discern wisely (Spiritual), and to express yourself fully (Artistic).

You studied many ways to help your personal training clients set and maintain their individual fitness goals. It is not a great stretch to use the same techniques to set purposeful goals. You can use the 5 areas of the "Whole Person Concept" to help your personal training clients to find a purpose and establish goals for that purpose.

Some of the benefits of living a life with purpose are:

• Stronger immune system
• Decreased risk of stroke
• Decreased risk of heart disease
• Decreased risk of sleep issues
• Decreased risk of drug addiction
• Decreased risk of alcohol addiction
• Decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease
• Decreased risk of cognitive decline
• Decreased risk of dementia
• Decreased risk of all-cause disease, disabilities, and dysfunctions
• Increased feelings of "Well-Being," "Feeling Good" about yourself, optimism, and hope
• Increased confidence in your abilities
• Improved career success
• Higher levels of overall general health
• Higher levels of general satisfaction in your life
• Improved outcomes from rehabilitation programs
• Improved outcomes from stress caused by post-traumatic stress or severe trauma
• Improved relationships with friends, family, co-workers, and others
• Improved sex life

It should be intuitively obvious that all growth and development occur through work, regardless of the form that work takes. The sentiment below summarizes a strong, ethical, and moral conceptualization of the benefits of work.

Going into the New Year, you may want to consider developing a more structured approach to setting goals that have a set purpose. Some ideas for you to consider in "Training with a purpose" are prepared for you below:

• Men who could perform 40 pushups at an 80-bpm pace had a 96% decrease in all-cause mortality.
• People who could complete a one-mile run in 8 minutes or less had a 30% decrease in risk of premature death.
• Decrease waist circumference measurement: Women are at increased risk of all-cause disease when their waist circumference exceeds 31.5 inches (80cm) and greatly increased at 34.65 inches (88cm). Men are at increased risk when their waist circumference exceeds 37 inches (94cm) and greatly increased at 40 inches (102cm).
• Increase walking speed: People who had the fastest walking speed lived the longest. A reasonable goal with high health benefits for people over 65 is 3mph for women and 3.5mph for men.
• Use cardiovascular exercise to decrease Resting Heart Rates (RHR): The risk of all-cause mortality increased by 9% for every 10 bpm of RHR. RHR of 71-80bpm was associated with a 40-50% increase in mortality risk. RHR in the 81-90bpm range was associated with a 100% increase in risk. RHR above 90 was associated with a 200% increase in risk. RHR in the 56-61bpm range puts nearly all age groups in the excellent range.
• Planks: Anyone who can do a 3-minute plank is doing great!
• Plan on getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
• Plan on getting at least 25-35 grams of fiber per day. Some experts recommend 50 grams per day.
• Balance while standing on one leg: Goal is at least one minute balance on each leg.
• Limit alcohol consumption to no more than one serving per day (women) or two servings per day (men).

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you in our IFPA Family! The entire IFPA Team wishes you the best of luck in the coming New Year and more and ever greater success. Hopefully, your purpose will bring you even greater joy as you help more and more people to feel the joy their bodies are capable of providing.

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