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Last week, I shared some thoughts on why achieving health often feels boring, using my grandfather as an example. His favorite way to stay active was golf – a simple physical activity that brought him more than just exercise. Being outdoors in nature, soaking up sunlight, socializing with friends, and relieving stress all contributed to his overall well-being.
But once he couldn’t play golf anymore, his health took a steep dive. From my experience and coaching perspective, the biggest factor in his decline was the sudden drop in physical activity levels.
While writing that post, I came across a fascinating concept called the Active Grandparent Hypothesis (Rice & Galbraith, 2008). This idea perfectly aligns with what I teach at RJB Health Coaching: our bodies are designed to move and engage in physical activity, especially as we age.
What is the Active Grandparent Hypothesis?
From an evolutionary standpoint, nature doesn’t keep around anything that doesn’t help pass on DNA. So why do humans live long past their reproductive years? The answer lies in the role grandparents played in our survival.
Grandparents carry invaluable knowledge and experience that can’t just be downloaded-they have to teach it. They also help their adult children by sharing the workload, like hunting or gathering, so their children can focus more energy on reproduction. This means that active grandparents were essential to the survival and thriving of our species.
The hypothesis suggests that as we age, we should actually be more physically active, not less. This runs counter to how modern society often treats older adults-encouraging rest and inactivity.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2107621118
Why Staying Active Matters More as We Age
When we’re young, a lot of our energy goes into growth and development. During reproductive years, the body conserves energy to maximize the chance of having offspring-too much physical activity can actually suppress reproductive hormones.
But once reproduction and growth are behind us, that energy has to go somewhere. If we don’t burn it off through movement, it gets stored as fat, fueling chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
Our ancestors faced this same challenge, and evolution gave us a brilliant solution: physical activity stimulates repair and maintenance processes in the body, similar to those active during growth phases. This means moving your body regularly in older age isn’t just about burning calories-it’s about signaling your body to stay healthy and resilient.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2107621118
What This Means for You as a Grandparent (or Future Grandparent)
If you want to be that active grandparent who passes on wisdom, supports your family, and enjoys a long, healthy life, the time to start building those habits is now. Modern life makes it tough-there’s an abundance of food, less natural movement, disrupted sleep, and constant stress. But setting yourself up with ancestral-inspired habits can keep you thriving well into your 70s, 80s, and beyond.
I’ve seen firsthand how inactivity accelerates decline. My grandfather’s health plummeted after he stopped moving regularly. Being confined to a wheelchair couldn’t counterbalance the excess energy stored as fat and inflammation, which fueled chronic conditions until he passed.
Is It Too Late if You’re Over 50?
Not at all. It’s never too late to become an active grandparent. Starting today, you can adopt movement and lifestyle practices that will stave off chronic disease and keep you engaged with your loved ones.
At RJB Health Coaching, I help people like you develop personalized, ancestral-based strategies to balance life, training, and health. Whether you’re an athlete or just want to live better, the key is consistent, meaningful movement combined with nutrition and lifestyle habits that honor our evolutionary design.
If you want to learn more about how to build these habits and stay active for life, sign up for my newsletter below. Together, we’ll get you moving toward your healthiest years yet.
References
Rice, D., & Galbraith, M. (2008, November 16). The active grandparent hypothesis: Physical activity and the evolution of extended human healthspans and lifespans. PNAS. Retrieved April 5, 202, from https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2107621118