Saturday coffee: The myth of the ripped old guy

Plus: 5 books on "healthy aging" | Time magazine's imperfect aging series | clinical trials

This is by far the sexiest photo in this entire post.

Good Saturday morning, people. I’m not sure why AI-generated images of jacked old dudes are all over the internet nowadays. But clearly advertisers believe there’s a willing audience for ads suggesting that you, too, can become an overmuscled oldster with washboard abs.

An ad from The Wall Street Journal’s mobile edition. Because everyone knows how much ripped Boomers love to golf with their young, admiring girlfriends.

I’ve posted several articles and podcast interviews about longevity medicine recently, as that industry has erupted over the past two years. A certain older male demographic appears extra susceptible to the ridiculous idea that what it really needs is to get huge.

Another ad on WSJ’s mobile site, aimed at executives successful enough to need to read that newspaper but insecure enough to fall for idiotic clickbait.

Several months ago, I also ended a post about athletic pain and performance with the thought that many men — myself included — struggle with the lingering need to be dangerous.

From Athlean-X, a popular YouTube channel that over-emphasizes the importance of big muscles. (Notice how AI gave the old man major chicken legs.)

It’s hard to see these risible advertisements, clearly aimed at men who view physical strength as essential to their personal narratives, as anything other than an ego play to a mythical image: the ripped grandpa.

An ad on ESPN’s mobile app. For “seniors” who want to spend their retirement flexing shirtless in cargo shorts and velcro sandals.

I’m not against weight training; I do it myself, often. But these ads are not pathways to older male success. Maybe I’m being too judgmental. Or maybe these 60-something AI muscleheads are a social signal that all is not well in the deeper warrens of the older American male subconscious.

Five “healthy aging” books reviewed by the WSJ

There’s something for everyone in the WSJ’s best 2025 books on healthy aging, including a Mary Oliver book of poetry. The most urgent book reviewed in this article may be the one called “Retirement Bites,” which claims that only one in four Gen Xers have started retirement savings.

If true, there’s a financial tsunami on the horizon that isn’t getting enough attention.

The Buck Institute is seeking clinical trial participants

The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, in Novato, Calif., has a bunch of clinical trials for which its recruiting participants, usually people 65 or older. Among them is a trial examining exercise and aging that is recruiting older elite athletes.

Time magazine’s flawed aging and longevity series

Speaking of the Buck, Time magazine recently published an interesting interview with its president, Dr. Eric Verdin, on helpful healthy aging habits. Verdin is considered a reasonably credible scientific voice in the field, and his advice, as reported, is conventional but useful.

The same can’t be said of all the other entries in Time’s series on longevity, which includes dozens of articles going back to 2014. Clearly, some of the reporting is outdated, including a 2019 article debating whether moderate drinking is good for longevity. (The latest science is unequivocal: any alcohol has a negative impact on your brain and body.)

But if you’re interested in reading up on staple topics in longevity over the years, it’s not a bad series, as long as you keep a gimlet eye out for advice and conclusions that no longer have the best science behind them.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to bench press a Volkswagen so I’m jacked for my noon tee time.