Nolan Bushnell (73) is a true legend and inspiration. He is the founder Atari and mentor of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Nolan is recognised as one of 50 people who influenced USA the most. We traveled to California to follow up on Nolan Bushnell after using our app. Curious what his biological age was? You better keep reading then.
A good number of years ago, Myworkout traveled to California. For many, the purpose was unknown, but it was to meet the serial entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell, who has been the boss of Steve Jobs, has started large successful companies such as Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, is on Newsweek's list of 50 people who have changed America, and he has an inherent desire to make the world a better place to live.
For us, Nolan is an inspiration. Nolan started his entrepreneurial career at the age of eight. Then he found out that strawberries cost so much at the shop that there must be a lot of money in selling strawberries to the neighbours. He was right. He took the success of his childhood with him into his teens when he entered into a deal with the local TV repairman.
He repaired Tver in the immediate area, and split the profits with them. But this was before the really big success that first came in the 70s, when he started the gaming company Atari. Many refer to Nolan as "One of the founding fathers of the video game industry", and he was one of the brains behind the game 'Pong'. You might remember it?
Before our meeting, Nolan was 73 years old. He considers himself an active person. However, he is also a busy 73-year-old and wants to spend as little time as possible on training. He needs training that is time efficient and he needs training that works. That's where Myworkout came in.
Together with medicine professor Jan Hoff, we agreed to take a health test with Nolan. He was to find out his biological age and his oxygen uptake before he was given a ten-week training programme. We were very proud to have the honor of helping Nolan Bushnell get in the shape of his life at the age of 73. It is never too late to start training, and according to several research reports, the effect older people get from training is equivalent to younger sheep.
From his garage in Los Angeles we recorded parts of our conversations. He used the words 'more life' which as for us, the beginning of a new slogan. Nolan had been using our app for ten weeks, but noticed a significant effect already the first weeks.
Read about our first meeting here.
Test your oxygen uptake with Myworkout GO. Download it for free for iOS or Android.
Topanga State Park is a gem outside Santa Monica in Los Angeles. We arrived early Friday morning. The sun is already warming well through the canopy of leaves that surround the paths in the park. The cars are filled with training clothes, camera equipment and water bottles. It's been ten weeks since we were last in Topanga.
We met the well-known entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell and took him on a training ride on the steep slopes in the park. Nolan wanted to get in shape and Myworkout was supposed to help him. Together with medicine professor Jan Hoff and the Myworkout app, Nolan tested his biological age and his oxygen uptake. And he was in much worse shape than he thought. Nolan Bushnell took the first test at a biological age of 73.
"I thought I was in much better shape". Nolan was clearly surprised by the result he got ten weeks ago. He himself thought he would reach a biological age of around 50. The reality was therefore a wake-up call. On this first test, he was given a biological age of 73, which is also his age. Instead of being disappointed by the result, he turned it into motivation.
Motivation to get started with our ten-week training program. With this program he is promised to become at least ten years younger in biological age in ten weeks, with one condition: that he actually completed the training. This is, after all, a criterion for getting in better shape, not just for Nolan, but for everyone. Cheating serves no purpose.
”Your stuff is working”
”We are now approaching Los Angeles. It is 17 degrees and the sky is clear”. The seat belt light switches on and the clicks from the seat belts being put on follow immediately afterwards. The light from Los Angeles lights spreads across the night sky and squeezes in through the windows of Norwegian's Dreamliner aircraft. The excitement we felt ten weeks ago is back. In the time that has passed, we have primarily been interested in whether Nolan has trained as recommended; two times a week.
Nolan is a busy man who travels a lot, and after the last trip it was clear that his schedule did not have much room for activity and exercise. His passion is technology and innovation, and this is what he lives and breathes for. This is what he prioritizes in his timetable. However, in order to pursue his passion as long as possible, he should maintain good health, and this is also Nolan's training motivation.
About halfway through the program we had a conversation with Nolan on Skype. He noticed a big difference in body and mind, and even the once heavy stairs up to the office on the fifth floor were now easy to climb. In addition, he needed less sleep and felt "more energetic". "You know what? Your stuff is working!”, he said excitedly.
The sun shines through the canopy of leaves in Topanga. It has hardly rained since last visit. The red sand covering the path swarms around us as we jog easily up the steep slopes. We have agreed to meet Nolan and Nancy at 10:30, but show up a little earlier to test the app in the slopes. One walks and one runs. One has an iPhone, while the other has an Android. It's our first test of the app in USA.
We stroll down to meet Nolan while we compare results. "He hasn't worked out as much as he should" says Nancy, Nolan's wife, as she shakes her head in frustration as she gets out of the car. Nolan answers in the affirmative. He has been traveling a lot in the last two weeks, and his schedule has left no room for anything but his passion.
“I feel a little bit guilty. I think I should have done more. I also think there were a few times that I was kind of lazy and I did not get my heart rate up quite as much as I should”, Nolan says as we walk to the starting point on the slopes. We are not very worried. Any activity is better than none, and we know that Nolan's activity level has increased a bit since we last saw him. Which is significantly better than the alternative, which is that he has only been inactive and has become in even worse shape.
Professor of medicine, Jan Hoff, explains to Nolan that training is a fresh commodity, if you go away from training, you will experience poorer health in Meeting. So simple, and so difficult. Although the last two training-free weeks will probably mean that Nolan will not be ten years younger in biological age, we are convinced that he will be in better shape, and that he is on the way to better health and a longer life.
”Starting 4x4 running. You can keep normal pace in six-minute warm-up"
The red dust floats up into the sky as Nolan and Jan start the warm-up surrounded by several people from Myworkout. Nancy, who works out six times a week, quickly disappears from view. “Of course my wife is such an animal. She points out to me relentlessly that she is physically younger than me”. Nolan laughs his unusually infectious laugh before calling for his wife to say: "Showoff!".
During the warm-up, the conversation turns from technology chit chat to heavy breathing. "10 seconds to first interval". The mechanical voice from the phone breaks the silence and a small lizard darts away from the path. Nolan, Jan and Knut, get ready at the bottom of the hill. "Starting first interval". Nolan walks as hard as he can up the slopes while Jan explains why it is important to be in the right intensity zone, why you should have a high intensity in your training sessions and what kind of effects you will get from decreasing your biological age. Nolan listens carefully and answers in monosyllabic words. He is in the right zone.
Test your oxygen uptake with Myworkout GO. Download it for free for iOS or Android.
”Congratulations. You have finished interval".
The white sneakers have turned completely red from the sand, and Nolan's t-shirt has darkened around the neck. Sweat drips from his forehead. No one should say he didn't give it his all. It's time for the result, which we've already see is improved. He came further up the hill this time than ten weeks ago, so the speed has definitely increased. Nolan follows anxiously as Jan is about to reveal the result.
“I am sad to say we did not reach ten years, but we reached three years. 70 years in biological age and 28 in oxygen consumption. That is an improvement".
Now I feel really guilty for the days I cheated
Nolan's face reveals a slight disappointment. "Now I feel really guilty for the days I cheated", he says with a small smile on his face.
Jan shrugs his shoulders a bit before explaining that it's not so bad that he didn't reach the age of ten. “On the other hand you now know the system, and you know that you can reduce your age if you carry out the workout. It is known that the exercise capacity is a fresh thing. If you stay away from it for 14 days, you will lose 20 years. However, the value of loosing even only three years is linked directly to the risk of inactivity related diseases. You have an improvement, and that is great.”
Before Nolan joined the program with Myworkout, he considered himself an active person and according to himself, he already trained a couple of times a week. However, he does not want to go back to his old training routines, when he sees how little is needed to get in much better shape with the Myworkout app.
”This is going to be a life-long friend”, he says as we walk down to the parking lot.
The dust dances in the warm wind as we brush it off our clothes. Hopefully, Nolan will continue with his training. If he does, he will achieve health and the surplus to work on his passion for many more years, and there is nothing to prevent him from reaching 20 years of biological age.
All that is required is a minimum of effort and making room in your schedule for a couple of hours of exercise each week. We think he will find room for it.
Test your oxygen uptake with Myworkout GO. Download it for free for iOS or Android.
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