2024-04-27 10:22:39
“I didn’t have time to exercise because I was busy running a business and practicing my religion on the weekends. As I passed my mid-40s, symptoms such as headaches and high blood pressure began to appear, and various parts of my body began to malfunction. I suffered from many lingering illnesses, including pneumonia. More than anything, I suffered from insomnia. Still, I never thought about exercising, but when I was just 55 years old, I was watching villagers playing soccer at a civil engineering construction site in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do, and they asked me to join in, so I started doing it. It also reminded me of the old days. So we did it together. It was hard because it was the first time in a while, but I slept really well that night. “It felt like a lie.”
Lee Tae-yong (66), CEO of real estate development company GTL, started playing soccer in his mid-50s to regain his health, which had been deteriorating since his mid-40s, and has been playing on green fields every weekend for over 10 years. He played soccer briefly in elementary school. From then on, until his middle school, high school, college, and military days, soccer was a sport he enjoyed playing with his friends and colleagues. Soccer, which he had forgotten about for over 30 years, has been playing a role in protecting his health since his mid-50s.
Since I started playing soccer in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do, Saturdays have become soccer days. It was difficult to do at first because my stamina was low. I often got my feet tangled while running and fell. So I bought a stationary bike at home and rode it. After building my body for about 7 months through stretching exercises and riding a bicycle, my ‘past skills’ came out. Dribbling and trapping became free, and speed also came out. During his school days, he began to show off his skills playing as a midfielder and shadow striker. He also scored a lot of goals. These days, even though he is in his mid-60s, he boasts strong physical strength, enough to play at least three 25-minute games when playing.
“When you run a business, you can’t help but miss a week. Then your body reacts right away. I feel tired and my condition is a mess. So, unless it’s important, I go to the soccer field on Saturdays. “If you warm up, kick the ball, and sweat off all the sweat, your body will feel refreshed as if it were flying.”
The body has also completely changed.
“Having a weak body means you get cold easily in the winter and heat easily in the summer. In the summer, since I only live in the air conditioner, my throat hurts and my condition worsens. I catch a cold in the summer… . “I was able to overcome the cold and heat well while continuing to play soccer.”
Soccer is actually only played on Saturdays. This is because he is busy with business on weekdays and works as a church elder on Sundays. It is often said that regular exercise is the secret to good health, but is it possible to stay healthy just by exercising on the weekends?
According to research results published in 2022, even ‘weekend warriors’ (people who do intense exercise on the weekends) can maintain their health and prevent various diseases if they follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO recommends 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week. Strenuous exercise refers to swimming, running, aerobic dancing, or cycling at speeds exceeding 16 km/h. In terms of heart rate, it is an exercise of over 142 beats per minute. Soccer is also a representative intense sport. In the case of Representative Lee, he plays more than three 25-minute games every week, so his amount of exercise meets WHO standards when it comes to warm-up exercises. Warm-up exercises also include sprinting.
According to the US Health Rankings, a ‘sports paradise’, only 23% of people exercise according to WHO standards. This means that it is not easy to stay healthy through exercise. In Korea, there are many people who only hike on weekends. Especially for office workers, it is not easy to exercise every day, so they often use their weekends to climb the mountains. Hiking doesn’t end in one or two hours. It usually takes 4 to 6 hours. This is more than 240 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise with uphill and downhill movements. This is why many people maintain their health just by hiking on the weekends. Representative Lee maintains his health by playing soccer on the weekends.
Representative Lee plays for two teams, United One, which was founded in 2022, and the Seoul Yongsan 60s Grand National Football Team. United One is a club comprised of former soccer players and non-players. Representative Lee is receiving leadership. There are many players from the national team, including former national soccer team defender Park Gyeong-hoon, general manager of K League 2 Suwon Samsung, Kim Joo-sung, Lee Sang-yoon (soccer commentator), and Kim Sam-soo. The Yongsan 60’s Reserve Group is a team that can represent Yongsan-gu when participating in soccer competitions.
United One plays on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and Yongsan 60s Team plays on Saturday. Representative Lee plays for two teams together with Manager Park. Representative Lee said that the Yongsan 60’s Reserve Group goes out every week, but United One aims to participate at least twice a month. For business reasons, it is not easy to find time on weekdays.
“Well, honestly, when will I ever play with former national team players? I’m not very good at it, but I’m learning a lot. United One is a team in their 60s, but during practice matches, they play against teams in their 40s and 50s. “After playing one game, my body feels really worn out, but my soccer skills are improving even when I’m in my mid-sixties.”
Director Park Kyung-hoon said, “CEO Lee is not only talented, but he also has great passion. “He almost never misses and comes out to play soccer.” Representative Lee plays an attacking midfielder on the team. Players with good skills and stamina, such as national team player Lee Young-moo (former coach of Goyang Hi FC) and Cho Gwang-rae (president of Daegu FC), are moving around the field energetically as if they were selected as the best players. Hwang In-beom (FK Crvena Zvezda), who boasts tireless stamina in the current Korean national soccer team, likes it. He laughed and said, “I am considered to have good physical strength in my late 60s.”
Representative Lee considers injury prevention the most important thing when playing soccer. He said, “In soccer, you can get seriously injured if you’re not careful. He makes a lot of rough movements, such as tackling and fighting. So, if possible, avoid situations in which rough movements may occur. “He has a good competitive spirit, but he can only play soccer for a long time if he doesn’t hit everyone,” he explained.
Representative Lee forgot about soccer for a while, but there were some good things about it.
“It’s not like that for everyone, but people who have played soccer for a long time sometimes have bad knees or ankles. Let’s endure the pain and play soccer. “Maybe because I haven’t played soccer for 30 years, my joints are still intact.”
Representative Lee regained his health after starting to play soccer in earnest. He said, “All kinds of stress goes away when you let go.” After taking several medications, I now only take medications for high blood pressure, which I have a family history of. He laughed and said, “I will kick the ball until I have the strength to run.”
Reporter Yang Jong-gu yjongk@donga.com
2024-04-27 10:22:39