Thread for older fitness enthusiasts. A forum to discuss unique fitness challenges for us
lnielsen18
Posts: 5 Member
I am an over 60 person who loves to workout and improve my abilities. There are things I have learned to adapt for my older self and would love to hear others ideas as well. It seems the industry is rightfully geared towards the youthful and different metrics apply. BF % is one. 4%!! come on. I would look like a skeleton. I saw 11% once but I walked by a potato chip and went up to 12.5%. I spent several years running and burnt off a good portion of my muscle mass and am having a hard time regaining my strength and bulk. I would advise any one around 55 to not do excessive cardio and begin strength training. Muscle is very hard to replace after 60 and we’ll need when we are 80. Other comments and insights?
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Replies
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So far, the only unique challenges I've noticed with aging are slightly slower recovery from injury; slightly faster detraining with inactivity; and a need to be slightly more disciplined about consistency, rest and recovery if I want to make progress.
But I may not have the best standard of comparison because I didn't start being routinely active until I was in my mid-40s. (I'll be 63 in a couple of weeks.)
Also, I probably mostly do "excessive cardio", so presumably must have burned off my muscles . . . but it's working for me so far, I think.
I do encourage everyone to strength train, because that's a smart strategy . . . but I don't do much of it myself because I find it boring, and I'm an undisciplined hedonist.
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You are labouring under a misconception about cardio burning muscle - that's simply not why you lose it. You lose it through not using your muscles which leads to atrophy. Had you done strength / resistance training as well as your running you wouldn't have had the same outcome.
You might note that both myself and @AnnPT77 (rower) do cardio that involves a high degree of resistance, cardio isn't just one entity, it's a very wide range with different impacts/benefits to/on your body.
At 58 I do what you might term excessive cardio (averaging 100+ miles a week cycling, 40+ hours a month in the main season) but I also strength train. I've had no problem with muscle retention. I've got in far better shape through my 50's including adding a reasonable amount of muscle. My leg muscle growth has come primarily from cycling.
Do agree it's harder (slower) to add muscle as you age and strategies in exercise and daily life should keep "lose it or use it" in mind.
My training has changed a bit as I've got older, mostly to avoid injury or aggravating my extensive collection of old injuries. "Optimal" for me has evolved a bit and I'm a little more sensible than in my youth when I would try for PBs every session and wonder why I hurt so much.... In some ways I'm still the same though, fiercely self-competitive and thrive on a high volume of exercise. Still love the feeling on being fit, strong and it energises me,
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I do a lot of cardio, because it's my way of dealing with stress. I also strength train. I think it's important to remember when people diss cardio, that as another poster on these boards once mentioned, the heart is a muscle, and it too needs training.
I'm 56.
My focus is mostly on avoiding injury, keeping my joints limber (I have two forms of arthritis), and staying active. I'm not so much interested in being seen as being any kind of an athlete or fitness enthusiast as just being a functionally independent person going into my next stage of life who remains active.18 -
I'm 63 and same as the above posters. I have OA and have to work around that, plus frozen shoulder that after 2 years is much better. I swim+acquagym 3 times a week, gym 1 day, Yogaflex 1 day, stretching + yoga 3x a week, and lots of walking. So, I'm active and want to stay that way as long as I can. I've found these things have changed my life in the past 3 yrs--yoga, planking, squats, and weights.8
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I don’t go to a gym. Live too far away out in the country and I don’t exercise. I just retire last spring and am getting my butt off the couch. My job was an on your feet moving all day kind. I have arthritis in one hip that makes walking any long distance out. Just hurts too much.
So any ideas, strategies, pointers you could give me would be very much appreciated. I want to be in great health during this next stage of my life.
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I am 67 the only thing I've found different for me is that I need a longer warm up for example C25K gives a 5 minute warm up, I do at least double that and sometimes even 15 or 20 minutes depending on how I feel on the day. Same with yoga, gym and classes.
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amberellen12 wrote: »I don’t go to a gym. Live too far away out in the country and I don’t exercise. I just retire last spring and am getting my butt off the couch. My job was an on your feet moving all day kind. I have arthritis in one hip that makes walking any long distance out. Just hurts too much.
So any ideas, strategies, pointers you could give me would be very much appreciated. I want to be in great health during this next stage of my life.
I don't know about you, but moving makes my arthritis better. I get up in the morning with aching everywhere (and yes, I've got a bad hip too). I get up at 6:00 and go in the livingroom to do 1 hr of stretching exercises. my routine was based on the Jane Fonda book, with modifications over 30 yrs. I've added yoga, squats, planking, and physical therapy moves--anything that helps. After, I'm ready for the day--cleaning, shopping, walking, or the gym or pool. I grew up in the country so I know what it's like to be isolated, but you can drive to a gym or pool, or look at yoga, or other exercises on YouTube. Depends on how bad you want it. Once things start falling apart it's next to impossible to put them back together, at my age.7 -
snowflake954 wrote: »amberellen12 wrote: »I don’t go to a gym. Live too far away out in the country and I don’t exercise. I just retire last spring and am getting my butt off the couch. My job was an on your feet moving all day kind. I have arthritis in one hip that makes walking any long distance out. Just hurts too much.
So any ideas, strategies, pointers you could give me would be very much appreciated. I want to be in great health during this next stage of my life.
I don't know about you, but moving makes my arthritis better. I get up in the morning with aching everywhere (and yes, I've got a bad hip too). I get up at 6:00 and go in the livingroom to do 1 hr of stretching exercises. my routine was based on the Jane Fonda book, with modifications over 30 yrs. I've added yoga, squats, planking, and physical therapy moves--anything that helps. After, I'm ready for the day--cleaning, shopping, walking, or the gym or pool. I grew up in the country so I know what it's like to be isolated, but you can drive to a gym or pool, or look at yoga, or other exercises on YouTube. Depends on how bad you want it. Once things start falling apart it's next to impossible to put them back together, at my age.
Agreed. And once I start moving for the day, I keep moving all day. If I stay still too long, I stiffen back up.
Staying active is a vital part of managing both my weight AND my arthritis.8 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »amberellen12 wrote: »I don’t go to a gym. Live too far away out in the country and I don’t exercise. I just retire last spring and am getting my butt off the couch. My job was an on your feet moving all day kind. I have arthritis in one hip that makes walking any long distance out. Just hurts too much.
So any ideas, strategies, pointers you could give me would be very much appreciated. I want to be in great health during this next stage of my life.
I don't know about you, but moving makes my arthritis better. I get up in the morning with aching everywhere (and yes, I've got a bad hip too). I get up at 6:00 and go in the livingroom to do 1 hr of stretching exercises. my routine was based on the Jane Fonda book, with modifications over 30 yrs. I've added yoga, squats, planking, and physical therapy moves--anything that helps. After, I'm ready for the day--cleaning, shopping, walking, or the gym or pool. I grew up in the country so I know what it's like to be isolated, but you can drive to a gym or pool, or look at yoga, or other exercises on YouTube. Depends on how bad you want it. Once things start falling apart it's next to impossible to put them back together, at my age.
Agreed. And once I start moving for the day, I keep moving all day. If I stay still too long, I stiffen back up.
Staying active is a vital part of managing both my weight AND my arthritis.
Yes^^^^^^^^^^^^!1 -
I’m 63 and in the best shape of my life and still improving. I was not an athlete and barely active when younger. I am less concerned about looks than younger people might be. But each person at every age has to be in tune with their body and adapt as needed. I can’t really get into the mindset of “I’m old and have special challenges .” I’m a big advocate of both cardio and weight training. I’m also an advocate of having fun rather than torturing oneself through an activity they don’t enjoy just to meet some mythical standard!7
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[/quote]
I don't know about you, but moving makes my arthritis better. I get up in the morning with aching everywhere (and yes, I've got a bad hip too). I get up at 6:00 and go in the livingroom to do 1 hr of stretching exercises. my routine was based on the Jane Fonda book, with modifications over 30 yrs. I've added yoga, squats, planking, and physical therapy moves--anything that helps. After, I'm ready for the day--cleaning, shopping, walking, or the gym or pool. I grew up in the country so I know what it's like to be isolated, but you can drive to a gym or pool, or look at yoga, or other exercises on YouTube. Depends on how bad you want it. Once things start falling apart it's next to impossible to put them back together, at my age.[/quote]
Agreed. And once I start moving for the day, I keep moving all day. If I stay still too long, I stiffen back up.
Staying active is a vital part of managing both my weight AND my arthritis.[/quote]
Hey thanks for your responses. I live way out in the bush so no gym or wifi. Just my iPhone. So get moving and stay moving. Will start today.3 -
I'm 69 and all low impact activity works best for me. I have the normal aches and pains of a senior citizen but I have to say that I feel pretty good. The only accommodations I've had to make is to stop my Body Pump classes due to a recent health issue caused by lifting. I'm limited to no more than 10lbs, no squatting, lunging, jumping, or running. What I do is low impact cardio, sometimes with light weights, walk, Tai Chi, Yoga stretching (many poses put too much stress on my pelvic area) and with all these activities I believe I've maintained my muscle mass. I can see them when I flex and I feel strong.
I'm really more into maintaining my current activity levels rather than improving my abilities. My totally inaccurate scale puts me around 25% body fat so that's probably a higher number in reality but I'm good with that.1 -
Does anyone do Classical Stretch by Miranda Esmonde-White? If so how did you find it?0
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I am 74 and have had one knee replacement, surgery on both shoulders (one which is still a bit bothersome), a broken wrist a year ago that causes some minor issues, spinal stenosis that frequently makes my lower back achy, and arthritis in my feet and toes. So, clearly I just have to make some adjustments.
My typical exercise include the going to the gym 3 - 5 times a week and using the rowing machine (ususally 2 20 minute repetitions) and weight machines(30 minutes) (but I do not do anything that requires lifting above my head), I also ride 1 to 2 horses a day 7 days a week. 2 horses on the days I don't go to the gym. I ride upper level dressage which demands aerobic and muscular fitness (with a real demand for core fitness).
The combination of these exercise types has worked really well to keep me fit and active and enjoying my retirement!
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60 in under 2 months, doing resistance and cardio in the gym, TRX at home, paddling SUP when I can. Currently in best shape I have been in for decades. BMI ~24, BF% in mid teens. I am going to turn 60 with visible abs. OA and DDD not slowing me down much.5
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So far, the only unique challenges I've noticed with aging are slightly slower recovery from injury; slightly faster detraining with inactivity; and a need to be slightly more disciplined about consistency, rest and recovery if I want to make progress.
But I may not have the best standard of comparison because I didn't start being routinely active until I was in my mid-40s. (I'll be 63 in a couple of weeks.)
Also, I probably mostly do "excessive cardio", so presumably must have burned off my muscles . . . but it's working for me so far, I think.
I do encourage everyone to strength train, because that's a smart strategy . . . but I don't do much of it myself because I find it boring, and I'm an undisciplined hedonist.
This describes it perfectly for me. I'm 67.4 -
I should change my pic, that was three years and two different jobs ago. Last job a was working 12 hrs 5 days a week, was exhausted and became so much less active. A year and 20 lbs later, my muscles hurt, im so tight i cant reach back to take off clothing. Did some yoga this morning and have lost so much flexibility and doing yard work, im not as strong a last year. Im not sure where to start to get back to more flexability and stronger.4
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annetteschmidt wrote: »I should change my pic, that was three years and two different jobs ago. Last job a was working 12 hrs 5 days a week, was exhausted and became so much less active. A year and 20 lbs later, my muscles hurt, im so tight i cant reach back to take off clothing. Did some yoga this morning and have lost so much flexibility and doing yard work, im not as strong a last year. Im not sure where to start to get back to more flexability and stronger.
I would say, start slow and don't injure yourself. As you notice that things are going better slowly up your intensity and or speed. You should see a difference after 2 weeks and definitely after a month.2 -
Good morning @lnielsen18, my fellow middle-aged sexagenerian, @PieriniFitness here at age 64 and what you say rings loud and true with me. I shared my insights about where I'm at in my fitness, health and wellness journey to what others are showcasing on social media and what I've done in the past. You may enjoy the read:
[Link removed by MFP moderator]
How much muscle do we need as older people? Honestly, we probably have as much as we need. What we need to do is know how to use it to its maximum potential and that's where precision fitness training comes in. And, we've got to want to do the work to make that possible.
I have a saying, the program has got to match the personality and while I agree with your comments about being on guard against excessive cardio and devoting more effort to strength training, there's room for both in a training program meant especially for you, me and other older guys and gals chasing their fitness, health and wellness, trying to be the best they can be. Be safe and good luck.
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annetteschmidt wrote: »I should change my pic, that was three years and two different jobs ago. Last job a was working 12 hrs 5 days a week, was exhausted and became so much less active. A year and 20 lbs later, my muscles hurt, im so tight i cant reach back to take off clothing. Did some yoga this morning and have lost so much flexibility and doing yard work, im not as strong a last year. Im not sure where to start to get back to more flexability and stronger.
Working out to achieve better fitness is a long-term investment, not a quick fix . . . even for those of us whose long term has gotten shorter than it used to be. (I'm 63.) Following is my advice, and what I do myself when I've needed to take breaks for some reason (surgery, life factors, whatever).
It's unrealistic to expect to get right back to where we were before a long break in activity . . . but the good news is, recovering lost capability (especially muscle capability) is usually faster than was gaining it in the first place.
There's no reason to make yourself miserable. Start gradually, and build up gradually. Start with more rest days, and gradually reduce them (add workouts) as you want to and are able while maintaining good energy level.
If you lifted before, start with some combination of lower weight, fewer sets, fewer reps, and condition yourself upward in sets/reps over a period of weeks. You will be best served by following a sound program (http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/), but if the program is a little much for you at first, there's no penalty for working up to its official starting routine.
If DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) happens - which is what you seem to be describing now - recognize that it's temporary, and will subside in a week or so if you keep moving (including keeping up at least some of the stimulus that caused it).
Start with more moderate steady state cardio that you personally enjoy, in manageable time chunks. You want to feel energized, not fatigued from working out, other than maybe a brief "whew" right after the session. As that gets easier, increase duration, intensity, or frequency (or some combination) to keep it challenging but manageable.
For flexibility, movement helps, and stretching (including relevant activities like yoga) helps. With time and persistence, your flexibility will come back. I found daily stretching to be substantially more effective for this than a few times a week, but less than daily. Just a few minutes in the morning feels great: Like I've oiled my joints. I was surprised, after decades of inactivity, how fast I went from barely able to touch my toes, to able to put my palms flat on the floor in the same position.
Exercise is supposed to be fun, and feel good, and be energizing. You will get there, and probably get there faster if you don't try to go from zero to 1000 in one jump. I think gradualism is a good idea for anyone who's starting (or restarting) to build fitness, but I think it's even more important for those of us who aren't kids anymore.
Best wishes!3 -
I’m 59. I tried to do Strong Lifts 5x5 a couple of years ago because of all the emphasis on strength training and I kept injuring myself, which kept me out of the gym completely for weeks on end. All the info I could find on that program is geared towards younger people. So I gave that up and now lift much smaller weights and increase much more slowly. My lifting program is conservative but it is working.6
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I only started getting into fitness in my mid-40s. I'm only 51 now, but in the best shape of my life because I am finally doing things I enjoy. I started back into water fitness classes as a way to burn more calories while I lost weight. From there (literally, from that part of the pool), I saw people lap swimming and decided to take that up, even though I was a terrified non-swimmer. I started a C25K sort of program to spend more time with my daughter that wasn't in the house. I found out that because I improved my fitness, I could do really awesome hikes in the mountains near my house.
So far, I think I just need to keep going. If I stop moving, it's harder for me to get going. I had a "bum knee" (no diagnosis, just creaky, I guess), but weight training has improved that. I'm hoping to keep moving because I finally realized that there ARE things I enjoy about fitness when you removed competition from it. And balls. I can't really do any sports with balls.
I want to be like my mom. She took up walking at 65 because her meds were increasing and she was fat. Now she's 83 and walks 4 miles 3x/week
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[quote="lnielsen18;d-10705045" I would advise any one around 55 to not do excessive cardio and begin strength training. Muscle is very hard to replace after 60 and we’ll need when we are 80. Other comments and insights?[/quote]
I am 61 and in the same boat as many others who have responded.
I"m a cardio junkie. I do quite a bit of cardio volume daily during racing season (9-13 hrs/week measured by my garmin), supplemented by strength training during the off season. I eat a balanced diet suggested by a registered dietician and have no issues maintaining muscle mass.
So I must be just slightly under the "excessive cardio" threshold.
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I am 58 years old. I do walking videos on youtube and also- body weight exercise videos on youtube- I enjoy walking and try to do it 4-5 days each week. Also try to eat sensibly . I do love walking/ joggin more but I try to do some smaller weights with youtube.1
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I’m 69 and haven’t been a gym member for years. I walked and lifted weights at home. But this year my Medicare Advantage plan offered free gym memberships for the first time. I couldn’t wait til Jan. 1 to join and have been going, most,y to Silver Sneakers, ever since. I love it - great cardio and tons of strength training. There are many people in my class in their 80s and one woman who’s in her late 90s who also runs in 5ks. They inspire me every day!3
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I'm 'only' 42, but I have a number of chronic joint problems, sooo...
I was wondering if anyone else has issues with osteoarthritis, and whether they've found a good way to handle flare-ups? Rest and exercise seem to be equally unpopular with my perma-broken arthritic ankle when it gets riled up!1 -
I'm nearly 74 and I exercise at home 6 days a week. I do walking videos on YouTube and weight training with kettlebells. I have improved muscle mass and balance and no longer need medication for high blood pressure.9
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I'm 'only' 42, but I have a number of chronic joint problems, sooo...
I was wondering if anyone else has issues with osteoarthritis, and whether they've found a good way to handle flare-ups? Rest and exercise seem to be equally unpopular with my perma-broken arthritic ankle when it gets riled up!
I'm 64 and have had OA for a long time. When my ankle flares (aches, especially at night--can't sleep) I K-tape it and that does it. I wear the tape for a couple of days. It's waterproof so I can swim with it, if I want to. I have been getting up at 6:00 3 times a week to do an hour of stretching for 25 yrs. That helps so much. I started a yogaflex class 3 years ago and that made important changes in my flexibility. Movement is very important, I've found.3 -
48yo male. I started strength training for the first time in my life in January, 2017. Competed in a powerlifting competition last October. I've probably been in better CV fitness before but I've never been stronger in my life. Squats and deadlifts pretty much fixed my knee, back and hip pain. You can put on muscle after 40. Just have to train intelligently which means proper attention to diet and especially recovery.3
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My challenge at age 53 is knee arthritis. I have been in physio for months but it is still chronically swollen. I gave up what little running I was doing (maybe 10 miles per week) and have switched to biking instead. Maybe someone in this thread can help me with some insight? I have tri-compartmental OA which means that offload bracing is not an option. Has anyone seen an improvement of their arthritis enough to go back to running through weight loss when all else failed? I would prefer to never have to have a knee replacement.0
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