In 2 days I will be heading back into the gym to reacquaint myself with powerlifting. I am not nice to my body. At all.

Your previous weights at powerlifting amaze me. I have never been able to get to those weights and my max ever was a single rep of 225 lbs. Right now I am at about 172 lbs. Must be genetics :)

OOr the program. Interesting thing, 95% of those I've been with that have set national level records in PL'ing have developed their own program, one that works. Genetics is a player at that level, no doubt. However, I have yet to see anyone that cannot make gains no matter what somatype they may be.

I didnt start competing until I was 36 and into my 40's. My first meet I broke and set an American Record in the bench, lifting 325 at 159 bodyweight. Age has little effect on making gains in the weight room.

Keep it going! :)

The powerlifting aspect is only a small part of what I am trying to accomplish, which is the entire body sort of fine-tuned muscularly and otherwise, including endurance, flexibility, etc.

I do no deadlifts or weighted squats - related to my not-so-good back and I don't really like those activities - and at the recommendation of my PT. I do unweighted squats.

So, I will never be a record-holder in anything, but that is not my goal and I hope to be in pretty good over-all shape for someone 75yo.Bicycling fits in nicely for several of my goals. You can lose it SO quickly!!

And, what is amazing, I LOVE working out and seeing improvement.

You will definately see gains! It's totally cool seeing "grampas" in the gym and I'm one of them, too. I'm not sure I will have to go after the lower body like I will upper. After March, it's back on the fogline.

One step forward, two steps back - the story of my "overall fitness" life! I started weight lifting & inflamed old rotator cuff injuries. Now my "Pysikal-Terroriss" says no more lifting. I started walking & my ankles immediately sprained; no more walking. My last hopes are cycling and swimming. The former is FAR easier to accomplish and FAR less expensive. I'm making progress. It isn't perfect, but I'm making progress! I also need some stretching & balance work, but aerobic fitness comes first. The bike is my friend!

You can still lift, just work around it. Lats, traps, rear delts, abs, and the lower body are all unrelated to the rotator soreness.

Yesterday was my first workout in 4yrs. Today is my first wake-up after said workout. My body is in a blissful state of shock. :)

First week is in the books. Saturday is the most taxing, demanding workout day. Today it was squats and deadlifts with accessory exercises. Two sets of squats and two sets of deadlifts was enough for the day. This will ache more than usual for a few weeks until the muscles remember what they are supposed to do.

If anyone is reading along, has anyone found hillclimbing improved with squats in the routine during offseason (or during riding season)? I have a feeling this is going to have a very positive effect.

Cycling is my main exercise, but I also do a lot of walking. I try to walk everywhere at work during the day, up and down stairs, at lunch and during breaks. I joined a fitness club last winter, so I could do some upper body exercises (weight machines) and ride spin cycles on rainy days. The fitness club has definitely helped but I don't go often enough, usually about once a week. Part of the problem is that I absolutely hate weight lifting. My muscles are the type that do not bulk up no matter how much lifting I do, and I find it very boring. Nevertheless, I plan to keep it up because it has helped me overcome some persistent pain that had developed in my elbows.

I'm 66, and have been retired for the past 8 years. My two passions have always been cycling and alpine skiing. Two years ago my son suggested I join him and start training for triathlons. I only sign up for Sprint or Olympic distances. I want it to be fun, not torture! So I'm slowly getting better at swimming and my run times are at about a 10 minute mile. Which for me, someone who never ran in their life, is OK.

I've done 6 sprint triathlons the past two years, and it's been a blast every time!! Looking forward to the 70+ age group, and maybe I can kick some A##! :)

What were the distances in the sprint tri's?

A Sprint Tri distance can vary, but in the area of 1/4 mile swim, 12 to 17 bike, 5K run

Sounds like fun. My riding friend trains for tri's and has mentioned we team up for a cycling section for one of the area events. Might just get involved on that level.

All the Sprints I've done were 1/2 mile swim, 15-18 mile bike and a 5K run. Their fun! Takes me about 90 minutes and than I'm done. I'm usually home for lunch. :)

Hilly courses for the bike ride? Our several local tri's have bike courses laid out on the absolute hilliest they can figure in. And we do have hills. :)

I’ll be 68 in less than a month. I would like to do some strength training, but frankly, my current bicycling enthusiasm gets in the way. Usually 4 times a week for a little over 200 miles, total around 8k miles so far this year.

We recently moved into a house we had built, and I am doing a little bit of daily swimming in the pool. Silver sneakers pays for a gym membership and I should go check it out. Soon.

I started kayaking a few years ago and it's the perfect compliment to cycling. It really works the core muscles and I've noticed the difference on the bike. Plus it addresses my Zen needs.

just cycling

Swimming about 35 to 45 minutes four to five times a week, a lot of walking, bicycling, a home gym with a variety of weights and bands, and daily stretching does it for me at almost 82 years old

Cycling and surfing covers lower, upper, cardio, and the most overlooked... balance.

John

I start in the gym in October with sets of 12 reps, gradually decrease to sets of 4 reps in June. Around April I reduce my squat ROM from full squat to half squats which increases the weight by a lot. I don't know that squats increase my sustainable power by much, but it sure increases my climbing endurance. It's hard to tease out one training factor in a season. However when I started lifting, it definitely made me better climber. Not that I ever actually got good at it, but a lot better.

What I did when I started lifting was to do 3 sets of 30 reps of 9 exercises, circuit style. That gives each set of muscles quite a bit of rest time, which keeps activity levels high. I'd move immediately from exercise to exercise, maybe letting my HR drop to 110 or 115 before starting the next set. I did that for a year and made amazing progress. I was lucky to have a gym with sparse attendance in the evening, which was what made that possible.

I copied the following out of Friel. That first year I only did the AA column, 3 sets of 30.

I recently watched a video by a gymnast guy talking about his difficulties stretching. I used to hate stretching, basically never did it. Now that I am 70, I absolutely have to do stuff to keep loose. So I have a new schedule. Cycling/arms/legs/stretching/day off. It's working surprisingly well.

I have about 20 bands of all different types. I have a few of the big ones for things like deadlifts and lat exercises. I'm going to get a pull up thing and some bands to make it easier. I am not at all strong yet.

I also used to do low reps, while I still occasionally jump to more resistance, I am doing 12 rep sets for the most part. My joints like that better, I think I will take that to 3x14 soon.

I really like my TRX, really good intermediate level workout tool.

I use a lot of Athlean videos, and just started using Minus the Gym:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjn...4N56E6TfXEl2UQ

I cycle about three hours a day rather slowly now according to Google.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e04b2c4be8.png
I cycled to the red marks but mainly I go in loops around my city of Yamaguchi, or up anddown to the thin peninsula to the South.

Swim maybe an hour a week

Do ten minutes of exercises 4 days a week especially now these twisty things for rotational leg strength, so as not to go bow legged.

And about 90 minutes of karate. I am usually the oldest in my karate gym by a few years, and I am bad at it, , but I find it really gets the adrenalin going and motivates me to stick at the others above.