Been lifting for about 40 years (4x a week for a long time, but when I got more into biking down to 3x), so it's a lifestyle thing. But I had to leave town to take care of my Dad for a year and a half so haven't been in the gym. (There was plenty of work to do at his place getting it and a commercial body/repair shop ready to sell). Got back home with Dad now last Oct and fortunately the army base gym I use opened to other than active duty in Nov so I have been back to my routine.
At 67 I haven't done squats or deadlifts in years. I only use free weights now for bench, curl, upright row, and wrist curls. Everything else I use machines (nautilus), as the Army puts a lot of morale funding into the gym equipment. The troops seem to be into olympic style lifting (clean and jerk/snatch). Not sure that's going to last into your old age.
My main issues are joint pain, and that's when I started getting into the machines as they do a good job of isolating muscles while keeping joints safe.
scott s.
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