TiHabanero

Been a member of the local Snap Fitness for the past 5 or 6 weeks and already the results are becoming apparent. Within the first week my lower back felt like it was 20 again, and now it feels like it is 18. Getting better all the time. No pain, no stiffness, and I am able to lift things without straining it.

When I get the chance to brave the cold, I am able to stomp gears much better than this summer, and I was feeling really good this summer! Wrist pain has decreased quite a bit, and neck pain is gone. I think I was fairly unhealthy as a whole, but had great legs to ride with. Now the whole body is feeling much more alive. The best part is...

My wife is tearing my clothes off at night, and I get no rest. Feel like Pete Townsend sometimes! Who knew at 60 life could be this good?

canklecat

Sounds good. I'm also finally seeing some fitness improvements after a long recovery from illness and injury. Surprised myself Tuesday evening with a home workout. Spinning up to 160 rpm during intervals, recovering quicker between sets. Same with crossfit training. I was surprised at my reflexes, even since last week.

But I wouldn't say I feel like I'm 20 again. My 20 year old self would kick this old man's butt in the boxing ring. Peak fitness in youth is a whole nuther level. Best we can hope for with age is getting shrewder and meaner. And I know the younger me's weaknesses.

sch

So, TiHab what are you doing in the gym. Weights? spin classes? goat yoga? combo plan with trainer? massage?

SpinClassSara

Good for you !!!

TiHabanero

It has been 7 weeks at the gym, not 6.

Sch, main efforts require free weights. Barbells and dumbbells. I use a pull down lat machine, hamstring machine and an ab machine once a week. Most everything I do is free weights. Started out very light and stayed that way for two weeks when the guy at the gym said I needed to up the effort. I didn't go crazy, but did add plates and that is when the results started to show after 4 weeks of heavier lifting.
Snap Fitness has a guy on duty in the mornings when I go that is very knowledgeable. College kid studying biz and works there full time as well. Super strong and a good trainer. Some of the other guys that show up are ex college level football players and super fit and willingly provide critique and correction.

With the aid of the trainer and a fella named Allen, I have reduced weight on the dead lifts and squats to concentrate on form. Feels much better already. Everyone is amazed at how much I can leg press. I tell them that I did squats on the bike for 40 years to get this way! Seriously, all the miles of hill repeats and sprinting exercises made my legs fairly strong. It is the upper body that I neglected to keep the weight down for racing and after racing, go faster rides. Glad to leave all that behind and feel better!

350htrr

Guess what... Whenever, you do things, that are taxing your muscles/heart, you are improving your overall health... If combined with a normal/,or even a less processed diet, like a diet one would have had a100 years ago, you will become as fit as your grand parents were, at your age... , , , it's as simple as that... Everything else is a combination of genes and environment...

CyclingBK

Lifting is great.
Nothing makes you feel that power in your back and backside like deadlifts.

freeranger

Congrats on the great results! I'll be switching to an Advantage Medicare plan starting 2020, and hope my results might reflect the success you've achieved! I get regular exercise now, but a gym membership will help, especially during winter months.

TakingMyTime

I couldn't agree with you more. I myself do a version of a total body workout. I'm not too regimented where it will be legs one day, chest the next day etc. Going to the gym a minimum of 3 days a week has really enhanced my enjoyment in the saddle. Everything feels stronger, better and I don't find my hands, arms and shoulders getting as sore as the used to. When the weather permits I ride my beater bike to the gym. The 3 mile ride is a great warm up and cool down.

John E

About 25 years ago I took up weight lifting to complement the cycling and walking/jogging I was already doing and to get some exercise while my left knee was immobilized following my second patellar dislocation. (The first occurred in high school; this one, about 25-30 years later.) I really started getting results when I transitioned from 5 (more like 5.5 or 6) days per week of full time employment in industry to my encore career in academia, where I still put in 40+ hours/week, but on a much more flexible schedule. This in turn allows me to visit the local YMCA at least 3 times per week. I work on arms and trunk, since the legs are already covered by cycling and fast walking, although I do target the medialis portions of the quads to keep my kneecaps centered and tracking properly and the calf muscles to treat my chronic Achilles tendinitis. I ramped up the effort at the gym before that, after recovering from a Colles' fracture of the radius and starting to worry about osteoporosis. I have read a number of stories about elite 40-year-old cyclists with 20-year-old cardiovascular systems and 70-year-old skeletal systems.

bruce19

I'm back in the gym too. I go every other day and concentrate on lower weight and increased reps. Expl....3 set of 10 bicep curls with only 20-25 lbs. I'm also back on my rollers. And, I've cut alcohol by 90%, cut out caffeine (my BP has dropped from 170/110 to 125/85), and I've severely limited manufactured foods, especially carbs. Feeling so much better.

peterws

One might conjecture that grandparents died long before we are likely to . . . .a 100 yo diet would have comprised anything you could get your hands on that was semi-edible and would always be followed by clouds of smoke, which usually smelt gorgeous! Our stuff by comparison has never been better; we've never been healthier. It's just a question of balance.
I read from the menu sheet of the Titanic on it's maiden voyage, this being the height of sophistication in those days.
It sounded like a very ordinary Sunday roast minus most of the trimmings we expect these days. But I never read what the desserts were, and how many you were allowed . . . .. . .

350htrr

Well now... Conjecture is a bit over the top... I do know, from personal experience/personal/family lifelines that EVERY one, of my Grandparents, from BOTH sides of the family lived to be in their 90's... and they were out there, haying, (basically a manual labor type of thing in those days) running the farm, and taking care of the animals, My parents lived into their 80's, a normal 1950's working in a factory life, eating the processed food in the stores... I am now in my 60's and guess what... I am thinking, WTF... I keep in shape, and I also try and eat good, my genes say I should live to my 90's, and I mean live, not just exist, with medical help... BUT, here I am, thinking WTF is it going to be like for me, when I reach my 80"s or 90's...??? and... It seems to boil down to the foods I eat, and the physical labor, that I put into my life, even tho, I do not need to exhort myself at all... but my body seems to need it, and need it every day... Those two things, everyone, can control, and they are, just as important as the genes that one has... JMO, as I see things developing in my life...

linberl

Use it, or lose it. That simple phrase covers it all for me. A certain amount of "using it" will keep you static, and an excess will delay the loss. Your choice. I remember my grandmother talking about how it felt when she got out of bed, and then a few years later how she was grateful to be able to get out of bed. She did absolutely nothing for exercise or to improve her health. Not something to emulate imo.