Fitness over 50: Intro

I pay attention to some fitness tips for older folks.  However, too much of the content is just showing off by the muscle obsessed, or trying to sell you something.  This blog is some common sense fitness tips from an average guy who wants to stay fit. 

I have been working harder on my fitness lately. I had a hip replacement last year and worked through the mandatory Physical Therapy sessions. After I 'graduated' from PT, I decided to keep up the schedule and focus on getting myself back to my full capacity as I was before the bad hip started to slow me down. So I started a de-aging project to roll back about 5 years.  Following this plan, I have been gaining strength, lost a few pounds, and everyone says I'm looking fit. 

My main priority through all of this is to take it slowly and avoid injury from over training and to set achievable goals that don't wear me out too much to enjoy every other part of life. 

Here are some key points that I follow

• Eat healthy - I cook at home almost every meal, with a few lazy microwave meals from Trader Joes. 

• Keep a regular schedule - I am committed to go to the gym 2x a week for an hour (same as my PT schedule after surgery). All summer I have also been swimming laps at the community pool 2x per week. 

• Weight training is essential - lots of science shows that resistance training with weights contribute greatly to healthy aging. 

• Avoid injury - this is super important for me. Take it slow, increase gradually, give up damaging activities and exercises. 

• Get enough rest - a day off after training allows for muscle recovery and growth.

Keep in mind that a fitness plan is a promise you make to yourself. A promise of better health, a longer more active life, looking better, and feeling more energetic and capable in all of your daily tasks. It is important to choose enjoyable activities. If you hate the feeling of lifting weights, then find another way to strengthen muscles with resistance. If you don't like the social feel of your local gym, find another place to workout. This is a long term plan, and it's not going to work if it requires a lot of will power to force yourself to do these activities.  I look forward to a trip to the gym all day. When I miss a planned workout session for any reason, I feel bummed and I look for the first opportunity to make it up to myself.  I don't want to slip behind on my goals, and I don't want to look back on the week and feel poorly about my choices. 

As an adult (I'm talking to anyone over ~30), you need to take proper care of your body.  I never workout with weights two days in a row. Usually I take a complete rest day after a lifting day.  After a big hike I'm going to listen to my body the next morning before I plan activities. 

Start slow. In the gym, for a new exercise or a new machine, pick an easy weight and do a few reps. If it is not challenging, go up 5 or 10 lbs and do another set. That's it for today on this exercise. Remember to check yourself the next morning - are the muscles sore?  If yes, then good, you are building. Be sure to take an extra day of rest before working that exercise again.  If not, then you are ok to go up a bit more on the weight next time. 

My physical therapist recommended two sets of 10 reps. on each exercise to build strength, so I have been sticking with that. After a few days of increases from a very easy weight, you should find a weight that is a bit difficult to complete 2 sets of 10. Stick with that for a few weeks - and it should get easier. When you are very sure that this is too easy, go up another 5 lbs. Small steps are better than overstressing the muscles. You are in this for the long haul. If you can do more, then you will build to it soon enough. Working up slowly from a lighter weight makes it much less likely to strain a muscle, and it builds all of the adjacent muscle groups that help with the lift. When you reach your proper training weight for an exercise, you will be really straining to complete that second set of 10. 

I find that I have good days and bad days. Sometimes it is really hard to get through the 2nd set. What I do when I'm feeling tired is to take a few seconds break between each of the reps, but keep trying to get to the full 10. Then a week later you will come in and power through easily. Guess what - your extra effort and proper rest have built more strength. Maybe soon you will be moving up a few pounds. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the gym

I have a very specific gym workout, which I have been following with some modifications for maybe 30 years. I had a lot of good coaching and fitness instruction when I was a young athlete, and I do pay attention to what professional Physical Therapists have told me.   My workout is a full body cardio+weight lifting circuit training in about an hour, twice a week.  Twice a week is important for several reasons, first, it gives my body time to recover from hard lifting and do some muscle building. Second, it fits easily into the rest of my life with a lot of flexibility. If I have busy days or just not feeling it, move the workout to the next day.  Third, I have learned that once a week just maintains strength but not aerobic fitness, twice a week grows strength and fitness, and three times a week grows strength faster but often leads to injury.  I do cardio and weights in one workout for a couple of reasons. I start with a 15 minute warmup on the elliptical. This seem...
Read more

Some food tips

I am not a fan of vitamins and supplements. I think that a healthy diet has everything that your body needs. They are expensive and a lot of hucksters are making big bucks from promoting these pills and powders.  If you take in more of a nutrient than your body can use, you generally just piss it out - except for some oil-based vitamins that can accumulate, like orange skin for people taking lots of B-carotene. That being said, I know quite a few doctors and medical scientists who personally take large doses of vitamin D every day. I have recently been experimenting with a protein drink right after my weight lifting workout. I found a cheap one in the dairy case at my local grocery store made from milk with 30g of protein and only 180 calories - less than my usual post-workout snacks. Maybe it promotes faster muscle recovery, it certainly doesn't hurt.  A big tip - LEARN TO COOK. Everything is cheaper and more healthy when you make it yourself.  If no one is around to tea...
Read more