Workouts for 50+ year olds...

[jmoore]

I was in great shape til ~50, and then went downhill for a variety of reasons - aggressive arthritis being the most severe.

Prior to that - aerobics activity 3-4/week, weights 2-3/week, and karate 2-3/week. That tapered off into the mid 50s - basically to a decade of inactivity (and increased arthritis - likely tied somewhat to the karate).

I'm now 64 and currently 4 months into stage 1 of my "re-entry" program - focusing mostly on swimming 3-4 times a week to build up muscle mass & cardio endurance. VERY good results so far! Have stayed the same weight while dropping 2-3 belt notches (10-15# of fat for me, balanced by an equivalent increase in muscle mass). Heart rate and BP dropping too. Stage 2 starts in a month or so - back into weight training.

This is all - for me - centered around low/no impact exercise to minimize arthritis exacerbation. YMMV

john

[daddyusmaximus]

The Chaplin at my VFW worked out a deal with a local private college. They allow VFW members to use their gym anytime it's not occupied by the athletic teams.

[GJM]

Another strategy is to get a bird dog. The dog isn't happy unless tired, and that means you will be tired. My wife and I average 90+ minutes a day, every day, out hiking with our dog.

[WillBrink]

Now... The first one of you %$^#!'s that calls me Grandpa...

Anyone else here over 50? What do you do? I'm looking to turn it back up.

Typical M4C guy here. Did the military and the civilian LEO stuff for 25+ years, now on my third career. I've never NOT been in decent shape. I just think back to my Ninja days and the shape that I was then. I'm still in better shape than the average 23 year old, but like you guys, thats not enough.

Due to the recovery time, I'm down to about two, MAYBE three days a week (good week) in the gym. I run two to three days, and try to get a lot of walking in. Here is what is happening;

1. Gym: I must now work out smarter instead of harder. Years of hard mileage on the joints is adding up.

2. Running: Same thing... Smarter, not further. Mileage again. Getting old sucks...

When we move back CONUS in a few months, we're going to splurge and get a top of the line elliptical machine. No more running. I want to keep my knees. Eventualy, I want to buy a nice smith machine and some dumbells, then can the membership.

The worse part is the ^&%$ metabolism. Its stopping. I can look at a piece of pizza and put on a few pounds.

Anyone else out there??? Whatta do you do?

There's nothing inherently different one has to do 50+ (which am as of yesterday...) but there's plenty can do and should have all along. One, running sucks. Unless one has to run for their job (mil, etc) focus on non impactive conditioning work: bike, hike, elliptical, etc. Resistance training a must, but stay away from Smith machines or any machines, and focus on movements that promote mobility vs reduce it. Learn pre hab/rehand work, mobility, etc. There's a ton of intel in this section I have posted over the years.

Home gym that could cover all the above: suspension trainer, few sand bags, some KBs, selection of dumbells, and a few other things that cover all basis if employed correctly.

I'd also direct anyone here to the review I posted as a program that could be helpful on many fronts:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...by-Mark-Divine

[David Blinder]

Might I add balance and flexibility exercises. As you age, both tend to decrease.

[brickboy240]

I am 50 years old as well.

Yes...you are correct about not doing the kinds of lifts we did on our 20s and 30s! LOL

I gave up on running (ran 5 miles a day for about 11 years) because my heel started hurting too bad.

Currently, I lift weights (dumb bells and barbells...mostly multi-joint lifts) 3 times a week M_F resting a day between.

On the in-between days I am either playing tennis with my daughter or on my mt. bike. We play at least 1.5-1.75 hours in the evening a few times a week (unless it is raining).

For my week day mt bike rides, I do about 2 hours and maybe 17-25 miles. On weekends, I often ride 2-3 hours on both days.

I highly recommend the mt. bike for keeping oneself thin. A few hours blazing through our trails in our hot and humid weather and you are a sweaty mess! LOL

I also find the bike to be lower impact than running or other cardio and you still can burn an amazing amount of calories on the bike.

That is what I do and I stay pretty thin. The days of squats and other killer lifts are long gone but you'd be amazed at how a few multi-joint dumb bell lifts can keep your strength up.

[Det-Sog]

I'd also direct anyone here to the review I posted as a program that could be helpful on many fronts:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...by-Mark-Divine

Thanks Will! I've got bookmarked and will check it out later today. For now, have to get my butt to the gym.

[tower59]

Lots to be said for Bowflex and swimming- both can be easier on your joints yet still keep you in good shape. Just a couple of ideas-

[chuckman]

Good thread as I am honing in ever closer to that target. I don't go to the gym any more....I belong to a workout group (boot camp-style/Spartan-style http://f3nation.com/), do that a couple or three days a week, exercise DVDs with my wife a couple times a week, light jogging here and there.

[ABNAK]

On Memorial Day I was feeling all "Hooaahh" and such so I decided to do an 8.4 mile power-walk. No ruck, weapon, helmet, or LBE, just me in shorts, tennis shoes, and T-shirt. First hour or so of it was out in the sunlight, last several miles was on a mostly shaded paved trail.

I made two crucial mistakes (one couldn't be avoided): vastly underestimated the hydration I'd need, and then an insert in my left shoe started bunching up under the ball of my foot at about the 5 mile mark. I know better than to sit during something like that and then try to resume, but I had no choice or that insert would've ate the crap out of my foot. Sat down, took off shoe, straightened it out, then got up and......could not maintain the zippy pace I had kept up to that point and the bottom seemed to fall out. Those last 3+ miles felt like the freaking Bataan Death March! All I needed was a Jap soldier poking me with a bayonet. By damned I finished but was so dehydrated that every muscle in my body was cramping and for quite a while even raising my head to drink Gatorade caused head-rushes to the point I felt like passing out. It was pretty warm out but it was still morning so I only took along maybe 8-10oz of watered down Gatorade to swill at the half-way point (not NEARLY enough).

Lessons learned? Well for starters I ain't 20 anymore. Also, should've taken the Camelback and hydrated at least 3 or 4 times along the way. I sweat like a pig, in fact so much so that by the time I was roughly halfway my shoes were squishing. Yeah, sweat that much.

I think back to Airborne school in Panama and our final run (not power-walk) which ended up being like 9+ miles. Granted, it was a fairly slow pace, just a hair more than an Airborne shuffle. However, I was 19yo and in the best cardio shape of my life. Also weighed probably 50lbs less than I do now (in fairness I am MUCH stronger than I was then and more muscled......I was narrow as a "kid"). Oh but for the glory days!