Life after 50
- Thread starter Pekelo
- Start date
I'm turning 60 this year. Never been an athlete but always did sports. At 5'11 my ideal weight (married weight) is 180 lbs at 39. Honestly never got back to it. Worst has been 220 lbs at least a couple of times in my life. First time in my 20s which I reversed by doing a lot of boxing training.
Second time was 5 years ago. Moving to Singapore, changing eating habits, the constant heat, swimming a lot of laps...all helped me lose 35 lbs. Unfortunately, last year I got a frozen shoulder and it took me 6 months to finally go see a surgeon. Yup, frozen shoulder but also 2 torn tendons, and a bone growth spurt...
Sept 2022 I had surgery and have been on rehab since then. I joined a gym and go almost every day. At 60 you need to be humble. Days of lifting heavy are over, now the goal is flexibility, balance and cardio. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid gaining volume. The workouts are hard and volume almost explicitly means eating more, and permanently lifting to avoid getting fat or sagging. Not what I want to fight at 70!
Instead, I join the ladies classes.. abs, butt, thighs types, with HIIT classes. That's where the humility comes in... Try squatting with no weights for 15 mn non stop... I was swimming 2 miles a week but couldn't squat more than a couple minutes! Hell, I couldn't keep my balance in Pilate classes... These women look super hot but I feel really old.
It took me almost 6 months to finally keep up with ladies and also strengthen my shoulder with physio work. I've lost about 10 lbs of fat and gained 10 lbs of muscles. I do hardcore spinning classes 2x a week, core exercises X2 a week, strength workout X2 a week and spend at least 30 mn stretching after my workouts. I no longer measure success by weight but by body fat, no longer try to squat 200 lbs once but to squat 40 lbs for 15 mn, focus on flexibility (touch the floor with legs straight), and keep up the cardio with swimming and spinning.
Looking to keep this up to 70. Will see what to modify then.
Second time was 5 years ago. Moving to Singapore, changing eating habits, the constant heat, swimming a lot of laps...all helped me lose 35 lbs. Unfortunately, last year I got a frozen shoulder and it took me 6 months to finally go see a surgeon. Yup, frozen shoulder but also 2 torn tendons, and a bone growth spurt...
Sept 2022 I had surgery and have been on rehab since then. I joined a gym and go almost every day. At 60 you need to be humble. Days of lifting heavy are over, now the goal is flexibility, balance and cardio. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid gaining volume. The workouts are hard and volume almost explicitly means eating more, and permanently lifting to avoid getting fat or sagging. Not what I want to fight at 70!
Instead, I join the ladies classes.. abs, butt, thighs types, with HIIT classes. That's where the humility comes in... Try squatting with no weights for 15 mn non stop... I was swimming 2 miles a week but couldn't squat more than a couple minutes! Hell, I couldn't keep my balance in Pilate classes... These women look super hot but I feel really old.
It took me almost 6 months to finally keep up with ladies and also strengthen my shoulder with physio work. I've lost about 10 lbs of fat and gained 10 lbs of muscles. I do hardcore spinning classes 2x a week, core exercises X2 a week, strength workout X2 a week and spend at least 30 mn stretching after my workouts. I no longer measure success by weight but by body fat, no longer try to squat 200 lbs once but to squat 40 lbs for 15 mn, focus on flexibility (touch the floor with legs straight), and keep up the cardio with swimming and spinning.
Looking to keep this up to 70. Will see what to modify then.
I don't look up to many people. But Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of them for all he has accomplished and continues to inspire today.
https://fitnessvolt.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-evolution-physique-age/
https://fitnessvolt.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-evolution-physique-age/
True. He was a hell of a bodybuilder, a fun movie star to watch, and then went on to a political career. Few people have accomplished as much as he did from fairly humble beginnings. But I just wish I never saw, let alone bought, his Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding book:
It is filled with recipes for overtraining.
With the guidance of Weider, if I am not mistaken.
Mick Jagger at 80 has 2 trailers full of exercising equipment:
"Jagger had open-heart surgery, Charlie Watts passed away, Ron Wood has had lung cancer, Bill Wyman has had prostate cancer and Keith Richards had another cigarette."
" he started doing all this back in the 70s to avoid, in his own words, becoming like Elvis. You can't just pick it up at 79, he's been doing this for decades now."
His father was a PE teacher who died at 93, his mother at 87.
"Jagger had open-heart surgery, Charlie Watts passed away, Ron Wood has had lung cancer, Bill Wyman has had prostate cancer and Keith Richards had another cigarette."
" he started doing all this back in the 70s to avoid, in his own words, becoming like Elvis. You can't just pick it up at 79, he's been doing this for decades now."
His father was a PE teacher who died at 93, his mother at 87.
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Staying in shape and living old are separate things. Genes come in the equation in the latter. My great grandmother passed at 103, my grandmother at 98. My mother has taken the steps to choose when to go based on her health, she's now 81. My father's 84 and plays tennis, pickleball or ping pong 5x a week.
I gave myself an arbitrary deadline of 80, subject to change based on health and desire to live. I have no interest living for the sake of living and have no problem switching off when I decide, like my mother.