Workouts, now that we are all old men....

[tnf]

Hello everyone,

We've had countless workout discussions back over the years, but I'm curious what we are all doing now in our late 40s, 50s, etc. to stay, or attempt to stay, in shape with all the things that come along with getting old.

I had been in pretty good shape before cancer hit, surgery and radiation put the brakes on some of my progress for just under a year, but since then I've been consistently exercising and got myself back into the best shape I've been in 20+ years, since before neck surgery. Before covid hit, I had turned an unfinished room in the basement into a home gym, which was a great thing to have during the lockdown days when you couldn't find exercise equipment anywhere. This place became my sanctuary as I was recovering from cancer. Has most of the stuff I need, free weights, boxing equipment, and we have an elliptical in another room.

Big shift in focus for me as I got older and had kids was increased emphasis on cardio and functional stuff - especially as an 'older' dad who wants to be able to play with his kids for years to come and I have to be very selective and careful about the lifts I do. I have a couple herniated discs in my lower back that I get steroid injections for about 3 times a year so I can avoid surgery - so if I am lifting heavy I have to be extra cautious. I do not want another surgery.

I lift 4-5 days a week and do cardio work 3-4 days as well - cardio being primarily boxing work (except for the getting punched by someone part) and some time on the elliptical. I do at least 4-5 hours a week of work on the speedbag, cobra bag, double end bag, and heavy bag (I used to do a lot of this stuff in my late teens and early 20s). Tons of time on the speedbag as well - I have speedbags in the basement and garage. Great for the shoulders and keeping your reflexes and timing up. Getting the kids into it as well, my daughter is really taking to it - she's going to be a killer. A tiny killer, but a killer nonetheless.

What are you doing to stay healthy and active as you age? Swimming, biking, running, beating off relentlessly, walking, crossfit? All of the above?
We'll need to do another one of these discussions in a couple decades to share tips on working out while with the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs we'll all be using.

[Captain]

That's a sweet gym setup man. I'm still playing goalie in competitive hockey despite the hip issues getting worse. I hired a trainer last year to build a weekly workout plan utilizing whatever I had at home at the time so I could keep building strength during the pandemic. I've got a decent enough mix of dumbbells, plates, a bench, pull-up bar, resistance bands, and a barbell to keep going.

[tnf]

Hockey has got to keep you in shape. How are your knees after years of playing goalie? Does the hip issue result in you making adjustments that make things harder on your knees or lower back?

[Foo]

For about the past four years I don't do shit, although it's mostly because we bought a house with no good pool nearby. We're moving soon, and I hope to get back into the 3-6x a week at the pool cranking out at least a mile for the cardio. Weight's steady but I've lost some obvious muscle mass. At least stairs don't wind me or any of that shit yet.
Also when I was 14 a chiro predicted my fucked-up knees would last until I was about forty before needing a replacement. I have to commend him for his spot-on diagnosis. They now reliably predict wet weather and I had to ditch cycling permanently due to the strain.

[Captain]

Hockey has got to keep you in shape. How are your knees after years of playing goalie? Does the hip issue result in you making adjustments that make things harder on your knees or lower back?

My knees have been pretty good, knock on wood, despite countless bone bruises. I have femoroacetabular impingement so my hip joints get stuck and unstuck all the time from years of goalie movements that are unnatural for the human body. Focusing on strength training and eating less carbs and more proteins made a big difference, but right now my left hip flexor is super tight and I'm doing physio and RMT just to keep playing. My back and shoulders have overcompensated for the hip issues so I get a lot of tension pain and stiffness, especially around the neck.

I miss cycling, it used to keep me nice and loose on game days but after that psycho tried to kill me with his car, I stopped riding and my hips got worse. Once I leave Canada, I'll get back on the saddle and hopefully things will improve a bit.

[Whiskey 7]

Not quite a 'work out' but after 8 years sitting on my bum in a home office chair playing video games and watching movies, I think I have mentioned here, I am back at work. My phone tells me on some sort of "fit" app that I walk something in the order of six to eight thousand steps in a 4 to 6 hour shift. I have lost kilos and pretty happy

Note to self: Steps and walking are fine and good on you but cardio is needed, get that heart pumping is what's needed. I know

[raw]

I'm 46 now, have a grandson, and to stay fit it's mainly diet but like you also have a home gym with free weights, a spin cycle, and the Mrs and I like to ride bikes and go on hikes. Calorie intake plus being active seems to be key to ensure I do not end up in large pantalones.

[Eraser]

I've been doing a lot of running for years. But I've been developing some knee problems that really make that difficult. I kind of reset myself to week 3 or so of a 15 week training schedule building up to 10km and hope to be able to slowly build things up starting from there. Will probably take more than 15 weeks though.

In the meantime, both Beat Saber and Pistol Whip on my Oculus Quest 2 VR headset are genuinely great cardio workouts. It's easy to mock it as "just a videogame", but I challenge you to do a Beat Saber song on the higher difficulties without seriously sweating out of every pore of your body.

[Foo]

both Beat Saber and Pistol Whip on my Oculus Quest 2 VR headset are genuinely great cardio workouts.

The boxing games are also very good for this - The Thrill of the Fight is a solid workout.

[mrd]

Sweet setup tnf. I could never stick with weight lifting. I think the longest I did it for was about 6 or 7 months, averaging 3 days a week. I guess I find it boring, even though I know it's good for me. I feel like all that energy could be put to use doing something productive. Well, bought a new house about 10 months ago and I've been spending a fuck load of time cutting up firewood :olo: Other than that... daily walks with the dogs, the odd hike when I can, and will be buying a mountain bike again hopefully before next summer. This missus has a sweet downhill machine and I used to ride tons 20+ years ago so it'd be rad to get back into that before my body falls apart entirely.

PS - You should join us on Discord - a little more active!

Ninja edit - Oh yeah, forgot to add - ever since some fuck face smashed his car into the back of mine about 3.5 years ago, my back is right fucked, so I've had to incorporate a number of daily yoga movements and other odd routines while laying on the floor just to be able to get decent night's sleep. I've found if I miss even one day I suffer immensely for it. Chiro actually told me I need to get back on the weights and start doing deadlifts and squats again to help my back. :owned:

[Don Carlos]

Nice!

Since my lad has been born I have put on 2 stone (nearly 30 lbs or 12.5kg) in not good weight and lost a fair bit of muscle mass. As I relentlessly march towards the 40 mark, I am about to embark on plenty of exercise that is gentle on the joints...I think static bike riding to start. I am looking to get down to 14 stone (about 200lbs or 89kg) by my 40th

[duffman91]

I have free weights in the garage. However, to be completely honest, I spend more time focused on stretching.

[seremtan]

I walk an average of 10 miles a day, sometimes up to 20 miles in one day. i live at the top of a hill and my favourite places to walk are all hilly so i get my sweat on every time

it's good to get away from other people

[Denz]

I was in a wheelchair for a while due to my hips. I recently got them both replaced and I was actually using a walker to get around. No more Wheelchair! Then I got a cain and now that's gone. I can actually walk on my own and now comes the hard part. Walking for a long distance. Usually to the Mailbox and back. Talk about working out and getting old. I'm 59 now. Still gaming though, keeping the hand/eye coordination going. It's weird playing with the young. Keeps me young inside I guess. I noticed most everyone is still here and that is awesome. Miss playing with you guys.

[raw]

Glad to hear you're doing better. You should jump on Duff's Q3 server with us. There's a bunch of us playing games almost regularly.

Jump on discord as that's where we are staging games.

[Foo]

I was in a wheelchair for a while due to my hips. I recently got them both replaced and I was actually using a walker to get around. No more Wheelchair! Then I got a cain and now that's gone. I can actually walk on my own and now comes the hard part. Walking for a long distance. Usually to the Mailbox and back. Talk about working out and getting old. I'm 59 now. Still gaming though, keeping the hand/eye coordination going. It's weird playing with the young. Keeps me young inside I guess. I noticed most everyone is still here and that is awesome. Miss playing with you guys.

Hiya denz, miss you too buddy! What Raw said - Duff's got a server up we're playing on lately if you want to hop on for some games some time, and the Discord is pretty chatty too. It'd be good to catch up.

[tnf]

Sweet setup tnf. I could never stick with weight lifting. I think the longest I did it for was about 6 or 7 months, averaging 3 days a week. I guess I find it boring, even though I know it's good for me. I feel like all that energy could be put to use doing something productive. Well, bought a new house about 10 months ago and I've been spending a fuck load of time cutting up firewood :olo: Other than that... daily walks with the dogs, the odd hike when I can, and will be buying a mountain bike again hopefully before next summer. This missus has a sweet downhill machine and I used to ride tons 20+ years ago so it'd be rad to get back into that before my body falls apart entirely.

PS - You should join us on Discord - a little more active!

Ninja edit - Oh yeah, forgot to add - ever since some fuck face smashed his car into the back of mine about 3.5 years ago, my back is right fucked, so I've had to incorporate a number of daily yoga movements and other odd routines while laying on the floor just to be able to get decent night's sleep. I've found if I miss even one day I suffer immensely for it. Chiro actually told me I need to get back on the weights and start doing deadlifts and squats again to help my back. :owned:

Have you had any MRIs done on your back since that accident? Back issues fucking suck, I can attest to that, and make exercise a pain in the ass. I've had to work around them in my neck and lower back - getting steroid injections has helped, you might look into that. I did over a year of physical therapy that didn't really do shit, but I wanted to avoid another surgery until there was absolutely no other alternative. Steroid injections have been life changing for me - I had such bad sciatic pain I had to walk with a pronounced limp when it would flare up - the shots have allowed that inflammation to get knocked down and I'm like a new man. Granted, this doesn't fix the two herniated discs I have in my lower back, but its has made them almost asymptomatic.

I did connect to Discord once - need to get it on my phone since I'm rarely in front of a computer lately.

Take care and I hope you get some relief with your back!

[tnf]

I was in a wheelchair for a while due to my hips. I recently got them both replaced and I was actually using a walker to get around. No more Wheelchair! Then I got a cain and now that's gone. I can actually walk on my own and now comes the hard part. Walking for a long distance. Usually to the Mailbox and back. Talk about working out and getting old. I'm 59 now. Still gaming though, keeping the hand/eye coordination going. It's weird playing with the young. Keeps me young inside I guess. I noticed most everyone is still here and that is awesome. Miss playing with you guys.

Getting back to walking after a double hip replacement is a hell of an accomplishment in and of itself. One step at a time, get 0.1% better each day. Good to see some fellow old timers showing up here.

[seremtan]

I was in a wheelchair for a while due to my hips. I recently got them both replaced and I was actually using a walker to get around. No more Wheelchair! Then I got a cain and now that's gone. I can actually walk on my own and now comes the hard part. Walking for a long distance. Usually to the Mailbox and back. Talk about working out and getting old. I'm 59 now. Still gaming though, keeping the hand/eye coordination going. It's weird playing with the young. Keeps me young inside I guess. I noticed most everyone is still here and that is awesome. Miss playing with you guys.

59 is young af to be having those kind of mobility issues. glad to hear you're back on your feet. i hope you raise your sights beyond the mailbox and back tho

[tnf]

I walk an average of 10 miles a day, sometimes up to 20 miles in one day. i live at the top of a hill and my favourite places to walk are all hilly so i get my sweat on every time

it's good to get away from other people

Getting away from other people is one of the main reasons I turned part of my basement into a gym.
Not a big fan of gym crowds especially. Especially in the age when everyone thinks they are
an Instagram fitness creator.

[Whiskey 7]

Getting back to walking after a double hip replacement is a hell of an accomplishment in and of itself. One step at a time, get 0.1% better each day. Good to see some fellow old timers showing up here.

Onya Denz and what tnf says, especially the "Good to see some fellow old timers showing up here"

[[xeno]Julios]

Hope you continue to gain mobility Denz.

TNF, that's a nice set up

I'm 45 now, strength training took a hit during pandemic, but played more tennis. Been lifting regularly now - got a powercage in backyard and plate rack. Primarily do low bar back squats, deadlifts, weighted chins, and overhead presses.

Play tennis during summer and bike all year round. Biggest hindrance has been tendinopathy and the occasional muscle pull - I've been diligent over the years about dealing with both and not training/playing through them (unless I can do so without aggravating), and have successfully rehabbed all my injuries, but it gets harder with age - the injuries are easier to obtain and take longer to rehab.*

One thing I love doing is being able to sprint after a frisbee, and every year I'm able to do that is a blessing - haven't been able to do it this year as am in the middle of rehabbing a quad injury, but hoping by September I'll be able to enjoy the field.

*for muscle belly pulls, I find a movement that targets the injured tissue, and do high rep low weights, and gradually increase the weight (and lower the reps) each session.
for tendinopathy, I've found progressive eccentrics (without the concentric phase!!) to do wonders - the key is to find a movement that targets the tissue and can be progressively loaded. You have to be creative here, as resetting the weight to the starting position must be done using a separate muscle group from the one being rehabbed.

[seremtan]

Not a big fan of gym crowds especially. Especially in the age when everyone thinks they are an Instagram fitness creator.

what, you don't want to get your swell on next a guido roider and his botox barbie gf?

[tnf]

Not a big fan of gym crowds especially. Especially in the age when everyone thinks they are an Instagram fitness creator.

what, you don't want to get your swell on next a guido roider and his botox barbie gf?

I always want to be the only roider in the room, so I lift at home.

I'm talking hemorrhoids, btw, because those are the roids we deal with at our age.

[Whiskey 7]

[...... those are the roids we deal with at our age.

Am I to consider that I am the lucky one then?