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tell me about it getting harder . to stay off meds i am running faster and farther than ever before in my life i will be 65 . i do 5 miles every other day .
the days we don't do cardio i am weight lifting . we take 1 day off a week . it has been our routine now for 15 years straight .
i hate it! but that is our lifestyle at this point and unless i want to go back on meds it is what it is .
This explains why my 63 year old male friend has radically skinny legs now when he used to be muscular. It hadn't sunk in to me how much muscle men lose while aging, even in the early years of being an older person.
Last edited by matisse12; 03-29-2017 at 04:13 PM..
I'm almost 65 and have been a dedicated weight lifter for over 50 years. During that time I've managed to maintain the amount I lift, but I have lost quite a bit of muscle over the years. I weighed a bit over 180 when I first retired 10 years ago, and that was about 10 pounds less than i weighed at age 30. Today, I've lost almost another 20 pounds, being down to the low 160's now, and this is at a height of 6'1". Yet, I can still lift the same amount as 30 years ago, such as still being able to bench press (on a machine) 170 lbs with 15 reps.
Like others have stated, the body still gets old despite how much effort you put into the exercise. It is a matter of health at this point in time, not trying to look decent. At this point, despite still lifting quite a bit of weight, I'm just kind of skinny.
And it isn't just weight lifting either, I still walk, use an exercise bike and rowing machine as part of my exercise routine, and haven't backed off on those either. Yet, aging still takes place.
Why do you think you are so skinny and have lost 20 pounds? Is it a result of your eating habits, or cardiovascular exercise making you lose weight, or mostly just aging? Losing 20 pounds seems to be a pretty dramatic difference.
I'm almost 65 and have been a dedicated weight lifter for over 50 years. During that time I've managed to maintain the amount I lift, but I have lost quite a bit of muscle over the years. I weighed a bit over 180 when I first retired 10 years ago, and that was about 10 pounds less than i weighed at age 30. Today, I've lost almost another 20 pounds, being down to the low 160's now, and this is at a height of 6'1". Yet, I can still lift the same amount as 30 years ago, such as still being able to bench press (on a machine) 170 lbs with 15 reps.
Like others have stated, the body still gets old despite how much effort you put into the exercise. It is a matter of health at this point in time, not trying to look decent. At this point, despite still lifting quite a bit of weight, I'm just kind of skinny.
And it isn't just weight lifting either, I still walk, use an exercise bike and rowing machine as part of my exercise routine, and haven't backed off on those either. Yet, aging still takes place.
Why do you think you are so skinny and have lost 20 pounds? Is it a result of your eating habits, or cardiovascular exercise making you lose weight, or mostly just aging? Losing 20 pounds seems to be a pretty dramatic difference.
Neither NewtoCA nor Mathjak are skinny. CA might be considered thin, but not so thin as me.
We're losing muscle mass, a bit of bone mass, and maybe some fat too. It's normal to lose some weight with age. Gaining weight would be the bad news.
Why do you think you are so skinny and have lost 20 pounds? Is it a result of your eating habits, or cardiovascular exercise making you lose weight, or mostly just aging? Losing 20 pounds seems to be a pretty dramatic difference.
Eating habits haven't really changed too much over the past 10 years, I'd say I may take in 100-150 less calories than I did 10 years ago but I'm probably slightly less active too. It amounts to about 2 lbs a year, so the weight loss has been gradual. One thing that probably has somewhat contributed to this is an increase in thyroid medicine, but frankly I think it just offsets my natural decline in thyroid function.
I'd say that it is just pretty much aging. When I was in my early 30's, I had a 47" chest, which has now declined down to barely 42". My waist has shrunk just a little, down from 35" to about 33". I'd say that I can see a difference in my legs, kind of spindly despite my rowing twice a week (30 minutes, a minimum of 5200 km, at maximum resistance using a Concept II rower) and exercise biking 10 miles in 35 minutes twice a week too, at a decent resistance level. Add in about 12-15 miles of walking each week, and I'd think I'd have a bit more muscle tone than I actually do. Like the weight lifting, I've used the exercise bike and rowing machine for over 40 years now.
See, it isn't just the decline in weight and size, I can also see a difference in muscle tone. Though a bit on the slight side now, I don't have the type of solid body I had 25-30 years ago. I have a bit of a looseness that I didn't used to have, and the weight lifting isn't having the "visual" effect it used to have.
No complaints here, just making an observation.
I kind of have some fun with it at the gym though. I see these young guys who make some comments (being nice, not being mean) about my advanced age and what I lift. I tell them that I am a great example that if they keep up a good long term exercise routine they still will look like crap when they get old.
You have a different body type as compared to what I was "blessed with" here. I'm kind of a shorter version of some of those basketball players, except they usually fill out when they age.
I'm proud to say that I've lost 20 lbs since retiring 8 yrs ago: all because of the extra time to work out, run, swim. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm in better shape now then I was during my military career. All I needed was the time to exercise. I didn't while working.
Now the hard part is staying away from food binging. No excuse as I have the time to properly select healthy food and cook and not opt for fast food.
I've been lifting weights since I turned 50 (7 years ago) and it's very beneficial. I have the genetics for it and I'm a woman so my testosterone level is not much of a player. It's tough with hip bursitis, but I also play squash and pay the price for that too.
I think it helps a great deal with maintaining some shape in the aging body and it definitely makes me feel more confident physically.
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