Going slightly OT with the single speed discussion but I've found it's the tension in your upper body, both core and shoulders/arms, that you need when you have to put in the extra effort required on hills. It comes from needing something to push/pull against when you are basically overgeared. Not as targeted as specific gym exercises but pretty effective nonetheless.
I'm doing the French Divide next weekend (well that and the two weeks following) and being France you need a doctor's note/certificate to participate. Went down to surgery and the receptionist pulls up my details: "Hmm, not sure how to go with this, you haven't been here to see a doctor in five years". "Well there's been nothing wrong with me!" (The last visit was the one where I was referred for a hip replacement.)
General thread summary:
Don't worry about age or comparing yourself against a younger you, or worse, some random youngster
Keep trying to do what you want to do.
Mix things up: do HIIT as well as cardio
Be positive
Anything else?
I don’t know what the real reason is, but the singlespeed thing seems to work for me - in fact, I credit riding one for the last ten years as being what’s kept me motivated to keep riding at all. It must just suit my physiology/mindset/whatever. All I know is that my small (but select) group of friends say that I ride a singlespeed better than they’ve seen me ride anything else and that if I turn up on it they know not to expect a particularly gentle ride....
So maybe the answer is to play to your strengths (and pick your battles).
For a lot of people retirement means taking it easy, which in turn leads to a gradual decline in fitness and health. I'm planning to retire in 18 months to 2 years and do more walking, more cycling, more skiing and ski touring and even some rowing.
My elderly neighbour was reasonably fit and used to play a round or two of golf a week until he had a knee replacement, when he stopped. He is now completely sedentary and very unwell; it's amazing how quickly he went downhill when he stopped taking regular exercise.
That was something I worried about when my step-father had a knee replacement. He's a keen walker and having to stop that would have been a big impact to his life. Luckily the first knee seems to have taken and he is back walking on it decent distances and is looking to get the other one done too. Fingers crossed that one works as well.
As others have said, age is largely a state of mind. I'm 52 next week and have a mentally "younger" outlook than many of my peers. Fitness and diet is important. I try and eat well and run 3 or 4 times a week and do a high intensity circuits class every Monday night. I've got my first ever marathon in October and to be honest I am very nervous about it.
I never use age as an excuse for not doing something. In fact I never factor age into any of my plans. What's the quote, something about not stopping playing when you get old but getting old when you stop playing.
Keep positive!
54 here, no different from 44, apart from injuries take longer to heal, so don't get injured.
Probably not quite as fit as I was 10 years ago, but I used to play football. Would still do if circumstances allowed.
State of mind innit.
I have a copy of Friel's book somewhere. I'm sure it's very good if you are a focussed and competitive person who has a base of fitness and has already got the training habits and wants to get that last few % out of their body.
If not I reckon that you'll quickly get fed up of the regime and diet and give it up - and really that's most of us.
Certainly I never even started to follow any of it because I reckoned it was a route to injury for an older rider.
I would have no hesitation in recommending it to someone in their early 30s though.
The whole process of fitness seems to be about punishing yourself and pushing yourself beyond your limits. I reckon that's why most people do not persist. If it leaves you crippled for a few days, then why are you doing it? Have you a gold medal at stake?
It's like weight weenying your bike, you can get a nice light bike for a reasonable amount of money, but to get it that 3% lighter is going to cost heaps.
It's the same with exercise IMO, you can get a perfectly adequate level of fitness by doing stuff that is fun and not 'exercise', and you'll keep wanting to do it. To get to winner standard you have to beast yourself.
For example, I mentioned if you had a dog, you'd probably end up enjoying running with it. Today I was out with my wolfhound. I haven't let her run for a few weeks now because the weather has been hot and I didn't want her overheating. Today was cool and slightly damp and she was frisky, so I ran with her - according to my iPhone 5.5km - around the lower part of the 'Puffer course. There is a decent bit of climb in that, but because I'm not trying to run at a race pace, it was comfortable. I'm sure a proper runner would find my pace slow, but the point is I can run 5.5km on a hilly course without discomfort, thanks to enjoying my walks with my dog.
Maybe I should write a book "Trick Yourself into Fitness Without Punishing Yourself - by a Lazy Bastard and His Dog". 🙂
All I need is a publisher...
it’s amazing how quickly he went downhill when he stopped taking regular exercise
To quote the Dogtown skater/surfer Jay Adams:
"You didn't quit skateboarding because you got old, you got old because you quit skateboarding"
If necessary substitute 'skateboarding' with your chosen hobby/pursuit
Use it or lose it ... I'm now 50 but cycling & snowboarding more than ever.
I've found my reaction times aren't quite as sharp and I can't be as reckless when it comes to jumps and drops etc anymore as injury recovery takes longer but I think I'm having more fun than ever! 🙂
47 here and stronger and more flexibly than I was when 20. Not sure about fitter as I don't do much aerobic sport any more, just weightlifting and gymnastics.....
The only thing I really notice other than hairs growing out of every orifice at an alarming rate is my eyesight / ability to change focal range is deteriorating (normal at that age). Other than that, very happy with how things are going physically...
NB We went on an Alpine hut to hut trek last month and the fittest person in the group was a 57 year old woman from NZ, who set a cracking pace on the climbs (and I'm no slouch when it comes to slogging up hill). So, age is no barrier to fitness.
@epicyclo - to some extent I agree. When I was young "training" was about getting good enough to beat your mates, do well at county, national level. (I used to race cross-country running when at school).
After school it was climbing and wanting to be as good as possible. By the time I got to forty the serious side of the routes I tended to go for began to get to me.
Fell running and I'd be in the top third to quarter at most races despite being closer to fifty than forty.
I'm now at the long end of my fifties and I've kept my fitness but there's no "got to be better than xxx" so training isn't about bothering the top ten in races but ensuring there's a bit of oomph when required on rides.
50-something and currently nursing a sprained ankle from yesterday's Kentmere fell race in rotten conditions. It'll likely take longer to shrug off than in the olden days. The 30-something me would definitely have had better aerobic capacity but couldn't be bothered to find out. He'd also have been too chicken to try racing.
The 30-something climber in me could keep improving going out once or twice a week. The 50-something coming back to the sport took a long time to get off the 'quite rubbish' plateau and would stay on that plateau without putting more effort in than the younger version.
I have a copy of Friel’s book somewhere. I’m sure it’s very good if you are a focussed and competitive person who has a base of fitness and has already got the training habits and wants to get that last few % out of their body.
If not I reckon that you’ll quickly get fed up of the regime and diet and give it up – and really that’s most of us.
Not for one moment suggesting anyone should actually follow Friel's advice. It's just nice to have a good understanding of what's going on when I'm asked why I'm so slow and weak. Just owning it makes me feel better about my fitness...
For a lot of people retirement means taking it easy, which in turn leads to a gradual decline in fitness and health.
Whereas for others it means less time vegetating in a "nice place to be" aka Audi, or slumped in front of a PC at work and more time on the allotment or walking around. Most people I know who have retired, whether forty of sixty five have had quite a resurgence of general fitness and health. Having more time to eat properly rather than buying something convenient and processed is a plus.
54 here, no different from 44, apart from injuries take longer to heal, so don’t get injured.
same age here, feel the same or younger 🙂
Spent part of yesterday fixing my electric unicycle and then a quick 15 miles on the Kickr, and the previous evening coaching my 47 partner to ride my other wheel - soon we will both be out whizzing around the local lake, maybe hand in hand 🙂
I do seem to give myself a sore throat easily now if I overdo it with the exercise, and I don't recover as well.
I've got an achy knee which I am trying to fix with one legged squats, although it's not really working.
The Kickr has been a very good buy - particularly for trying to loose weight - don't eat much for dinner and an hour at a HR of around 134 helped me win the recent weight loss competition at work.
My macebell has been another excellent purchase - I do 60-a-side of 360s, 3 times and it seems to be a very time-efficient way of keeping core and arm strength, particulary helps the effects of my career in computing. Do a set in the ad breaks when watching TV instead of fast-forwarding past them.
My ultimate back stretcher has been another excellent purchase - only 12 minutes a day to keep your back loose and straight.
running just seems to help injure my legs whereas cycling seems to tone them up, but need to get back to running to mix it up.
I always tell people I have the body of a 30 year old.
.
.
.
(buried under the patio 😀 )
People saying age is a state of mind are clearly so old they can't remember being young. It's a state of body too. As Oscar Wilde said: "the tragedy of being old is not that you're old, it's that you're young". And he was right. Dag nab it.
So anyway, as 55 looking at 56 I recon - early 40s is still young. You even get some pro sportsmen left at that age. Mid 50s feels physically different. Not radically so but the stats don't lie. Anyway, basically I agree with all the HIIT/weights/maintain some muscle mass stuff above. I see guys my age and younger who mainly roadbike and put in plenty of miles, who are basically blobs round the middle. Doesn't mean they're bad people, but a bit of intensity and s few pressups and pullups would make a lot of difference
I'm in amazing shape btw. Goes without saying. Drink too many units alcohol, but as others have said up thread, you have to carry on doing the stuff you enjoy. (As an older friend said of his midlife crisis: I carried on liking sex, drugs and rock n'roll. What crisis?)
If ever there was a topic to draw in the STW experts...
but a bit of intensity and s few pressups and pullups would make a lot of difference
Nah, you don't need all that bollocks. Just don't let yourself go.
I always remember, many years ago, a friend of my Dad's saying that he'd been to the docs about his stomach and it turned out he'd let his core muscles die so much that he didn't have any abs left! I may have exaggerated this in my memory! But it has prevented me from ever getting a "beer-gut" look that there's no going back from once you're past a certain age.
That said, you are looking pretty wonderful, john.
Worried now. Are you behind the shed?
😀
One of the points in the Joe Friel book isn't that you don't decline if you do lots of exercise, HIIT, weights, etc. You do! The rate of decline is similar to sedentary people as well. It's just that you start from a higher point. He also makes the point that the data on which all this is based is somewhat sparse: there have been few longitudinal studies particularly of the baby boomer generation who have refused to go down the "retire, sit on the sofa watching TV" route.
Peak strength is, IIRC, late 20s to mid 30s. After that you will begin to lose muscle mass as well as aerobic capacity. My 25yr old self would leave me standing for example, but there's no point in moping about it into my skinny decaf macchiato (or whatever stupid phrase they come up with for "coffee").
Oh, I can remember being young! Some of the things I soloed when rock climbing make me cringe/shudder now, there were some very close calls 😯
What else is it then if it's not a number ...?
Granted you might not be as fit or as fast as you once were but I've never let age be a barrier to anything I have wanted to do ..
Its not the "number" that has stopped me breaking 26 minutes for 5 miles, which I really want to do! Unfortunately my 53 year old body wont allow me to do the training to allow it.
I'm 50 (about to turn 51) and I reckon I am there or thereabouts as fit as I was (or could be when I was training) when I was 30. After 18 months away from running with an injury I have now had a few ParkRuns (6 I think) under my belt and just back to run my first attempt at the old training circuit I used to do at my peak. Back then I could do a single circuit in about 32 minutes (pre Strava so not got exact timing records) and on Saturday (with a very strong wind) I managed <35 minutes as my first 'proper' run other than those ParkRuns. I reckon I will be back to 33 minutes after a couple of runs now I have that first run as a benchmark to know where to push and remember my training limits.
But then I am trying my best to refuse to accept I am getting old.
The whole process of fitness seems to be about punishing yourself and pushing yourself beyond your limits. I reckon that’s why most people do not persist.
Actually that varies a lot. In recent years I've taken up running and particularly focussing on marathons. My training is basically steady jogging, which I enjoy and find very relaxing. There's a little bit of harder running mixed in but I'm not beasting myself on a regular basis. The only times I really push myself are for races and not always even then.
Cycling too, right now I'm perhaps a little slower than I used to be but I'm sure that all I am missing at the moment is lots of miles in my legs, with that I'd be close to what I was like 25 years ago. That's just cos I've not been doing the commute or touring miles recently. I may have lost a touch of peak power but I was never much good at that anyway, and it doesn't really matter for long distance stuff.
Incidentally WAVA tables suggest I've lost 16 mins over a marathon compared to my hypothetical 25-yo self (not that I did a marathon at that age). However I believe most (amateur/mediocre) people find they improve WAVA scores as they get older, meaning performance doesn't really drop off that fast.
I turned 50 this month. I’ve always done lots of sports but thanks to various injuries over the years, mountain biking and road biking are about the only things I can still do! Despite being 50, I’ve had a surge in confidence with my mountain biking this year which resulted in getting my first full sus bike.
I’m definitely not as strong as I was and my aches and pains are a nuisance which frustrates me sometimes, but I can still do 100 mile road rides and I rode the trans-Cambrian mtb route this year. So it’s not all doom and gloom.
After that you will begin to lose muscle mass as well as aerobic capacity.
Not true.
OK, so my 25 y/o self was nothing to write home about but my 51 y/o self has more muscle mass and can exercise more effectively for longer.
I suppose my point is that doing activities where the purpose is enjoyment, and the exercise is a by-product, is more likely to keep the average person functional and fit than a schedule of exercise that requires a disciplined approach.
Then we are violently agreeing Epi, Godspeed.
@coyote - But you aren't comparing like with like. You have more muscle mass now presumably because in the interim you began training. If you'd done the same training at the age of 20 then you would have had more muscle mass than you do now.
If you trained regularly throughout your adult life then the longitudinal studies show that loss of muscle and aerobic capacity does occur.
Strava PRs and KOMs tell me i'm fitter, stronger and faster than ever before on a bike. Sure, that may because i'm less rubbish now than i previously was... but i'm still FASTER !
47 here and whilst i'm on the lardy side, i'm doing OK 🙂
The whole process of fitness seems to be about punishing yourself and pushing yourself beyond your limits. I reckon that’s why most people do not persist. If it leaves you crippled for a few days, then why are you doing it? Have you a gold medal at stake?
My fitness quest over the last ~19 months has and still is without having ever read wisdom from the likes of Friel, I've adapted my training over time due to new toys (power meter) and the weather conditions (in the heatwave I've largely replaced trying to climb cat3/4 hills at 300W+ with longer rides at a more moderate pace), plus taking onboard bits and pieces on bike forums.
IMO, pootling along at a moderate pace over more miles is only going offer a relatively small fitness benefit. My cardio-vascular system isn't going to be tested much, neither is are my leg muscles, plus the number of Calories I burn per hour is going to be relatively low. It will promote the fat burning for energy pathway, a larger proportion of my expenditure will come from burning fat rather than carbohydrate, but in absolute terms less energy will be expended.
IMO, power intervals will promote much quicker strengthening/improving of your cardio-vascular system and leg muscles, but if it "leaves you crippled for days" then you are going too far. After a really good power session, I almost always get DOMS for a day or two, but I can still walk, or cycle at a much lower power intensity! It's extremely rare I will do significant power interval rides on consecutive days and it's during these breaks between power training rides that your body will adapt, providing your nutrition intake is suitable to repair the minor muscle tissue damage and then lay down more muscle.
As I wrote earlier in this thread, DT78's times up the likes of Harvesting Lane; Old Winchester Hill; White Way etc. were initially a great motivator for me, because I was getting closer and closer to his best times to date while pushing myself to my limits. But like with all Strava comparisons to others, even though I've now improved on his current best times, Strava doesn't tell us if another rider was pushing to their limits during their best segment time to date. Ultimately, I can only control my performance, if I want to improve further I need to increase my W/Kg and how long I can ride at a higher power output.
Gunz
Then we are violently agreeing Epi, Godspeed.
More like gently shining a light on the matter from different angles. 🙂
meaning performance doesn’t really drop off that fast.
Performance does drop off slowly and there is evidence to show that. Somebody like myself who has trained (relatively) hard and competed (at a mediocre level) since my teens, will see a drop off in performance regardless of effort. For somebody who has not trained hard, but then begins training later in life, they will of course see a big improvement over their former self.
I will never beat my 800/1500 times no matter how hard I try. If you start running at 45 then your best times are all ahead of you, by definition. Physical performance still drops off with age, for us both.
Habit is the key, my Dad is 67, had 2 knee replacements, but absolutely refused to get "old". He swims 3 miles twice per week, he does spin class twice per week, he rides his road bike at least once per week and recently did a 60 mile sportive. His view is that as soon as you stop, you decline and it's very hard to stop the decline.
He thinks it's similar with his mind, he could, and should have retired 10 years ago but no, whilst he does less in his proper job, he now volunteers lots and does some mentoring programmes, as above, as soon as you stop you decline.
As above, is he as quick? No, but he works hard and refused to let the fact he's nearly 70 stop him.
Well if we want examples, my Mum is 88 and still leads a local Ramblers walking group, as well as going to the gym once a week to lift weights. She sings in three choirs and is a guide at a local museum. She is a former physiotherapist so is well aware of the importance of fitness and weight-bearing exercise. We have seen some mental deterioration though as she is prone to anxiety - not surprising as she lives alone - and her table manners seem to be deteriorating but that may be another consequence of living alone, I guess.
So it’s not all doom and gloom.
^^ Absolutely this!
Maintaining a postive mental attitude is key I think - as is ensuring that you still enjoy yourself and have fun - life is too short and pretty much none of us know how much time we have remaining!
Maybe one of the keys to it is not to compare yourself to how you were in your 30s/40s...
Maybe one of the keys to it is not to compare yourself to how you were in your 30s/40s…
We're boys, it's what we do isn't it ? I still dream of a sub 19:00 5km on a concept 2....