Lifting for Old Age

One of the reasons I’ve started lifting is out of fear of getting old and not having the strength and mobility to take care of myself. How many people here lift for this reason? Tell what age can I reasonably be able to lift tell?

if your excercising with the goal of being fit and independant when your old, you’ll probably be best served doing a variety of exercises like walking, lifting (compounds with moderate weights), running, swimming, climbing and just generally moving in as many different ways as possible without going “hardcore”

P.S. I have the same goal as you

[quote]Digity wrote:
One of the reasons I’ve started lifting is out of fear of getting old and not having the strength and mobility to take care of myself. How many people here lift for this reason? Tell what age can I reasonably be able to lift tell?[/quote]

Essentially you can lift until the day you die. Myself I plan to die when my heart explodes doing a triple body weight deadlift…I feel that if this blessed event occurs then I WILL get into Valhalla.

But in all seriousness…you will get old, you will die, you will probably crap yourself at some point between these two events. A sensible exercise program may help delay this, but it will not prevent it.

Should have asked this in over 35 forum we have 50 and 60 year olds with logs in there

[quote]MartyMonster wrote:

[quote]Digity wrote:
One of the reasons I’ve started lifting is out of fear of getting old and not having the strength and mobility to take care of myself. How many people here lift for this reason? Tell what age can I reasonably be able to lift tell?[/quote]

Essentially you can lift until the day you die. Myself I plan to die when my heart explodes doing a triple body weight deadlift…I feel that if this blessed event occurs then I WILL get into Valhalla.

But in all seriousness…you will get old, you will die, you will probably crap yourself at some point between these two events. A sensible exercise program may help delay this, but it will not prevent it.
[/quote]

I’m 57 and still lift heavily 3X a week. I got back into the lifestyle 4 years ago and the fear of getting old and decrepit was a driving factor. I look at people around me who are under 50 and are doing nothing to ward off getting weaker as they age. I was in Florida last week… talk about old people central. I’d be fkucin’ pissed if I was getting around with a cane or walker at age 62.

Rob

[quote]Digity wrote:
One of the reasons I’ve started lifting is out of fear of getting old and not having the strength and mobility to take care of myself. How many people here lift for this reason? Tell what age can I reasonably be able to lift tell?[/quote]

Welcome to the club. If you’re like me and many others on this site, you have gone the whole route. Lifting for sports. Lifting to look good. Lifting to feel good. Lifting to survive. Time is going to win eventually but I don’t like the idea of giving in. The iron is the best weapon we have for fighting back.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

– Dylan Thomas

You might not be able to lift violently in your old age, but with a more refined approach (SuperSlow/HIT) you can engage in aggressive resistance training indefinitely.

Maybe I should stop showing y’all up in the gym. I’m sensing some age discriminatin lately from the young bros.
Here’s the basic issue. I’m 53 and if I out lift you, you feel like crap. If you out lift me, you can’t brag about beating an old man.
WIN!

56 here. Still lifting and am going to do so for many years to come. Had to have a metal hip fitted two years ago (hint: Don’t play rugby when you’re 45.) and have had to dial down on deads and squats, but I am still getting stronger. People think I am 15 years younger until they note the grey beard. The beard stays!

For all the older lifters, TQB touched on a point, when do you decide to reduce things, either by frequency or weight? Obviously hip/knee replacements are one thing, but are there other cues that maybe you need to lighten things a bit?

[quote]238 wrote:
For all the older lifters, TQB touched on a point, when do you decide to reduce things, either by frequency or weight? Obviously hip/knee replacements are one thing, but are there other cues that maybe you need to lighten things a bit?[/quote]

Here’s my ‘Cues’.
Are you in pain? It should not hurt!
Do you wince walking down stairs or kneeling down? Your training is supposed to make you better not leave you crippled.

I’m 51, I cannot recover the way I used to when I was 18. Gone are the days when I thought warming up meant sitting on the radiator before going out for a kick. You just have to accept this and alter your program to suit.

There are several strategies you can look at to keep you training. Increase the frequency of down weeks, look at your exercise selection.

You have to have a realistic assessment of your injury history. I’ve been training for one sport or another the last 30+ years. I was never any good, and I got hurt regularly. My shoulders are pretty stuffed. Scratch Bench Press…with a tear in my eye, but it had to be done. Scratch Mil.Press. Enter heaps of pushup variations. Shoulders feel much better, with luck I may survive another 20 years before the next problem occurs.

[quote]TQB wrote:
56 here. Still lifting and am going to do so for many years to come. Had to have a metal hip fitted two years ago (hint: Don’t play rugby when you’re 45.) and have had to dial down on deads and squats, but I am still getting stronger. People think I am 15 years younger until they note the grey beard. The beard stays![/quote]

Damn Right on the beard!

I love being asked how old I am by the kids in the gym, and the look of disbelief when I tell them.

[quote]Oldman Powers wrote:
Maybe I should stop showing y’all up in the gym. I’m sensing some age discriminatin lately from the young bros.
Here’s the basic issue. I’m 53 and if I out lift you, you feel like crap. If you out lift me, you can’t brag about beating an old man.
WIN![/quote]

That’s only what the dumb ones think. IMO if you’re over 35 you should be out lifting me until injuries finally beat you down enough that I can catch up.

I don’t know how old is too old but my granddad looked absolutely jacked until his mid 70s when cancer took him. When he “retired” he started taking every other Saturday off instead of working 6 days a week in a very physical job. He commented more than once that he hated socializing with “seniors” who looked like they would break getting out of a chair because he could “smell death on them.” There is no reason someone in their 50s, 60s, and 70s can’t train and train hard absent some special, debilitating problem.

Almost ANY lifting should be considered ‘lifting for old age.’

Hell, recent research indicates that lifting not only maintains bone density and healthy hormonal profiles, but that maintaining peak physical fitness may do a lot more towards preventing senility and dementia than those Lumosity mind exercises ever will accomplish.

So in other words, lifting is an essential part of keeping you from shitting in your own bed.

I suppose the one major thing to keep in mind if you’re making this a life-long game is that you might want to be really conscious about avoiding major injuries. Not the bumps and bruises, but the serious joint damage and muscle tearing.

Those can knock you out of the game enough to really screw up your ability to re-enter the game.

That doesn’t mean only move around really light weights – it just means always warm up, always be smart about posture and balance, and always stay flexible…also, don’t ignore your body. Basic stuff.

This is a topic close to my heart because I’m working with my 75 year old dad right now to keep him working with weights. He’s always been athletic, and is in fantastic shape – but I’ve only now at this age finally convinced him to do some very basic squats and deadlifts.

Didn’t want to reply at first but seeing as I am 66 and still training after 50 years tells you something. My brother is 70 and still lifts. We have a friend who is an ex Mr. Universe and is 76 and still trains.
50 years ago we were looked on as “freaks” although lifting weights goes back to the ancient Greeks and Persians. The Romans had gyms in their public baths.
The worst detractors of weight training were the so called “sports coaches” who said that "lifting weights would make you MuscleBound! The general public thought your “balls” would fall off if you exercised. Now every GP tells people to train including women as it stops osteoporosis.
Stupid idiots, the older one gets the more one realizes that Einstein was right, human stupidity is infinite!

[quote]Elegua360 wrote:
Almost ANY lifting should be considered ‘lifting for old age.’

Hell, recent research indicates that lifting not only maintains bone density and healthy hormonal profiles, but that maintaining peak physical fitness may do a lot more towards preventing senility and dementia than those Lumosity mind exercises ever will accomplish.

So in other words, lifting is an essential part of keeping you from shitting in your own bed.

I suppose the one major thing to keep in mind if you’re making this a life-long game is that you might want to be really conscious about avoiding major injuries. Not the bumps and bruises, but the serious joint damage and muscle tearing.

Those can knock you out of the game enough to really screw up your ability to re-enter the game.

That doesn’t mean only move around really light weights – it just means always warm up, always be smart about posture and balance, and always stay flexible…also, don’t ignore your body. Basic stuff.

This is a topic close to my heart because I’m working with my 75 year old dad right now to keep him working with weights. He’s always been athletic, and is in fantastic shape – but I’ve only now at this age finally convinced him to do some very basic squats and deadlifts. [/quote]

You have to train more responsibly when you get older though. I’m not even 30 and there is no way that I could now tolerate the kind of abuse I subjected myself to 10 years ago, if you’re over 35 and still banging out explosive dealifts, you’re asking for it.

[quote]belligerent wrote:
if you’re over 35 and still banging out explosive dealifts, you’re asking for it.
[/quote]

Thanks for the sage advice.
I’m 53 and training for an upcoming meet. Explosive deads are on my to do list tomorrow.
Whew that was close!