Athletic performance in your 40s?

[The AD]

How about 60's and soon 70's ?? Ugh !!

What has your strategy been? I know someone who is now in their early 70s and still competes athletically at an exceptionally high level. I don't train with him all the time, but one thing I've noticed in the last few years is that he's dialed down the overall effort during workouts, but still cranks it up occasionally, i.e. he keeps it slow and steady maybe 75% of the workout. I'll see him next week and I'll ask him about it if I've got some time. I think part of it is he's just a genetic freak, but he's doing something right. He's also an Olympic medalist and I'm sure that doesn't hurt.

[californiagrown]

What has your strategy been? I know someone who is now in their early 70s and still competes athletically at an exceptionally high level. I don't train with him all the time, but one thing I've noticed in the last few years is that he's dialed down the overall effort during workouts, but still cranks it up occasionally, i.e. he keeps it slow and steady maybe 75% of the workout. I'll see him next week and I'll ask him about it if I've got some time. I think part of it is he's just a genetic freak, but he's doing something right. He's also an Olympic medalist and I'm sure that doesn't hurt.

genetic freak + consistent and regular exercise + basic healthy eating + doing what you love to do as much as possible = good longterm outcome in the aggregate.

[Shredhead]

genetic freak + consistent and regular exercise + basic healthy eating + doing what you love to do as much as possible = good longterm outcome in the aggregate.

I’d add a social component as well.

There’s a group of old timers, the Aspen Flyers, that ski together everyday. There are a couple of 80 year olds that charge pretty dam hard.

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[Dantheman]

genetic freak + consistent and regular exercise + basic healthy eating + doing what you love to do as much as possible = good longterm outcome in the aggregate.

The field of exercise physiology has confirmed this hypothesis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544519/

Eta: But, if I had to speculate, I would guess that being a genetic freak is the least important item on the list.

[Dantheman]

Rev, I need to keep it short, but here's a few thoughts:

-Make small, sustainable changes that you can sustain long term.

-Look for opportunities to make your life your workout. Always take the stairs, preferably two at a time, run them if possible but I don't know if your foot can handle that. Park at the far end of the lot. Drop and do a set of pushups occasionally during the day. You get the idea. Many little bouts of activity can add up to a lot.

-Listen to the 6-Part series Huberman Lab did with Andy Galpin about assessing and building fitness. You won't find a better place to start educating yourself about this subject.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Make small, sustainable changes that you can sustain long term

That's awesome. Plus some Andrew Huberman and maybe some Lex Friedman to make your brain spin.

[The Reverend Floater]

Thanks Dan, I'll give it a listen. Just finishing Peter Attia's "Outlive." Pretty facinating stuff and I recommend it to anyone exploring this stuff. He does a great job explaining big concepts and theories, then breaking them down into digestible detail.

This place rules.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Warning: poorly educated opinions

In addition to the incremental change, think about momentum and choices. Let the change manifest, one choice at a time. Sub a banana for the little debbie, water instead of soda, a 15minute exercise routine before couch time. And celebrate your effort for just thinking about it even if you don't do it. Just because it seems simple doesn't mean it is easy.

Then you will gain momentum because yesterdays food and motion choices will lead to last nights awesome sleep which will let wake up on time and refreshed motivated to set an intention for your day and so on.

Because someone asked for the videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klmBssEYkdU sweet to get you going

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcN37TxBE_s when outdoor cardio might not be an option

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTUXgO1u_OI some philosophy and self help for people that that are bit resistant to that shit

Questions

Any recommendations for a food journal app? I'm kinda looking to take the next step and see what improvements to diet I can make

My weakness/area of pain and discomfort is my hips. I think it is my psoas but I'm not sure. Any targeted workout for that?

Any tips for at home strength training? I'm not really interested in getting much equipment. I probably can get one of those Bowflex dumbbell sets. My focus is on health on functional strength for skiing, biking, hiking, kayaking etc.

[ironhippy]

My weakness/area of pain and discomfort is my hips. I think it is my psoas but I'm not sure. Any targeted workout for that?

Any tips for at home strength training? I'm not really interested in getting much equipment. I probably can get one of those Bowflex dumbbell sets. My focus is on health on functional strength for skiing, biking, hiking, kayaking etc.

The first part of your post is great advice.

I wish I had advice for your hips, that's my issue too.

For strength training. You can do a lot with a set of dumbbells, but you need to know what you are doing. I'd highly recommend finding a trainer that is willing to teach you the basics with dumbbells (lots of single leg stuff) and then branching off on your own once you are comfortable.

Strength training is relatively simple/straightforward when you are young and have no mobility issues. You may need to work on stretching/mobility before you can even start things like squats and deadlifts. A good trainer should be able to help you work through those and give you enough knowledge so you can do it on your own.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Cool. I actually go to the gym one or twice a week depending on season for a ski conditioning/strength training class with a trainer that is all dumbells, kettlebells, bosu balls, and so on so I feel my fundamentals are pretty good.

For the hips, I've been wondering about one of these https://www.amazon.com/hightseck-Rel...dDbGljaz10cnVl

Generally, stretch, strengthen and massage (rollers, balls) has work for other shit and it helps but I feel like a don't really know what is wrong.

[frorider]

The field of exercise physiology has confirmed this hypothesis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544519/

Thx for the link

history of vigorous aerobic exercise (4–6 days/wk) and participation in endurance events (cross-country skiing, track and field, and orienteering) throughout their entire adult lives. On average, these veteran athletes had trained ∼8 h/wk (range = 3–20 h) for the past 50+ years. Six men with no history of consistent exercise (beyond activities of daily living) were recruited from Muncie, Indiana, and served as healthy untrained controls.

BTW, is there anyone reading this thread who drinks sugar based soda? I’m not being snarky; I just don’t know any mildly or very active people in Tahoe who smoke cigs or drink soda.

[goldenboy]

My weakness/area of pain and discomfort is my hips. I think it is my psoas but I'm not sure. Any targeted workout for that?

It might be worth chatting with a doc or really good PT.

I have a torn labrum and impingement in my hip that gets just a little worse every year. A replacement is in my future, it's just a question of when. This year I spent a ton of time and money working with an awesome PT and mostly she has me working on my core/ pelvic floor. This has been far more helpful than working on hip flexors as I've done in the past. Basically those muscles are getting weak and not engaging as they should, so the hip flexors are taking the brunt of the work when they shouldn't be. Your results may vary.

[Danno]

It might be worth chatting with a doc or really good PT.

I have a torn labrum and impingement in my hip that gets just a little worse every year. A replacement is in my future, it's just a question of when. This year I spent a ton of time and money working with an awesome PT and mostly she has me working on my core/ pelvic floor. This has been far more helpful than working on hip flexors as I've done in the past. Basically those muscles are getting weak and not engaging as they should, so the hip flexors are taking the brunt of the work when they shouldn't be. Your results may vary.

I find that is often the case, the muscle hurting or giving problems isn't really the cause of the problem, so working on or stretching that muscle only gives limited success.

[Self Jupiter]

It might be worth chatting with a doc or really good PT.

This. I’m far from an expert but personally I’d find a professional to get to the bottom of what’s going on. I get all kinds of nerve pain in my hips and psoas from my back issues, for example.

I feel like I can release some of my psoas tension on my own but I can’t seem to do it nearly as well as a Rolfer. I’ve also done some damage to myself trying to do it and I’m probably too fat.

[XXX-er]

about 5 yrs ago I started getting pain on out side of hip after an hr sitting in a kayak or even just sitting in an aiplane seat so they took a picture, told me the hip is not damaged but they suspect the labrum so they did an ultra sound, labrum is ok but the iliopsoas bursa is inflamed so they gave me a steriod shot which they did on the ultrasound, fixed it for awhile but that is temporary

the hip doesnt hurt in regular life just when the legs are splayed to either side in the knee braces it inflames that bursa so I've stopped doing that , I sold the 2 WW and even the seakayak so I'm a has-been kayaker after 39 yars

I tried touring last fall on that hip, it hurt going uphill and the other knee with the new ACL hurt going down hill so I thot maybe skiing is done ? With a whole lot of gym work I got the knee to where it doesnt hurt going down, I'm not sure about the hip going up but if thats where the hip is at and I have to quit touring I'll take it, a lot of folks my age are getting new knees and hips

so on the performance in your 40's file i was doing pretty good until injury in the mid 60's slowed me down, so i think all one need is good genes/ lotsa time & money and some good luck, you can mitigate the time and money but not good genes or good luck

[Dantheman]

Thanks Dan, I'll give it a listen. Just finishing Peter Attia's "Outlive." Pretty facinating stuff and I recommend it to anyone exploring this stuff. He does a great job explaining big concepts and theories, then breaking them down into digestible detail.

I haven't read the book yet but I listen to Attia's podcast regularly and highly recommend it. We live in a golden age where people like Attia and Huberman have "podcasts" that are basically a 300-level college lecture series that you can audit for free from anywhere. What a time to be alive.

BTW, is there anyone reading this thread who drinks sugar based soda? I’m not being snarky; I just don’t know any mildly or very active people in Tahoe who smoke cigs or drink soda.

Cigs and soda in the same sentence is ridiculous. It's all about context. On longer rides and runs I guzzle sugar water that is much more concentrated than soda. To plagiarize Layne Norton, it's all about your personal dietary budget. Just like how it's not financially irresponsible to buy a $300k car if you make $20M per year, slamming sugar and processed foods can be a reasonable choice for people with really high caloric demands. If you're burning enough calories at some point it becomes impossible to take in enough calories from whole foods.

Obviously, people trying to lose weight need a different strategy. To plagiarize Layne some more, in our age of overabundance you have to restrict something. You can eat soda and processed foods if you can restrict total calories by weighing and measuring everything you eat, you can restrict certain macronutrients, you can restrict the amount of time per day you can eat, you can restrict certain types of foods (i.e., only unprocessed foods, no white foods, etc.). Weight loss studies are pretty clear that when protein intake is controlled all of these strategies work. So, pick the one you think you can personally sustain long-term and run with it.

[bry]

Prob already stated but unilateral movements, many many variations of deadlifts/squats, kettlebell swings are amazing, more resistance band work, way less cycling, yoga, but mostly deads and unilateral movements help my hip a ton. One leg is just way different because of multiple knee surgeries so it needs a lot more attention or my hip sings. 46 y/o I'm reasonably confident I'll have to get hip replacement at some point though If I can make it to 70 maybe that's a win? But then again everybody says they wish they did it 20 years ago. Sauna/cold plunge freak here too. Eight hours in bed to sleep just under 7 hours, I'd like to add an hour some day soon.



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[XXX-er]

I think cigs and soda is a whole nuther focus group

who probably wouldn't care about atheletic performance

[bodywhomper]

My local physiatrist and my gp, who is a board certified doctor in osteopathy, have both been helpful for me. I’ve complained about PTs in my area in another thread, but one of my previous PTs was really good at this.

[Danno]

I drink diet sodas, but never sugar sodas. I know the diet stuff isn't great, but...

[The AD]

Cigs and soda in the same sentence is ridiculous. It's all about context. On longer rides and runs I guzzle sugar water that is much more concentrated than soda. To plagiarize Layne Norton, it's all about your personal dietary budget. Just like how it's not financially irresponsible to buy a $300k car if you make $20M per year, slamming sugar and processed foods can be a reasonable choice for people with really high caloric demands. If you're burning enough calories at some point it becomes impossible to take in enough calories from whole foods.

Agreed. People aren't getting fat from too much sugar. They're getting fat because of too much sugar AND too little physical activity.

Not to say drinking six Cokes a day is a great idea for anyone...

[North]

My weakness/area of pain and discomfort is my hips. I think it is my psoas but I'm not sure. Any targeted workout for that?

Sub 40yo checking it (yeah, we exist on TGR and we check threads like these with a nervous gaze towards our future). Second the PT rec. Any posterior chain issues I've had trace back to muscle imbalances. Quads do too much, glutes don't do enough, hip strength/mobility suffers. My PT had me doing banded lateral steps, banded backwards skates etc for a hamstring issue a few years back. Happy to share that info, but like anything targeted exercises and technique is important so recommend help from a pro specific to your issue. Couldn't use insurance and my session was $125 - saw results in less than a week.

Psoas will occasionally flare up for me. Yoga doesn't usually help, sometimes makes it worse. I go back to the mobility stuff and focus on activating glutes skinning/cycling. For a quick in the moment fix, 'shoelace' stretch unlocks my back/hips/psoas every time. Magic.

[Dantheman]

I drink diet sodas, but never sugar sodas. I know the diet stuff isn't great, but...

If you can't/won't give up soda entirely, diet is a MUCH better choice.

[The Reverend Floater]

Warning: poorly educated opinions

In addition to the incremental change, think about momentum and choices. Let the change manifest, one choice at a time. Sub a banana for the little debbie, water instead of soda, a 15minute exercise routine before couch time. And celebrate your effort for just thinking about it even if you don't do it. Just because it seems simple doesn't mean it is easy.

Then you will gain momentum because yesterdays food and motion choices will lead to last nights awesome sleep which will let wake up on time and refreshed motivated to set an intention for your day and so on.

Because someone asked for the videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klmBssEYkdU sweet to get you going

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcN37TxBE_s when outdoor cardio might not be an option

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTUXgO1u_OI some philosophy and self help for people that that are bit resistant to that shit

Questions

Any recommendations for a food journal app? I'm kinda looking to take the next step and see what improvements to diet I can make

My weakness/area of pain and discomfort is my hips. I think it is my psoas but I'm not sure. Any targeted workout for that?

Any tips for at home strength training? I'm not really interested in getting much equipment. I probably can get one of those Bowflex dumbbell sets. My focus is on health on functional strength for skiing, biking, hiking, kayaking etc.

Before starting largely restorative yoga around two years ago, I had two major sources of pain: both hips and my entire shoulder girdle/neck.

I'd say within 3 months, those pains were largely gone, or at least much, much better. Now they are almost 100% gone. Building strength and flexibility in those areas was a life saver.

That said, I'm neither a physician nor did I sleep in a Holiday Inn.

[Danno]

Agreed. People aren't getting fat from too much sugar. They're getting fat because of too much sugar AND too little physical activity.

I'm not sure that is true. The old maxim is "you can't out-exercise a bad diet". Exercise is great for you, of course, but if you're getting fat it IS because of diet. I mean, of course if you burn 3000 calories a day and take in 2500 calories, you will lose weight even if 1000 of those calories are sugar. But people absolutely are getting fat from eating sugar.