Athletic performance in your 40s?

[zion zig zag]

Coronary calcium test is a heart and artery scan. It will show plaque buildup, if any, but it's nice to have for a baseline and clears you to restart more intense training. You mentioned cholesterol levels so that's why I suggested the cc test.

Z is way above my social status! LOL

So did anyone ever get this done? I did mine last week and the score came back 70. I was hoping for less, my cholesterol has never been “bad” over the last twenty years but I do have a big family history for heart disease.

[Iowagriz]

I had this test when I was going through heart scare tests. I don't know my number, but the cardiologist said I don't have to worry about heart problems, so that was good.

I got laid off around the same time and ended up retiring. My problems went away. Stress doesn't some amazingly bad things to our bodies.

[zion zig zag]

So did anyone ever get this done? I did mine last week and the score came back 70. I was hoping for less, my cholesterol has never been “bad” over the last twenty years but I do have a big family history for heart disease.

Reading into this more, it looks like the score is just a total of each artery’s blockage? And lucky me, 49 of 70 came from my LAD.

[rod9301]

I thought that calcium score test is 0-1000. If so, 70 is excellent

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[Ridgehippy]

Looked back and I had the coronary calcium CT scan last May.
Early 60's and have had borderline high cholesterol and blood pressure for a while.
Was a bit surprised that my score came back as zero; but happy to see it.

[zion zig zag]

I thought that calcium score test is 0-1000. If so, 70 is excellent

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Top end is unlimited as far as I know, but over 1000 probably get you a direct trip to the Cath Lab. 70 is “mild risk.”

[neufox47]

I bought Ben Bruno’s app and have been using it for the last 9 weeks. It has really helped my consistency and gotten me to 3 weight workouts a week instead of 1.5. One big difference is that I will now squeeze in a home workout using my wife’s adjustable 50lb dumbbells even if that means I have to go high rep to get intensity.

The training isn’t ideal for a skier but can be really close if you add some ployometrics at the beginning and cardio at the end.

I’ve recommended to a number of people including some beginners and they have really liked it for the training programs and instruction videos.


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[bodywhomper]

Thanks for sharing the recommendation. Curious how you were dovetailing your 3 days/week weight workouts with big ski days at the resort. With legs, I had a challenge balancing weight workouts focusing on legs (that coupled with knee PT) with leg blaster workouts with bigger ski days riding the lifts with rest days.

[rod9301]

Good question.

I also lift heavy for legs and it definitely interferes with mtb and ski seasons.

I lift 3 times a week for 6-8 weeks in May and October, then only once a week maintenance. The maintenance is only 5 reps at the max weight, this way i didn't get sore. I do it on an off day, but if need be(powder), i can ski the following day.

Upper and core 2 days a week all year
Same with stretching.

I would not recommend leg blasters at all during ski season

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[EWG]

Agreed. During the heart of ski season I drop to 1 or 2 leg workouts per week. Heavy weight, low reps, mostly squats and deadlifts, and hip thrusters when I convince myself to go through the hassle of setting them up. No leg blasters after preseason/early season. I think higher weights/lower reps seems to lessen the built up fatigue of also trying to stay in bike shape while still playing a day of high intensity indoor soccer per week during the ski season - plus all the skiing.

Also, I've started to treat significant ski trips as performance events. I used to try to pack in a bunch of lifting and biking right before I left and that started leading to tired legs to start the first days. Instead I'm now tapering a little - no big leg days for 2-3 days before a multi-day ski trip.

[neufox47]

Thanks for sharing the recommendation. Curious how you were dovetailing your 3 days/week weight workouts with big ski days at the resort. With legs, I had a challenge balancing weight workouts focusing on legs (that coupled with knee PT) with leg blaster workouts with bigger ski days riding the lifts with rest days.

I generally just tried to time my workout so I didn’t ski the day immediately after working out or I scaled my leg workout down. One mistake I think people make is also not lifting the day after skiing (unless you are injured or had a really big day). Don’t lift through pain but you can lift through soreness. It doesn’t need to be your biggest or hardest day but still lift.

Athletes today virtually all lift in season, sometimes they get in the weight room immediately after a game even. Some things you can do if you are planning on skiing the next day or two is to reduce your weight / volume and / or cut out or reduce the eccentric part of the movement (I.e. do your deadlift but drop the bar instead of lowering it or use two legs to squat to a box and one to stand up, lower like a rdl then raise like a SLDL). I’ve seen a lot of athletes do trap bar deadlifts, hang snatches, or even pull-ups where they drop from the top position. The eccentric part is what makes you sore (mostly).

[rod9301]

I used to do leg workouts right after skiing or mountain biking. I would be a lot more sore on day 2, but i could ski or ride without issues

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[bodywhomper]

Thanks for the responses!

[bry]

From Science of Alpine Ski Racing nothing new really but a good one sheet

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[dan_pdx]

From Science of Alpine Ski Racing nothing new really but a good one sheet

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Thanks, that's great! I'm a knuckle dragger myself, but Paloff press has been money for some chronic low back issues I've had

[Foggy_Goggles]

Skiing the the carrot! If you are not kicking ass, today is the day.

[Buster Highmen]

So did anyone ever get this done? I did mine last week and the score came back 70. I was hoping for less, my cholesterol has never been “bad” over the last twenty years but I do have a big family history for heart disease.

Yeah, I had it done. I have bad cholesterol and the docs have been pushing me to do statins which I really don't want. So I did this and it came back 0.

On the exercise front, since covid, I quit going to the gym and have focused on being disciplined about bike riding. So, every day, I do a ride between 30 minutes and an hour with between 150 vertical feet of climbing and 250 vertical feet of climbing spread over approximately 6-10 miles. Also, I do a lot of yardwork, cleaning storm debris on our heavily wooded 5+ acres. Between sawing, hauling, stacking, mowing, weed whacking around 4 hours a week, that adds up. Gardening is another derisible activity that takes up a bunch of time.

I do slack when the rainy season starts and will likely start at the gym again where I do work weights/lifting as well as ellipticycle, stairs, core exercises like leg lifts, situps, etc.

[Danno]

Yeah, I had it done. I have bad cholesterol and the docs have been pushing me to do statins which I really don't want. So I did this and it came back 0.

Same exact thing here. That was 4 years ago, doc still pushing statins, so I am getting it done again in a couple of weeks. If it comes back 0 AGAIN, I am going to tell the doc to stop pushing.

[klauss]

Aren't statins cheap AF? Why not just go with doc rec?

[bennymac]

the decision is always “do the expected benefits outweigh the risks”

financial cost of the treatment can be factor that has to be considered - but just because a pill is cheap doesn’t mean you should take it without considering whether or not you truly need to be on it

[Buster Highmen]

Aren't statins cheap AF? Why not just go with doc rec?

Muscle tightness, liver damage, diabetes and increased likelihood of dementia.

Read up on it. statins are of questionable virtue.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...s/art-20046013 ..

Plus, over the course of my life, I only take recreational drugs.

This one was good: https://www.amazon.com/Clot-Thickens...-0212610?psc=1

[Danno]

Aren't statins cheap AF? Why not just go with doc rec?

It's not the cost, it's the side effects. Not to mention that in my case (and for people in similar situations), on a very low carb diet, cholesterol is often high but with no negative effects. Cholesterol is not the boogeyman many make it out to be, our body needs it and uses it. High cholesterol isn't the problem, the problem is plaque in arteries, and high cholesterol is used as a proxy for treatment of that condition, regardless of whether you have that condition. Yet that is exactly what the coronary calcium scan checks. So, if the score on that test is 0, that means that there is nothing needed from the statin. And if there is nothing needed from the statin, why take a life-long drug with side effects to "cure" a condition that doesn't really exist?

There are plenty of docs who don't play the statin game, but I have not tried to find one as my primary.

[Dantheman]

Aren't statins cheap AF? Why not just go with doc rec?

Old tech with non-trivial side effects, especially for active people. There's better stuff now that is far more targeted, namely bempedoic acid and PCSK9 inhibitors, but both are still on patent and expensive so insurance usually won't cover them as first-line treatment. Bempedoic acid goes off patent next year but the more effective PCSK9 inhibitors were only approved in 2015 so those will be a while.

Cholesterol is not the boogeyman many make it out to be, our body needs it and uses it. High cholesterol isn't the problem, the problem is plaque in arteries, and high cholesterol is used as a proxy for treatment of that condition, regardless of whether you have that condition.

The Mendelian randomization studies that have come out in the last few years have thrown some cold water on this idea. Basically, these studies use natural genetic variability to create population-level RCTs and they show a linear relationship between lifetime LDL exposure and ASCVD risk. A zero coronary calcium score is good, but that scan only picks up calcified plaques which tend to be stable and typically don't cause MIs. A CT angiogram will pick up gooey non-calcified plaques that are more likely to rupture and cause a MI, but a lot of insurers consider them "investigational" and won't cover them.

[The AD]

Good timing. This just showed up in the New York Times today:
Can I Lower My Cholesterol Without Taking a Statin?

Gifted link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/w...smid=url-share

[fool]

Since there's been on a discussion on "standards" and when to be content with strength rather than push for more, MTI has standards posted. It uses pull ups, squat, deadlift and bench press as standards.

It doesn't adjust for age, but as I get back into shape from a broken arm, it's something I'll consider to set goals for myself.