I am 53 and have been lifting weights since I was 18 and I know how addicting it can be. However, I am frankly a little burned out on it. I find cycling much more enjoyable than lifting now and am having a harder time motivating myself to lift but do not have any difficulty motivating myself to ride.
I cut my lifting routine back to 3 days per week, Monday is back and abs, Wednesday is arms and abs and Friday is chest shoulders and abs. I don't do legs anymore, I get my leg work outs climbing hills. This schedule allows me to ride three days per week and take Sunday off.
I am no longer concerned with being big. I want to look and feel like an athlete and that is fine with me. A friend from the gym recommended that I try a workout routine called P90X which is a work out program on DVD that is about exercises to reduce body fat and tone up. I might give this a try and may eventually cut out weights completely.
By the way, a good friend of mine from the gym was addicted to being big and strong. Many years ago he held a title for power lifting. His best bench press was 618. As he aged, he lost considerable strength and size and he couldn't take it. He went on a high fat diet and I suppose may have taken steroids to regain his strength. He had a heart attack and it killed him.
I think being big and strong is great but as a person ages, I think having endurance, flexibility and having a strong cardio vascular system is more important.
I would start by cutting your works outs to 3 days per week and do a maintenance type of workout with higher reps and lower weight.
Last edited by Carbon Unit; 10-19-10 at 03:14 PM.