That is BAD advice. There's lots of information in this thread, some good and some not so good, but don't believe that you can get by without multifocal lenses by reducing the power of your distance Rx. There's no way that you are going to overcome the effects of presbiopia by this method.
Also, oldster is obviously myopic (nearsighted), and if you are hyperopic, (farsighted) then you'll never be able to read anything by cutting back on your Rx.
Get a good quality progressive, Varilux Physio is very good, but there are other good ones. Avoid the bargain price progressives. You might get used to them eventually, but the higher quality ones will give you much more natural vision at all focal points, and also much better peripheral vision, which is extremely important for bicycling.
There's always plenty of free advice on the internet, and most of it is worth what you pay for it. And I'm just another person giving my opinion on a bicycle forum, so you can take my advice or not, but I've been an optician for 37 years, and have lots of experience fitting and wearing progressives. I've had opportunity to try many different brands and styles, and have found the varilux to have the least amount of non-adapts, and I personally have had the best results wearing varilux. I'm currently wearing the varilux physio, but have had good success with varilux comfort and another lens called Definity, which is made by the same parent company as the varilux.
As long as you avoid the el cheapo lenses, and take the advice of your eye care professional and take the time to give your eyes a chance to get used to wearing the progressives, you'll be fine. I've been wearing progressives for 12 years, and I'd never give them up.
Good luck to you.