Originally Posted by
DaveLeeNC
I got brave and actually had my previously cancelled (Covid-19 concerns) annual physical exam today (my DOB is 1949). I am now facing (or more accurately admitting) that my kind of 'performance oriented goals' for riding really need to change. Somehow 'only lost 5% this year' is not a motivational kind of thing. More about that in another post, if I get around to it.
I asked my doctor "what is your advice regarding training in it's various form WRT aging"?.
It is not clear to me that just cycling 100-200 miles per week, even though it is great for my weight and blood pressure, is the best way to spend my time as I get old(er). I might be better off adding a significant amount of strength work (inevitably would result in less cycling)"
His response was interesting. It was "what is critical here is that you keep active with something that you consistently will do. Cycling is working for you and I would not risk a big change to something that you might or might not consistently do. Cycling is s great aging activity and it is working for you".
Kind of an interesting, but not surprising in retrospect, response.
dave
Thats great advice. I don’t know if you see it this way but, to me and probably 99% of the world, cycling 100-200 miles a week puts you in a very elite class. Especially for someone over 65.
Weight and blood pressure are great markers of health. And, from what I’ve read, resting heart rate is a major indicator of health.
I started getting serious about my fitness just 3 years ago. I figured I’ll do “weights and cardio”. And it was a key moment for me. I progressed well with the strength training and that’s important. But the cardio, which is perhaps even more important, was lagging. Mostly because...I hate gym cardio (step machines and tread mills).
Then, in August, the lightbulb moment and I got a bike. It’s been fantastic as I discover all the great things about cycling.
I like this forum because, for me, a guy who is just barely getting “bike fit” and able to do 20-mile rides, seeing you and everyone who has attained such a high level of performance is inspiring.
I would just add that since the gyms closed and I’ve had to mostly do strength training with bodyweight exercises, if you want to incorporate some strength training, there is much you can do in a very short time and without any weights.
For example, I wasn’t a power lifter. But I was bench pressing about 185 pounds about 8 times. After the gym closed, the only chest exercise that really targeted chest was the good old push up. I read that you should just do them slow, all the way down, and then all the way up. As opposed to just doing them rapidly the way I used to do them for 30+ reps but poor form.
And I found that I could barely do 5 sets of 15-20 reps. That’s just about in “strength range”. I’ve purchased a weighted vest to provide more resistance. However, you could try just 3-4 sets of good, slow, pushups, 2x a week. Each set to “failure” and rest 1-2 minutes between . It would take literally 10 minutes and I think you’ll agree it’s a nice chest/shoulder/tricep workout.
Lots of stuff for strength you can do that just takes 10-20 minutes, no gym/commute time, that wouldn’t take anything from cycling.