Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,135
Likes: 6,353
From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Thank you all for weighing in. I’ll give some background which I didn’t think to give before.
I ride year round quite a bit. My troubles are not from lack of riding nor from loss of fitness in the winter.
I have always been inflexible, and it has been troubling me for most of my life, but I haven’t taken sufficient action to correct this problem. I have also had a weak upper body and have treated that similarly to how I treat my inflexibility.
I ride a lot, and that has been my entire fitness plan for most of my life which is to say it has not been enough. I finally started doing a bit of yoga during Pandemic. It is doing me good, and it will do me more good if I do it more.
For a couple of years I was doing some dead lifts and other weight lifting but not enough, not enough guidance, and I stopped. Seeing how much dead lifts helped me on the bike, I will definitely get back to them, and I will add some other exercises, under supervision of an expert. My doctor gave me a prescription for physical therapy, and it’s been a long time without my taking action on it. Now I will do it.
The suggestion to do other core exercises sounds good, too, as do the exercises suggested here.
The good news is that my legs, hips, heart, and lungs seem to be in amazing condition. This was a climb that many consider extremely difficult and others consider impossible. My legs and lungs did not hurt one tiny bit. If my back didn’t feel so weak, I could have been stronger on the climb. Well, there always has to be some limit, but it’s interesting that my legs, lungs, and heart are not the limits. So I will work on my upper body. For me, it’s less fun than climbing hills, but it’s what I need.
I turned 60 this year, and I’m in far better shape than the average person my age, but that’s not enough. Previously I didn’t really need to think about how to keep in shape. I just did what I wanted which was to ride my bike a lot. It’s no longer enough. I need to make plans and follow those plans. My blood pressure is creeping up into the warning zone, and it’s not from lack of activity or bad diet. It’s just happening. I’m working with my doctor on this, reducing salt and caffeine and adding a bit more exercise. In a few weeks, we will decide if I should take medication to help my blood pressure.
Again, thank you, all.