Yes, I'm talking about barbell squats, shooting for being able to squat one's bodyweight. For instance, I weigh 155 and I'm currently squatting about 120 lbs for 10 reps, and I'm 80, hoping to work back up to 155 over the next few months.

Of course, I have a history of working out, off and on all my life. I started doing mile runs when I was 12. I used the gym when I was in college and was on the Nordic XC varsity team. I could do over 200 one-legged squats on each leg. The month before I went in the Army at 20, I'd hiked 300 miles, sorta by accident. I then had a long period of no exercise other than being on my feet doing manual labor until I was 50 when I rediscovered cycling. After I got the hang of riding long distances, I started with the gym again, wanting to get stronger on the bike. That's just MY history. But that worked and the older I've become, the more I've realized how important that strength work has been for me.

One starts by doing stretches every morning and doing unloaded squats and pushups, trying to get loose enough and getting enough mobility in one's ankles to be able to do a full unloaded ass-to-grass squat, say 20 reps. That might take a few months, depending. One then starts squatting with just the bar, 3 sets of 12. When one no longer cramps after doing that, one gradually adds weight. Getting to squat one's bodyweight could easily take 3 years of once a week pushing exercise like squats, anything that involves moving the weight away from one or the floor and one day of pulling exercises. Using one's full range of motion is very important. And one doesn't have to start using only 10-12 reps. It's actually better to start with 30 reps and gradually taper down over the years. 3 sets of 30 is a great workout, keeping the heart rate up and not taking long rests between sets.

If you look at medical journals, there's always an article saying that the way to not get injured as one ages is to do strength work. Beyond avoiding injury, I want to be able to do anything I want to do with my body. I like freedom. I can ride, run, backpack, essentially being able to train myself up for anything. That's freedom. I'm really big on that. There's a very popular book out there, Freedom of the Hills. One can work up to doing quite amazing things. I've met folks in their 70's hiking the PCT end to end in a matter of months.

I certainly admit to being more active than the usual American. However, age does not have to mean defeat, becoming less active. Nah, it's true one doesn't have to do strength work, only do it if one is interested in staying active and not falling and breaking something due to age. That's basically The End, when on falls and breaks a hip. First one falls because one's balance isn't so good because one hasn't practiced balancing. Alway dress and undress while standing. One should be able to do everything while standing except tying one's shoes. Weakness and lack of balance sooner or later leads to stumbling, and stumbling leads to falling, and falling while not having strong bones and connective tissue leads to injury. This is not rocket science.

In fact, the reason my wife and I bought bikes when I was 50 was that I'd stumbled on the way to our mailbox. I thought, "I don't stumble!" IME, taking the stairs isn't going to be enough, though it certainly is a good start.