jskash

Interesting article from bicycling.com on cycling and aging.

Carbonfiberboy 

Bicycling loves that sort of thing - vague enough to be true, impossible for the rider to figure out. This time of year, I ride and hike and workout at the maximum level from which I can recover each week and then do another week, etc. It does come to about 10 hours/week. However I know very few people my age capable of performing at this level. It's taken me 20 years of hard work and study to be able to do this. I have no idea of METs. They're not measurable on the road. I do know my training stress score (TSS) - 400-600 each week. Today's ride was 76 miles and 5500', ridden all out, barely able to function at the end. Strava says 2346kj in 5:23 - of which 1:37 was in zone 4. It'll take me all week to recover from that puppy, though of course I'll get a lot more exercise during recovery. I'll have my 10 hrs. this week and 12 next week., I kinda guess there's a lot of METs in there, but of course no way to know. These are the peak weeks of my year.

But could I go out and ride 1:30 every single day, every week? Maybe, maybe not. That's ~160 miles/week, every week, no recovery time, no allowance for weather. For sure I wouldn't have the slightest interest in even attempting that.

Be that as it my, I would say, IME, that the article is generally correct. To maintain real fitness takes a heckuva lot of time and effort. Giving it all you've got seems about right. Give the aging process an inch and it'll take it off your quads.

TakingMyTime

I bicycle to feel good. I'm pretty sure it's helping me. I set my own personal goals. 10 hours in the saddle would be a bit of overkill for me.

Hondo Gravel

I started hiking again to mix it up some. A good bike ride the day after a fairly long hike is great. At this stage of life recovery is more important.

Carbonfiberboy 

I do it the other way: ride my guts out for several hours, then do a 4-5 hour hike the next day. Works great. IMO best recovery ever because it adds strength and endurance. Gives me a leg up on the rest of the pack. But bike is my main sport, hiking is just for fun. I hike with my wife and the hike is all zone 1, and do I every love it..

RDW3261

I get my exercise by running 3 to 5 days a week and hiking the other days. I ride the bicycle for fun several hours a week. I'm 63 and still have no problems with my knees. I think the main thing is to get some type of exercise in every day.

caloso

It would be nice if there were a straightforward TSS to METS conversion but I could not find one.

DrIsotope

I outright refuse to cut back to 10 hours per week. The last time I recorded less than 10 hours of activities in a week was December 18-24, 2017.

Biker395 

Same boat here.

I wonder if it is good for me or not. Articles like this makes me think so, but then there are those articles that indicate a high afib risk with that level of activity.

I don't care, though. There is more to living than years.

pdlamb

I hope that keeping most of those 10+ hours a week at moderate intensity will mitigate the Afib risk. No evidence, but let's face it, the evidence is pretty thin for "extreme" exercise causing Afib in the first place.

Like flying down the hills on a bike I so laboriously climbed. Or trying to figure out if that was really a crow, croaking in a tree, I wouldn't have heard if I'd driven the car this morning.

gnappi

Reminds me of a doctor's visit many years ago...

When looking at my blood work (specifically my cholesterol) he said I need to eat less meat, and exercise more. I said suppose I rode a bike 15-17 miles a day, ate no red meat and did 100 push ups a day how would that work?

He said THAT WOULD BE GR8!!!

I told him I already was doing that, he said keep doing that, maybe take some niacin and red yeast rice for the cholesterol and be done with it.

OldTryGuy

DANG, , missed the required time by 29:10 yesterday on my 69th birthday ride.


Distance 141.22 mi



Calories 7,908 CCalories

Timing 9:39:39Time

Moving time 9:29:50

Elapsed Time 12:34:45

Avg. Speed 14.6 mph

Avg. Moving Speed 14.9 mph

Max. Spped 22.0 mph

Food store ride today so all is well, made the time.

257 roberts

Same here

Wildwood

I just love to bike and hike. Period. Out with Mother.
No special motivation or vague health promises needed.
Some winter skiing and kayaks help as fill-ins.

Feeling good almost every day is why I stay active, not longevity hopes.
I turn to family more as the years slide by, but self reliance is still king.

FrenchFit 

What a croc. I think the study looked at elderly people walking, gardening, lawn mowing; not cycling, HIIT, interval training, cross training, etc., etc. I don't believe the word "bicycle" even appears in the study.

In other words: exercise is good, no exercise is bad, too much or too strenuous exercise is ... ???

Lemond1985

Too lazy to look up the study, but I believe it was found that a person's lifespan is largely genetic and predetermined, to the extent that vigorous exercise may improve the quality of one's health while alive, but do little or nothing to extend the actual number of years. This was discussed in another thread, IIRC.

Would not surprise me if this turned out to be the case, but I like to believe that increased fitness improves a person's immune system, and I could see how that might extend someone's lifespan to some degree, especially if it turns out that some cancers take advantage of weakened immune systems in order to gain a foothold in the body.

DrIsotope

My grandfather was born in 1915, survived 3 years in the European Theatre (including landing at Normandy,) ate like a human garbage can, and lived to the age of 82.

He had a quad-bypass in his late sixties, and had probably ridden 300,000 miles on a bike by that point. The cardiologist said, "That bike is why you're alive. You have the heart of a 20 year old, and the arteries of a corpse."

So it's all of the above: genetics, diet, lifestyle. Genetics seems to play the highest card.

caloso

Yes! And with a day to spare!

THIS WEEK
161.3 mi
10h 26m
2,602 ft

terrymorse 

My fifth week back riding after 3 years of no riding, and it feels so good! Why did it take 3 years to get back on the bike?!

WEEK 5:
Rides: 6
Miles: 185
Time: 13h 59m
Vertical: 11,991ft

Still slow AF, but getting stronger by the week.

LaurieD

Honestly, this is what matters more to me anyway - healthspan. If exercise and a diet of real food helps me feel better and stay healthier, no matter how long I live, then I’m good with that. I don’t have any idea how long I’ll live. I always feel better when I’m taking better care of myself, though.

Digger Goreman

Met a lady in a Goodwill buying bikes. She worked geriatrics and had read a study saying cyclists showed the most Alzheimers resistance of all exercise types..... I ride for my own reasons... health is a great side benefit

lmtada

Ride 6-8 hrs/week. Then 4 hrs/week pumping iron, resistance, stretches.

Bigbus

I'm with you 100% on that!

Brad L

I quit reading Bicycling Magazine years ago. But when they released this article about how to draft, I knew I couldn't take anything they print seriously. In particular is this line: "To get the maximum benefit in a paceline, keep your wheel as close as possible to the one in front of you. Ideally, ride in a staggered position with your front wheel just overlapping the rear wheel of the rider ahead of you."

https://www.bicycling.com/training/a.../how-to-draft/

peterws

I ride an hour every day (including Gym cycle classes) except those days containing an "F". The dog walk takes another 2.5 hours depending on whether we run or walk; shopping trips, 2 -3, doing stuff at home, another 4 . . . yes. I'm well in!
Just wondering what'll happen when I reach my 220th birthday. I might be a bit short on BP . . . .