How quickly we atrophy

timwinters

timwinters

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and no, I'm not talking about piloting skills degrading when we go from over 200 hours per year to 50 hours or less. But I could compose a diatribe on that one as well.

I'm talking about physically due to the quarantine.

I've been working out at the local Y for about a year after I made a commitment to get my happy ass back into better condition...approaching 60 was a wake up call.

My favorite routine is what we called "supercircuit" in college. Do 20 reps at max weight at a weight machine station, do two laps, go to the next station and do 20 reps at max, do two laps. Repeat until done. In college we ran the two laps. I can no longer run because of f***ed-up knees, but walk briskly or jog instead. It's a good combination of cardio and strength.

The local Y has 20 unique exercises that can be done on 15 machines. 2 laps is 1/4 mile, plus four on both ends for warm up and cool down. So, basically, just under 6 miles and 20 reps at 20 stations in a bit over 1.5 hours, all while listening to jamming old rock songs on a workout playlist that I put together on Spotify (contains almost 17 hours of high energy tunes https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wz042GXNO45aggx3pZc7f?si=1HxaXkwhRjiC3-1VSSy79w )

It's a fun workout...at least I enjoy the chit out if it.

The Y was closed for 8 weeks during the quarantine. During this time I kept doing cardio work outs but no strength training. It reopened last Monday and I worked out Tue, Thur and today.

The max weight that I can do for 20 reps has dropped, on average, 10# for lower body and 5# for upper body. AND, in many cases I have to take a break after the first 10...before I never did.

I keep close track of my weights and all had increased from 20# to 40# since I first started working out...not to bad for a skinny boy...

...I hate going backwards!
 
I hear you on that. I'm doing push-ups and sit ups, plus there are some kettle bells and dumbbells at the house. Cardio has been morning coffee walks and biking. There is no end in sight for the closure of gyms here, and my own intends on going with an appointment based system that will work for almost nobody. I'll probably switch to Gold's when they do reopen.
 
Yep. My grandma died a few years ago and the last few years were very hard to watch. Even before all the complications, she led a sedentary lifestyle which led to future complications. Typing this while I get ready to play some tennis with my parents. We agreed that the loser buys ice cream:D
 
The good news is that it will come back pretty quickly, too. Glad to hear you can get back to it. Maintaining muscle mass is the #1 factor in maintaining quality of life as we get older.

I've spent probably a couple amus on bars, rack, and weights over the last couple years. Awfully happy to have them now. With nowhere else to go I haven't missed a session and set pr's for squat and bench. With no restaurant food im losing weight, too. If this quarantine goes on for long enough im going to get jacked :rofl: (and in IL it might...)
 
It gets so much worse with age. Recovery between workout days takes longer, but atrophy begins sooner as well. It’s easy to regress if you don’t have the right mix. 53 here.
 
Yeah it’s pretty amazing how fast things regress and progress is lost. The gym I go to re-opened two weeks ago by appointment only. The first workout I had after returning was sluggish but I surprisingly retained a fair bit of strength, but lost quite a bit of size. I tried to be consistent with home workouts and such during the ‘quarantine’ but I never feel like I get as good of a workout outside of the gym.
 
I quit running because of my knees, then moved on to swimming. It took me a long time to build up the stamina to swim a mile non-stop, then I moved onto trying to lower my times and also added some conditioning drills. The gym is scheduled to reopen 1 June, but no word on when the pool reopens. I’m going to be a wreck for quite a while. At my age I hope I can get back to where I was.
 
I've dropped 10 pounds since the FL lockdown. Riding ~100 miles/week, Tennis 3X/week and walking 18 holes 2 - 4 times/week. Best shape I've been in years. Getting restaurant takeout 1x/week, rest home cooking. Actually riding less since all races got cancelled. Was signed up for the >60yo FL criterium championships which was supposed to be tomorrow. Took out my incentive to do intervals on the bike (hard and painful). Trying to get to 15% body fat, 16% today.
 
Hang 4 said:
I've dropped 10 pounds since the FL lockdown. Riding ~100 miles/week, Tennis 3X/week and walking 18 holes 2 - 4 times/week. Best shape I've been in years. Getting restaurant takeout 1x/week, rest home cooking. Actually riding less since all races got cancelled. Was signed up for the >60yo FL criterium championships which was supposed to be tomorrow. Took out my incentive to do intervals on the bike (hard and painful). Trying to get to 15% body fat, 16% today.
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Dude, you're going beast mode on us.
 
I just try and do a lot of manual labor each day and eat well. That way I get stuff done, enjoy the fruits of my labor, stay in shape, don't have to spend an hour or more "working out" most days, and save a buttload of money on exercise gear and gym memberships.
 
I finally got back to the tennis courts after 2.5 months and there was definitely a little more huff/puff going on.

Good to be back doing my terrible Nadal impersonation, and returning to the golf course as well. I'm like a dog...I need to be chasing a ball of some sort for exercise!
 
MuseChaser said:
I just try and do a lot of manual labor each day and eat well. That way I get stuff done, enjoy the fruits of my labor, stay in shape...
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That was my modus operandi until about a year ago when Gerri and I began dating. And, while I stayed is quite good cardio-vascular condition, I found, in hindsight, that my overall fitness was lacking. The three areas that I've improved the most are upper body strength, core strength and, maybe most importantly, balance. I came to realize that my balance really sucked and that's not good as we age. Also, my joints, especially my knees, are giving me far less issues.

The other benefit is that it's greatly improved my golf game. We twist and turn and use muscles in golf that we really don't use much In going about our daily routine...at least I didn't...and it always took me 4 to 6 holes to get completely loosened up. Now 5 minutes of pre-game ritual or a few balls at the driving range is all it takes.
 
I got my wife (and I) a slack line for Christmas this year, and the weather was finally nice enough (and the ground not TOTALLY muddy in the back yard) to use it for the first time yesterday. We had a great time.. it's a surprisingly good core workout, and pretty much as difficult as it looks, although we did improve rapidly. We're both 60, and this was our first time trying one.

I kind of felt bad about my previous post.. came off snarkier than I meant it, and I was in kind of a lousy mood at the time... but it is accurate. Earlier in life, I used to run 5-7 miles every day, spend 30-45 minutes lifting, then do martial arts for another hour most days. A lot of that may have simply been escapism from all the pressures of my day gig, being a father to three kids, taking care of the house and cars, not making quite enough money to make doing all of that comfortable and easy, blah blah blah.. same thing everyone wrestles with. It was a great life...no regrets, and I'd do it EXACTLY the same way (except for maybe spend more time enjoying my kids) but the punishing workouts helped me cope with the stress.
Eventually, it all became less stressful, and I found that I could stay in almost as good shape (and in some ways, better shape) by just attacking all of the chores that caused me stress because I was putting them off, or could do myself instead of paying someone. These days, life is pretty stress-free. Whether that's a partial by-product of this new approach I adopted about ten years ago, or because I retired from my day gig... who knows... probably both.

Gotta go mow the lawn... a little over an acre.. with a push mower.... Talk to y'all later! ;)
 
timwinters said:
Slackard!!!

I also mow with a push mower...three acres...but then...it's a 4' self propelled mower! ;)
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Good deal. Even if you're just walkong behind it, you're still covering some ground. I walk about 3.3 miles mowing my lawn, according to a gps watch, pushing my 22" mower on a very hilly property. As soon as I fix the mechanism, it'll be somewhat self-propelled again...somewhat. Just finished. Not coincidentally, I'm also finishing my first IPA of the day.
 
I just finished changing the oil in my moms car. Everytime I got up from the floor I kept hearing a noise like the one my dad used to make.

Only problem is I was alone....
 
Enjoyed thread and comments. Can’t wait till I can get back to my workout routine as well, it does wonders for stress, but sometimes feel guilty that I don’t do more work around the house now that I’m retired. Good news with the quarantine is the house and yard has never looked better, but definitely feel weaker despite 3 mile walk in morning and some gentle calisthenics(appropriate for 72). I tell myself taking a break from the routine is okay as long as I get back to it when the gym does reopen. Main thing is to start back slowly and not try to make it up all at once. Although I’m sure I have lost a lot of strength and endurance, it will be evidence that the “routine “ had been doing me some good.
 
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