Why I started to work out like an old man

[pierinifitness]

This is a couple years old but I just now viewed it after getting it from Gruntbrain, our forum elder fitness training statesman. Enjoyed it while sitting on the couch enjoying my Saturday morning single, strong and black (Italian Roast) cup of coffee pondering how I’ll train today.

[Bruce Tackett]

I'm 71 and still "kicking ass". What he says about adjusting your loads to something you can handle with age is true. I can no longer do the knock-down, drag-out, to-the-max workouts I once did, and I've fashioned PR routines that suit me just fine.

I once took Tai-Chi, and I remember my sensei (or whatever he was in Chinese) saying that our bodies are like cars. If you keep gunning the engine, you will wear out, but if you drive your engine moderately, you will last a lot longer.

[Michael]

This is perfect and makes sense, "If you keep gunning the engine, you will wear out, but if you drive your engine moderately, you will last a lot longer."

[Bruce Tackett]

Oh, Gawd! I have restrained myself and fought the urge for the longest time, but I...……...I...……...just can't hold it back any longer....

I AM NOW IN MY 72nd YEAR!!

[gruntbrain]

Sometimes it's good to metaphorically gun our workouts . A sense of progress ramps up our sorry souls .

Many of us probably didn't reach our potentials as younglings so even fossilized old farts can establish new PR's

[Deuce Gunner]

Excess is always in contradiction to the laws of nature.

[Bruce Tackett]

Feb 15, 2020 22:11:44 GMT Deuce Gunner said:

Excess is always in contradiction to the laws of nature.

[gruntbrain]

Extremism in the defense of aging is a virtue .

[mrdave100]

Feb 15, 2020 17:27:28 GMT Bruce Tackett said:

...our bodies are like cars. If you keep gunning the engine, you will wear out, but if you drive your engine moderately, you will last a lot longer.

Look no further than bodybuilders, they are done by age 35-40.  Weightlifters last until their 60s.

[gruntbrain]

The car metaphor ignores the self healing of humans

[Bruce Tackett]

Feb 15, 2020 22:59:41 GMT gruntbrain said:

The car metaphor ignores the self healing of humans

That's why we have freaking auto mechanics!

[pierinifitness]

Something not mentioned in the  video is the impact of added bodyweight and girth in aging declining performance, particularly knees.  My knees hurt 40 lbs. ago and now, they may slightly feel worked even if I do a 6-mile running workout, 100 BW squats, 100 burpees or a double KB rack squat workout.  A lot harder doing pull-ups at 210 lbs. compared to 170 lbs.  I was able to bang out 5 pull-ups at 210 lbs. and that caught the attention of some gym folks, particularly those who were grunting while banging out cheat reps using the lat pulldown machine loaded to the max.

[Dave Reslo]

I think maybe I disagree with most here: It's better to do something even if you can probably only do it once than to do a shadow of that thing forever. We all end up in the same place, staying healthy and happy until close to that day is obviously important but at the same time you might as well do something memorable.

[gruntbrain]

It helps to stay in the game if you cultivate a sense of progress( even if you have to move the yardsticks)

[mr potatohead]

Feb 15, 2020 22:59:41 GMT gruntbrain said:

The car metaphor ignores the self healing of humans

Yes indeed, it does. Living beings are not machines. Our bodies are not like cars at all. (I didn't know that Nihilist Sensei's were a thing. Sounds oxymoronic to me.)
Making a choice of which machine or machine part to select to compare to the human body will probably depend on the point trying to be made. People are so used to hearing things stated in certain ways that it slips right by them.