This is the third part of an 8-part series.
Introduction: Range of Motion and Joint Mobility
In Part 2 I wrote about the importance of strength training as you move into your 60s and 70s and why this is more critical now than at any other age in your life.
But keep in mind that caution is the key. If you’ve not been devoted to weightlifting in the last few years this can be a risky change to make. The possibility of a serious injury when lifting heavy loads increases as you age up.
Light loads and good posture
It’s important if you are new to weightlifting that you start with light loads. The best starting place is no added load at all—just body weight. And use high reps, 10 or more per set, until you can do an exercise through the full range of motion easily and with excellent form.
Form mostly comes down to posture. Your head is up and back straight when doing any lift. Sloppy form is likely to result in a back or joint injury. It’s important to be careful and to err on the side of using too little load. There’s no need to rush into lifting heavier loads. Take your time.
Increase loads conservatively
If you’ve been lifting weights steadfastly throughout the previous few years you can continue to do what has been working. Good for you! But again, continue to be cautious with increasing weight loads. Do not raise the loads until you can make the movements with precision for all of the suggested reps. And then increase the loads quite conservatively. I’d suggest an increase of five to ten percent at first. If that’s easily manageable, which it should be, then up the load another five to ten percent or so. It’s not a race to see how fast you can increase the load. Take your time. You have the rest of your life.
Choosing your exercises
As for what exercises to do, if you are a triathlete or cyclist see my Training Bible books (The Triathlete’s Training Bible and The Cyclist’s Training Bible) for examples of exercises that I suggest for your sport. There you will also find guidelines for when to make load and rep changes relative to your season. For other sports you should be able to find good programs online from well-respected coaches.
Keep the exercises simple. Avoid complex movements you aren’t sure you can do safely. Also, always be cautious of using heavier loads regardless of who designed the program—including me. Too little is better than too much.
Consistency in training
And just as with everything else in training, the key is consistency. If you find you miss gym workouts quite frequently, take a step back to lighter loads with higher reps. Body weight is always okay if you’re unsure. Do not move on to the next strength phase explained in my books until you have made noticeable gains (either heavier loads or more reps).
Strength training will not only help to maintain your sport performance but will also contribute to maintaining or increasing muscle mass. A strength program also contributes to keeping bones sound and resistant to breaking. There are few physical things you can do that are as important as strength training in your 60s and 70s.
Part 3: Little Things That Get Worse with Age
When I was in my 50s I thought my fitness level would last forever unless I stopped working out or got lazy. How wrong I was. I’ve seldom missed a workout in the last 20 years, and I continue to be dedicated to a mix of easy and hard sessions. I’ve been dedicated to fitness for most of the last 50+ years.
Performance changes
And yet I’m definitely losing high-end performance fitness in my 70s. The numbers can be upsetting at times. Even embarrassing. But I try to see this as a new challenge. What can I do to get faster (a positive approach) or slow the rate of decline (a somewhat negative but more realistic approach)? There seems to be more of the latter than the former now as I prepare to step into my 80s.
Body changes
There’s no doubt that the body changes as we get into our 60s and 70s. We simply get slower. That happens to some of us more than others based on lifestyles and genetics. I’m now aware that the older I get the faster the changes seem to occur. Most of these changes seemed rather mundane and unimportant just a few years ago. But over time they have slowly taken their toll.
Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to post the changes I’ve noticed over the last several years and what I’ve done about them—or failed to do early enough.
Reduced muscle flexibility and joint mobility
For example, in my late 60s I noticed some reduced muscle flexibility and joint mobility (ease and range of movement within a joint). This became more apparent in my late 60s. When I was in college I could put my head between knees. No more. Now at 79 I can still touch my toes. But barely. My father in his 80s liked to show off by touching his toes. He never seemed to have to work at it. I do.
I read a research paper on this a while back that reported there was a loss of 6 degrees of flexibility in the shoulders and hips per decade starting in the subjects’ mid-50s. That would mean by the time you’re 80 you’d be about 15% less flexible in those joints if you did nothing about it. I seem to be ahead of the curve in the hips, but not the shoulders. My shoulder rigidity is due to breaking my scapula and clavicle a couple of times in bike crashes. I’m not going to change that with movement exercise. This ruined my swimming. So I focus a lot on my hips and lower spine.
If you are a senior athlete, I’d strongly suggest that you work on flexibility and mobility regularly. But why would you want to? Touching your toes is not high on most peoples’ goal lists. Even if you can, touching the toes isn’t a good predictor of other joints in your body. Or perhaps you have never had great flexibility or mobility and see no reason to start now. All I can tell you, should you care, is that it’s only going to get worse with each birthday. And probably by your 80s and certainly by your 90s you may not be able to make the most basic movements without assistance.
How do I address this matter? On my two or three weekly gym workout days I combine strength, flexibility, and range of motion exercises and have since I realized I was starting to lose joint function. My dedication to this seems to be paying off. I’m a bit more flexible and mobile now than I was a decade ago.
Exercises and consistency
What flexibility and mobility exercises can you do to maintain muscle and joint health? There are a lot of possibilities and since we’re each somewhat different when it comes to this sort of thing, I’m reluctant to make suggestions. But there are a lot of how-to exercise videos online about flexibility and mobility. Another good option for flexibility and mobility health is to sign up for a yoga class.
The most common joints that need help in these regards as we age up are shoulders and hips (including lower spine). If you are aware of some limitations in your movement capabilities do an online search for flexibility and mobility of the joint or joints most in need of your attention. Then do the recommended exercises regularly. I keep saying this, but as with everything else in training, consistency is the key to success for flexibility and mobility.
Next, in Part 4, I’ll look at the seemingly unimportant things when young that become much more important as you move into your 60s and 70s.
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