Muscles and Old People

[Ben]

This was an interesting article for me. I have been reading similar for a while, and know the value of strength training as you get older. It's a very frustrating process. The strength training I do now would, as it did, be building all kinds of muscle for me at 30. At 50, it seemed like I was just keeping what I had with maybe a little growth. At 62, it feels like all I'm doing is slowing down degradation, and I've definitely noticed over the last few years that it gets harder and harder.

I try to do 30-60min of boxing and TRX 3-4 days a week, and it feels like if I want to stop degradation now, that I would have to do like two hours a day, which is a lot of work and time. It's the same with stretching and heading off back problems and the like. If I'm not doing yoga every single day, I start to feel the detrimental effects of old guy rigidity. It's definitely hell getting old. 

Side note, the website where I read this seems like a somewhat unbiased sciency-news aggregator. I haven't examined it in-depth, but it seems like it has potential.

https://theconversation.com/50-year-old-muscles-just-cant-grow-big-like-they-used-to-the-biology-of-how-muscles-change-with-age-172941

[230RN]

"Growing old ain't for sissies."

Variously attributed:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/12/02/aged/

I will add, bearing in mind that Medicine is a Business, that doctors tend to overdiagnose and overprescribe.

[lee n. field]

https://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Old-Ancient-Readers/dp/0691167702

Reading this now.  "Play to your strengths as you grow old."



(I just looked at the one star reviews.  Each says, "it's in Latin".  Duh, English on facing pages.  Did you look?)

[brimic]

I think the key to having good muscle mass when you get older, is to put it on while in your 20s...
At 49, I'm objectively a lot weaker than I was at 39.

[gunsmith]

 at 52 i stopped all wheat/sugar and went completely paleo/keto/  wheat belly book diet.
  kept my  carb intake 50 or under per day and worked out like a maniac.

 i started at 220 pounds, could not see my toes, and took heartburn meds daily .
 i hurt my self at the gym at 54 yrs old and stopped working out.

 i was 140 pounds and could do 200 pushups a day, 50 at a time, amazing amount of pullups and chinups, more than i used to do in basic.

unfortunately, i lost control of my fingers, probably a pinched nerve and completly stopped working out.
I plan on resuming this yr  - I believe Jack La Lane kept working out until he was ninety - I'm sure any of us can get bigger muscles at 60 or seventy ys old 

[grampster]

Exercise is over rated, muchly.  I'm 78 and able to do just about anything I want, albeit slower.  I don't play fast pitch softball, sand lot tackle football etc etc.  Had my fill of that stuff.  I shovel snow, cut grass, rake leaves, crawl around in my flower beds and ground cover, a bit of residence maintenance, etc etc.  Just a bit more tired, and just a bit more sore...which passes.   Just about everyone that I have known who ate only the healthy foods and exercised, ran, jogged ad nauseum are dead.

[Ron]

The fifties have been a real wakeup call.

[RocketMan]

This was an interesting article for me. I have been reading similar for a while, and know the value of strength training as you get older. It's a very frustrating process. The strength training I do now would, as it did, be building all kinds of muscle for me at 30. At 50, it seemed like I was just keeping what I had with maybe a little growth. At 62, it feels like all I'm doing is slowing down degradation, and I've definitely noticed over the last few years that it gets harder and harder.

We've had a home gym in one of our bedrooms for several years.  I've pretty much ignored it while my wife has used it on and off.  Last August, while my wife was living with and caring for her father (stage 6 Alzheimer's) I decided to start working out.  I do five different exercises aimed at building upper body muscle mass.  According to my wife it is working as she has noticed a significant increase in the size of my arms and shoulders.  Looking at myself in the mirror I can see the changes, too.
The only changes I've made to my diet is to weight things more heavily to protein.  I'm eating more meat and protein rich snacks.  My wife also gave me an electrolyte drink to sip while working out.  It's supposed to help with muscle recovery while exercising.  Don't really know if it does much good.
I turned 65 last October.  I'm not sure if I am an exception that proves the rule, a fluke case, or perhaps I just started from such a low baseline I couldn't help but put on some mass.

[230RN]

I keep one of these things around for hand strength...

   

I also have a Crosman 1008 RepeatAir pellet gun with a kind of stiff DA trigger nearby and I do 16 DA pulls with each hand's trigger finger.

   

For the rest, with my disabilities, general exercise is on a spotty basis.

But I gotta keep that trigger finger strong !

Terry

Pic credits and marketing in Properties

[RocketMan]

I keep one of these things around for hand strength...

   

I also have a Crosman 1008 RepeatAir pellet gun with a kind of stiff DA trigger nearby and I do 16 DA pulls with each hand's trigger finger.

   

For the rest, with my disabilities, general exercise is on a spotty basis.

But I gotta keep that trigger finger strong !

Terry

Been thinking about doing something similar to improve my shooting skills.

[Pb]

I'm in my early 40's.  I basically never participated in athletics in my wife; I had no interest in it.  But, I started lifting weights at the YMCA last summer, a few times a week.  It hasn't always gone smoothly, but I have gotten a lot stronger compared to what I was.  According to the eGym machines, I'm now a little stronger than the average man my age. 

It is not much fun to do, but that is nice.   

[Ben]

I keep one of these things around for hand strength...

My hand strength has been holding up well, but I have noticed what appears to be the start of arthritis in my left (dominant) hand. Every once in a while, that hand just gives out when something heavy is in it, with an accompanying shooting pain.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Exercise is over rated, muchly.  I'm 78 and able to do just about anything I want, albeit slower.  I don't play fast pitch softball, sand lot tackle football etc etc.  Had my fill of that stuff.  I shovel snow, cut grass, rake leaves, crawl around in my flower beds and ground cover, a bit of residence maintenance, etc etc.  Just a bit more tired, and just a bit more sore...which passes.   Just about everyone that I have known who ate only the healthy foods and exercised, ran, jogged ad nauseum are dead.

  I feel the same way.  I eat what I want, do what I want and live like I want to.  Trying to pretend I'm not old is a waste of energy I can use bowling, kayaking, taking care of my house, etc.  Getting old gracefully is the key.

[RocketMan]

<snip>
Getting old gracefully is the key.

There is a lot to be said for that notion.

[Ben]

There is a lot to be said for that notion.

I'm going more in this direction myself:

https://youtu.be/jTiUmUcx03U

[De Selby]

If you have insurance or coin, nothing wrong with considering the anti-ageing clinic.

[Lennyjoe]

Spent way too much time in the gym in my late teens into my mid 30’s and am pretty muscular.  That being said, I now hate being in the gym because I spent so much in there back in my youth.  I now spend ~ 1 hour a day on elliptical and using light weights I have in my man cave.   More to keep myself flexible and good blood flow. 

I’ve often thought about getting back into powerlifting but at 55, i just don’t have the heart for it anymore.  I like grampa shooters idea of aging gracefully.

[JonnyB]

My hand strength has been holding up well, but I have noticed what appears to be the start of arthritis in my left (dominant) hand. Every once in a while, that hand just gives out when something heavy is in it, with an accompanying shooting pain.

Ben,
I have that, as well. I had a hand x-ray for a joint problem. It showed a ganglion cyst in the area where hand becomes wrist. Now I know why.

My joint problem is a bifurcated ganglion cyst on my index finger where it connects to my hand. Ugly, but otherwise benign.

JB

[Ron]

I had a ganglion cyst on one of my fingers that blew out while I was climbing at a climbing gym.

My finger looked like a sausage  afterward, it didn't hurt, in fact it was actually more comfortable moving it and climbing.

The swelling was pretty much gone after a couple days.

It came back and went away again, it never got as big and nothing traumatic happened to make it go away.

 

[Ben]

Ben,
I have that, as well. I had a hand x-ray for a joint problem. It showed a ganglion cyst in the area where hand becomes wrist. Now I know why.

My joint problem is a bifurcated ganglion cyst on my index finger where it connects to my hand. Ugly, but otherwise benign.

JB

Interesting. I have just been assuming arthritis, but I need to make note of this to ask the doc at my next physical.

I also think I have Dupuytren’s disease, but am not sure. I started getting that bump at the base of my pinky/ring fingers around 4-5 years ago, and it was causing my hand to start curling up. I could still pretty much flatten my hand though. The weird thing is that now, while the bump is still there, it seems to be less than half the size it was when I first noticed it. I did not think this disease could self-heal, but the area has noticeably improved over the last couple of years. Maybe it is something else.

[JN01]

Interesting. I have just been assuming arthritis, but I need to make note of this to ask the doc at my next physical.

I also think I have Dupuytren’s disease, but am not sure. I started getting that bump at the base of my pinky/ring fingers around 4-5 years ago, and it was causing my hand to start curling up. I could still pretty much flatten my hand though. The weird thing is that now, while the bump is still there, it seems to be less than half the size it was when I first noticed it. I did not think this disease could self-heal, but the area has noticeably improved over the last couple of years. Maybe it is something else.

Your doctor should be able to confirm that it is Covid.

[gunsmith]

 I'm 62, I'm going to go full blast clean diet/exercise fanatic again.
  I have no choice, people here in Reno think they have a right to put their hands on people, despite it being extra illegal
( 60 older considered protected under NRS )

[Ben]

Your doctor should be able to confirm that it is Covid.

 

[230RN]

My hand strength has been holding up well, but I have noticed what appears to be the start of arthritis in my left (dominant) hand. Every once in a while, that hand just gives out when something heavy is in it, with an accompanying shooting pain.

No kiddin' switch mouse hands if you use one.  My right (dominant side) hand got irritated at work and I switched to my left hand with the mouse and been doing it that way for well over twenty years even at home.  Seems like simply distributing the activity load is important, but I can't prove it.  I do know that for years I kept my wallet in my right back pocket and about fifteen years ago I got really agonizing pains in my right butt.  Found that keeping the wallet there while working and driving caused it, and I now have it on a chain so I won't lose / forget it, and put it on my lap or in my coat pocket when sitting.

It's like uneven task distribution for long periods is debilitating in and of itself.  But I can't prove it except anecdotally.

But left arm?  Go see a Doctor anyway.

Terry

[Lennyjoe]

Spent 4 hours on the ski slopes Saturday.  No soreness on my legs, a** or back so elliptical time is paying off…lol