I hope I'm still going hard like that when I'm 66. Very inspiring!!

Bacpacjac: Thanx for the encouraging compliment. I've always enjoyed your practical survival strategies, especially the urban survival planning . Your wry, self- depricating humor is also a hoot.

Ahhh a gym rat. I highly recommend the book Practical Programming which is of value to anyone from a professional athlete to us 60's-70's- 80's types. It is a no BS book - compound lifts for overall body strength as the basis for everything. Find it on amazon and read the reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Programm...4471&sr=1-2

I am using a modified Texas Method program. The book actually convinced me to go back to doing back squats. You can find the author's website here - startingstrength.com. I am an ex-rugby player. My son is a scholarship college track thrower - javelin and shotput - and he uses material from the book. His training goals are different from mine - I just want to be able to get off the toilet without assistance when I'm 80 - in 16 years. If you are doing 1 - 2 hour gym workouts several times a week these programs are right in your wheelhouse. Do you use any online websites to track your workouts?

Ahhh. Thanks Acropolis. That is so kind of you to say.

Kudos goes to everyone here at ETS, because I was a total mess when I started lurking here, trying to figure out how to "get prepared". I could easily have slipped over the edge into crazy mama survivalist were it not for the wise minds around this group. I've learned so much from this group, not the least of which has been to try to keep it realistic. Thanks everyone!!

Speaking of realism and long walks. My son and I were at the Y the other night and he asked me to run the track with him. I passed because of my knee and the fact that I am not a runner. He did six miles. Easy. Refused to stretch afterwards and had very little pain the next day. Now I really feel old. LOL!

"Speaking of realism and long walks. My son and I were at the Y the other night and he asked me to run the track with him. I passed because of my knee and the fact that I am not a runner. He did six miles. Easy. Refused to stretch afterwards and had very little pain the next day. Now I really feel old. LOL!"


Yes, I can remember what those days were like, but my knees tell me things are different now. At least I can still bicycle easily...Tell your son to keep it up and enjoy running to the utmost.

"Youth is such a wonderful thing. What shame to waste it on the young."

Yeah, knees.

This is why my nephew got me into Nordic Walking (with the Nordic walking poles) about 2 years ago. No more impact than regular walking, but the aerobic & caloric impact is 50% or more than simple walking at the same speed & distance. It really has made a big and positive difference for me. I would recommend it for anyone who is walking with knees. . .

There are many ways to stay in shape -- some better than others, some more convenient. Lately I find myself walking to the gym (another gym rat here) which for some my age would be a work-out all by itself. Once at the gym I hit the weights either legs or upper body. Walking to the gym to work legs may seem redundant, but walking and lifting (heavy) are way different. Squats (mentioned above) are part of leg day but it is a full body exercise. Proper form is key when weight lifting -- primarily because bad form leads to injuries. Keep the weight down until you master the correct form.
(For those who need to train their heart, when I get to the heavier sets, my heart-rate will go above my theoretical max (220-"your age"). Put another way, my chronological age is more than a couple years older than physiological. I'd bet that many in this forum are the same; if you stay in shape some of those theoretical numbers are meaningless.) Back to leg day -- the walk home is in some ways harder even though it's mostly downhill.
CoQ10 anyone? Yeah, daily LOL

On other days I work upper body, lots of different exercises there, if you pull, don't forget to also push -- meaning, if you do curls to work your biceps, don't forget to also work your triceps. I prefer compound exercises though, Lots of different muscles working together to move weight one direction or the other, the way they work in real life. There's more control in the gym though; it's safer than real life if you watch form.

FWIW, YMMV

Your post is a good reminder for me. I have no trouble maintaining cardiovascular fitness - lots of hiking and cycling, but I tend to slack off on the weights, which are well known to be important to well rounded fitness.

We (at least this guy) are discussing weight training as opposed to competitive weight lifting. Way back I dabbled in both Power Lifting and Olympic Lifting competition and it's very different from weight training -- one repetition per set versus ten of more. Then there was a period in my life where I took the other path and was strictly running, swimming or biking. When I hit the weights again I realized my loss. I could not lift weights that at one time I used as part of my warm-up; I'll never lift at that level again, but part of that is the decades between then and now.

As for squats I cannot overemphasize the part in the quote above which states: IME the muscles along the spine are there to protect the spine. The spine needs to stay more or less upright and should not bend over. You can lift a lot more in the gym than you can in real life simply because it's safer and you can concentrate on form. Keep your head up and your back straight.

The squat is a great exercise but face it, your back is central to the exercise. Done properly with an appropriate amount of weight, it's safe. Improperly and you can wake up the next day with excessive lower back pain and stiffness. (Ibuprofen won't fix it.) Start light, concentrate on form and work up to a level that is still safe. These days I won't lift weights if I can't do at least 10 reps per set. The only muscle I've ever pulled lifting was an Intercostal (it only hurt when I breathed), injured while doing cleans (the first part of the clean and jerk.) The clean itself is another great exercise, but much more dynamic than a squat. One more exercise I no longer engage in...

If you are fortunate to have a gym nearby where serious lifters hang-out they will usually be more than happy to assist and check your form, they've all been there. Funny, I was watching one of the "trainers" at the gym I use and it was like he read a book about Olympic lifting and was giving it a go. Olympic lifting is very dynamic and form is critical to avoid injury. What I saw was a very strong power lifter doing Olympic lifts using brute force rather than good form and technique. He'd have hurt himself if he hadn't been in very good shape. He didn't want any advice on form. No loss.

Squats seem like a good exercise. Are thee any alternatives when you are plagued with arthritic knees?