Having to back off on intensity (at least for now)

[Sara1000]

NCL, what great words! I need to cultivate that attitude as it fits my situation exactly!

[bee1forfitness]

Originally Posted by Sue B

One thing about Jack and Ernestine is that they were into working out for most of their adult lives. It's never too late to start, but if you start too late, maybe there's only so far you can go.

She actually didn't workout most of her adult live, she started after her sister died (who was a bodybuilder) who she had made a promise to get in shape. Ernestine started when she was 56

[Sue B]

Originally Posted by bee1forfitness

She actually didn't workout most of her adult live, she started after her sister died (who was a bodybuilder) who she had made a promise to get in shape. Ernestine started when she was 56

I thought there was a Washington Post article that said she was a model and a runner before she took up bodybuilding. Anyway, I admire her a lot, but she is an outlier.

[mle777]

Originally Posted by Sue B

I thought there was a Washington Post article that said she was a model and a runner before she took up bodybuilding. Anyway, I admire her a lot, but she is an outlier.

Ernestine was on Oprah Prime this week (I started a post about it) and she told Oprah what Bee1forfitness said. She is always telling the people in her classes that it's never too late to start because she was older when she started and today she's doing amazing

Here's a link to the thread with information and clips from the Oprah show:

http://forum.videofitness.com/showth...ht=oprah+prime

[Lisa C]

DISCLAIMER: I'm not really trying to give advice, but just want to share my experience, because you may not need to back off as much as you think you do. It really does depend on exactly what type of injuries you are talking about. You know your body best!

I had my first real injury that made me careful about my exercise when I was in my 30's. I felt my a back spasm while I was walking to a copy machine at work. I had done a large amount of working out the weekend before, and I assumed that caused it.

I was very careful after that and I sort of babied the back. I went to a chiropractor and my doctor. I stopped lifting weights. I stopped running. I mostly only walked, which made my back feel good. I knew inactivity could make it worse, but I was so scared of having chronic back pain my entire life, I was trying to be very careful.

But my back wouldn't get better. It was 6 months of this, and I finally said "screw it", I'm going to do more. I started to push myself a little bit – gradually – and started back with weight lifting. Within a few weeks my back pain was gone for good. I do occasionally get twinges, and I have strained my back a few times since then, but it never lasts more than a day or two.

Around that same time I read an article by Jerome Grooperman which talked about his back pain and how he solved his back pain with exercise. It validated my experience and it has guided me and my injuries ever since.

Every time I get a twinge, injury or ache, my first reaction is always to back off. It seems like common sense. But with about 90% of what I have dealt with, figuring out what needs to be strengthened has helped me WAY MORE than backing off and lowering the intensity.

Sometimes I do need to lower the impact. But that doesn't mean I have to lower the intensity. There is spinning, using a high incline on the treadmill or hiking, swimming and more that can be done to keep the intensity up without impact. I have found that keeping my higher impact workouts to twice a week works really well for me. But I do have a twingy hip and sometimes I avoid impact altogether for a while.

I do still sometimes back off when I hurt myself, and I'll take a day or two off, but I am careful not to let my fears dictate what I do or don't do. I am very good at listening to my body these days and really figuring out what it needs. That has taken a lot of practice over the years. There is a fine line between the types of pain and I've had to get good at discerning differences in my aches and pains.

No, I can't do everything as well as I could when I was younger, and I'm sure in two more decades, my performance will not be what it is today. But that doesn't mean that I won't continue to strive to keep my fitness level as high as I can, both cardiovascularly and with strength. The older I get, the more I care about strength, because most of my injuries are healed or taken care of by improving my strength overall.

I'm not trying to say you should just barrel ahead and do anything without listening to your body. I think listening to your body is the most important thing you can do for your fitness (at any age). But if you try to be creative, you can possibly find some good ways to work around what it bothering you and keep your fitness goals.

[Lisa C]

Originally Posted by Lucky Star

Wow - imagine how fantastically fit humanity could be if we could all do low impact HIIT and Cathe at 70yo!
Okay now you're officially *my* inspiration!

P.S. I agree with this statement as well!

Even Cathe has modified her workouts as she/we have aged. The warm-ups are longer, and she is bringing more low impact into her workouts. But she is being creative in figuring out ways to bring intensity to lower impact, and you can be creative too to figure out what works best for you.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

I've been reading up on aging lately and how it affects activity level. One consistent theme is the necessity of rest for us as we get older. Recovery takes longer than it did when we were in our 20's and 30's.

One of the things I love about VF is the great older-than-I exerciser! Kudos to the OP for setting a great example of doing what it takes to be well.

[ncl]

Originally Posted by Lisa C

DISCLAIMER: I'm not really trying to give advice, but just want to share my experience, because you may not need to back off as much as you think you do. It really does depend on exactly what type of injuries you are talking about. You know your body best!

I had my first real injury that made me careful about my exercise when I was in my 30's. I felt my a back spasm while I was walking to a copy machine at work. I had done a large amount of working out the weekend before, and I assumed that caused it.

I was very careful after that and I sort of babied the back. I went to a chiropractor and my doctor. I stopped lifting weights. I stopped running. I mostly only walked, which made my back feel good. I knew inactivity could make it worse, but I was so scared of having chronic back pain my entire life, I was trying to be very careful.

But my back wouldn't get better. It was 6 months of this, and I finally said "screw it", I'm going to do more. I started to push myself a little bit – gradually – and started back with weight lifting. Within a few weeks my back pain was gone for good. I do occasionally get twinges, and I have strained my back a few times since then, but it never lasts more than a day or two.

Around that same time I read an article by Jerome Grooperman which talked about his back pain and how he solved his back pain with exercise. It validated my experience and it has guided me and my injuries ever since.

Every time I get a twinge, injury or ache, my first reaction is always to back off. It seems like common sense. But with about 90% of what I have dealt with, figuring out what needs to be strengthened has helped me WAY MORE than backing off and lowering the intensity.

Sometimes I do need to lower the impact. But that doesn't mean I have to lower the intensity. There is spinning, using a high incline on the treadmill or hiking, swimming and more that can be done to keep the intensity up without impact. I have found that keeping my higher impact workouts to twice a week works really well for me. But I do have a twingy hip and sometimes I avoid impact altogether for a while.

I do still sometimes back off when I hurt myself, and I'll take a day or two off, but I am careful not to let my fears dictate what I do or don't do. I am very good at listening to my body these days and really figuring out what it needs. That has taken a lot of practice over the years. There is a fine line between the types of pain and I've had to get good at discerning differences in my aches and pains.

No, I can't do everything as well as I could when I was younger, and I'm sure in two more decades, my performance will not be what it is today. But that doesn't mean that I won't continue to strive to keep my fitness level as high as I can, both cardiovascularly and with strength. The older I get, the more I care about strength, because most of my injuries are healed or taken care of by improving my strength overall.

I'm not trying to say you should just barrel ahead and do anything without listening to your body. I think listening to your body is the most important thing you can do for your fitness (at any age). But if you try to be creative, you can possibly find some good ways to work around what it bothering you and keep your fitness goals.

YES! Love your post!

[JackieB]

I have a lot of injuries and have found that the best thing for me to do is to keep moving. I've had to gear back my workouts. I am happy, though, that I most recently added DDP Yoga to the mix, which is challenging. It has been great for my back and hip.

I have had horrible bouts of back pain where I've gotten scared and thought I was headed for an MRI and surgery. Gentle movement, persistance, and patience has gotten me through.

Jackie

[bee]

Originally Posted by Sara1000

dnna our fitness journeys are very similar except so far I have not had a serious health problem - other than asthma that is.

Thanks again all who have responded.

BTW I do Hiit because I don't believe just walking is enough 'exercise' for my heart. When I was just walking (about 3 miles a day) and then had to climb a couple of flights of stairs for the first time in a long time I got extremely winded and had to stop and catch my breath. Now the occasional stairs I have a t work are not a problem.

Haven't read the whole thread yet, and it's great that you do Hiit!, but.... maybe getting winded had something to do with the asthma?