I’ll push back some on the not doing leg work because you “run, walk, hike and cycle a lot.” Especially from the healthspan perspective. Those are all more endurance predominant. Even if you do some sprint training.
It doesn’t hit the leg muscle mass, strength, and power loss that is staring us down as we hit 60s and beyond. And while running and hiking are impact enough to be a bone strength stimulus, cycling isn’t.
Adding in leg strength training helps reduce injury risk, both while running, hiking and cycling, and just at prevention of falls later on. I’d keep it short and simple: just deadlift and one of split squat or step ups. For fun if comfortable doing them safely maybe a little box jumps.
I’m am curious to hear what @Dr_Paprika thinks, but my bias is that doing split sets such that you are hitting each major muscle group just once a week is not enough stimulus?
This month has primarily been hiking and running with only a couple of outdoor rides (for example, yesterday we did a 12 mile hike w/ 3400’ elev gain over 5 hours). My mileage will start going up as I hit the trails and roads (I primarily ride gravel these days).
I’ll look into adding some leg strength training. It’s not that I’ve never done it, but I do so much cardio that involves my legs.
Are you saying that doing a day of back/bicep, and a day of chest/tricep each week isn’t enough (along with a day of core)?
My opinion - better two to three times a week whole body, same total volume per muscle group. I don’t think hitting each group just once a week is quite as effective of a stimulus even with matched volume. The whole neuromuscular adaptation bit, a large portion of strength and power gains, is a practice thing, learning a skill … I don’t have any cites though. So could be wrong.
Interesting idea. I’ve been so locked into how I work out for my entire lifetime that it’s time to rethink it, particularly since I need to workout in a manner that won’t lead to injury, or exacerbate existing arthritis and injuries.
Oh I also am a huge fan of jumping rope! And yes it is low amplitude plyo, coordination, and for most of us HIIT. A short jumping session brings a lot to the table. Not so much the strength and muscle mass portion though.
Doing that much riding, the legs are certainly getting enough stimulus to work the major muscles and prevent sarcopenia.
One advantage of including strength training for legs is mobility - hinge and squats are “fundamental movements” not worked by biking or hiking. Also, working on leg strength would (gasp!) further strengthen the legs. It need not be that much, perhaps one in three or four of your strength workouts. It might also help reduce arthritis pains and problems.
Yes. And that is an important consideration. I’d still look at other dimensions as well. High volume cyclists do get quad strength … but in general not much of the hamstrings? Which I think contributes to the high frequency of back pain in high volume cyclists.
I’m thinking some posterior chain work would offset imbalances that set up pain later on. RDL, Nordic curls, regular deadlifts, in some rotation.
Which brings up a more general subject! For someone who is devoted to a particular activity, such as cycling, is it more important to have strength training that potentially increases performance (even more quad power for cyclist, for example, or strengthening muscles less developed by the sport, to avoid imbalance related injuries?
I said strength training often reduces arthritis symptoms. It does so by correcting muscle and joint imbalances, strengthening connective tissue and through positive changes at the cellular level including mitochondria and inflammatory cytokines.
As for improving performance versus correcting imbalance, the answer depends on things like age, injury potential and the level of competition.
Strength training high level athletes should be done with expert advice. You do not want to change muscle fibre ratios, learned movements or interfere with priority training. With some sports you do not want to increase weight and with others you do. Strength training is largely done during the off season in some cases.
Aging weekend warriors? With you here. Much more important to address pain, reduce injuries, get the longevity and health benefits. Moderate strength training can help improve performance in many areas, and will help you do things to remain more independent when old. Plus, it is not the end of the world if a few things get worse (the disadvantages of gaining mass in some sports, etc.). You don’t want to use weights to do movements fundamental to the sport (eg: boxers should not “punch” using dumbbells - this will just make them slower; too similar to a required thing. More general training is better.)
Agreed with “high level athletes” - things is so many High School athletes (often pushed by their coaches) and 20 to 40 year olds doing tris, other races, or just sports with buddies, imagine that’s what they are!
Greetings, I’ve been lurking in this thread for a while, and want to ask if anyone would be willing to provide any advice or guidance on my current routine.
Status: 58 year old male, have been somewhat overweight all my adulthood, taking statins & blood pressure meds, otherwise no major health issues.
Goal: To stay healthy & physically fit enough to stay mobile, not require assistance, and eventually be a fun grandfather to my theoretical grandchildren.
Current routine:
2 times/week cardio, 40 minutes running on a treadmill or on an exercise bike
3 times/week: weight machines at PF, I do the same routine each time:
5 minute warmup on a bike.
Then 3 sets of 12 for each:
3 leg machines, 3 arm, 3 core.
Every week or 2 I do 3 sets of 6 at a substantially higher weight instead.
2 times a week no gym, but generally get at least 40 minutes of walking in.
I’ve been doing this for 3 years now. I’m still slowly increasing the weight over time. The biggest advantage to this routine is that I can stick to it. I listen to sports talk radio or podcasts to pass the time and it doesn’t leave me exhausted or sore, and have so far avoided injury.
Anything I could do to get more out of the routine without impeding the “I can stick to this” advantage of this one?
Cardio … if not already adding in a little bit of variation of intensity, some bit harder, I would. Varying the machines too is good. If they have ergs they are usually underused and fantastic to have in the mix. Not required but a different loading pattern I think is protective.
Is your strength stuff balanced push and pull? Hitting the big muscles?
Are you increasing the challenge as able? ETA You are Increasing weight
Last is that I do think something specific for balance is important. Single leg stands? Step ups? Balance disc? Just a few minutes at the beginning or end.
Do you do this over 5 days? It’s a good routine, and you can certainly see noticeable improvement in body composition and performance following this type of plan.
Here, I’m going to suggest some slight changes.
The goal is to train all of the major muscle groups of the body. As recently noted upthread, you can end up with muscle imbalances (and therefore increase the risk of injury) if you neglect an area. Plus, it just leads to a more functional (and aesthetic) body.
The main body areas are your chest, your back, and your legs. When you train your chest, you do pushing movements that also incorporate your shoulders and triceps. When you train your back, you do pulling movements that also train your biceps.
So the goal is to train each major group. I prefer twice a week, but you can make initial progress if you do each group 1 time per week. With 3 days, you can just break it up into a chest day (which also hits your triceps and shoulders), a back day (which also hits your biceps), and a leg day.
I find that my core is most engaged when I do legs, so I also do that on my leg day. But a lot of people train their abs more often, and that’s fine.
(For variation, you could choose to do an upper body day - chest and back - and a lower body day. With a 3 day split, I’d hit upper twice and lower once each week, since leg muscles require a more taxing workout, and take longer to recover).
The only other piece of advice I’d give is to not be afraid to work out hard. I’m not saying that you are, but the body is resilient enough that you can push yourself and not get injured. Just be sure to warm up thoroughly, and ensure a spot if you run the risk of getting stuck, but when you get in the groove it’s good to really strain for as many reps as you can get, instead of just counting to a certain rep number.
That’s amazing! Making exercise a life habit can be hard to do, but once it becomes a part of your routine it can be a wonderful reward! I think the first thing I fell in love with in the gym was the undercurrent of optimism I felt.
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. To answer some questions:
I think I do hit the major muscle groups. The exercises are (not sure I have the machine names right)
leg extension
leg curl
seated leg press
pec fly
cable lat pulldown
chest press
back extension
abdominal curl
Roman chair (I think?)
I go 5 days per week, alternating weights & cardio, I don’t do both the same day.
For cardio, I do run harder for 6 minutes, then slow down for 2, cycling through this. Similar on the bike, I do a rolling hills program so it increases & decreases resistance throughout the time.
No balance exercises.
On the day when I increased weights/fewer reps, I have been trying to push past 6 reps to as many as I can do. If it’s more than 8, I increase the weight for next time.
I’ve been considering leg day,core day, etc, but right now, this program works. I’m worried if I mess with it, I’ll get frustrated & find excuses not to go. Would doing separate exercises on separate days make a large difference? To be clear, I don’t really enjoy it, especially getting up at 6:15 to get to the gym. Earbuds are honestly the reason I’ve been able to keep going for 3 years.
And really your program is great! The varied aerobic intensity is fantastic.
Small tweaks.
It could benefit from horizontal pulling (rows) to get that plane. OTOH the Pec fly isn’t adding much to what the press is doing.
I’d consider subbing out the fly for a seated row … or alternating the erg for the treadmill/cycle every other time or so. Good form!
I also still would advise something balance focused again single leg anything, step ups, something that can be short but frequent.
And personally I would not advise split sessions.
Emphasis here though: it ain’t broken, no need to change it at all, and only a little if you do. Mixing it up for interest would be an option but the consistency works for you, clearly.
Fwiw, my balance exercise is to put on and remove my socks while standing on the other foot. I had started to feel very wobbly. And at first i wasn’t able to do this without leaning against a piece of furniture. Now i can when the light is on. (Balancing in the dark is much harder.) It adds maybe a minute to my daily routine, and I’ve had clear gains (i can do something i couldn’t do) and generally feel less wobbly. More might be better, but it doesn’t take much.
Then your workout routine is more thorough than I thought! (Maybe add in a rowing exercise for your back as well. There are also some exercises you can do that directly target the arms, which can be good at the end of a workout. Add in some curls and tricep push downs)
You are doing great. If you want some variety, you can try some different exercises (maybe use dumbbells), but otherwise just keep it up.
Awesome! That’s called “progressive overload”, and means that you are striving to get stronger over time. Increasing the weight is an objective sign of progress!