so i have been thinking, as i get older i'm finding that i'm more tired and i have more aches and pains. all the forums, books, and websites i read all say that intensity is #1 in changing the body but at what price. lifting super heavy and doing intense cardio intervals seems to be wearing on the body even if i intersperse lighter days. so i'm wondering if i can get good results with lighter weights and moderate cardio? i just feel like the harder i push i worse i feel and it drains all of my energy and then i don't want to workout. thoughts?
beating the body up
- Thread starter kariev
- Start date
teddy16410
Cathlete
I think the great thing about talking about this is that it helps all of us learn to listen to our bodies more. I know that for almost 3 years I have modified intensity based on how I feel w/ a changing body (46)...It seems to do me good mentally & physically. On days I feel strong like a bull- I workout at "bull intensity" on days I feel like a wilting flower I adjust or take an extra day off. I think learning to honor our bodies is perhaps the greatest gift that "aging" has given me.
I also find that if I am on a "wilting" day many times once I get started I gain energy & strength... For me, having the freedom to push it to the limit when I feel like it is one of the best parts about working out at home.
I'm now 47 and after doing intense cardio and weights for so long, I'm now changing the way I approach fitness, in general. I am incorporating much more functional fitness programs that combine cardio and weights in new and interesting ways. On days that I want cardio only, I'm doing workouts that have super challenging choreography (like Patrick), but do not pound my joints. And lastly, and probably the best change, is yoga. I found that as I got older, my flexibility was going, even as I was doing major cardio and weights. I'm enjoying both vinyasa style... and new for me, kundalini, which has been a real eye-opener for me in terms of connecting my brain and body. The breathing exercises alone are amazing. Anyway, just my two cents!
kathryn
Cathlete
I agree that functional fitness is important, and a way to challenge the body without beating it up.
Intense exercise is fine, but you have to have the right combo of work and recovery. As we age, it takes longer to recuperate, so intense exercise may actually not be the best way to go, as it means longer recovery time and less actual workout time.
Make sure to combine moderate- or even lower-intensity exercise with any intense exercise.
Intense exercise is fine, but you have to have the right combo of work and recovery. As we age, it takes longer to recuperate, so intense exercise may actually not be the best way to go, as it means longer recovery time and less actual workout time.
Make sure to combine moderate- or even lower-intensity exercise with any intense exercise.
LauraMax
Cathlete
Hey! Whatsa matter w/a little pain on a daily basis? 
Funny how the routines that made me feel super energized & ready to kick a$$ now make me feel super tired & ready to SIT on my a$$! I have little aches & pains after every lifting w/o & I almost never do high impact cardio anymore.
I've been preparing for this for about 2 years now. I've already started modifying cardio b/c my knees can't take it anymore. I expect that by the time I'm 45 (I'm 40 now) I might make my strength training routine pilates 3-4 times a week. While I can't stand yoga I really do enjoy pilates, & I think you can get the stretching/flexibility benefits of yoga w/the added bonus of muscle training with it.
Maybe throw in a body pump class here & there, but I'm leaning toward reformer pilates as the basis of my routine.
Funny how the routines that made me feel super energized & ready to kick a$$ now make me feel super tired & ready to SIT on my a$$! I have little aches & pains after every lifting w/o & I almost never do high impact cardio anymore.
I've been preparing for this for about 2 years now. I've already started modifying cardio b/c my knees can't take it anymore. I expect that by the time I'm 45 (I'm 40 now) I might make my strength training routine pilates 3-4 times a week. While I can't stand yoga I really do enjoy pilates, & I think you can get the stretching/flexibility benefits of yoga w/the added bonus of muscle training with it.
Maybe throw in a body pump class here & there, but I'm leaning toward reformer pilates as the basis of my routine.
I am so in agreement with everyone else. I'm 51 now, and over the past few years I just don't like pushing myself to the limit any more. It's not so much that it fatigues me more or is that much more difficult, but mentally I just feel like "Why???? Why am I trying to lift heavier and heavier, and do more and more intense intervals?" I just feel like, I'm plenty strong lifting light-to-moderately heavy weights, I'm in good aerobic shape, my heart and bones are strong, I"m flexible, my lab tests are good, I'm happy, I sleep well, and I've accepted that my body will not undergo dramatic changes as a result of the way I work out. (If I adopted a totally clean eating style, I probably would get dramatic changes, but it's not worth it to me to do that.) So I'm doing less Cathe and more Firms, Kelly Coffee-Mayer, Jari Love, Dove workouts, etc., lots of Kundalini yoga, more walking than jogging. I finally feel like I'm "good enough" and don't really want to challenge myself as much as when I was younger. A few years ago I did P90-X and was very proud of myself, although my body didn't change much. I have no desire to do the X or STS or anything like that again! I wish Cathe would make more intermediate workouts, because I adore her and her teaching style, but I think she will continue to play to her "base" (sorry, the election is on my mind LOL) of people who love very high aerobic intensity and very tough weight workouts. I still have a lot of intermediate instructors to explore, I've Netflixed some Denise Austin (stop that snickering~!) workouts that were surprisingly challenging, and I may jump on the Leslie bandwagon. For me one of the pleasures of middle age is cutting back a bit on the high intensity and relaxing a bit more, in all areas of my life.
skimi
Cathlete
i have not yet come to terms that i can't do what i did at 25 (i am almost 40)....i am still trying to push myself hard when i am in the gym.....i do have some aches in my knees and shoulders, and now my elbow.....but, in my stubborn head, i feel i can work through some of it....i do alot of skiing in the winter, and i feel that to prepare for that, i have to really get my lower body ready with lots of intense workouts including plyometrics.....
this aging thing will be my next big realization....realizing i had outgrown miniskirts was my first difficult realization (dont' worry, that happened a long time ago), then realizing i couldn't eat anything i wanted.....i just see cathe doing the incredible things she can do, and i say "if she can do it...so can i"....but i keep having to remind myself that she is superwoman.....and i am not...
this aging thing will be my next big realization....realizing i had outgrown miniskirts was my first difficult realization (dont' worry, that happened a long time ago
), then realizing i couldn't eat anything i wanted.....i just see cathe doing the incredible things she can do, and i say "if she can do it...so can i"....but i keep having to remind myself that she is superwoman.....and i am not...
andtckrtoo
Cathlete
I'm training for the same kinds of events at 44 that I trained for at 35, but I'm training smarter. Instead of beating myself up daily, I usually only do that once or twice a week, and use the other days to do recovery work, and yoga. I lift, but as I am concentrating on endurance, I tend to lift less - each body part only once a week, except core which is so critical to endurance. And I make sure I get in a nice mix. I'm actually faster now than I was then.
Pearlstrand
Cathlete
Getting older has actually made me work harder! When I was younger I could work out regularly and eat whatever and still look pretty good.
Those days are over! Now I have to watch what I eat and work out much harder just to keep the middle-aged spread at bay.
I can't say that I don't have aches and pains (including an unhappy lower back sometimes), but I feel like it's going to be a fast downhill slide if I don't push myself more and clean up my diet.
I really should do yoga, though. If there's one area I neglect, it's flexibility. If only I could fit it in my schedule without feeling like I'm taking a day off.
The bottom line: I'll be completely worn out way before you all are!
(I'm 47.)
Those days are over! Now I have to watch what I eat and work out much harder just to keep the middle-aged spread at bay.
I can't say that I don't have aches and pains (including an unhappy lower back sometimes), but I feel like it's going to be a fast downhill slide if I don't push myself more and clean up my diet.
I really should do yoga, though. If there's one area I neglect, it's flexibility. If only I could fit it in my schedule without feeling like I'm taking a day off.
The bottom line: I'll be completely worn out way before you all are!
(I'm 47.)
i so much enjoy reading all of these responses and its so nice to see i'm not alone. while i will always love cathe, i seem to be enjoying light weights with higher reps these days such as slim series and the new squeeze workouts (which are amazing). as for cardio, i'm enjoying steady state as opposed to interval style. i feel so much better when i do these types of workouts. i'm not looking to change my shape anymore. i'm very happy with the amount of muscle i have and my cardiovascular system. i'm just going to keep up what i'm doing with light weights and steady state and if one day the urge sets in to beat myself up in a workout, i will listen to my body and do it. i just realized that i stopped looking forward to my workouts when they pushed me to my limits even if it was only a couple times a week. it just didn't make me feel good for the rest of the day. plus i thinking that eating healthy is more important than what type of workout you are doing.
Lynn M.
Cathlete
Kariev-
I was just going to add that as I've gotten older, diet becomes soo much more important.
I'm 41 and have noticed that when my diet is not very clean, everything suffers.. Not just my weight. I get much more sluggish, and recuperation time from a hard workout takes longer.
Also, I wanted to throw in the "sleep" factor. I don't know about any of you, but as I've gotten older I suffer more and more from insomnia.. when I don't sleep well, my workouts are terrible as well and I feel like I am less tolerant of those nagging little aches and pains.
Lynn M.
I was just going to add that as I've gotten older, diet becomes soo much more important.
I'm 41 and have noticed that when my diet is not very clean, everything suffers.. Not just my weight. I get much more sluggish, and recuperation time from a hard workout takes longer.
Also, I wanted to throw in the "sleep" factor. I don't know about any of you, but as I've gotten older I suffer more and more from insomnia.. when I don't sleep well, my workouts are terrible as well and I feel like I am less tolerant of those nagging little aches and pains.
Lynn M.
boybielicious
Cathlete
As we get older, we certainly have to listen to what our bodies can reasonably do, but I absolutely believe intensity is not all about super fast & super heavy.
If you can't go as heavy as you used to, fatigue yourself through all the different types of lifting (ie supersets, drop sets, pyramids, changing rep patterns, etc). You certainly don't have to lift mack trucks to get that burn.
I am a huge fan of functional fitness through the use of the bosu, wobble board, own body weight, kettlebells, and the list goes on.
Same holds true for cardio. Mixing it up a lot can really give you your oomph factor. Can't sprint? Do hill climbing intervals. Run for an hour to test your endurance. Climb stairs....and so forth.
I hate to use the analogy of getting older & not beating up the body. Well, some people do get energized from these intense workouts that can absolutely be achieved without being beat up.
I'm just sayin....
SirenSongWoman
Cathlete
You know, a while back someone stated that instead of feeling energized by her workouts she actually feels wiped out. I came back and said I always feel whipped, also. I don't recall the age factor being brought up in that thread and I hadn't seriously considered it until now. Maybe the real reason my workouts have gotten kind of... spotty lately (besides being bummed about the economy, the dreary weather, etc.) might be because I'm just too old (47) to work out the way I could have when I was younger. And if you insist on working out too hard for your age, recovery takes longer and working out becomes such a drag that you just don't look forward to the next workout. Hmm. Something to ponder.
SirenSongWoman
Cathlete
It is so bizarre that you mentioned The Firm. I quit doing TF about a year ago because, I told myself, I wanted to work out with "serious" weight. But, ever since, I've bounced around to so many different workout styles (mostly Cathe, but 3-day, 4-day, mostly cardio...) and the positive changes in my body completely stopped. Just the other day my power lifting/krav maga pal, Dave, and I had lunch and were talking about my recent lack of results. He asked "What were you doing when you lost all the weight (rhetorical, I rolled my eyes because we've had this chat before)?" Then he said "You need to go back to what you WERE doing because it worked. That was The Firm...It DID work. So I'm thinking I just might go back to a bit of that, with some Cathe, some Cardio Coach, some Pilates, maybe introduce Kettlebells... What I need is a really good personal trainer who could help me better tailor a solid program in which all the parts work well together to get me to where I really want to be but I can't swing it ($$) right now. A week or so ago someone here posted a link to a FigureAthlete.com article about how the moves female body builders do are all wrong for women after a "beach body" physique. I know, at 47, I need to do workouts that I can do with a serious degree of consistency, that challenge without killing. Full throttle ALL the time just isn't getting it.
teddy16410
Cathlete
AMEN Sister!
For me lack of sleep due to hormonal changes is creating the biggest obstacle with BF around the middle! I can tell by my body - Only 5 hrs sleep at night means I get 3 extra &'s of BF! LOL- thats one way to get my EIGHT!
fit44
Cathlete
Kariev,
I was just going to post a suggestion for the Squeeze Harder workout! It's great, and I think it goes well with the Slim Series. I'm quickly becoming a fan of Tracy Effinger. I hope she produces more full body workouts. I'm anxiously waiting for her new lower body workout
I'm beginning to realize that lifting heavy is not in my best interest. I noticed when I pick up the barbell with heavy weights, my spine seems to crunch and grind like it's settling or something. I'm seriously thinking about canceling my STS. I've very worried I can't handle this style of lifting anymore.
I was just going to post a suggestion for the Squeeze Harder workout! It's great, and I think it goes well with the Slim Series. I'm quickly becoming a fan of Tracy Effinger. I hope she produces more full body workouts. I'm anxiously waiting for her new lower body workout
I'm beginning to realize that lifting heavy is not in my best interest. I noticed when I pick up the barbell with heavy weights, my spine seems to crunch and grind like it's settling or something. I'm seriously thinking about canceling my STS. I've very worried I can't handle this style of lifting anymore.
Netta
Cathlete
This is pretty much how I feel too, except I'm going to give STS a shot when it comes out. I'll be 50 next month and am wondering, why do I need to push myself harder? I'm healthy (as far as I know). I have lots of endurance and can cut and stack firewood all day with DH, do yard work for hours if I have to. Who am I trying to impress with looking leaner? Am I doing this to say, "Look at me"? My DH and family love me no matter what BF% I have. Guess I'm becoming more secure in myself, which is a great feeling. I used to do long bike rides to get ready for metric or century bike rides, but they are time consuming. Now I do shorter, more intense rides once or twice a week, which leaves more time for my newest hobby: golf
. I am finally stopping to smell the roses more with family and friends. I know how hard it is to get the BF% down lower, and it's about clean eating. But do I want to? Do I want to sit and eat salad at a family get together, or go without a piece of birthday cake from my niece's party? No. I know a lady that just died due to breast cancer. Not even 2 years since her diagnosis. Bet she never wished that she had exercised more or been able to do one more pullup. Life is short. I'm not going to spend it wishing I had a leaner body or a smaller butt. Everything in moderation. Smell the roses more... Okay, enough.
Connie07
Cathlete
I have cut way back on long, intense cardio. I got to the point where I didn't want to do cardio at all because of aches, pain and stiffness afterwards. I changed things up, short intense cardio, short intese weight training. I'm much happier these days because I"m not resenting long workouts that leave me with NO time for anything else during the week. With age comes wisedom (I"m 48) and I"m at a point where I want to "smell the roses" so to speak. I love horseback riding but until this year didn't spend as much time riding because with work, working out and all the other chores (live on a farm) it didn't leave much time for riding. I do shorter workouts (but make sure they are intense enough to count) and have more time to spend with my horses. I LOVE it. Lets face it, a lean body comes from low body fat so I would rather be a little more strict with diet and free up my time. (Still working on the diet thing) I have fewer aches and pains these days too. I do like heavy training but it just kills my joints, same thing with high impact cardio, the kness just can't take it and thats OK! We can still be in great shape at any age, just train smarter not harder.
I have jumped on the Leslie bandwagon and am very glad to have done so. I still use Cathe for weight training and I did preorder STS but I have had to tone down the cardio. It was just leaving me exhausted and tired for the rest of the day. Walking with Leslie in the morning really energizes me and leaves me feeling good that I got a walk in. I also like that I can add a mile here or there on days when cardio isn't even on the schedule. This from someone who couldn't stand Leslie and now I love her. You can make your movements bigger, use a rebounder, add lite weights whatever to up the intensity.Some have even beeen usidng their step with Leslie.