Pentagenarians & Beyond: 10/13/2024

Hi ladies. I hope you don't mind if I crash your thread. I'm kind of hoping for some level-headed advice on aging, and you all seem pretty level headed. To be honest, I've read your thread several times to kind of get some emotional support now and then. :) So, I'll try to keep this short. If you don't want to reply, I understand.

I'm 56 and have been exercising since high school, way back with Bess Motta's 20 Minute Workout. Maybe some of you remember that, LOL. I've been exclusively using Cathe's workouts for decades. I feel like my body has been telling me to slow down every once in a while for about a year or so, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of the results! And I've also read quite a bit about how post-menopausal women actually need to up their game to stay fit and keep the fat off.

I had a little scare recently that I might have heart problems, but my cardiologist cleared me of that, thank goodness. Sometimes I get dizzy during hard cardio, and when I check my blood pressure, it is pretty low. My best guess is that it's something age-related. Not a health problem, not a huge deal, but something I need to adjust to. My big debate with myself is, should I back off of cardio or just deal with it?

ETA: If you'd like to share, I'd be grateful for any stories of how you've dealt with aging and exercise. Thank you.
 
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It's been a crazy week here. Didn't sleep well enough to workout Tuesday. Then Wednesday Derek and I left at 8 for shopping as he needed a new phone, but we had to be home because the service person was coming to look at the washer 12-4, and DH had an in office meeting that day. Verizon took us about 45 minutes! And then we flew through our last stop at Meijer. I've never gone so fast shopping before. LOL Derek had the cart so I could fast walk ahead of him and grab stuff. We pulled in the garage and DH called me to say the guy would be there in 15 minutes. So, sure 12:05 arrival. The times you need them to come at the end of the window they don't! He declared the washer dead, so Wednesday after I walked at the zoo, I went to my parents and did a load of laundry for each of us. I did manage to do STS 2 Total Body Stretch before I went to the zoo. This morning I did STS Disk 7 Shoulders, Chest and Biceps. Have some things I need to get done this morning, but hopefully I can come back later an catch up.
 
Today I did Jessica Smith’s One Mile of Motivation, 15 minutes, 117 calories, average heart rate 137 and maximum heart rate 150. Then I did STS 2.0 Mobility 1.

Hi, SRP. I’m glad that you get inspiration from our thread. I’m in my 70s and I have definitely changed the way that I work out. I love Cathe’s workouts, but I do them differently. I have learned that I’m not in a contest to match Cathe’s weights or cardio speed. I modify cardio as needed, but I have no plans to stop. My only advice for you is to listen to your body. Sometimes workouts need to be shorter, but anything that I do is progress for me.

Judy, nice job with Muscle Meltdown Triceps, Back, and Shoulders, Peloton ride, and Yin Yoga.

Diane Sue, great job with Raw Box and Pump, Ab Finisher, and Yoga Stretch. Have a wonderful weekend with your family.

Valerie, our main television is 55” and over 10 years old. It replaced a large heavy thing like the one that you described. My brother gave us this current tv when he replaced his with a larger size. I wouldn’t want anything larger than 55”.

Cathy, you really have had a crazy week. Hopefully things will slow down and give you a breather.

Have a great day everyone.
 
Our house was not designed for an 85 inch Tv. not sure I'd like that anyway. we are not sports people and don't enjoy sci-fi or "blow it all up" movies. 55 inches is fine. the sound quality is not great. very flat and tinny but there is no TV internal structure to support a big speaker system. the thing has the heft of a bunch of credit cards taped together. DH adjusted some settings that helped a lot and we will look into an amp or a sound bar. the audio track on movies these days is not aimed at dialogue, its focused on the background music. I detest rap. its showing up a lot. my hearing is not like when I was 20 but I do fine if bad music doesn't drown out the words. we have a very old sound system that still works ok & might hook it up with the right cables. everything is different. one step at a time.

I'm in the same age group as Carolyn, 76. I can't do fast jumpy cardio anymore, and it was never a favorite. I'm ok with controlled ROM cardio like biking, spinning, elliptical, hiking. I had back surgery last year and avoid fast twisting bending moves. I do weights regularly but keep an eye on joint issues. rt knee is getting very dicey. shoulder bothered me for a long time but I stopped doing straight floor push ups and its Ok now. I modified to knee or wall leaning ones and do them more often. its okay, the pain went away.
Modify to make it work for you. I do more frequent , shorter workouts, more reps of less weight. injuries happen easily. takes you out of training for a while. I am more cautious and advance more slowly, or content to hold in place. if I do 75 core ball-lifts, that's good enough. cant see a benefit to increasing the number. we saw even cathe wipe out her rotator cuff needing surgery and a long recovery.

cathy too bad about the washing machine. I like top loaders without the center agitator. I have an LG and a Samsung. both easy to use and problem free. mid range price. I did not like what I read about front loaders.
 
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Oh by the way, I'm Shannon. Sorry I didn't include my name.

Carolyn and Valerie - I really admire you for keeping up your workouts into your 70s. That's awesome. Most people would be quite happy to stay in the recliner. I do okay with weights as long as I don't go too heavy. Arthritis in my hands acts up then, but most of the time it's not bad. I can still do fairly fast cardio, but not high impact. My feet are fairly disagreeable (arthritis in the toes and past plantar fasciitis, which seems to have permanently changed them). I do all of Cathe's low impact, and I modify a lot of her high impact HIIT into low impact. I guess I'll have to play around a bit now though and see how much I need to back off because of the dizziness.

I often wonder how Cathe feels. Does she keep going because she feels like she has to? Does she ever want to slow down? She seems like she must be made of titanium. But Valerie, you're right - not even she is indestructible. But dang, she sure does still look like it, LOL.
 
Today I did I did ICE Muscle Meltdowns Triceps, Back & Shoulders again. I might try this routine twice a week for a while, along with the other 2 MMs, Biceps and Chest. I’m continuing to have issues with my left knee so I’m going to avoid lower body and cardio for a few days. I have another massage appointment next week and hopefully that will help, otherwise I’ll probably have to see a doctor about it.

Valerie- I just watched some clips of the Redbull rampage on YouTube and you weren’t kidding. That’s definitely not 90’s mountain biking, lol! That kind of riding is insane!

Diane Sue-Great job with Raw Box & Pump #8, Raw Ab Finisher, and Raw Yoga Stretch. I hope the steroid helps and that you have a great weekend with your family.

Cathy-Wow, that does sound like a crazy week! Great job with STS 2 Total Body Stretch and STS Disk 7.

Carolyn-Great job with Jessica Smith’s One Mile of Motivation and STS 2.0 Mobility 1.

Hi Shannon, I will be 62 in December and I have had to change/modify my workouts and training over the past few years. I also see a cardiologist annually and my blood pressure runs on the low side too. I love cardio but have learned that I need to not over do it. My focus has shifted to trying to build and maintain strength and muscle as I age. I’m also trying to add more active rest days and rest weeks into my schedule.
 
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Today I just did CDorner Morning wake up mobility and STS 2 upper foam rolling, 33 minutes. My grandchildren will be here shortly.

Cathy, I wondered where you were. If I go shopping with my husband shopping is fast because he won't let stand looking at labels and prices for long. It is just get it and lets go! I prefer to shop alone.
Nice that you were able to get in STS stretch and today's STS disk 7 shoulders, chest, and biceps.

Shannon, I am in my 70's and have been using Cathe since the beginning. When I was younger I could keep up, but as we get older we need to use more caution, listen to our bodies, and still keep moving. I have Rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and it has and still is a learning experience with trying to keep my bones built up and take care of the cardiovascular as well. Learning that I do not have to work out for hours and keep trying to lift really heavy to keep muscle. In reality we can over do and tear down our bodies. I get tempted to do the high impact stuff occasionally and I usually pay for it in my feet and knees. Keeping healthy ias we age is a trial I think. I do a lot of modifying. No Cathe is not indestructible. She sure is amazing though with what she can do. I swear she was fast getting back into the workouts after the rotator cuff surgery. My surgery seemed to set me back for a very long time and felt like torture. Maybe just lower intensity cardio workouts would be better or adjust till you can figure out what causes the dizziness.

Valerie, I find background music so aggravating on the television. Most just makes me want to get away from it.

Carolyn, nice work on Jessica Smith one mile motivation and STS 2 mobility #1.

Judy, good job on Ice muscle meltdown triceps, back, and shoulders. Sorry you are having to deal with your knee. Hopefully the massage helps.
 
Hi shannon... Ive had a heart problem that took a long time to track down. I was mid fifties when it showed up. If your problem persists, dont hesitate to go back to cardiology. it took several years to diagnose my problem because it was very very intermittent and hard to catch. I would get dizzy and sometimes faint due to an abnormal heart rhythm, but it was fixable. I dont want to sound like a drama queen, but monitor yourself. keep a record if it continues. dont hesitate to go back to Cardiology.


we could all write books about the joys of arthritis, couldnt we?

judy wasn't it totally nuts? I was fascinated in watching them plot and make the downhill course. I want to watch some of it on a Tv screen via u tube. bigger and 3 dimensional might be way better.

I suspect the Great Course program is going to change. I think they are working toward a monthly subscription program. all the DVD close out things make me wonder. my favorite person to watch is Michael Wysession. he has several courses. "how the earth works" is one, another is "Geologic wonders of the world". when I was in school back in the dark ages, plate tectonics not known.. he is such a good instructor that even if you know nothing about it, you learn alot. not sure if he has any other courses.
 
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Just finished LIC Cardio Timesaver. We're heading into four days of 70+ temps. Derek didn't get the job with the zoo. They hired someone from outside with more experience. While he's disappointed, he gets that they need help in areas that require experience. He's already sent out some applications. She did at least extend him through the end of November.

Diane Sue I haven't shopped with my husband in over 10 years. He's the opposite of yours and has to go down every aisle looking for things he might possibility want. Drove me nuts. Shopping with Derek is great because I can let him push the cart while I grab stuff and while he's only 5'3" That's 6" more than me, and he can reach things that I would have to climb the shelves to get. LOL

Hi Shannon. I definitely remember Bess Motta's 20 minute workout, I also had Jane Fonda's LP record and watched Charlene Prickett. I'm 63 and while I prefer Low Impact Cardio, I can still do high impact with a bit of modification. I have a knee issue that goes back to high school and I had surgery on it in '88 Back then rehab was pretty much non existent so it never really got 100% back, though it's quite functional as long as I back off when it feels certain ways. Cathe does some talks on Instagram and she did one talking about her accident when she tore her ACL and she does have some arthritis in that area, but she said she is careful to do a ton of stretching and that seems to work for her. She also had the shoulder surgery not that long ago.

Valerie I think our biggest television is 28" and my Roku is little. I've never felt the need for a huge TV. In part because depending on what I'm watching I listen more than I watch. Back when I started out working for the state we could have radios with head phones at our desks and we'd all listen to the soap operas on the local TV station. Even though that was 30 years ago, I apparently trained the need to just sit and watch out of me.

Hi Judy and Carolyn.
 
Today is my rest day. I went to the Farmer’s Market and picked up some produce. The weather was rather cold this morning, but it’s warming up nicely. I bought a different variety of winter squash to try. I usually stick with butternut or Delicata, but I got a small Kabocha to roast.

Judy, great job with the Muscle Meltdown again. I’m sorry that your knee is bothering you. It’s a good idea to be cautious with it.

Diane Sue, great job with CDorner Morning Wake Up Mobility and STS 2.0 Upper Body Foam rolling.

Cathy, nice job with LIC Cardio Timesaver. I’m sorry that Derek didn’t get the job.

Hello to Valerie.
 
We are working out our issues with the new tv. need some cables and may need to upgrade our old sound system. all new tvs have crummy sound. they are little more than plastic screens. no support structure for speakers. we are pretty low on the size totem pole with a 55 inch. seems like most TVs are huge! this is a decent size for our family room. its all working out Ok. we could not get Roku to work at all and ended up with Apple TV being the only one that did. I never learned to use the upstairs one. its different than the one in the exercise room, and hopefully I can learn the new one once it gets up and running.
yesterday I did a short spin, therapy exercises, and biceps/triceps premix. nothing yet today.

cathe seems almost bulletproof at times. I thought I would avoid the arthritis/knee issues but there is somethign wrong with the alignment of the patella on my rt knee. I will likely end up with knee replacement. damn genetics over ride all the exercise in the world.

DH had to go shopping with me this morning because I still cant drive without lenses. legally at least. almost done with the "no contacts' week. DH is no problem,he hates shopping. he hates cooking. he stays in his lane there. I have a list and I know the stores reasonably well so its not too big a chore.

tried to watch 3 different movies tonight and quit all of them. where do they get these movies? they were amateurish and awful. the sound is not good, we need to do something to improve it. very flat and monotone or something. I cant even describe it. louder doesn't help. very hard to understand dialogue because its like it erases all the tonal qualities above and below. flat.
 
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