Nicki kept me up Friday night so that i was too zonked to work out and Saturday's drill got pushed over to Sunday which meant that i had to do three work outs in a row were i to keep up with my appointed schedule. I did which means i get to take a leisurely dog walk along the river bank tomorrow.
Earlier in the week i was doing my pseudo tai-chi balancing routine while some twenty-something off to my left was doing heel-to-butt frog jumps followed by a scramble of left-right bend and thrusts. As i stood with outstretched arms on my quivering left ankle, i thought that were i to do what he was doing, the first jump would be followed by a cacophany of cracking sounds and silence.
"The difference between what you're doing and what i'm doing," i said laconically, "is 40 years." He laughed but when he left somewhat later he made a point of saying, "surely not more than 25." Sweet.
In fact, i do work out hard and work up a sweat and from the young-uns i get something better than the pitiable looks and deference given to someone tottering before a fall. "How'd your work-out go?" they ask, which implies that a "good work out" is not something beyond the pale.
What is a good work out? At all ages it is a work out that leaves you flushed and tired but not so depleted that your body can't recover one degree more than what it started out with so that you make gains in strength or stamina. For young and old alike, "maxing out" is the name of the game.
Of course, maxing out at 20, 40, 60 and (hopefully) 80 take place along a sliding decline. That is what it means to get old: we max out with less. (Somehow this does seem as promising as it sounds.) At any rate, the key is to correctly calibrate what the "less" is. If we do less by simply lessening weight or distance we won't max out. But if we try to max out by doing what we did before we will end up a pile of cracking sounds. Somewhat by chance, i've discovered what i think is a good geronto-routine.
Almost year ago, i had gotten into pretty good shape. I was able to do 10 x 3 sets of dips and chin-ups at my over weight body weight. Fake running was proceeding a-clip with 15 minutes of sustained hard pedalling. Then, in a moment of hubristic enthusiasm, i added a new exercise and sprained my elbow tendon. Then i sprained my ankle and then, twisting on snow, i did someting weird to my hip. Then, I cut a carrot and a wrist went out. I kept going back to the gym too soon until finally a monster flu laid me low for a month when it was all i could do to take Nicki out for a poop.
In June, completely demoralized, i dragged myself back to the gym, determined at least not to reinjure any of these less than supple tendons. Light and slow was going to be the name of the new game. To make a long story short, here is the routine:
1. Weight Training: Ascending/Descending Weights and Reps
Do 20 reps at the lowest plate. For each plate (10 lbs) up do 2 reps less; e.g. 20/20 - 18/30 - 16/40 - 14/50 - 12/60 - 10/70 - 8/80 + optional 6/90.
Whatever the last "max" is seek to bring the reps up to the previous level (10 reps at 80) at which point the whole routine can shift up.
The first four sets should be done virtually non stop with an even, somewhat slow motion. The last four are your traditional 12 - 10 - 8 - 6 progression.
This routine is probaby 60-70% biased toward aerobic endurance training, but it warms the muscles up and has done wonders in avoiding that one fatal heave n' jerk that ruins all. And it does build strength. In one month, i am almost back to where i was a year ago (although i am holding off on the chin ups till last).
2. Aerobics for the Joint Challenged
The only advice i have here is to note that you can injure yourself on a treadmill, elliptical trainer or skier. Their artificiality is both a benefit and a drawback.
All these machines produce an artificially constant repetitive motion. In real skiing, running and even bicycling, your joints and muscles are always reacting to random bumps, uneven surfaces, gusts of winds and so on. As a result, one part of your ankle or knee is not always getting hit with the same jolt. In machine running just the opposite is the case. So it is important not to loose yourself in the soap opera or sports-athon on the screen in front of you, but to pay attention to how your joints are doing.
It is also important to find a machine that best synchronizes with your own rythms. What injured my ankle was that the ski machine i was using had a subtle kick-back that i simply was never able coordinate with. The result was like a 1000 small hammer taps to my ankle bone ... with predictable results.
3. Pseudo Chi.
I used to wonder what all those Chinese Geezers got out of slow motion knee raises on the square in Chinatown. The muscle quivering of these "balance and hold" routines are like miniature internal flex repetions. They build up strength and resilience exactly where old-geezers need it: in the muscles and ligaments closest to joints. Surprisingly, they build up stamina as well.
I don't think it's necessary to join a formal class. I am experimenting with positions i recall from various martial arts i have taken and with "ideas" that just pop into my head. The basic idea is to practice balance and twisting and flexing with very slow motions and held positions. These exercise will prevent the carrot cutting injuries.
4. Stretching.
No one can ever say enough about stretching and no one ever pays attention. Every gym has a stretch chart, but what the charts don't tell you is that they key is not the stretch but the breathing. Put another way, breathing is the stretch.
It is fairly obvious that if you are stretching your back, a big inhale is going to stretch out the back and lateral muscles. What is not so obvious -- but equally true -- is that a deep breath also stretches out your hamstrings. Don't ask me why but it's true.
I've made more progress stretching by focusing less on the stretch and more on deep breathing while i stretch.
With these principles in mind, my routines are
MONDAY & THURSDAY
machine bench press + leg extensions + machine military press + [30-40 minutes aerobics] + Pseudo Chi + incline sit up + dips + stretches.
TUESDAY & FRIDAY
machine row + leg curls + free weight curls + [30-40 minutes aerobic] + Pseudo Chi + hyperextensions + (eventually) chin ups + stretches.
This is basically a major-group push/pull routine, with triceps exercised indirectly but effectively.
It is also a good idea to throw in a little variation for example by doing press and row on a Monday followed by shoulder press and curls on Tuesday.
It's a longish work out of about 75 minutes - but more is better when you're having fun, right? :)
