Do people really get that weak as they get older??!!

[XmisterIS]

It's scary to see how the human body atrophies if not maintained!

I took a few friends to my local climbing wall the other day to introduce them to it. They don't go to the gym or anything like that, but they are what most doctors would consider fit and healthy. They all do desk jobs like me.

They're all about my age - 35 - I wasn't expecting them to be able to run up the hardest climb in the place (God knows I can't!) ... but I was expecting them to be a little stronger than they actually were!

After 20 years of not doing any strength-based exercise, it is scary to see what happens to the human body! One of the guys there hadn't done anything like that since he left school 20 years ago - and he literally couldn't do one single pull-up - literally, he stood on the ground, put his arms up onto the bar and pulled with all his might and didn't budge off the ground one millimetre. And yet according to his doctor his lives a healthy lifestyle - walks every weekend and eats well.

I reckon that if you get to the point where you literally can't do one pull-up - or anywhere near it - then you're probably doing damage to your body, despite what the doctors say. It can't be good for your bones or ligaments or muscles or anything to just allow them to waste away for 20 years.

I'm not an amazing rock climber by any stretch of the imagination, but I can at least knock out 20 pull-ups, even at the grand old age of 35!

What becomes of the body of the desk-bound worker aged 55 or 65 after 40 or 50 years of no strength-based exercise?! It is scary to think about ... Now I can see how people end up with brittle bones and curved spines, hobbling along on zimmer frames in their early 70's. Sure, my aunt has a curved spine and brittle bones and hobbles along on a zimmer frame ... but she is 96 (and deaf as a post and still doesn't understand what an answering machine is) - and she has been fit and strong all her life. When she was 70 she was still climbing mountains (small ones!).

[GazzyG]

I agree with you that most people are out of shape these days, particularly people with office-based jobs. It's definitely a good idea for most people to get a little bit more exercise, particularly something strength based, like climbing, rugby or weights.

However, pullups are quite niche, I don't see them as being the best indicator of how good a shape a person is in. I can do chins with added weight tied to my waist, but I'm out of puff in half an hour on the football pitch. Conversely my brother can play football all day long yet can't crack out one pullup.

I also see people in the gym who can barely deadlift 60kg, yet can rep out pullup after pullup because they weigh very little themselves.

When I was a teenager, I was in the TA. The test they had us do every now and then was pushups, situps and a mile and a half run. That was a reasonable way to weed out who was in decent shape and who wasn't, I think. Nicely balanced, in my opinion.

[Tango]

Will I get into trouble for posting this here?

Two old drunks are sitting in a bar when the first one says,

'Ya know, when I was thirty and got an erection, I couldn't bend it, even using both hands.

By the time I was forty, I could bend it about ten degrees if I tried really hard.

By the time I was fifty, I could bend it about twenty degrees, no problem.

I'm gonna be sixty next week, and now I can bend it in half with just one hand.'

'So,' says the second drunk, 'what's your point?'

'Well, I'm just wondering how much stronger I'm gonna get.'

[bex]

i have never been able to do a pull up, so what, thats not a indication of a persons health or strength. i am stronger than most women my age but i am healthy and i got to he gym, swim and other excersise based places but i can barely do a push up.

but i will agree that i am amazed at how fast my body stops working if i dont work out.

[siamia]

Ive never felt better than when I had a full on physical job. I was moving all day for 9 hrs and was lifting 25kgs upwards all the time never mind all this h&s stuff. After a more office type job I feel far worse for wear, especially as I can find no time to fit in the same sort of excercise as I need to feel fit as a fiddle.

Used to love nothing more than to cycle to work, but all the women just look down their nose at you if you do that......fashion is the worst thing in the world imo, if it wasnt for that my life would be miles easier.

As for pull ups, well never done more than 15 lol but could easily do 60 press ups hahaha

[Remy]

Doesn't it also depend on which muscles you are using - you may be strong in as much you can lift weights etc but haven't got the stamina to run or swim or cycle because different muscle groups are needed.

In answer to the original question yes your muscles do lose substance as you age and you have to work harder to keep them going.

I have always been very strong, I used to swim, play squash, I wanted to get my black belt in karate but got to purple and had to give up because I got pregnant! Before our karate lesson we would have to run around a huge sports field, do sit ups, press ups and stretches - THEN an hour and a half karate . I was pretty fit then!

I have ridden horses for years and if you ride them properly you use a lot of abdominal and leg muscles. But as I've aged I've got afflicted with the effects of past injuries, general wear and tear, backache and arthritis, and have lost loads of my strength. IMO a big influence on how fit you can stay, apart from keeping active, is down to diet and eating the right things. Eating cr*p makes a huge difference to my energy levels, but there's not that much you can do about arthritis, except try and ignore it!

[R3pilot]

Will I get into trouble for posting this here?

Two old drunks are sitting in a bar when the first one says,

'Ya know, when I was thirty and got an erection, I couldn't bend it, even using both hands.

By the time I was forty, I could bend it about ten degrees if I tried really hard.

By the time I was fifty, I could bend it about twenty degrees, no problem.

I'm gonna be sixty next week, and now I can bend it in half with just one hand.'

'So,' says the second drunk, 'what's your point?'

'Well, I'm just wondering how much stronger I'm gonna get.'

 

Its funny but thats what I was going to post

[XmisterIS]

Doesn't it also depend on which muscles you are using - you may be strong in as much you can lift weights etc but haven't got the stamina to run or swim or cycle because different muscle groups are needed.

In answer to the original question yes your muscles do lose substance as you age and you have to work harder to keep them going.

I have always been very strong, I used to swim, play squash, I wanted to get my black belt in karate but got to purple and had to give up because I got pregnant! Before our karate lesson we would have to run around a huge sports field, do sit ups, press ups and stretches - THEN an hour and a half karate . I was pretty fit then!

I have ridden horses for years and if you ride them properly you use a lot of abdominal and leg muscles. But as I've aged I've got afflicted with the effects of past injuries, general wear and tear, backache and arthritis, and have lost loads of my strength. IMO a big influence on how fit you can stay, apart from keeping active, is down to diet and eating the right things. Eating cr*p makes a huge difference to my energy levels, but there's not that much you can do about arthritis, except try and ignore it!

 

I do hope I don't get anything that will curtail my ability to keep fit; it's one of those "life lottery" things I do fear. So far, my family seem to have been lucky with that; my aunt is doddery, but she is 96 and I would expect most people to be doddery at 96!

As for the strength/stamina thing - that's why I like climbing - you need to be insanely strong to be good at it; plus you're doing it all day long so you need stamina too.

In the summer, coming back from a day's climbing introduces you to a new level of exhaustion!

[techno]

I have a job which goes from sitting watching a machine all night sometimes to being up and about manipulating heavy bits of metal others, however i decided that i had to do something extra as i am now over 40 to keep fit and look after myself and i have to say i feel the benefit, i actually wish i'd started sooner. I see others around me at my age with expanding bellies and others hobling around not for me thanks i want to fight off old age not embrace it!

[Colin the Bear]

As you get older, keeping fit slips down the list of priorities, as keeping alive replaces it.

Don't worry about getting old, you ride a bike, chances are it won't be a problem

Enjoy your youth but make sure you survive it.

[techno]

Well there's a cheery thought Colin thanks

[nman1]

I used to visit the gym at least 3 times a week, spent 1.5 hours doing muscle building and cardio work then spend 20-30 mins in the pool and sauna. Since giving up the car, it got to be more of a pain getting in and out of biking gear, (particulary in winter) and sweating like a stuck pig on the way home after a shower in the summer. I`m now getting totally un-fit and have developed some form of arthritis so my days of feeling fit I fear are over.

Unless of course I get a car or a push bike.

[OhJay]

How do you assess how fit someone is?

I can't do a single pull up, they had me doing "assisted" pull ups at the gym and I needed something like 20% of my body weight in assistance before I could really move it.

I can't run to the end of my road before my asthma kicks in and I simply stop breathing...

...but I can do 100m in 14 seconds. I can cycle Sandhurst to Farnham, puts different pressures on my chest so my breathing isn't as laboured. I can throw an 80mph fastball (and have been banned from snowball fights at work as a result )

I agree with your initial post about desk jobs and losing fitness but disagree with your pull up metric

[GazzyG]

How do you assess how fit someone is?

I can't do a single pull up, they had me doing "assisted" pull ups at the gym and I needed something like 20% of my body weight in assistance before I could really move it.

I can't run to the end of my road before my asthma kicks in and I simply stop breathing...

...but I can do 100m in 14 seconds. I can cycle Sandhurst to Farnham, puts different pressures on my chest so my breathing isn't as laboured. I can throw an 80mph fastball (and have been banned from snowball fights at work as a result )

I agree with your initial post about desk jobs and losing fitness but disagree with your pull up metric

 

Nice post!

 

As for the strength/stamina thing - that's why I like climbing - you need to be insanely strong to be good at it; plus you're doing it all day long so you need stamina too.

 

Can't be doing with blanket statements, haha!

I know rock-climbers, pretty good ones too. Clamber up things like monkeys. But you don't need to be 'insanely strong' - you just need to have fairly decent strength relative to your bodyweight.

[Colin the Bear]

I used to go to the gym 3 times a week but they got a restraining order...spoilsports

[Guest]

Sure, my aunt has a curved spine and brittle bones and hobbles along on a zimmer frame ... but she is 96 (and deaf as a post and still doesn't understand what an answering machine is) - and she has been fit and strong all her life. When she was 70 she was still climbing mountains (small ones!).

 

My grandad isn't any of that, at the grand old age of 90 him self.

Sure its about lifestyle, but its genetics as well, I'm sure.

Christ he is as lazy I am, even driving to the shop when its a minuet walk . But lived a very active and fulfilling lifestyle...

[Roadtorque]

It's not the job,, it's the life style, Booze, Fags & Sex all takes it's toll, & for the young single lads who are not getting any

There's spec savers

[Sigil]

I agree with some of the stuff, like fitness not just being about strength or stamina it is a mix of both.

IMO you need to be able to move your own weight around pull ups are one example deadlifting your body weight or higher is another while also maintaing a good level of cardio fitness ie being able to maintain a jog, or a couple of lengths in the pool doing front crawl at a decent rate.

Been going to the gym since i was 16 on average 4-6 times a week but i do enjoy it and my aim is to be able to be fully mobile and fit enough to do long walks exc as long as i can (cant stand the idea of being bed ridden because of lack of fitness)

Knew a guy at my old gym who must of been late 60's or early 70's with bad arthritis and he could manage 50 laps of the swimming pool (half Olympic) in one go, he did a large range of free weights in the gym (while not a huge amount as much as some 20 year old people do!). That guy was a big inspiration to me and enforced that i want to be that fit at his age.

If i can hike across some of the Scottish highlands when im over 60 i will of had achieved , 39 more years till i can test that one out...

[Colin the Bear]

It really is a lottery being fit at a ripe old age. Injuries and wear and tear add up, an infection can cause organ failure and can reduce your capability to do , well anything, or leave your without the capacity to do much. Mental illness can be debilitating.

I asked my gran about being bedridden. She said she liked being table ended best.

[XmisterIS]

I asked my gran about being bedridden. She said she liked being table ended best.

 

Would you like to get your coat or shall I get it for you?

[GazzyG]

I agree with some of the stuff, like fitness not just being about strength or stamina it is a mix of both.

IMO you need to be able to move your own weight around pull ups are one example deadlifting your body weight or higher is another while also maintaing a good level of cardio fitness ie being able to maintain a jog, or a couple of lengths in the pool doing front crawl at a decent rate.

Been going to the gym since i was 16 on average 4-6 times a week but i do enjoy it and my aim is to be able to be fully mobile and fit enough to do long walks exc as long as i can (cant stand the idea of being bed ridden because of lack of fitness)

Knew a guy at my old gym who must of been late 60's or early 70's with bad arthritis and he could manage 50 laps of the swimming pool (half Olympic) in one go, he did a large range of free weights in the gym (while not a huge amount as much as some 20 year old people do!). That guy was a big inspiration to me and enforced that i want to be that fit at his age.

If i can hike across some of the Scottish highlands when im over 60 i will of had achieved , 39 more years till i can test that one out...

 

Good post! Though I prefer deadlifting double or triple bodyweight

 

It really is a lottery being fit at a ripe old age. Injuries and wear and tear add up, an infection can cause organ failure and can reduce your capability to do , well anything, or leave your without the capacity to do much. Mental illness can be debilitating.

I asked my gran about being bedridden. She said she liked being table ended best.

 

Colin, Colin, Colin...

[littlecat]

WELL I@M 44 , HAVE TERRIBLE ARTHRITIS FROM THE GYMNASTICS, DO A DESK JOB, BUT ALSO QUALIFIED AS A FITNESS INTRUCTOR LAST YEAR FOR FUN, AND AT JUST OVER 8 STONE, I CHUCK AROUND A 225KG STEEL FRAMED BIKE FOR FUN AT THE WEEKENDS( OH AND AM ALSO THE ONLY ONE IN MOST OF THE HIGH IMPACT GYM CLASSES THAT CAN DO THE WHOLE PRESS UP SET ON THEIR TOES....INCLUDING THE BLOKES)......YEAH, TERRIBLE THIS GETTING OLD AND FEEBLE LARK.... OH AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE ARM WRESTLING ....LMAO

[Guest]

WELL I@M 44 , HAVE TERRIBLE ARTHRITIS FROM THE GYMNASTICS, DO A DESK JOB, BUT ALSO QUALIFIED AS A FITNESS INTRUCTOR LAST YEAR FOR FUN, AND AT JUST OVER 8 STONE, I CHUCK AROUND A 225KG STEEL FRAMED BIKE FOR FUN AT THE WEEKENDS( OH AND AM ALSO THE ONLY ONE IN MOST OF THE HIGH IMPACT GYM CLASSES THAT CAN DO THE WHOLE PRESS UP SET ON THEIR TOES....INCLUDING THE BLOKES)......YEAH, TERRIBLE THIS GETTING OLD AND FEEBLE LARK.... OH AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE ARM WRESTLING ....LMAO

 

I can also talk with out caps lock!

[techno]

We dont so much get weak but we do get smarter and go to our local dealers and leave with a yamaha, normally a nice fazer

[XmisterIS]

We dont so much get weak but we do get smarter and go to our local dealers and leave with a yamaha, normally a nice fazer