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Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

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Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#21

Post by contingencies »

mindcrime wrote: post #14
contingencies wrote: post #11

As someone who has recently quit smoking (6 months) and started a daily regimen of 1.5 hrs of serious cycling (including 45 min up a steep incline) at 2000m (6500ft) altitude at age 34 (2 weeks down; with a couple of breaks for alternatives like hikes or longer bike trips), this article makes me feel like I've made the right decision, despite daily aching muscles. I'm using the hope of joining a group cycle trip acro…

As someone who has recently quit smoking (6 months) and started a daily regimen of 1.5 hrs of serious cycling (including 45 min up a steep incline) at 2000m (6500ft) altitude at age 34 (2 weeks down; with a couple of breaks for alternatives like hikes or longer bike trips), this article makes me feel like I've made the right decision Definitely. Take it from me, the alternative(s) are no fun. I got lazy about biking…

Thanks for the supportive words and I'm glad you're still around to cajole people in the right direction!

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#22

Post by jjrp »

mindcrime wrote: post #13

I sure hope so! I'm 42 now, and I just came back in from a bike ride - only my second since a 5 month layoff caused by a combination of weather, travel and shoulder surgery - and I'm beat. And gawd was I slllooooowwwww out there tonight. Uuuggghhh. But hey, I know it will come back with time, and - more to the point - I know how important it is to stay active. After the whole heart-attack thing back in 2014, I'm pret…

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#23

Post by industriousthou »

hyperchase wrote: post #17
rebootthesystem wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Same question someone else asked: What's your injury history been like? Coincidentally, I just got back from the doctor. I had my right ankle x-rayed because it's been sore for couple of weeks. I kind of limp in the morning until it warms up and then I can walk normally but step the wrong way and it can be painful. Nothing wrong. They said it's probably a strained ligament issue. I am doing 200 lbs squat…

I got cocky as a novice, and fucked my back pretty bad and was out of comission for a 4 months or so. Got cocky chasing huge (for me, at the time) numbers and ended up losing way more progress than I gained. Minor things here and there in my shoulders and elbows, which I ended up fixing by tearing apart my own bench press form and being meticulous with ever part of the lift. Bench press is, in my opinion, the most te…

>Don't neglect mobility work. It's boring, but it'll save you in the long run.

Dude, yeah. Been lifting on and off for about five years and made a little progress. Just started working with a trainer and realized that I've never done a proper dead lift because I lack flexibility in my hamstrings. I always kind of blew off mobility as not being related to strength. A real eye opener.

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#24

Post by [deleted] »

jjrp wrote: post #22
mindcrime wrote: post #13

I sure hope so! I'm 42 now, and I just came back in from a bike ride - only my second since a 5 month layoff caused by a combination of weather, travel and shoulder surgery - and I'm beat. And gawd was I slllooooowwwww out there tonight. Uuuggghhh. But hey, I know it will come back with time, and - more to the point - I know how important it is to stay active. After the whole heart-attack thing back in 2014, I'm pret…

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

[deleted]

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#25

Post by rsync »

It's my understanding from my reading of pop-science books (specifically, Nick Lanes) that mitochondria can be selected for within your own body.

As you age, mutations naturally produce slightly broken mitochondria who do a slightly worse job at making energy. However, if you are exercising vigorously, those poorly functioning mitochondria will die off (apoptosis) and you will maintain a (relatively) "fitter" population of mitochondria inside your muscles, as those are the ones that are left to reproduce.

If you don't ever exercise, you'll probably feel fine (all else being equal) but secretly, you're cultivating a weak population of mitochondria within your own muscle cells. At some point the weakness of that population will become apparent.

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#27

Post by rosser »

jjrp wrote: post #22
mindcrime wrote: post #13

I sure hope so! I'm 42 now, and I just came back in from a bike ride - only my second since a 5 month layoff caused by a combination of weather, travel and shoulder surgery - and I'm beat. And gawd was I slllooooowwwww out there tonight. Uuuggghhh. But hey, I know it will come back with time, and - more to the point - I know how important it is to stay active. After the whole heart-attack thing back in 2014, I'm pret…

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

I'm 43. My father had had his third heart attack by the time he was my age. Shitty diet, smoking during more of his life than not, negligible exercise (despite being an adrenalin junkie), and high-stress work (during my life, he was everything from a paramedic, to an underwater welder, to a corrections officer at a state penitentiary) were doubtless contributing factors. I'm sure genetics played a substantial part, too.

Given all that, it's something I've been pretty paranoid about since his death (motorcycle accident). My cardiovascular health, however, seems to be a bullet dodged: my BP is pretty consistently about 110/70, my resting heart rate is in the low 50s, and my 1-minute heart-rate recovery is always at least 40.

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#28

Post by mindcrime »

jjrp wrote: post #22
mindcrime wrote: post #13

I sure hope so! I'm 42 now, and I just came back in from a bike ride - only my second since a 5 month layoff caused by a combination of weather, travel and shoulder surgery - and I'm beat. And gawd was I slllooooowwwww out there tonight. Uuuggghhh. But hey, I know it will come back with time, and - more to the point - I know how important it is to stay active. After the whole heart-attack thing back in 2014, I'm pret…

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

I mean, they never really know exactly what causes any particular heart attack. But there are definitely specific risk factors I can single out, and beyond that, I can speculate.

For starters, I was a bit overweight, and I am diabetic. Those are both risk factors. But on the flip side, my diabetes is well controlled, and while overweight, I wasn't exactly the stereotypical 400 lb slob that you look at and go "how is that guy still alive?" But while I was pretty active at times during my life (on an "on again, off again" basis), I was one of those people who eats a shitty diet and imagines that he can make up for it by working out more. So even though I wasn't huge outwardly, I'm pretty sure the crap diet, over a period of many years, played a role.

But beyond that, I was working crazy hard on this startup, and doing really nutty shit like working 100+ hours a week (between the day job and the startup), not getting enough sleep, and consuming simply ridiculous amounts of caffeine. I'd go to Barnes & Noble or Starbucks to work on the startup after getting off work at my other job, and sit there and drink a triple-shot latte, chase that with a Red Bull, and eat a box or two of chocolate covered espresso beans... 4 or 5 times a week.

I've also had some minor, but annoying, knee issues since I was a teenager and I've used a lot of ibuprofen over the years, including taking more than the recommended amount and definitely taking it longer than you're supposed to. Well, guess what? In the last couple of years they've found that sustained use of ibuprofen increases your risk of heart attack.

All in all, my personal hunch is that the main things that contributed to it where: 1. my diet, 2. stress, 3. weight, 4. excessive ibuprofen

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#29

Post by rebootthesystem »

hyperchase wrote: post #17
rebootthesystem wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Same question someone else asked: What's your injury history been like? Coincidentally, I just got back from the doctor. I had my right ankle x-rayed because it's been sore for couple of weeks. I kind of limp in the morning until it warms up and then I can walk normally but step the wrong way and it can be painful. Nothing wrong. They said it's probably a strained ligament issue. I am doing 200 lbs squat…

I got cocky as a novice, and fucked my back pretty bad and was out of comission for a 4 months or so. Got cocky chasing huge (for me, at the time) numbers and ended up losing way more progress than I gained. Minor things here and there in my shoulders and elbows, which I ended up fixing by tearing apart my own bench press form and being meticulous with ever part of the lift. Bench press is, in my opinion, the most te…

Thanks for the insight. I am going to back off on how aggressively I increase the load and go to work on flexibility and technique.

Re: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

#30

Post by IndianAstronaut »

mindcrime wrote: post #28
jjrp wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened? I mean, they never really know exactly what causes any particular heart attack. But there are definitely specific risk factors I can single out, and beyond that, I can speculate. For starters, I was a bit overweight, and I am diabetic. Those are both risk factors. But on the flip side, my diabetes is well controlled, and while overweight, I wasn't…

Jesus. That sounds like the path I am headed down. Overweight, workaholic, ibuprofen taker.
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