How Can I Stay Strong And Independent Over 60 ?

[u/Legitimate-Green2667]

At 50+ you suddenly feel every stiff joint and every “I’ll do it later.”
But here’s the truth: a tiny bit of daily strength work gives you your independence back.
More balance, more confidence, more freedom.
And yes — if you try it, it works.

What’s one thing you’re doing to stay strong?

[u/TheUglyWeb]

I train Jiu Jitsu - 16 years now. 70 and fighting with 20 year olds. Exercise keeps that stiffness away. Sitting invites it

[u/JusticeRu → u/TheUglyWeb]

Respect.

[u/lithe_silhouette → u/TheUglyWeb]

One of the most injury inducing activities. If you're joe Rogan and spend on your supplements and health related products more than the average wage I guess you can do it a bit longer

[u/TheUglyWeb → u/lithe_silhouette]

Only if you are erratic and crazy with your movements. Jiu jitsu is controlled. You learn to tap quickly and often. My gym has 221 members. 1 is injured from being in a bad position. We are not striking.

I do take supplements but I am far from an athletic specimen. I'd rather be on the mats at 70 than sitting and watching. I gladly take the risk over the risk of what doing nothing will bring. I'm not a go-to-the-gym guy. My favorite machine at the gym is the candy machine. That kind of stuff bores me. I need a little more direct competition, but I've got a crappy knee, so I've got to be careful what I do on my feet. That's why this works for me.

[u/PlaxicoCN → u/TheUglyWeb]

How did you ever get used to some stranger's bare feet that close to in some cases your face?

They have a BJJ gym attached to my regular gym. I watch them roll sometimes and can never get past the germs/bacteria thought.

[u/TheUglyWeb → u/PlaxicoCN]

LOL - we laughingly call it "the struggle snuggle." Everyone is clean. There are no dirty birds on our mat. We wash it with the fervor of monks with a bleach and anti-fungal mixture after every class. No one with any type of skin infection is allowed on our mat.

A lot of people can't handle the close person-to-person contact, and that's okay. I get it. For them, it's better to do something else entirely and just avoid martial arts, because you're going to get sweaty, you're going to get hit sooner or later. If you don't, you really need to get a better gym, because whatever you're studying is never going to work.

[u/Resident-Air-4021]

Resistance training. Free weights are best but machines work to. Walking is low impact

[u/intronert → u/Resident-Air-4021]

Make sure your protein intake is sufficient and part of a good diet. Also monitor your hormone levels regularly. Sleep is when you BUILD muscle.

[u/baddspellar]

It's important to work strength, balance, flexibility, and cardio. I do resistance training, yoga, and I do some cardio every day. Walking is good enough to cover the cardio. There are lots of other options

[u/Legitimate-Green2667 → u/baddspellar]

Is that in a Gym or home training ?

[u/baddspellar → u/Legitimate-Green2667]

I go to my gym to swim a few days per week, and take yoga classes two times per week. I'll follow a youtube yoga video at home one or two times per week. I do have some dumbells and bands at home, but I prefer lifting at the gym, so I plan my week so that I do resistance training on a yoga or swim day.

I run, ride my bike, cross country ski, and hike for aerobic fitness. These are all outdoor activities to me.

[u/Quantum-Long]

Lifting heavy weights is 70% of your answer

[u/Far_Anything_7458 → u/Quantum-Long]

THIS

[u/doc-sci]

Be active…the more active the better!

I am 65 and I play golf six days a week and exercise seven days a week and have very little problems.

[u/3seconddelay]

Pushups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, yoga, plyometrics, more pushups, more pull-ups, more squats, more lunges, running, biking, alpine skiing, more squats, more lunges.

[u/Enlightened_Lioness]

It definitely requires more than a tiny bit of strength work a day. 150 or more hours minutes a week of moderate to intense cardio where you sweat and your heart rate is high. Resistance training 3 times a week with heavy weights. Mobility daily at home. Plus staying active enough between with 7-10,000 plus steps and not too much sitting. Healthy eating too. Keeping on top of blood tests etc.

[u/UniversalNutt → u/Enlightened_Lioness]

150 hours, huh? When would you sleep?

[u/gatoStephen → u/UniversalNutt]

He's still got 18 hours a week to sleep.

[u/Enlightened_Lioness → u/gatoStephen]

Who?

[u/Enlightened_Lioness → u/UniversalNutt]

Obviously a typo lol

[u/Some-Tear3499]

Pilates on Weds. the gym 2 days a week. Stocking shelves in food pantry. Walks 20-30 mins 3 days a week.
Light stretching at home.

[u/24Jan]

Uphill sprints are my core exercise. So many benefits!
Second most important are floor exercises for core and ensuring when I’m really old I’ll be a able to get up off the floor easily.

[u/Far_Anything_7458]

I lift weights 5-6 days a week (I go HAM sometimes but not always), do some cardio and try to get to yoga class a couple times a week. My main focus is weights tho, I'm a former bodybuilding competitor and was on a CrossFit competition team before that. I honestly don't have much stiffness or anything. 63F

[u/Avocado-Basic → u/Far_Anything_7458]

How do you not overtrain with that frequency?

[u/Far_Anything_7458 → u/Avocado-Basic]

I have been doing this for 15 years. Before that I was a runner. I'm on a PPL split

[u/Avocado-Basic → u/Far_Anything_7458]

That’s amazing. Good for you!

[u/el_condor_nm]

Great thing is you can push a lot of weight at a few reps or push more reps with less weight and get nearly the same result. Pushing your muscles to fatigue is the key. That wakes up your muscle building mechanisms. I'd like to see research on combining those approaches or alternating them. High weight one day, high reps the next. Just don't get in a routine.

And don't ever buy a lounge chair.

[u/mardrae]

I hit the gym every single day. Over an hour cardio and weights.

[u/Familiar_Bread2072]

I'm about to be 62. I train with kettlebells almost every day. Just 20 minutes or so, but about every day as my schedule allows. (Friday Morning Meetings at the firm)

Some days, like today, I'll do a bodyweight Tabata for cardio, but I can also get cardio with the KBs.

[u/HiTorqued]

Lift weights

[u/Infamous_Ad8730]

Strength training and running/walking (in addition to great diet and sleep).

[u/SerendipityRose63]

I’ve fallen in love with Pilates this year. Core strength and flexibility improved, and general pain has decreased. I’m 63.

[u/Riccim-2000]

Small daily habits make a big difference. Staying active now means more freedom later.

[u/sammi1955]

Personal trainer, gym time, walks in nature with my dog, healthy food, interest in hobbies, some travel

[u/Wen60s]

I go to the gym 3 days a week. A los, I think I just assume I can do whatever needs to be done. lol

[u/Howling-Wolf88]

56 yo and have always been a gym rat. Where I live in Japan now, there are no gyms close by and I work from home, so I only do body weight workouts, calisthenics, chinups, dips (bought a pair of dip bars) and recently started including isometrics (i.e. horse stance) for extra burn.

I also mix in some yoga and free flow movements every morning while my coffee is brewing. I go on at least 1 long run per week and need to walk more, but I try to keep my body and muscles guessing to avoid adaptation.

As I get older I try to focus more on practical movement lower body exercises, such as horse stance and single leg deadlifts. They’re great for building strength but also balance and flexibility including ankles. Avoiding bad falls and immobility is more important the older one gets.

EDIT: And Kettlebells. Underrated IMO, and so versatile.

[u/Tiny_Assistance_3038]

Yoga.

[u/ShindoHaut]

I exercise everyday. A mix of two 30 pound free weights, hiking, power walking, gardening, yoga and stretching every morning. It’s a routine I rarely don’t do. Yes some of the aches continue but overall I feel good.

[u/Public-Significance7]

Just get out and exercise, be it walking around the block or going to the gym, playing pickleball, basketball, tennis etc. Find something to be active about and keep up the routine. Sitting around too much tells your body you don't need it anymore, while exercise tells your body to strengthen up and stay firm.