Working Out as You Age

As we age, we need to make changes in our workouts. While it's good to push yourself hard, if you injure yourself, you won't be able to work out at all.

The shoulders and knees seem to be most prone to injury from lifting too-heavy weights.

Here are some basic tips to help prevent injury and still get a great workout:

1. Decrease weights and increase repetitions and sets. You can get the same benefit from your weight training with lighter weights if you increase reps and sets. If you do 8 reps, push for 12. If you do two sets now, try three. You should also minimize the time between sets. Keep it to 30 seconds maximum.
   
2. Avoid exercises that put too much stress on joints. For example, I cannot do squats because it hurts my knees. I also cannot do triceps dips (on a bench or a dip machine) because it places too much strain on my shoulders.
   
3. Find exercises that don't put unnecessary strain on joints. Do a leg press machine instead of squats. Do any of a score of triceps exercises (machines, cable pulley, bars or dumbbells) rather than dips. See my post on the triceps rope pushdown.

Don't try to prove anything at the gym. There is no one worth impressing if it leads to injury that sidelines you for months. Be aware of your body's limitations, especially as you get into your late 40s and beyond. You can be buff and injury-free. Just use common sense.