Fitness for older athletes - advice needed

[Ed_Groves]

Downhill running on rough terrain requires multiple factors which all deteriorate with age: eccentric strength, agility, balance, response time, and of course endurance as the day wears on. You can train some of those, maybe all, but it will only stave of the inevitable.

I totally agree with this statement. I would add that injuries to joints, and just regular joint wear and tear, add to how slow we become on the descent at older ages. I am 65 years old with damaged L5 - S1 vertabrae in my back, as well as damaged knees. These injuries all occurred when I was young and money was tight so I never had them repaired. On ascents I feel pretty good, but on descents I feel a lot of pain from sciatica and my knee bones rubbing together. Thankfully, four 200 mg Ibuprofen at the start of a hike and four at the summit can take some of the edge off but the sciatica can get pretty bad before I reach the car.

[gb]

-balance? Definitely been an issue as I get older, and was an issue yesterday. But not sure how best to address this at my age.

I can't help for most of this post, but I will say that I bought a Gibbon Slackboard and I really like it on the balance side of things. I can really feel all my muscles and core working to stay balanced. I use it for things like push ups and planks, too. Worth a try..

[LarryM]

Thanks all for the advice. For the weight room piece, I've done a fair amount of reading, and, for muscular endurance specifically, the sense that I get is that high reps / low weight is the way to go. This flies in the face of a lot of "standard" weight lifting advice, but for muscular endurance specifically, that's the way to go, correct?

On another note, regarding running downhill, to be clear, I no longer really run technical downhills. But even hiking them I've slowed down considerably, especially on tired legs. I'd like to get at least some of that back.

[justiner]

https://evokeendurance.com/resources/mu ... d-to-know/

Start paying attention at, "Gym Based Muscular Endurance Workout"

10 reps seems to be what most of these exercises are being suggested at. So pretty high reps, but you're not trying to make each exercise into an cardio workout.

There's nothing really special about ME, except that it only incures a local fatique cost, rather than a global fatigue cost, making you feel fresher for your easy runs. See the section, "Why You Don’t Read More About ME Training in Endurance Sports"

[randalmartin]

for muscular endurance specifically, the sense that I get is that high reps / low weight is the way to go.

Yes, 1000%. From a functional fitness standpoint, hiking is about endurance. Training in the low rep range is not functionally appropriate for hiking endurance. As an example, I do deadlifts for a weight I can do 25 reps of and then do 3 sets of that. Great workout without the risk of injury that doing higher weight/low rep would expose me to.

[peter303]

My opinion is the best conditioning is simpler climbs in the early season, progressing to to challenging stuff later. I'll start hiking at high passes in May. Maybe a class 1 14er in June. Then harder stuff.

[Jorts]

There are a lot of strong opinions surrounding lifting that are devoid of objective science. But the evidence points to...

Heavy weight/low reps:
Improves max force
Improves movement economy
Lower muscular damage
Higher nervous system fatigue
Less muscle mass growth
STRENGTH WITHOUT MASS

Lower weight/high reps:
Improves muscular endurance
More hypertrophy
Less nervous system fatigue/more muscular fatigue

Muscular endurance is going to come the most from doing the thing - hiking. You probably don't want to gain deadweight but you do want greater economy of movement. I mostly lift heavy because I want the economy gains without the mass and without the muscular fatigue. I'm an ultrarunner but I've done some long distance hiking objectives. Higher reps, lower weight is great for base building before starting to lift heavy.

[Jorts]

While I’m coming from a ultra/mountain running background, this applies to hiking one and the same. Half of mountain running is hiking.

https://ultrarunning.com/featured/muscu ... lly-works/

IMG_0921.png

[SnowAlien]

...it seems that the changes are not long term and I find myself slow with no energy. Just a dead man walking somedays. The thing that gets me the most is my mental attitude where I just don't care. It takes more mental gymnastics to get motivated to get out there. The passion seems to be eluding me.

I am about 10 years younger than you are, but having similar issues. I've been taking HRT with mixed results. Lack of energy, lack of motivation and prolonged recovery are the most visible changes from my late 40-ties. Once in a while I get a glimpse of my old self, but then have to pay with days of recovery. I think my metabolism is out of whack. I will try to get more serious about nutrition this year, but I will have to report back if it actually happens My work just gave me free access to some health app, and I am about to start counting calories and ketones and all that jazz.

[Ventmo]

I'm 64 and try to climb several 14ers each year (started in 2020 so a relative newcomer). When I started, I was relying on my endurance from running and this included training for marathons and half marathons. After starting climbing the 14ers, I realized I needed to expand my training to include strength (ankles being key) and balance so I started working with a personal trainer twice a week. This has been fantastic as the training is really tailored to what is needed for climbing the CO mountains - exercises for both ascent and descent. The other piece that has developed the last two years is the immediate impact of the higher altitude and it was really bad for me in 2024 so I started doing one or more training climbs on 13ers before the first 14er of the season. The Loveland Pass 13ers are really good for this and Grizzly (d) in particular has been helpful to get my body comfortable with altitude and some scrambling. From a fuel perspective, I've also had to increase the amount of hydration and calories I take on. Strengthening the ankles and improving balance have made an incredible difference on the descents.

[40isthenew20]

This is a great post. I am only 55, but I have certainly declined from the peak of what I could do a couple decades ago. That said, a great book that helped me think about how to change my training is “Fast After 50.” cliff notes: intervals, recovery time and avoiding injury. I had a significant climbing accident in my mid 30s that injured my lower leg, and have never really been able to run flats since then. However, I do a lot of short intervals running uphill, in addition to longer days. That translates into power and stamina on longer climbs. The downhill comment also resonates, as I usually include hard downhills at a semi run (e.g., down Fern Canyon sort of talus hopping). I’ve always done that in part to be strong for ski season, but it tires the legs in a different way. one of the best routines in that vein has been a hard uphill, a hard fast downhill, and then another uphill of perhaps 2000 feet of elevation each. Last comment: squats are magic. It doesn’t take the glam lifting that boys in their 20s do with three plates on each side of the bar - just getting a good low squat with sufficient weight to make sure the max and medial glutes get worked. My own view is that the large uphill steps can take more out of the legs than you think if you don’t have a strong deep squat or lunge.

[LarryM]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Definitely a lot to think about / act on.

One more data point, which helps me focus on what I need most. I did Cupid / Grizzly / Torreys from Loveland pass today. Easier than Halo ridge, but still a challenging route.

(1) Did a better job of fueling.

(2) Was more rested than for Halo Ridge.

(3) Did not experience significant muscle fatigue (beyond the norm - obviously I'm going to be a little tired after a big day), partly the result of #1 and #2, partly the result of a significantly shorter day.

(4) Still really slow on the technical downhills.

(5) I did the same route 10 years ago (adding in Grays that time). Interestingly, my times on the climbs were similar (a little slower, but not dramatically - despite being 66 versus 56). Where I lost time was on the downhills, see #4 above.

Conclusions? Yes, I do need to work on strength and muscular endurance, especially at my age. But the biggest issue for me is losing speed on the downhills. Mostly inevitable as I age, but I do need to focus on balance & flexibility.

Also - okay, this one is is embarrassing - I didn't bring my poles. They would have been somewhat helpful on Halo Ridge, though honestly not much because there is so much rock hopping and relatively easy scrambling - poles don't help much on that terrain. But loose / steep terrain - dirt & small rocks - which describes the route up & down Torreys from that direction, also to a much lesser extent the initial climb / final descent of Grizzly - yeah, poles would have helped a lot today.

And finally - I do realize that I should be grateful that I can do this stuff at all at my age. Two challenging routes, 2 14ers and 4 13ers, in a six day period. I'm not ready for the couch just yet.