How Pumping Iron can allow your body to Remain Young Looking by 2 of 3 Decades!
As I approached my mid-30’s, one of my main goals was to prepare for retirement by maintaining my weight and fitness by maintaining my strength training, diet, and having an active lifestyle with purpose. My activities include working in my welding shop, on my farm, in aviation (flying), riding my motorcycle, and playing golf where I have a 2- handicap.
To make this possible, I turned the attic space over my garage into my personal gym where I have a couple of students that I work with weekly. My gym just includes basic exercise equipment consisting of- Medicine Balls, dumbbells, resistant tubing, boxing bag with kickboxing gloves, grab bars, and two-types of bicycle (mountain and stationery). Nothing elaborate, what I call my Iron Forge Gym.
I like the verse in the Bible that states in Proverbs 27:17- As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. I would add one word to this verse- SHAPES to read- As IRON SHAPES and SHARPEN IRON…..
The Myth that Strength Training is for the Young
Cardio and Aerobics training receive the lion share of attention for most people that workout on a regular basis, especially focusing on walking, jogging, or running. Those that are in their 40’s taper off their strength training if they did any at all. Those approaching their 50’s are under the impression that they can’t maintain their muscle mass any longer, so why try to pump iron. This is totally WRONG.
If you give up strength training, you are giving up on one of your best means to STOP and even REVERSE your aging process. Weight training stimulates your pituitary gland that allows your muscles to release a natural growth hormone that contains collagen. What is important about collagen is that it repairs, rejuvenates, and even replaces your cells in your body at a faster rate as when you were in your mid-30’s; because cell replacement process slows down as you approach your late-30’s. Then when you reach my age, of 68, your cell replacement just stops. This is what accelerates the aging process that can actually be SLOWED, STOPPED, than REVERSED if you put your muscles to work for your health and fitness.
In the feature image and the image above, where I’m in my gym, I am 68 years old where I still have the strength, flexibility, and active lifestyle that I had in my mid-30’s.
You Don’t Have to be a Power Lifter to see Benefits over your 50’s
When I was in high school, I was a powerlifter, on the wrestling team, and football team, as a running back, that gave me a great start in maintaining my fitness at a young age. As you approach your 40’s, you might not want to powerlift, but the very last thing that you want to do is to stop working out with weights.
FIRST– For safety reasons, I use dumbbells since I work out on my own in my Gym. I don’t have a spotter for bench pressing or on my boxing bag. When I am bench pressing, if I get into a bin, I can just drop the dumbbells easier than I can a bar bell that is sitting on my chest.
Even though I don’t use the heavy weights that I did in my 20’s and 30’s, I still enjoy the positive results working out with my free weights and elastic tubing. My heaviest set of dumbbells that I use for benching are 50- Lbs. My objective is to do more reps than focusing on the amount of weight that I lifting. Majority of my strength training is performing 3 sets of 20 reps with a 20-to-30 second rest period between sets. You will be surprised by the benefits of the rest period between sets- you will increase your Stamina, Strength, and Shape by having just a 30- second break between sets.
Even though I don’t power lift any longer like I did up until my 20’s, I still developing muscle mass and definition now at 68 that I had in my 30’s. The key is to start now and do what you can with the weight you can handle, even if that is using ten pounds to just rap five times. The key is to just START slowly and gradually increase your raps and sets!
IMPORTANT: It is essential to stay hydrated with water between your elements. Another important component is to listen to music while working out, because medical personnel treating people with Parkinson’s find listening to music improve their condition. Also working out on a boxing bag also helps improve the condition of Parkinson’s. The group Rock Steady uses this technique.
Manage Your Improvement
You can’t expect to become Hulk Hogan in a week or even in a couple of months, God rest Hogan’s soul with the impact he had on others. The old additive is true- that it is easier to maintain than it is to build muscle mass. I had a tremendous advantage from my younger days active in powerlifting, football, and wrestling; I had establish my muscle mass in my early teens in high school up to my 40’s. But you can still add muscle mass even if you’re over the age of 50’s, it just takes little more time and effort to add amass muscle.
Here is another benefit of adding muscle mass; for every pound of muscle mass added, you are burning 50 additional calories each day. Just think if you added 10- pounds of muscle mass, you are burning 500 additional calories each day even sleeping. Guys and Gals, that is the calorie content in a Big Mac, with 563 calories.
This is on top of benefit of stopping and/or reversing the ravages of aging on your body by producing your own natural collagen that no product on store’s shelf or advertised on television can equal. You want to allow your body to address its own needs naturally.
Stay within Yourself
Your No. 1 Objective is to avoid injuries in order to achieve your main objective, that it to be able to workout on a consistent basis, consistence like in any sport is key to success. Gaines in sports and fitness is all about being consistent, especially in golf. You can’t even improve at golf if you aren’t consistent. Your objective is to work out a minimum of three days per week: at a minimum! My objective, because I model is to work out for 45- minutes for six days per week following my CAST Program of Cardio-Aerobic Strength Training Program. I want to avoid injuries at all costs, because taking time off is like starting from scratch if your downtime is for a couple of weeks.
My entire Diet and Fitness program is in my book on KINDLE in Paperback:
I had to take three months off in February of 2024 after I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Prostate Cancer. Guys, get your PSA Test annually, it saved my life. When I got back into my gym it was a challenge to just get back to where I was in January of 2024. But my fitness allowed me to have a very short recovery time cut down to just four weeks that usually takes 18-to-24 months to fully recover.
Your objective is to make incremental gains every quarter if you are over the age of 50, instead of weekly when you were younger. If you like me, over the age of 60, at age 68, I want to make gains in raps not so much how much weight, I’m lifting. Even the smallest gain in muscle mass adds to your body becoming a Calorie-Burning-Juggernaut that devour years off your appearance. Strength training provides you with age-defying results where in my case I can model, see below:
Instead of purchasing very expensive age-defying creams and/or ointments in a bottle or tube, you can just pump Iron with raps and sets.
In the featured image and in the above image were taken in October 2024 photoshoot that we did for our Veterans Day Classic Car & Air Show announcement for November of 2024.
Use It or Lose It
It is true that the older you are the quicker you can lose what muscle that you had. Those 20 some things might work out 90-minutes per day, 7- Days a week powerlifting. Your objective at the minimum is to work out, half that time, 45- minutes 3- Days a week. Your main objective is to maintain and gradually gain over a time your Stamina, Strength, and Shape. Because I work in may welding shop and on my farm, stamina is important.
One way I accomplish this is working out contently in my gym, my gym isn’t cool in the summer months, so I’m working out in 105° F ambulant temperature for my 45- minutes during the summer months. Also, sweating is great for that younger looking skin by the ability to detox.
Go Heavy and all Out, or Nothing
This philosophy of Go Heavy or Go Home is for those 20 and 30 some things, not for those of us over 50. Your objective is consistency and if some day you can only do one set of 15 reps, that is your target for that day; but do something every day even if you’re not pumping Iron that day. Just do what you can and it is important to listen to your body.
The Bottom Line
Starting early at a younger age is better to maintain muscle mass in your 50’s, this is key. Think about your workout like a 401(k) plan; in that the earlier you start the better gains you can enjoy. But it is important to be consistent and discipline. This is KEY to your health and fitness along with investing $$$ toward your retirement.
And for those wanting 6- pack Abs, eat a healthy diet rich in probiotic fiber nutrition like sweet potatoes and pinto beans with bananas with strawberries that even actors eat as part of their healthy diet for those showcase Abs, like Tom Cruise has, especially in TOP GUN: MAVERICK movie.
I model my A-2 , G-1, and CWU-45 flight jackets that I sale, that will be on my website; and modeling is the most critique test you can have of your health and fitness by standing in front of a camera lens, especially with 20 something models. Believe me that takes a lot of health and fitness with confidence to pull this off at age 68, soon to be 69.
