I enjoy walking for exercise, but for more of a strength exercise I've always liked pushups. Maybe because they don't require any equipment and I can do them anywhere. I've recently gotten back into doing them and have seen improvement.

I'll be 74 in another week or two. Weigh about 172 and am now 5'9" (used to be a little taller). I'm now up to seven sets of twelve reps, and on the seventh set I'll usually push out 15 or 20 reps. Should I keep increasing reps to 13 or fourteen and/or increase sets to 8 or 9, OR since I can do 20 in a row, would it be more beneficial to do 20 reps three or four times? Also, should I do these every day or every other day? I've been doing every other day.

Thanks for any advice.

At 74 I think your way ahead of the game and it depends on what your looking to accomplish. Are you looking to tone up or add strength. I honestly would let your body tell how to continue. The main goal is to not hurt yourself.
Whatever you chose I would give yourself a day of rest.

With that being said I would probably increase reps and decrease sets.

If you want to up the push up, use a loop band for some added resistance:


I love resistance bands, great workout without injuring all my previous injuries.

I would stick to every other day, let your body recover. I would add Yoga or some ab or core exercise for the off days. if you have access to one and your body allows you to use it, a Rowing Machine is fantastic. Maybe add a small ruck pack with weight for the walks. Start out light and work your way up. Because I have and am doing Martial Arts my whole life, I do shadow boxing (empty hands, training knife) and have recently added a cane to the "fighting" routine. A cane is classified as a medical device and HIPPA means they can't ask you about what it is for.




Right now I am using a cheapo cane. I did take a a couple Irish Stick Fighting classes, Bataireacht. I did spend some money to get a nice Blackthorn Shillelagh.



You are 74 and I will be 63 in a couple weeks, listen to your body, we know the difference between sore and pain.

Sounds like you're doing great and as said, listen to your body. Do remember that muscles need recovery time. I'd maybe drop back to every third day. Maybe....maybe, put your feet up on a low chair to add more resistance and lower reps. But be careful of your joints. At 66, that's one of my main concerns.

One off day, maybe add some body weight squats. Don't ignore your quad strength as you're always going to need that.

Thanks guys.

This was a great post, very relevant for me.

I am 80 ("Aye, matey, I'm a pirate!") and have started doing strength training again. To avoid injury, I mostly use the circuit machines at the gym. I need to make myself go three times a week, that's a little hard but not awful. I feel good doing the weights, even better afterward. So far no DOMS--maybe I should up the weights? But now I'm "training to failure" on my reps so I think I'm doing OK there.

I have a Concept2 rowing machine at home, but don't use it. yet when I go to the gym I head straight for the Concept2, just to warm up with about 50 calories.

I have resistance bands at home, everything is set up to use them--but I don't. All this is just a matter of habit (like the warmup with the rowing machine, from when I was working with a trainer at that gym).

My weight had drifted up to 192 after the holidays; now down to 187 on a low-carb diet, goal is 175.

Thanks for the recommendation about the squats--but I worry about my knees. Is there a way to strengthen quads without a machine, and without bending the knees? I've heard straight-leg raises are better, maybe with ankle weights?

There's no reason not to add pushups back to my routine. I can't do pull-ups, but maybe using the TRX stuff to do an assisted pull-up would be a good start?

Doc, I'd say yes to the leg raises/extensions with ankle weights or on a machine. As for squats, if you want to go with just body weight, try legs a little further apart and toes pointed out a bit. This will help protect knees and keep the toes from going "over" the knees.

I’ve found some leg exercises on the BodyLast app that will work; and Grok suggested resistance bands anchored to the floor while sitting on a bench. I think I’ve got that worked out.
But they also suggested a lunge with a band anchored to the floor. Haven’t tried that yet.
I think the key is to find a limited number of such exercises so it’s easier to get the band, set it up, and start doing reps.

Great job WBW. At 73 strength train three times a week and worked with a trainer for my first year.

I would suggest doing less sets, maybe 3 or 4 and, and more reps per set. First set do a few sets short of failure, second set about one or two reps short of failure, and last set to failure meaning you can't do another full rep with good form. Rest 2-3 minutes between sets. You want to challenge yourself via progressive overload. Try to do full range of motion pushups as I see a lot of poor form on that at the gym. Myself I go all the way up and then when I come down my chest either touches or almost touches the floor. I keep my core engaged and glutes tight to keep body straight and when going down I go a bit slower than going up.

If you get to the point you can do 25-30 reps you should look to doing a more difficult version of pushups or using bands/weights (in back pack) to bring your reps back down to under 20.

Remember your muscles repair/grow during rest period between workouts and good sleep is important too. Two or three times a week with at least 48 hours rest between workouts would be a good start.

Be sure to eat plenty of protein and if needed supplement with whey protein powder shakes which is what I do. I try to eat at least 120 to 150 grams of protein a day.

You might want to also consider squats and chin ups as two more great body weight exercises. Chin ups require a bar somewhere of course. I have a piece of large diameter conduit attached to some joists in the basement that I use.

Good luck!

I would benefit from making this a regular post to which we come weekly to confess our sins, or boast our accomplishments, or both.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
I would benefit from making this a regular post to which we come weekly to confess our sins, or boast our accomplishments, or both.