For my 56th birthday

How do you prepare for the rigorous physical requirements of high elevation adventure? Strength and endurance are key, but are only part of a more complex equation. How do you prepare for changes in altitude, exposure, diet, etc.? How do you mentally prepare? Learn from others and share what you know about training in advance for outdoor adventures.
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dave54
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For my 56th birthday

Post by dave54 »

I just did 56 nonstop pushups, then immediately plopped over and did 60 situps nonstop. According to the on-line fitness calculators, these are the 100th percentile for a 56 year old male in both tests. Of course, I have been building up to this for 6 months...

and my shoulders are now sore.
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by ERIC »

Happy birthday, Dave. At 34 years young, I don't think I could do much better than that (sit-ups, probably even less). Impressive!
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BSquared
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by BSquared »

Yes, happy birthday! I'm planning to run (well, OK, jog) 65 "laps" for my 65th this coming October (that'll be 16 1/4 miles, right?). Sounds like a loooong way to me, but we'll see... ;) I figure going public like this will encourage me to actually do it... :whistle:
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mokelumnekid
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by mokelumnekid »

Thanks for that I need the motivation. I did the same on my 50th, but at 57 now welcome these new challanges. Exercise is the key to a quality life, that and a loving partner/companion.
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dave54
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by dave54 »

mokelumnekid wrote:... that and a loving partner/companion.
My wife is still (so far) putting up with me disappearing into the back bedroom (now my 'gym') for over an hour each night after work. It has paid off.

About a year ago my blood test said triglycerides were over 500 :eek: . Thinking it was a bad test, I had it retested a month later. 298. :eek: :eek: Oddly enough, everything else was in normal range. But it was a wake up call. I also realized I was already older than my father when he had his first heart attack. So I began to work out and pay more attention to my diet.(an active physical career with the FS for 30 years until I retired, but then took a desk job, and, well, my body slowly slipped away). My workouts were sporadic at first, then began getting serious around November. My blood test 3 weeks ago was excellent (triglycerides 67!) with all other values well within normal range. Also dropped over 20 pounds.
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by mokelumnekid »

Dave- that is terrific news! Strive for balance and stick with it....I've been able to work out somewhat regularly for the last 20 years, tho the type and intensity has varied a lot. The challenge is always trying to keep it interesting. I'm lucky in that my wife is a pretty serious athlete and so brings that to our outdoor activities. Plus she is an amazing low-fat cook, so the diet part is good.

But my point is only that good on ya. Life is for the living! These reports remind us that activity is the key to a lot of things.
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by dave54 »

Birthday #60
60 non-stop pushups.

I would like to add all were good form gym teacher perfect. But I would be fibbing. The last few were a sloppy struggle.
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maverick
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by maverick »

Congratulations Dave! Exercise makes the quality of our lives so much better in
every which way you can imagine, but especially in prolonging our backpacking
careers. ;)
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by RoguePhotonic »

You have me beat. I'm lucky if I can do 10 pushups. For some reason that set of muscles does not work well for me.
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sparky
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Re: For my 56th birthday

Post by sparky »

Hope you had a happy birthday!
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