Naperville wrote: ↑Fri Feb 06, 2026 9:19 pm
Had my first meetup with my martial arts instructor. He's very good and I can learn a lot.
Felt a bit dizzy and took a break after 30 minutes. I don't have high blood pressure so not sure what that was about. I think that I just have to get up and vigorously move for an hour at a time! 65 is a bummer, but hey, at least I'm alive.
Today I signed up at a 55+ gym to work on balance, flexibility, and strength training with bands. Also going to join a "normal" gym and get trainers to work on the same attributes, a bit more hard core on lifting but staying under 50lbs on the weights because I had a new tissue valve put in late 2017.
No matter how I feel I have to stay kind of sane with the weights or I'll have to have another valve put in. I know 50lbs is nothing when I used to press 100lb dumbells 15x, 15x, 10x,....but I cannot go there.
Going to work on stretching for the heel spurs, and see a podiatrist to get insoles in my shoes if I must.
Thank you for sharing, Naperville.
One thing I’ve learned regarding my own training at my age is that consistency beats intensity. I trained so much and so hard when I was young that I believe it broke down the body to some degree, which I noticed only as I’ve been getting older. I don't try to train exactly like I did in my teens, 20s, 30s, etc. In fact, I've changed a LOT of the things I do, and how I do them, over the past 10+ years. IMO, a big part of being a martial ARTIST is the ability to adjust and evolve what I do. Not only because the body changes as it ages, but also because my insights on the way I do things for maximum effect has changed over time.
There are a lot of BJJ guys that rolled so hard in their younger days, that many have had to severely slow down, or stop their training altogether by their 40s or 50s. IMO, that’s even more extreme than what I did, because of the degree of tissue and joint damage in long-term hard grappling.
It’s true with any athletic type of activity. Some former bodybuilders can barely even move anymore as they get older.
The same with many former pro wrestlers; although their matches are scripted, the wear and tear on their bodies is not. They also lose the muscles they once had. A lot of that is going off the juice after they retire. Most seem to just quit going to the gym after retirement. A lot of the older former pro wrestlers can barely even tie their own shoes, or even walk anymore, due to the years of physical abuse (and pain meds) they put their bodies through. That’s why so many pro wrestlers pass away young.
Jim