Working out, middle age and physical jobs

[Cedarsavage]

Anyone on here enjoy working out and have a physical job? I’ve always enjoyed working out but it seems to be harder to recover as I get older. I’m 39 and I’ve have toned back intensity the past few years. Used to do CrossFit 5x now I do my own interval and circuit training but I’m having a hard time sticking to five days a week. Wake up and don’t feel recovered. I work 40 hours for the man ans a tractor/heavy equipment mechanic and 8-10 on my welding startup/side business. I know some fit people older than me but they all work office jobs. Middle aged fit guys; how many days are you training and how hard?

 

[brancher147]

I am 44 and in good shape. I work a physical job but not as physical as yours. Also do a lot of house maintenance/gardening/cutting firewood etc. I have 2 young kids and my wife and I both work full time. I don’t do any physical training other than hiking/cardio. I try to do a lot of stretching/yoga in the evening in the 30 minutes of free time I have. I have lost some upper body strength the last few years but my legs and cardio are as good as ever.

 

[Cedarsavage]

I am 44 and in good shape. I work a physical job but not as physical as yours. Also do a lot of house maintenance/gardening/cutting firewood etc. I have 2 young kids and my wife and I both work full time. I don’t do any physical training other than hiking/cardio. I try to do a lot of stretching/yoga in the evening in the 30 minutes of free time I have. I have lost some upper body strength the last few years but my legs and cardio are as good as ever.

How many days a week do you do the hiking and cardio?

 

[timekiller13]

I’m 42.

My typical week consists of about 90 mins of swimming, 20-25 miles of running and 50-70 miles of biking.

I do 250 push ups every morning, 50 pull-ups, 5 mins of plank. Farmers walk 3 days a week with 55-70 lb weights up and down my drive way 10x.

Will throw in hiking/rucking to break things up.

Was a bedside ER nurse for 10 years. Now I’m in admin and do mostly office work M-F 730-1630. Sometimes I have to break my longer work outs up into 2 a days. With 2 kids who are involved in everything it can be hard to find the time. Often I drop them off at dance or ball practice and then run/bike while they are doing that. Some times I get up at 3am to workout. It was easier when I worked three 12s.

 

[butcherboy]

None. I’m 49 and by the time I get home from moving quarters of beef around all day I’m wiped. Still have to do work outside, take kids to practices and games, work on my basement, etc. I should do something but I just can’t seem to get going on anything.

 

[justinspicher]

48 and do a workout almost every morning before I go to work as a ranch hand. After work I generally come home to chores and then go for a walk/shoot.

My workouts aren’t intense, they never really have been. My jobs have always been physical so I didn’t see the point of overdoing.

I’ve lost about 20-25lbs since January.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

I'm 38, and I shoe horses. I've definitely felt like I don't recover as quickly over the last 5 years. I used to workout 5 days a week, and I've cut back to 3 days a week (Crossfit and lifting). I also have dealt with more injuries over the past year than ever before. I spend a ton of time stretching/ foam rolling now, and have started regularly going to a chiropractor and PT. I also got a sports massage last week and have an acupuncture appointment in 2 weeks.

I feel like the only way to maintain shoeing horses and working out is regular maintenance on my body. Getting older isn't for the faint of heart.

 

[bozeman]

I'd focus on diet if you are in that physical of a job each day. I work in an office (Mgmt role) and I work out with free weights 3x/week and run/walk bleachers 3x/week. The weights is where it is at to keep strength and help with stability as you get older. I wouldnt leave that out, just my .02.

 

[wytx]

63, train 4 days a week.
Physical job, no but we do work for a rancher and that can be taxing for sure on the body.
Stretching and recovery time are important more so now than 30 years ago.
Creatine helps with keeping muscle mass as well.

Spouse is 60, trains 4 days a week also. Very cardio heavy workouts for him but weight training as well. No supplements for him, he's hard headed about that, lol.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Count your macros and dial in your diet, I lift 4-5x times a week, hour of cardio every morning before work. Work in a federal prison doing maintenance so pretty active there. Average 20-30k steps a day, pretty easy to hit when I get home and chase 3 young kiddos around.

Dialing in my macros was a game changer for recovery for me at 39. Also will help to recomp your body if you’re into that. I walk around at 10-12 percent body fat with ease once I figured out the macro game. It’s nice because it’s not a restrictive diet either.

Creatine will also help big time for recovery imo.

 

[N.ID7803]

Im about to turn 41 and I try to workout for 30-45 minutes 3x a week. I am a forester so I get plenty of hiking when I want. Winters are rough as I am not able to get out and hike as much as during field season. I tried to do the 5x a week workout and I just dreaded it, so I cut back to something that I can manage. Check out Valley to Peak nutrition on the Insta, website https://www.v2pnutrition.com/about or his podcast, he has lots of good info.

 

[Norcal18]

38 and a UPS driver. MTNTOUGH three days a week and cardio the other two. This is my 4th year doing MTNTOUGH and I’ve noticed I don’t recover as well as when I started. I was doing it 5 days a week but have scales backed and added the cardio, it’s definitely helped with my recovery.

 

[Mike Islander]

At 64, I left middle age in the mirror years ago, but here is where I am at. I absolutely hate working out, always have. But I enjoy physical activity and have always been very athletic. My warehouse business requires me to move 50 pound sacks and haul around 2560 pound totes with a pallet jack several times a week. I take full advantage of this and approach it vigorously to get the most out of it.

Always have had active hobbies, since even thinking about gym work makes me nauseous. For me, it's boring. But active hobbies are a blast. I have added pushups, rope climb, and stationary bike from time to time.

No TRT yet, but probably some day. For now I measure around 540, so no rush.

I surf and ride dirt bikes to get the long high intensity workouts that really keep me in shape. It's 1-2 hours at an average Hr of 150 to 170, depending on trail or waves. That technique continues to work for me. I try for at least one or two of these each week, though don't always make it.

Google photos callage from 2006-2026 (age 44-64). A few ups and downs, but generally consistent health.

 

[Customweld]

I'm 51 and do Mtn Tough MGD's 5x a week. I work mostly in the office now. When I was down in the trench box, I didn't have the energy to workout after work. Recovery definitely takes a little longer, make sure your diet and body chemistry is dialed in. I noticed a huge difference when I got out of the trench and really refined my nutrition.

 

[The_Jim]

I'm 41, an electrician. My responsibilities have switched to project management and automation so I'm not nearly as physical as I used to be but I still only lift 2 days/week. Ruck 2-3 days and I'll do a really basic sprint interval on a bike on Fridays with some mobility. With all the stress in my life from family, work, etc that is all the training I can handle right now. Your body doesn't know the difference between stress types(financial, physical, work, etc). Its just all stress and you can only recover from a certain amount of it.

 

[kswaterfowl]

Have you had your testosterone levels checked? Trt has been a game changer for me. I noticed my energy level dropped, and it was harder to recover when I hit 40.

 

[5MilesBack]

I’ve always enjoyed working out but it seems to be harder to recover as I get older.

I never had any issues at all with working out (or working hard) and recovery.......until this year. I'll be 61 next month. I kind of laugh at some of the ages you guys are posting in here......youngsters in your prime, LOL.

I built over 400 feet of privacy fence in the last month. Dug every post hole by hand, and mixed ~8000lbs of concrete in the wheelbarrow overall. My body is just not recovering like it should be. Has me questioning what elk season is going to look like this year. Muscle-wise I feel fine, just overall feel like crap. Wake up every day feeling like I have the flu or got hit by a truck. Still have about 200 feet to build. If there's a miracle drug out there......I want it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm 51, played sports in high school and played football in college. After college and when I got married was the heaviest I ever was in my life at 6'1 and 250. Since then I've done P90X and T25 and both worked very well to get back in shape. T25 was nice because the workouts were only 25 minutes, and if you stick to the program and eat a reasonable diet, you will come out the end in excellent shape.

Once my kids got older and busier it got harder and harder to work out consistently. Fortunately they both decided to ditch traditional sports and committed to Olympic weightlifting in middle school. Eventually I started training with them and actually competed once in the master level in my late 40s. Unfortunately, poor lifting technique and injuries I never rehabbed correctly in high school and college caught up with me and I had to have shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum (SLAP tear) and clean up bone spurs, etc... I tried lifting afterwards, but although surgery restored full normal function for day to day stuff, I wasn't able to clean and jerk at a high level any more.

Nowadays, my wife and I walk at least 4 days per week, hitting 3-3.5 mile routes on both paved and gravel walking trails nearby. Now that its warmed up we also mix in pickleball, which is one hell of a workout once you know the rules and learn how to play. Just be careful though, I'm a competitive guy and losing to my wife stings. In fact, its caused me to pull my groin and tweak my back going balls out to return shots I should just let go.

I'm holding pretty steady now at 6'1 and 225, but I fluctuate 5 pounds depending on time of year. Summer is tough with grilling, fishing, boating, and drinking. Fall is tough with Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. There is one cliche that has proven true over and over the older I get. You cannot run or walk away from a bad diet. Work out when you can and eat a reasonable diet, limit your booze intake, and make sure you're eating enough quality protein. I've noticed more than ever that I cannot eat like I used to and expect to maintain my previous weight. I think most of it has to do with a loss of muscle mass and resting metabolism. As a result, I plan to resume squatting, deadlifting, and doing some moderate bench work. Getting started is half the battle though, and even though we have a gym in our machine shed, that 100 foot walk can seem like a mile most days. Self-motivation is tough, and you gotta find something that gets you out to break a sweat.

For those older folks taking creatine, what is a good rule of thumb, and do you start with a loading dose? I know that you have to keep your water intake pretty high as well. I appreciate any insight or tips.

 

[brancher147]

How many days a week do you do the hiking and cardio?

Highly variable. But probably average 2-3 days per week. My job as a land manager is a lot of walking too. I do bike some also.

I think my job and life is physical enough to keep me in shape but I need strong legs and good cardio to hunt steep mountains where I am. Last couple years I have sustained injuries from working out and lifting that took very long to recover.

After 40 I have switched my focus to diet and stretching/yoga/dead hangs and hiking/cardio. Pretty much just trying to keep the strength I have and not push it past that. I do some dumbbell workouts occasionally but keep it pretty light.

 

[Truck24hr]

49 and very physically active, even my work can be, even though I drive a truck now.

But, I'd agree on dialing in the diet. I've kicked it up to 10-12 hours training a week in the last month, and also noticed recovery kicking my ass.

It was warming up, so I figured low electrolytes. A week later and recovery no better, i started tracking food again.

Found myself way undereating, and basically zero carbs.

Took care of that, and much better now.

Count your macros and dial in your diet, I lift 4-5x times a week, hour of cardio every morning before work. Work in a federal prison doing maintenance so pretty active there. Average 20-30k steps a day, pretty easy to hit when I get home and chase 3 young kiddos around.

Dialing in my macros was a game changer for recovery for me at 39. Also will help to recomp your body if you’re into that. I walk around at 10-12 percent body fat with ease once I figured out the macro game. It’s nice because it’s not a restrictive diet either.

Creatine will also help big time for recovery imo.