Energy levels as you age.

[Gillstay]

Odd thing I find, now I am over 60 is that i do a hard days work and in the evening I am not hungry. Next day, hungry all day, where as before a good evening meal was a must.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Metabolism stays pretty level from your 20s to 60s. Then declines. In my mid 50s and so far no decline with energy. About as active as I’ve always been. I think what does change is how much recovery you need after a hard physical session. I’m assuming that your weight has remained static since your 20s. If you’ve allowed your weight to creep that can be a cause of lower energy levels. Fat cells aren’t biologically inert. They consumes nutrients and oxygen just like any other cell in your body.

You might just need more recovery periods to restore your energy levels.

I have found that I was fine stamina-wise until my 60s but after that hard work needed longer recovery or rest times. The slide was very gradual through my 60s but I am now 74 and only 7/8 lbs heavier than I was in my 20s and things are much more tiring. Five hours heavy gardening one day last week, including pruning big branches off some tall leylandii trees and trimming 80ft of tall privet hedge and bagging up the waste, took a couple more tea breaks than normal and I was too knackered to go for a bike ride the next day. Ten years ago the same work was easy. I won't do a day return trip from Cardiff to London by car any more and when I was working often used to do a 300 mile round trip with 6 hours of meetings.

Aging is not for wimps.

 

[I like Skol]

Aging is not for wimps.

No country for old men!

 

[ColinJ]

No country for old men!

@colly romped up some steep stuff ahead of me to get up here last Monday...

He is 70 in a few weeks time!

 

[JtB]

Just re-discovered porridge and that seems to have given my energy levels a much needed boost.

 

[Buck]

Age plays a large factor in this as does general fitness. When doing any activity, mental strength and a positive attitude also help immensely.

I don’t think it is a case of age in isolation, more like an accumulation of activity and the need for the body to recover.

I feel as though I am as fit as I have ever been but recovery does take me longer, much longer. This is compounded by my autoimmune disorder which can sometimes sap me of energy without any activity.

 

[Mike Ayling]

Age plays a large factor in this as does general fitness. When doing any activity, mental strength and a positive. Elide also help immensely.

I don’t think it is a case of age in isolation, more like an accumulation of activity and the need for the body to recover.

I feel as though I am as fit as I have ever been but recovery does take me longer, much longer. This is compounded by my autoimmune disorder which can sometimes sap me of energy without any activity.

Muscle loss - should not affect the op as he is still doing manual labour but can be an issue for the more sedentary of
us. Notice how your quads shrink away in your seventies!

 

[yello]

I'm thankful for this thread, its timelyness for me, so thank you to @ren531 for starting it. It

I'm 60 now and have noticed energy levels tailing off these last 3 or 4 years. I've had some minor ailments, aches and pains over the summer (I consider them to be 'age related' ) and mentioned them to my doc a few weeks back. They've given me a referral to a cardiologist but stressed it's simply precautionary, so not to worry - part of the MOT.

Tbh, I'm not used to being old and it's kinda caught me out. I've always been in good health and pretty robust. So I struggle with knowing what to accept as simply due to age, and what might be worth seeing a doctor about.

I think one has to accept the reality of aging, and take it into account, and yet at the same time know when something isn't right. It probably just takes a bit of time to find that balance when, as I say, it's new to you.

 

[oldwheels]

You are all youngsters still in my eyes.
I was able to keep going until well into my 70's as I was a full time carer for my wife and keeping a large vegetable garden.
I gave up touring just before the start of the pandemic. I was on my own by then and free to come or go as I pleased but suddenly lost the ability to do longer distances on the bike or the motorhome. I want to go back to Shetland but the 200 mile drive to Aberdeen is now daunting. I used to think nothing of doing the return trip in a day.
The lockdown put the final nail in my fitness as I could not travel anymore and now aged 86 with a trike I can only manage about 20 miles or so comfortably but need a rest day after two consecutive days. Short steep hills I can manage ok but longer ones are a problem.
Currently while I hate to mention this the touroid avalanche restricts my mileage even further and I have to go out very early morning to get any exercise at all on a restricted distance which I repeat to get a reasonable workout. I cannot even get to the mainland due to ferries being blocked by the aforementioned tourists where I could get longer distance runs in comfort.
I do have the expected health problems age brings including aortic stenosis but the local health service keeps an eye on me regularly.
Do whatever you can while you still can as a day will come suddenly when you lose it.

 

[fossyant]

You are all youngsters still in my eyes.
I was able to keep going until well into my 70's as I was a full time carer for my wife and keeping a large vegetable garden.
I gave up touring just before the start of the pandemic. I was on my own by then and free to come or go as I pleased but suddenly lost the ability to do longer distances on the bike or the motorhome. I want to go back to Shetland but the 200 mile drive to Aberdeen is now daunting. I used to think nothing of doing the return trip in a day.
The lockdown put the final nail in my fitness as I could not travel anymore and now aged 86 with a trike I can only manage about 20 miles or so comfortably but need a rest day after two consecutive days. Short steep hills I can manage ok but longer ones are a problem.
Currently while I hate to mention this the touroid avalanche restricts my mileage even further and I have to go out very early morning to get any exercise at all on a restricted distance which I repeat to get a reasonable workout. I cannot even get to the mainland due to ferries being blocked by the aforementioned tourists where I could get longer distance runs in comfort.
I do have the expected health problems age brings including aortic stenosis but the local health service keeps an eye on me regularly.
Do whatever you can while you still can as a day will come suddenly when you lose it.

You are doing fantastic. MIL is same age and knackered. Kept alive with drugs and has to be hoisted from bed to chair as she gave up years ago.

 

[oldwheels]

You are doing fantastic. MIL is same age and knackered. Kept alive with drugs and has to be hoisted from bed to chair as she gave up years ago.

Thanks but I often feel less than fantastic.

 

[Milzy]

It depends a lot on genetics & lifestyle. I know guys who are pushing 60 with 300 watts FTP and lads in their early 40’s who are ready for the knackers yard.

 

[oldwheels]

It depends a lot on genetics & lifestyle. I know guys who are pushing 60 with 300 watts FTP and lads in their early 40’s who are ready for the knackers yard.

Genetics mainly I think. Both my parents lived well into their 90's and my lifestyle for a long time was probably not ideal.
I had a high pressure job with long hours in the whisky industry for 20 years with free access to booze and a requirement to entertain potential customers from time to time, ie ply them with whisky and inevitably having some myself.
I knew a few distillery managers who suffered from too much free whisky. Indeed any job in the alcohol industry including pubs carries a fair risk.

 

[cookiemonster]

I'm now in my mid-40s and I'm just as energetic now as I was 25 or so years ago.

I concentrate more on gym work and cycling, Muay Thai no more sadly, and I pay more attention to my diet now.

 

[mustang1]

I recognise your symptoms. I too worked manually outdoors with some long hours some days in summer could be from 5am til midnight and a day off was unheard of for months on end. I’d done it all my life and many young people couldn’t keep pace. From the age of 55 I felt a gradual tiring especially after really heavy days. Aged 58 I just could not seem to recover from long days and would spend weeks really struggling. Aged 59 i'd had enough and retired.
Spent the next 6 months doing projects at home id put off for 20 years because I was too busy at work. The pleasure of starting when I wanted and stopping when I was tired was immense and my well-being improved monthly. So much so aged 60 I got a part time job, that wasn’t manual, and the next 5 years gained a valuable insight into another working world which I knew nothing about because I was always busy at work.
My advice, knowing what I know now, don’t knock your pan out and work yourself into ill health. I’ve seen two guys I know do exactly that. Secondly there are a lot of people drawing wages without breaking into a sweat or bending their back and are probably going to draw a pension a lot longer than someone who’s had a lifetime of hard physical graft.

Nice one, @OldShep . What kind of PT job did you get, like an office role? Knowing what you know now, did you ever think of retiring even sooner? TIA.