Well! There are a LOT of good suggestions here and I think we all should thank you for asking the questions. The posts give us all good suggestions and/or confirmation that we’re doing a good job at holding our age, Ha!
A few comments:
1. 'biking is easier on our joints"…suggesting that running is detrimental? There have been no studies, ever, that running damages joints. IT’s poor bio-mechanics (see below *) or over-training that damages the knees of runners. When done properly running is THE BEST cardio workout.
*After prescribing orthotics and heavy control ‘running’ shoes for 30 years I have now began the transformation to barefoot running. Read the info… it’s the way we’re designed! But progress slowly and transition from the shoes your wearing to less and less control/cushioning. Land, not on your heel but on the mid foot to ball of the foot.
Flexibility - Ha! I think we all have noticed how we’re getting stiffer as we get older. I don’t care how you do it but work on flexibility every day!
Diet - I think this is the most difficult but none the less just as important as anything else we do. I was talking about this thread with my wife on our bike ride this morning. The first thing she said (I swear!) “does he have a beer gut?” “If he stops the beer he’ll improve immediately!” She’s a nurse and sees a lot that diet and exercise would completely eliminate. She gets frustrated with the patients lack of motivation to improve.
Weight machines vs free weights - Yes, I think if your starting out machines will get you there quicker but you need to start out gradually and develop your ligaments and tendons to support the joint first then the muscles. With free weights (and someone at first showing you the correct form) you also develop balance, you develop the smaller muscles that are necessary.
Re-read paulchristi1’s post. He has a lot of good suggestions!
Keep em’ coming this is GREAT!
Les
another PS - we can’t get this old (I thought I’d say that when I got…oh, maybe 80 or 90) without getting into an accident or two. In 1989 while on a bike ride I was hit from behind by a van going 60 mph. I woke up in the hospital a week later with a crushed vertebra (L2), pelvis split in half and major damage to my liver, colon and spleen. I was back racing triathlons in a year. I think as athletes we’re VERY different. We treat our bodies much better the more we expect of them. After my accident I had people ask me if I ws still doing that run bike stuff. My answer… “if I don’t keep my body strong and flexable I’m in pain!” I HAVE (want) to keep going.
Les, when we were kids here, we never wore shoes. After a while the skin on the bottom of your foot will become so thick and hard that you can walk over glass and not get hurt. I could run over really sharp lava along the beach and not worry.
Lotta good info. here. Just for the heckovit I started a blog for surfers over 50 - I thought it would be cool to have all the info, suggestions, tips, secrets, photos, quiver or board selection, etc. on one blog. I'm inviting anyone who wants to, to join me as an author. If you're not over 50 yet, you're still welcome - if you plan to still be surfing when you are! Send me a PM with your email address if you'd like to join the blog as an author.
Yeah, DropkneeSL, that's exactly the same as me, I started in the original Longboard era, thru the shortboards & a long layoff due to work & family but now it's lonboards for me, I still don't get to surf as much as I would like & I just like the longboard feel, flow, noseriding etc My shorties don't get wet much these days!!! I just try to stay somewhat fit with the total gym but would prefer to surf more to stay fit........
Howzit sharkcountry, With the throat problem I can't even raise my head even enough to see and knee paddling has not been possible for many years due to bad knees. I have always stayed in shape except for the downtime from the big C. In September I started doing my routine of 100 sit-ups and 150 leg-ups since our stomach muscles need to be strong. My weight is no problem since I weigh 135 lbs which is 30 lbs lighter than in high school. My diabetes made me start eating really healthy plus no over eating but I do eat a little more when surfing to keep from having any hypoglycemic episodes. Being a diabetic makes you keep on top of what and how much you eat and at first I was worried about the weight loss but my doctor says I am just fine and probably have about 3% fat on my body if that much, could be less. Since I will be living beach front I plan on paddling every day until I move and by then I should be in pretty good shape. I must admit I haven't had a problem mentally with not being able to surf but that's because of all the BS my body as been through. It's amazing that 1 year has already passed since I had the operations. I have thought about doing the SUP thing but I don't think I am into it, but you never knw what the future holds for us.Aloha,Kokua
Kokua, because of injuries I have not been able to surf for 2 years and have been out of kite surfing for about 1 year. I paddle for 2 hours every day . Not really into SUP but it keeps me in the water and keeps me in condition. I hope to be back to kite surfing within 6 months. I doubt I will ever be able to surf on a regular surfboard again. Maybe you should try kite surfing? If not paddle. Whatever you have been a waterman your whole life don't ever give that up. One thing about stand up paddleing or kite surfing is that you don't need to mix with the herd, you can go off by yourself and have fun. Surfing and kite surfing are very active where as paddleing seems more like meditation to me.
Kokua, because of injuries I have not been able to surf for 2 years and have been out of kite surfing for about 1 year. I paddle for 2 hours every day . Not really into SUP but it keeps me in the water and keeps me in condition. I hope to be back to kite surfing within 6 months. I doubt I will ever be able to surf on a regular surfboard again. Maybe you should try kite surfing? If not paddle. Whatever you have been a waterman your whole life don't ever give that up. One thing about stand up paddleing or kite surfing is that you don't need to mix with the herd, you can go off by yourself and have fun. Surfing and kite surfing are very active where as paddleing seems more like meditation to me.
[/quote]
Impressed with your positive attitude in face of adversity. Loved your fish with an attitude thread. Always good to hear how people cope with different obstacles - thanks for sharing!
check the tint thread the dude i posted is 52 riding 7 6 . i loaned him my 6 3 and he blew the back out of it on his first wave . hadnt ridden a shortboard in about ten years. keeps active. snowboarding trecking and swimming
Turned 60 just after New Year’s. I am 5’10" and 150 lbs (+ or - 5). This July, I will have accrued 47 years experience in the water. A 6’3" single fin w/ channels is my ‘go to’ board when it’s good. Given the scarcity of ‘good’, I ride an 8’ noserider in chest high and under point break, most of the time. Still take off deeper than most of the noobs, no matter which board I’m riding. I have made a concesssion to age, and no longer surf when the water temp is below 45. Typically, in Jan, Feb, Mar.
What do I do to keep in shape?
I “entertain” young women.
50 in 4 days. Trying to forget it because my wife’s yet to hit 30.
It’s all about energy conservation. With 40 years experience in the water you come to realise that the most important part of getting waves is a switched on brain. You have to plan you paddle outs better, sit in the right spot, and paddle only for waves you’ll catch I also surf uncrowded spots where I have to pick the good ones carefully. Experience and wave reading abilty helps here, especially, because the crowds don’t want to do this.
In a world where my friends have gone longer and thicker my boards have gone thinner. It doesn’t affect wave catching, just timing in paddling for waves. Paddle outs are slower, so I’ve just learnt to take my time. But the thin boards are easier to duck dive, so there’s an energy saving.
That's my home break, that is. And when it is good it is very very good, and when it is bad it is summer....... and crowded and small and mush. When it's good - that's my standard, what I want to surf, and less than that is unacceptable.
About a mile down the beach ( along with another sandbar every fifty yards or so, some worse than this, some better) is an inlet, where there's good fishing. Beyond ...or perhaps inside... of that is a fair sized tidal estuary where I grow shellfish and try to make a living at it and row and sail and generally where I try to spend the majority of my time when its warm.
For me, dinky waves, mush waves, stuff that hasn't got any zip - it's not fun and it's not surfing. It is grovelling, thrashing around with floaty toys among lots of others doing just the same. I find that to be frustrating, annoying, not fun at all. I want my adrenaline to come from the wave, not from anger. As Wood Ogre put so well, that kind of adrenaline ain't good for ya.
And someday, I won't be able to surf the good stuff, I guess. And the pleasure will be gone. And it'll be time to do something else.
well here i am at 63----teacher for many years then went into nursing as my post retirement part time job…started surfing in 1963. did lots of stuff in the industry over the years. today i live with the 60/40 rule-----I’m over 60,if it’s under 40, i am not going out… joints get a bit too stiff living on the east coast in that water now. still snowboard and xc ski and lap swim. riding a 7’9" campbell bros bonzer, an 8’3" wynn bonzer and scott busby just made me a 9’0" performance longboard----all three are EPS/Epoxy boards, cause i love the strength and stiffness. my sons and i make one serious travel each year, last year to Panama, and this year it’s a boat trip to the maldives. living two blocks from the beach has been a major factor in keeping the stoke going…gotta get wet lots!
Hi Huck, thanks for starting this great thread and your new blog. I'll be a frequent visitor!
I'm a female surfer and I'll be 54 next month. (I surf C-Street when I visit my parents up that way, maybe I'll spot you and say hi sometime.) We didn't live near the beach when I was a kid, so I was a late bloomer - I started bodyboarding at 21 and surfing at 36. I surf places like San-O, Church,T-Street, "Beer Can Beach", some spots in North San Diego County and all over. I could definitely stand to be thinner and in better shape, but I do surf 90 minute sessions usually at least 4 times a week, unless the weather and rain-runoff water pollution are too gnarly for my comfort level - staying healthy is really important to me.
Last year I had some injuries that kept me out of the water for about 4 months, but I feel like my rehabilitation has actually brought continuous improvement to my surfing. One thing that helped a lot, was lots of core exercise - I could barely do situps before and now I do about 50 crunchers before paddling out. I seem to be able to pop up better that way and even paddle into more waves than before. Another thing that helped was getting away from only going to "popular spots" (and mostly just WAITING there in frustration while everybody else caught all the waves! I won't drop in on anybody, and I'm not too aggressive about claiming waves, so nowadays I like reef and beachbreaks more than perfect but overcrowded point breaks.)
I ride longboards sometimes, but I've never been into noseriding, etc. My favorite board is a very thick and wide 7'10" displacement hull. I can sit further inside, catch waves that the longboarders miss, do a pop-in + paddle-in takeoff, and not worry about the nose digging. I would say that for me, that length, with lots of volume, is even better than a longboard. I still ride my bodyboard when the waves are over 6 feet and hollow, and I'm trying out one of Paul Gross' mats too which is a lot of fun. Figuring out WHERE to sit with each different board, and the right wave catching strategy, is an ongoing study for me and has been very helpful.
Glad you're back out there - that's the main thing! Sounds like you're stoked and making up for the 23 years of lost time. PM me if you'd like more details on the quiver. Val
I'm 52 and have been surfing since I was about 7. For a long time I surfed just about any and every kind of surfcraft you could think of but work and surf related injuries have taken a big toll on my body over the years. These days I am unable to paddle overarm for any length of time without paying for it later in the form of arm and hand numbness and neck pain. This limits me to prone and body surfing but I have totally embraced it and have an excellent quiver of handboards, mats, old school bellyboards, hawaiian paipo, home made alaias and even a couple booger boards. I surf as often as conditions and life will allow. I get plenty of tube time. It helps being self employed and livin' at the beach.
Howzit Wood_Ogre, Actuall I could do the kite surfing thing even on Lke havasu because they do get a fair amount of wind, I knew there are wind surfers there or were. Thanks for the positive info .Aloha,Kokua
I quit for 25 years and I have since found food choices
central to my return to surf, health and general wellbeing.
I re-started surfing back in 2005. I am 1.73m and weighed
198 lb then. Couldn’t do a lot but the stoke was still there having been
repressed for so long, so I was determined to find the quickest route to get
back surfing.
I have always enjoyed food and drink, maybe a little too
much: Basque Spanish, Peruvian, French and Italian ancestry/backgrounds to blame!
I have tried all manner of diets over the years with no success.
But regular seasonal 'Master Cleanser' lemon fasts bought my weight down quickly and turned me off meat and into a vegetarian, onto clean
organic foods with macrobiotic influence (soon gave up all processed foods too).
The last two years I have been completely vegan, no fish or dairy, and for the
last year 80% raw. I use a very broad variety of raw plant ingredients and some so called 'Super Foods’. I
still love to eat and enjoy 'cooking' too. Food remains central to our family;
we prepare and eat all meals together and we discuss and discover continually. Lately
I have been inspired by some of the writings of Gabriel Cousens MD. My alcohol
consumption has also decreased gradually. I gave up tobacco in 2000, I had smoked
30-50/day for 20 years...
I’ve just turned 50 and now I'm 158 lb. My fitness and health
and my surf-stoke improves with every swell. I am more balanced and I also feel more environmentally committed.
At the moment I try to exercise daily, walk the dog, jogging or swimming, and
surf a minimum of one good whole swell monthly. My immediate aim is to move up
to the coast and close to the waves...
I'm presently riding 3 Andreini hulls, 6'10, 7'2 and 8'1, Halcyon fins, a
4GF and a Neumatic.
Thought I'd give this thread a bump. My Surfers Over 50 blog could use some new blood! Anyone want to come on board as a contributer, let me know, I'll send you an invite by email. Keepin' the stoke for the over 50 crowd!
