[Bagger Lance]

John,

Good thread.

I'm turning 50 in a few months and over two years ago got serious about my fitness. I had ignored it for well over a decade and although I wasn't terribly out of shape, I was "skinny-fat", meaning I was carrying nearly 18% body fat without much muscle mass. At 5-9" my weight average was 175 and I was pretty weak overall.

I realized that from here on out, if I didn't do anything I was going to lose muscle mass each year and my hormonal system was going to produce less muscle building hormones as time went on. I won't go into all of the details of the of maintaining a healthy hormonal system, but it is extremely important for all men.

My weekly routine is one hour in the gym lifting weights four times a week, and I do some form of cardio/fat burning exercise 3 times a week for at least an hour. My weight lifting is heavy, intense, and includes many compound exercises. As a result I'm down to around 14% bodyfat and have gained 20 pounds. My 1RM bench press is currently 320, squats are 355, and deadlift is 380. I can do 25 bodyweight pullups and 10 tricep bar dips with a 65 lb dumbbell between my knees. My biggest issue right now is developing more core strength and flexibility to handle the higher weight loads, but I feel great and I'm building a base that will provide many benefits as I age.

I write this for two reasons; The first is that you are never too old to begin a fitness routine and see great results. The second is that anyone who tells you weight lifting is bad for your golf game is full of nonsense. They are using that myth as an excuse to avoid working out. My golfswing and game are better than ever.

I don't recommend my approach to everyone because I've made plenty of mistakes with it over the last couple of years including some minor injuries and bouts of overtraining, but if you want to maintain or even gain muscle mass as you age along with keeping your hormonal system at its peak, compound exercises are a must.

I don't worry about my diet other than trying to eat healthy food 5 times per day and consume about 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight. I take supplements and try to stay away from products made with flour and sugar (carbs) keeping good carbs down to about 1/4 of my daily intake. I welcome protein and healthy fats in my diet. I've increased my cardio recently to get below 10% body fat for the summer. Not looking to drop weight, just fat.

My motto - Just man-up and do it. I have to tell myself that once in a while because there are days when the gym is the last place I want to be, but I always feel great when the workout is finished.