That is the big question: How frequent and intense should workouts be? It looked to me that too often or too hard and I'd pop a gasket and go RIP on the spot, but not often or not intense enough and I'd die slowly of organ failure.
The solution for me has been variety: I have a base, and add variation.
I warm up, stretch and self-massage every day.
I do something or two every day, but every day is different. Like weightlift every other day, hike outside two or three times a week, bike out once or twice a week, and do cardio machines (elliptic and studio bike) several times a week. And then do something special and motivational several times a year, like week-long backpacking trips, mountain climbs and bike tours.
Every weight workout is different... in form, type, sets and angles/machines/weights. Every cardio is different in location/surface/machine, time and intensity.
Once a month I do heavy weights as well as all-day hikes or very fast hikes and high heartrate elliptic sessions. I rotate these and warm up very well.
Is it working? Yes, I think so... for me. I do well, but still get occasional injuries, for which I have to take time off or modify my workouts to recuperate. I do seem to get elbow tendinitis too often, so am continuously modifying and cold-packing. Could I do better? Probably, but as compared to what? There are not that many old athletes around. I read a lot, discuss and experiment, but I don't have all the answers. I've been working on this particular answer for decades.
-copyright 2014 by Willy
