Keep teeing it up

Weightlifting is a lot like golf. I, like a lot of people, will never be able to put in the hours of practice necessary to be elite, so I put in whatever time I have available to try and get better. Some days nothing clicks; you struggle, miss things you usually make and wonder why you even bother with all this aggravation. Then you hit one that's just about perfect, everything clicks and you finally think you're getting it. And that one wipes out an entire day off frustration. You tell your friends,  wife and co-workers all about it. Chasing that perfect lift, or shot, is what keeps you going. They say that a bad day of golf is better than the best day of working. For me that applies to weightlifting as well.

Staying strong for the long haul (life, that is)

Strength is the ability to move and manipulate weight. The more you can move and manipulate,  the stronger you are. When a lot of us old guys were not that old we would engage in feats to showcase, or rather show, off our strength. Then as we get older something happens. Many of us stop the feats of strength and instead indulge only  in feats of endurance, feats of less strength or worst of all, no feats at all. "I'm too old for that sh**" we mumble and go off to pedal for hours up and down the streets or plant our middle aged butts on a couch. I'm not saying you shouldn't evolve in what you do (except for that couch thing.) But I am saying that you forsake strength at your own peril. Being strong late in life is not about ego. It's about maintaining the structure,  the foundation, the very girders on which we are built. Don't want to be a stooped little old man? Then don't be a physically weak middle aged man. Not to mention that serious strength training does wonders for the expression of those wonderful hormones, namely testosterone and growth hormone, that keep us vital, energetic and recuperating like we should be. Have nagging injuries? Lack sufficient knowledge to design your own workouts?  Then hire a competent professional trainer. Whatever you do seek, gain and maintain strength because in the long run, that's the best way to insure you'll have a long run.