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I shall be 75 next June, so I decided that henceforth I would do the Atlas workout that he did when he was 75, of 50 squats, 100 sit ups(crunches), and 300 pushups. I arose this morning and did the 100 crunches and 50 squats, and did 50 pushups. While doing my 3 mile walk, I paused every ten minutes or so and did 50 pushups, 4 sets, and one set of 50 before my shower, or 300 total. It felt good, so I hope I can keep this up.

My ratio for these exercises is 75 squats, 25 sit-ups and 20 push-ups all done strict and slow. Squatting I go below parallel, push-ups on 3 chairs and go deep, with the sit-ups I bend my knees and keep feet flat on the floor using controlled movement with no jerking, flailing about or anchoring the feet. These are not the only exercises I do, leg work seems to be neglected by many guys and go all out with push-ups. I've seen athletic guys struggle to do sit-ups properly, it's one of the best for total core strength.

And don't forget, guys, the more pushups you do the more your abs are worked, also - isometrically, since you have to maintain the correct position (body straight).

And do either of you put some dynamic tension exercises anywhere in there? I would suggest the awesome exercises in Lesson 1 (Rope Pulldowns, Finger Locks, etc). Atlas thought the exercises in Lesson 1 were some of the most important, as he suggested you do these throughout the entire course, dropping some other lessons while adding on other lessons.

I do the squats slowly, as well as the crunches, in good form. The pushups I do quickly, but with good form while doing my walk. Fast or slow, it's the time the muscle is under tension that counts.

Marine0861 wrote:And don't forget, guys, the more pushups you do the more your abs are worked, also - isometrically, since you have to maintain the correct position (body straight).

And do either of you put some dynamic tension exercises anywhere in there? I would suggest the awesome exercises in Lesson 1 (Rope Pulldowns, Finger Locks, etc). Atlas thought the exercises in Lesson 1 were some of the most important, as he suggested you do these throughout the entire course, dropping some other lessons while adding on other lessons.

I do the biceps curl tension exercise, the neck exercises, the finger and grip exercises, and the facial exercises to keep me good looking!

Marine0861 wrote:And don't forget, guys, the more pushups you do the more your abs are worked, also - isometrically, since you have to maintain the correct position (body straight).

And do either of you put some dynamic tension exercises anywhere in there? I would suggest the awesome exercises in Lesson 1 (Rope Pulldowns, Finger Locks, etc). Atlas thought the exercises in Lesson 1 were some of the most important, as he suggested you do these throughout the entire course, dropping some other lessons while adding on other lessons.

Pushups are one of the best abs and core exercises, they are a "moving plank."

Way to go, Bridge. I turn 75 next June, too, and there's no way I could keep up with you in a workout. I train too erratically to build that kind of endurance. And I notice now that I'm a senior I need a lot more recovery time. I think back to when I first got the Atlas course, I was about to turn 28 and I banged out 2 workouts a day as prescribed. Man, it's been a long time since I could do that. So how often do you work? Jim

There's so many valuable exercises in the Dynamic Tension System than just to focus on a few, a retired person can spent much of the day doing a wide variety. I get every Wednesday off work, being home alone I spend a lot of the day doing a variety of movement from the Atlas course. My wife goes outdoor hiking (3- 4 hours) every Saturday morning leaving me to use my house to exercise.

Hello, Jim! So we about the same age, and both born in June, great! I just started to do the Charles Atlas Senior Citizen Workout, about 2 weeks ago, and I really like it. I'll try to work out at least 5 days a week, thus far I have worked out every day, but I know I'll need to take some recovery days off. I will probably try to work out every day except Wednesday and Sunday, which should give me enough recovery time, and those are usually busy days for me anyway. I could never do this time of volume consistently, until I started doing the pushups while taking my daily walk, that has been the key for me. Before, I would separate my workout into two separate blocks, doing my pushups, crunches, and squats, and then later taking my walk. This tired me out, but doing the two together suits me just fine. Best regards.

I'm not aware of a Senior Citizen's Atlas Course, Bridge. Is this something you purchased? Or is it your own version of the original Atlas course?
Jim