okay men - need your expertise

I am a female who enjoys learning to fix things but have no previous experience. My outside wooden deck is OLD and has already been power washed and stained but is already (only a year later) looking quite bad. I just looked at it in the rain and it looks so good wet. The wood is so old and dry - isn't their something that could revitalize it? I thought about pouring shellac on it - lol --please give some advice - THANK YOU!!!