Training Longevity

Alan...

This is a great topic...and I dont think that it should be limited to the seasoned athletes here.  Preventive maintenance is a powerful tool, and even though I am still relatively young (at least at heart) I notice wear on my body.  As much as we dont like to admit it, and I am sure Joe will "refudiate" this , but we are not invincible as we seemed to think in our younger years.

I havent subscribed to the Draper newsletter, but I do hear good things about him and his writing...I will give it a look for sure.

I have every intention of staying active and participating in athletic events well into my twilight years, so I will keep my ears and mind open to any gems of wisdom that a Gandolf such as yourself is willing to share Alan.

Keep em coming!!

There is no doubt that this training longevity subject, is or will be, a period of trial and error for all, as the inevitability of passing time catches up with us. Even so, we have to care and continue to fight the good fight. The intention is to not to write this with a sense of despair, but to inform you of one person's experiences, namely mine.

Some of us will react differently to others, based on health, injuries and so forth. I can say, with thankfulness that, so far, I have remained in good health, with only one or two slight exceptions. The same cannot be said for an accumulation of training or sports injuries throughout my life. I have an Everest of them. It is these injuries that now dictate, to a large extent, the way that I train. With hindsight, it is these injuries that I would have tried harder to avoid. It would have paid huge dividends in the long run. Believe me, there are not something you want. Ever.

Having written that, it is still hard to stop short of that full effort at times. For example I recently tried a little over 400 lbs in the Deadlift and although I succeeded, after I had finished the effort, I wondered what on earth I was thinking. That particular time I managed to get away with it, but maybe not the next. I was going against all my beliefs of the type of training that I should do as I get older.

Workouts have to be planned around the inevitable joint pain, stiffness and soreness that rear their ugly head. Long warm-ups now have to be the norm to train optimally. I recently did something else in training that I now consider as stupid, and that is that I tried to Bench Press with a bar. Oh my, how painful in my complaining shoulders and how embarrassing with the amount of weight that caused it. Will I ever learn?

I have also written on the forum that I intend training 2 X per week and heavier. Already after half a dozen workouts, I do not hold out much hope for this routine, but I will continue a little longer. I am not 100% sure what convinced me to  try it, as what I have been doing for the last 5 years has worked pretty well. What have I been doing, some might ask ?

Warming up – Never miss it and use some time on it

Train with pace - Just enough time to recover between sets, depending on the move or moves that you are performing

I use some form of the old pyramid system, eg. 15,12,10,8,6 gradually increasing the resistance

Work within yourself – Don’t push for that last rep. Leave something in the tank. Some days you will feel good and they are the days to shoot for a bit more, but still be careful.

Train less hard ( meaning not too heavy ) and in my experience, probably more frequently, but for shorter periods

Listen to your body – Be prepared to change an exercise that is in anyway uncomfortable

Be careful when training with an injury – Certainly don’t risk one. They are nothing but bad news.

Focus on form and the working muscle

Poundages will drop, that’s inevitable, but you can still train with intensity, even with lighter weights.

Try not to worry that the weights are lighter - Easier said than done in a gym full of twenty somethings!

Don’t do singles - Listen to me . . .having recently tried a single!

Don’t Barbell Bench Press - Your rotator cuff will revolt. Stick to dumbbells. One exception for me, is the Smith Machine, not on the flat but on the incline. Seems strange with the restricted plane of movement involved, but it still works.

I don't Squat anymore, in the normal sense, but I do variations of this basic move. Even the Leg Press makes my back complain.

Up until fairly recently, I hadn't dead lifted for nearly 40 years. Joe's nagging, means that I will be doing some form of this movement in future. I have decided to start using the Hammer Squat / Deadlift Machine. Because of body position, this machine makes more use of the legs and comes with a parallel grip as an extra advantage.

Be prepared to have a day off, now and then – Once again, listen to your body

Limit those Tabata type anaerobic workouts to 2 per week – but do push yourself. Make them count. They are important to good health.

Keep active on non training days – A leisured walk, a cycle ride, but keep it easy

Train hard, train with determination & gusto, eat right, rest when necessary, be thankful that you still care and lastly, do enjoy the process of it all.

Nice advice :)

Training Longevity - An update

For those of you that pop onto the Forum now and then and like me, are making the effort to combat Father Time, I thought that I would give you an update of my circumstances. No doubt, I will repeat    certain things, but nevertheless . . . . .

I recently dropped a couple of lines to Joe and mentioned the following : - 

This year, as I fast approach my 66th birthday, I feel that I have noticed a slight drop off in both strength and recovery capabilities. The last time that I had this sensation was at 40 years of age. At that time, it was the increased recovery time needed from injuries that was noticeable. Recently there was a slight exception, when I foolishly pulled a little over 400 lbs in the Dead lift. Way below my best in my 20’s, but still pleasing to me. This drop off in performance may well be partially attributable to an operation I had a year ago to help release a restricted ulnar nerve. When you are in a State run Health System you do hear horror stories of delays in treatment. Whilst the system operates pretty well for most of the time, unluckily I can include myself amongst instances where it doesn’t. I have been told that the nerve is unlikely to make a full recovery. 

Only 3 years ago, I read that Zane, who would have been 66 or 67 at the time, only trained 2 or 3 times per week and to be honest, not for long or very hard. I myself trained 5 or 6 days per week at the time and felt no negative effects from the regimen and wondered why he did not do so himself. Now I read that Dave Draper at 67, has found that he can only train hard and comfortably for 2 x per week. Clarence Bass has trained only 1 1/2 x per week for many, many years now. As I have written elsewhere, I am currently comfortable with 2 x per week weight workouts, myself. I handle lighter weights and despite being a walking train wreck, I still love pushing myself and going for near maximum exertion. Should you do this? Is this the best training methodology? I have no idea, but for now I shall continue along this path. Training into old age is a case of adapting and using your commonsense ( somewhat lacking in my earlier years ). I stop one rep short on that heavy effort and I am hoping that, by doing so, my body will cope for that much longer.

As always, my advice is to train hard and sensibly, eat right ( most of the time ) and most of all, enjoy the process of doing so. Once upon a time time, I wouldn't have thrown the word " sensibly " into the mix!