Great Advice for Master's Lifters (Over 35...)
This is from Randy Hauer, an RKC, GS competitor, and a Master's level Oly Lifter, in response to a previous post of mine. Very sound advice I think. I just don't need to take it for another 6 months Randy...
I can't add to your training knowledge, but I do have the edge in the gray hairs dept. Here's the three rules I live or die by as a Master:
1) Less is more: less volume, lower intensity, shorter sessions.
2) Leave more in the tank each workout than you think you should. It doesn't hold as much as it used to and it's almost never topped off.
3) "I get to lift weights today!" if I don't feel that way when I wake up on a training day, it's time to back it down until I do feel that way. Age has its advantages...you actually will get more results out of less work than younger guys will.I find it helps to be more process oriented rather than results oriented. It's OK to let it all hang out once in a while in training and I do, but I've learned to accept that unlike in my 20s, the recovery time may be weeks down the road, not days.
Some very salient points, especially as the responsibilities of life creep in: marriage, job, business, kids, aging parents, etc.
For me personally, I thrive on a little which is why I'm doing exactly the opposite right now (he said, post workout, with lats and obliques throbbing...) I'm not sure how that makes sense, but I do know that I'm trying to learn a new pattern/skill--moving all the bones in my right leg simultaneous on any bending exercise, the lunge in this case. So I need the volume. However, the load is light and geared to rehab loads. I'm also trying to put some muscle on so I don't waste away. I still hold out hope that I may be on the platform by the end of the third quarter...
Today was very interesting: My left lat was almost cramping after my deadlifts. This tells me that it is engaging finally and that the shoulder rehab is working very well. Pressing is also getting easier: the elbow is staying under the wrist for more of the time while pressing.
Here's today's quick session:
A. Deadlift
375lbs/5, 5' rest, then 335/5
B. Unilateral KB Clean and Press (L then R)
40kg/5+5, 3' rest, then 32kg/5+5
C. Unilateral KB Press
40kg/5+5, 2' rest, then 32kg/5+5
D. Pull-ups, bodybuilder style
Bodyweight x 7
The hardest part was the deadlift and it wasn't the weight--it was the grip--double overhand--no hook. One-at-a-time. I also got some lumbar erector activation, which I'm not used to. Long spine will do that to you.
Tomorrow will be more high volume. Fun. (I'm listening Randy, I'm listening...)
This is from Randy Hauer, an RKC, GS competitor, and a Master's level Oly Lifter, in response to a previous post of mine. Very sound advice I think. I just don't need to take it for another 6 months Randy...
I can't add to your training knowledge, but I do have the edge in the gray hairs dept. Here's the three rules I live or die by as a Master:
1) Less is more: less volume, lower intensity, shorter sessions.
2) Leave more in the tank each workout than you think you should. It doesn't hold as much as it used to and it's almost never topped off.
3) "I get to lift weights today!" if I don't feel that way when I wake up on a training day, it's time to back it down until I do feel that way. Age has its advantages...you actually will get more results out of less work than younger guys will.I find it helps to be more process oriented rather than results oriented. It's OK to let it all hang out once in a while in training and I do, but I've learned to accept that unlike in my 20s, the recovery time may be weeks down the road, not days.
Some very salient points, especially as the responsibilities of life creep in: marriage, job, business, kids, aging parents, etc.
For me personally, I thrive on a little which is why I'm doing exactly the opposite right now (he said, post workout, with lats and obliques throbbing...) I'm not sure how that makes sense, but I do know that I'm trying to learn a new pattern/skill--moving all the bones in my right leg simultaneous on any bending exercise, the lunge in this case. So I need the volume. However, the load is light and geared to rehab loads. I'm also trying to put some muscle on so I don't waste away. I still hold out hope that I may be on the platform by the end of the third quarter...
Today was very interesting: My left lat was almost cramping after my deadlifts. This tells me that it is engaging finally and that the shoulder rehab is working very well. Pressing is also getting easier: the elbow is staying under the wrist for more of the time while pressing.
Here's today's quick session:
A. Deadlift
375lbs/5, 5' rest, then 335/5
B. Unilateral KB Clean and Press (L then R)
40kg/5+5, 3' rest, then 32kg/5+5
C. Unilateral KB Press
40kg/5+5, 2' rest, then 32kg/5+5
D. Pull-ups, bodybuilder style
Bodyweight x 7
The hardest part was the deadlift and it wasn't the weight--it was the grip--double overhand--no hook. One-at-a-time. I also got some lumbar erector activation, which I'm not used to. Long spine will do that to you.
Tomorrow will be more high volume. Fun. (I'm listening Randy, I'm listening...)
posted by Geoff Neupert at
2:43 PM
4 Comments:
Geoff...I'm flattered.
One of my first blogs was about the ultra marathoner the late Great Walt Stack...his training and racing advice (at over 60 years of age) was "start slow and taper off." My corollary to his advice in my own training and competition warmup is "start slow and see how it goes." Programs and goals are good, but slavish adherence to programming isn't. I've learned the hard way, more than once, one has to listen to the body not to the head.
You'll be back...it may just take a more circuitous path than you originally planned.
This, actually, is how I came up with my body's need for 2 week cycles (10 days, really...), by listening.
The frustrating thing is that I may never recapture my youth. If I hadn't been so injured and had listened to the guidance I had, I would've performed much better I think, thus proving the corollary: "Youth is wasted on the young."
geoff, as pavel would say about your youth, 'deal with it',lol. None of us get to, it's how it is. The hardest part is just accepting that.
Randys advice is golden.
Rif, yeah, yeah, I'm trying--trying to age gracefully; trying to deal with it. Thank God for KBs and Z-Health otherwise I would not be dealing with well at all!
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