Hey everyone! Just trying to start a conversation! If you have any questions at all regarding strength/hypertrophy/nutrition/fitness/programming/exercise selection or anything else PLEASE ASK ME! I’d love to get a dialogue started and I want to provide as much value to anyone that joins this forum!
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Just want to say welcome and I’m excited for you to be here. Looking forward to where this goes!
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I’m getting near 50, and I’m still fit and strong. I’ve more recently been emphasizing strength-endurance work (think weight vest calisthenics, like Murph, KB work, etc…) and have joined a crossfit gym where I go 3-4 days a week. I would like to keep 1-2 pure strength days/week in my routine, which are 5x5 full body routines. I also play soccer 1-2 times a week.
Question: It can be challenging to recover from 5x5 routines (for me, something like bench, squat, weighted pull ups) and keep up with my other activities. The high variety of the crossfit classes, which often contain more heavy barbell work than I thought, makes it tough to schedule and predict recover. Is it best to scale my strength work back (3x5 or something, keeping them heavy), just back off the weight (I currently use ~75-80% of my 1RM for these), or cut them out when I have a lot of other stuff?
Thanks for any thoughts. My goals, for what it’s worth, are continually improving general athletic performance, extend my athletic “career”, and staying lean and muscular.
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Fair play to you mate, I’m of that stage of life and you’re doing a lot! I personally got back into football recently and I do find it challenging my recovery abilities as well as causing niggles, especially tightening the posterior chain. Stay fit and keep up the good fight.
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I’m excited to be here and thanks so much!!
This is a great question and I’m going to be brutally honest with you. I would actually drop the weight vest calisthenics (especially the Murph workout) and truthfully I’m not a huge fan of training alot with KBs either. That longer style of strength endurance work just leaves you unnecessarily beat up and broken down which definitely isn’t ideal for a man your age.
Instead I would increase it to 3 total-body strength workouts a week and keep the rep ranges between 5-10 reps (5x5 is great, but if done correctly it’s usually quite heavy and that’s not also great for older lifters)
Also even though I come from a CrossFit background and competed at the highest level in crossfit, I do not recommend crossfit classes either just because of the constant variance and lack of structure.
I would lift 3 days a week, and then on my non lifting days I would play soccer or do some kind of rowing/assault bike intervals that will give you a great cardio stimulus but not leave you broken down like a murph workout or a long crossfit wod. Hope that helps!
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Does gimmicky creatine have the same efficacy as regular creatine monohydrate?
I just got a sample size of “instatized creatine” that dissolves better in water. Do they sacrifice anything to make it so fine?
Am I good to go with this or should I stick to the basic stuff?
I would avoid all the gimmicky creatine. You’re far better off just using the cheapest/most studied/ and proven form of creatine which is just normal creatine monohydrate. That’s all I ever take and wouldn’t spend my money on other forms of creatine personally
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What’s a good exercise to hit quads if squatting (front or back) just doesn’t work for me?
Not looking for crazy mass just something to keep legs in shape
Hack squats are my absolute favorite way to build quads if squats don’t agree with you. Rear foot elevated split squats are also amazing and will build your entire leg. A pendulum squat machine is great too.
I’m going to go with the rear split squats.
I think the single leg work will keep the weight low and help my lower back.
Thanks for quick reply!
What would you consider to be the most impressive feat of strength or fitness you’ve seen first hand?
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Favorite T-nation author?
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Program or style of training that was most effective for you?
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I didn’t see it first hand, but the first thing that comes to the top of my head is Mat Fraser completely dominating the Crossfit Games for 5 consecutive years.
Also, when I was in college, my best friend and teammate power cleans 421lb for 2 reps with only 30 seconds between reps. His name is Scott Solomon and he was the strongest guy I’ve ever seen. Just a total freak. He also played in the NFL for 4 seasons.
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My favorite T-Nation author would have to be Christian Thibeadeau. He’s been so prolific in his writing career and he’s shared a wealth of knowledge for free and helped so many people. I really admire him.
I’ve also enjoyed reading Jim Wendler and Joe Defranco. Those guys are amazing as well.
I honestly need to find the time to read more! Thanks for the question!!
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Do you put sledding (pushing or pulling) up there as a comparable low impact conditioning slot similar to the air bikes/row erg/swim or would you treat it mainly as a strength/size builder.
I’ve treated it more as a squat/leg builder substitute and tend to do a lot of volume with it, so I’m wondering if I’m missing out of doing rowing/air bike intervals(joined a new gym)
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I think Thibs is a good answer. He’s written enough to keep me busy for the next decade.
As of late, I’ve really enjoyed his Pendulum training.
Can you answer the question about what type of training or program has worked best for you? No problem if not.
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I do reverse sledding everyday for 10-12 minutes as a way to warm-up my knees (12 knee surgeries) and I absolutely love sledding. I personally do not use it as a leg builder, as I’ve always favored squats/leg presses/ RFE split squats. but I think you certainly can use a sled to build/maintain your legs. I know Branch Warren did a lot of sled pushes to build/maintain his legs.
I come from a crossfit background, so I definitely recommend using conditioning equipment such as the concept 2 rower or assault bike/echo bike. You’re very limited when only doing sled pushing/pulling and you’re not able to get your heart rate up as much or maintain a high heart rate sled pushing/pulling like you can with a rower or a bike. I personally perform 2 rowing interval and 1 assault bike workouts weekly right now to build/maintain my fitness level. I highly recommend them.