I love this. I’ve come to some similar conclusions as I’ve aged. I’ve trained bodybuilding, olympic lifting, power lifting, etc. and as long as my diet was in check each way, I don’t look that different. The differences aren’t worth not doing what you enjoy.
The only thing I disagree with a little is the max muscle vs longevity. It depends on what you mean by maximum muscle. If you look at max muscle at a single point in life you are giving some of that up, but there is another way to look at it. Muscle mass summed over your lifetime can be maximized by health optimization. I want the integral of strength over my life to be as high as possible. That means if I were to use drugs and get to IFBB size but die at 45 the sum of my muscle and strength for my lifetime isn’t going to be very high. If I keep plugging away to a healthy active 80 but am never in the same league as the IFBB guys, I still might be stronger overall. Injury, illness, disease, and death are all pretty terrible for hypertrophy.
Based on your summary and my experience as an over-50 lifter, I’d say that book seems to be spot-on in its take on the subject. Thanks for bringing it to my attention; I just ordered a copy.
Of all the bullet points the one that jumps out at me is “NEVER” train till failure. You even put it in caps. Does he explain his logic behind that belief?
I actually agree with hi “not training toi failure” point. I don’t agree with the “no explosive” work. But Scott comes from a bodybuilding background, and while he did start to include some explosive work later in his career that is not his speciality.
I know from experience that people who maintain or even improve speed and power as they get older age a lot better (a friend of mine is still competing in olympic lifting at 83, clean & jerking 185lbs).
But of course for someone who has never moved explosively in his live it might be hazardous to start training with explosive exercises past 50 because the body is not prepared for it. So it has to be phased in gradually,
OK I can understand the injury point. I don’t think you are at any greater risk for injury if you are an older bodybuilder (you might be at a lower risk because you train smarter). But risking a significant injury that puts you on the shelf for 6 months is much easier to absorb as a 25 year old rather than a 45 year old. Does he address TRT for recovery? Assume a 45+ year old is on TRT and his levels are nearly identical to what they were in his prime. Wouldn’t recovery be the same?
This is not my experience. I am much more injury-prone than I used to be. The reason is (I think) the cumulative wear-and-tear of a lifetime of lifting, on top of the normal changes that come with age.
There’s more to aging than just declining T values. There are plenty of men over 45 who are not hypogonadal. The idea that every dude over 35 should be on TRT is asinine.
It’s also worth noting that there are plenty of obese men with ‘secondary hypogonadism’ whose T levels would normalize if they lost weight. That is, their obesity is causing their low T, not the other way around (at least not initially).
I think this is totally true. I personally wouldn’t want to rely on any medication or treatment that could be corrected by diet and lifestyle changes. Especially as a relatively young man, why would you want to be on TRT when you would see much better results on your entire well-being if you would lose weight?
One theme I have seen on these forums is that many see increasing numbers on their big lifts to be independent of bodyweight and becoming obese, and these numbers being a sign up dedication and putting in the work. Well, to spend 45 minutes a day at the gym takes much less dedication and commitment than eating well and in moderation throughout your entire waking hours. I see this tied to that issue, where it’s okay to be obese as long as you can lift a lot. Obesity will lead to low T and a plethora of other problems that dead lifting 600 lbs won’t cure.
I think this was more common some time ago, when a lot of powerlifters had the mentality of just putting up increasing numbers and competing as 308’ers and SHW’s. I am not a PLer from what I’ve seen and heard, think that many are remaining or getting leaner these days.
You can say this about the majority of common health problems. Blood pressure, type II diabetes, cholesterol, sleep apnea, and the list goes on. Here in America we like easy fixes. Pills and excuses.
I can see the same applying to the strong men who are overweight. Lifting heavy weight is fun. Eating healthy with discipline is not. No surprise they might opt for TRT instead of weight loss.
A former power lifter told me his squat was bigger and easier at higher weight. His fat belly provided a natural spring out of the hole. It also served as a natural belt and made the valsalva maneuver easier and more effective when combined with the belt.
You cut off my quote. I stated you could be less likely because you train smarter. I have been dedicated since 1984. I did some STUPID stuff when I was young. Now that I have been training for 30+ years I do not take unneeded risks such as pulling VW bugs through a parking lot in front of the gym with only a neck harness hooked to the bumper (yes I did this). So MY experience is that I am LESS injured due to not being an idiot.
BrickHead you came on here…pimped a book…and cited some bullet points. Common courtesy would be to allow for a follow up question since YOU started it. Imagine if I were to come on here and say, I read a book that proclaimed the secret to ________ (fill in blank with whatever it is you seek…hypertrophy, wealth, youth, wisdom) is to rub Vicks vapor rub on your feet every day. Would it not be fair for those to ask a follow up question as to WHY? I think I would be remiss to simply say, “purchase the book.”
Pimped a book? It’s not my book. I recommended it.
However, I apologize if I came across snippy. Sometimes peoples’ vibes come across inappropriately on the net and those on here that know me well, the ones I actually hang out with in real life, know that I can be a moody bastard at times. So again, I didn’t to come across snappy.
But I did answer your inquiries: injury and recovery issues and the fact that there’s more to aging than T values and that not every dude above 35 needs TRT. In fact, my aging granddad had a T value in the 700’s at 80-something years old.