You're Old, Quit Lifting Heavy Things

[quote]wesstangl wrote:

Are you really stronger in your 40 's, than your twenties?
Im not trying to be insulting , but I d day most were stronger in their 20’s

[/quote]

I was actually at my strongest when I was 38-40, far stronger than in my 20’s. I am 44 now. I had come back from a rotator cuff injury and over the next two years I had steady strength gains. I flattened out a bit after I hit 40, but I attribute that to poor technique rather than age. Shoulder problems have knocked my strength down the last couple of years, but I am actually dealing with issues created by my bad training in my 20’s. Sins of the past are visited upon the future.

Good point Matthew 9V9.
At one time ,I wouldnt even consider doing anything else but lift weights .I thought that anything else would hurt my progress because it would slow down the recovery process.
A few years ago , a freind convinced me to buy some line skates. ( To be truthful ,he said it was a good way to meet women). We’d go in line skating on saturday or sunday.
What I noticed right away ; was that ,on the following Monday , my hips were really lose. It helped my lifts.
As a strength athlete , I ve come to realise that one needs more than just lifting weights

Ok some of you may be stronger at 40 then 20.( Man, I wish I was one of them)However I still say the majority arent .
Lets look at pro sports. I realise that there are a few exceptions , however for the most part the atheletes are stronger ,quicker and recover better ( from illness and injury)when they are in their 20s as opposed to there 40s.
In fact there are very few pros in the 40s .The ones that have stayed in the game ,probably arent making as much money as those in there 20s.Why? Because the older ones arent as strong ,fast and cant revover quicker.
Im not calling any one “old” , I m just trying ot prove a point.

“Now he does yoga and tai chi every day, strength training with light free weights and push-ups every other day, along with isometrics and elastic resistance bands”

Well there you go…I will quit Powerlifting and take up Yoga and strength train with LIGHT weights. NOT!!!

[quote]wesstangl wrote:
Ok some of you may be stronger at 40 then 20.( Man, I wish I was one of them)However I still say the majority arent .
Lets look at pro sports. I realise that there are a few exceptions , however for the most part the atheletes are stronger ,quicker and recover better ( from illness and injury)when they are in their 20s as opposed to there 40s.
In fact there are very few pros in the 40s .The ones that have stayed in the game ,probably arent making as much money as those in there 20s.Why? Because the older ones arent as strong ,fast and cant revover quicker.
Im not calling any one “old” , I m just trying ot prove a point.[/quote]

You are comparing apples and oranges here comparing professional athletes to the hobbyist which most of us are. Sort of like if you buy a new Corvette and you run it at redline nearly everywhere you go how long do you think it will last as opposed to someone who drives one exactly like it but takes it easier and drives it sensibly? That’s the same comparison you are making here. However I will address your argument anyway:

The reason pro athletes are usually finished by the time they are in their 40’s is 2 fold.

1.) Due to the abuse of playing as professional athletes they are subjected to physical stresses that the average guy or gal who trains in their respective sport as a hobby don’t usually have to endure. These people are playing at a level of sport that the hobbyist never comes close to achieving in a lifetime. This has more to do with the level of intensity rather than age.

2.) There is also a strong age bias in professional sports. There is the belief that players are usually worthless from the accumulation of injuries after years of professional sports and are no longer capable of playing at that level any longer and are forced out. This may or may not be true depending on the athlete and the sport. But again this really has less to do with age and more to do with the accumulation of serious injuries and the subsequent surgeries.

So to sum it up the 2 reasons professional athletes are usually done by age 40 are the accumulation of injuries and age bias.

There are and have been many exceptions to the above, Doug Fluttie, Jerry Rice, Vinnie Testaverde, Morton Anderson, Michael Jordan, Roger Clemens, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, as well as many others too numerous to mention. The only reason many of these guys have had to retire is because the leagues feel if they are too stupid or stubborn to quit then they just won’t play them any more and/or pay them what they are worth and force them out. But as we have seen when given the chance these guys were still very capable athletes.

[quote]wesstangl wrote:

Are you really stronger in your 40 's, than your twenties?
Im not trying to be insulting , but I d day most were stronger in their 20’s

You may have knowlegde and decipline while your in your 40 ,but how can anyone recover as quickly as they did in their 20s.

When I was in my early twenties, during summer vacation , I d work all day outside , workout and drink at night. I still made some progress cause I was only twenty.At the time , my body could recover from anything.
[/quote]

I would agree that MOST men may have been stronger in their 20’s, but MOST men squander their life in unhealthy lifestyles. Their bodies compensated for foolish living in their 20’s, but by 40 obesity and soft muscles catch up with them.

On the other hand, think about the benefit of having 20 extra years of packing hardened muscle onto your frame. From that perspective, I can see a 40 year old T-Man having an advantage!

I’m between 20 & 40 at 31 years old.

OK, I read the article now. I don’t think that the point of the article is just to say, “You’re old, stop lifting heavy things”. I think that we could all agree with , “You are old. You haven’t lifted for 20 years - SO if you start lifting again, you had better TRAIN and WORK UP to the heavy weight”. (But, young people who haven’t lifted should work up to heavy weight too.) Maybe I’m just reading into it.

The articl says ‘I still had the mind-set that I was in my 20s,’ he said. ‘It took a few years for me to come to the conclusion that I couldn?t really do what I used to do, and I had to readjust my sights.’

Any 40 year old who acts like he did at 20 will get hurt - WE GOT HURT IN OUR 20’s TOO! So, this man didn’t have desire to be bulky. He wants to be weak, and comfortable … and doing yoga. To each his own. I’ll stick to heavy weights.

The health benefits of weightlifting are well establlished, but that’s not why I lift. When I turned 50, lifting took on a whole new meaning for me.

When I squat, the face I see in the mirror is pure aggression. It’s proof positive that I’m alive.

The flushed face, popping veins and clenched teeth are exactly the face I want the grim reeper to see when that bastard comes for me; because I ain’t going without a fight.

My motivation for lifting weights for the past 35 years has been to build muscle. To build muscle, you have to lift heavy weights relative to your body structure - plain & simple. What good is backing off the poundages at age 53, only to shrink in size? When I get to the point where my joints won’t take the work, I’ll try testosterone supplementation. Doctors seem to think most of us lift weights for fitness. I do it strictly for cosmetic reasons - to look good

[quote]Magister Ludi wrote:
The health benefits of weightlifting are well establlished, but that’s not why I lift. When I turned 50, lifting took on a whole new meaning for me.

When I squat, the face I see in the mirror is pure aggression. It’s proof positive that I’m alive.

The flushed face, popping veins and clenched teeth are exactly the face I want the grim reeper to see when that bastard comes for me; because I ain’t going without a fight. [/quote]

Haha. Excellent post!

What irritated me was the general undertone of this article. You can tell what direction an author or journalist is trying to lead you, regardless of how objective he trys to stay. This guy was leaning away from weightlifting, and making it seem that pushups and yoga are the way to go after 50. He doesn’t say it. But that’s where he is heading.

And after all, wouldn’t you guys love to look like that fella in the picture? He really looks mean, I tell you…

Some good comments already, such as don’t be a weekend warrior and don’t do at 40 what you did in when you were 20 if you haven’t done it since you were 20.

The other thing we have on our side is that most of know, or should know, about periodization. In particular, conjugate periodization, aka Westside, aka what most of Chad Waterbury’s programs are based on, works very well. I used be a gung ho lift heavy or die kind of guy, meaning I’d lift heavy all the time. This is definitely tough on the joints. I’ll turn 38 in January, and while I don’t consider myself old by any means, I know that joint health is a very important issue and will continue to be an important issue. Lately, a lot of Chad’s programs combine a heavy day with a lighter, high rep day later in the week. This has worked very well. The high rep day has a tonic effect on the joints (and I believe that higher rep lifting helps to strengthen joints, but I’m not sure) and it really does help with recovery. So, I won’t stop lifting heavy by any means. I’ll just make sure to mix in higher rep days for joint health and recovery.

The article also stated the following:

That’s not bad advice.

I can tell you that if I get an injury it tends to not heal quite as fast as it did in my 20’s or 30’s (I’m 49). However, I look at it as a tight rope walk. If I lean to far one side or the other I am not going to be on the rope long.

Work out hard, but be smart about it. Use massage, ice, a swimming pool for active recovery. Take the proper supplements. Eat natural foods. Get 8 hours of sleep per night. In short, train hard, but make sure you are hitting all the other things that can keep you in the game.

I train hard (very hard) 5 to 6 days per week and I plan to continue doing such until the end. (yikes that sounded serious)

The article gives a bad interpretation of what a weekend warrior is

What is a weekend warrior? Is it someone who trains only on the weekend cause they dont have time during the weekdays? Do all weekend warriors try and re live their colledge glory days? Havent we all been weekend warriors at some point? Sometimes , we simply dont have enough time.

If you are a weekend warrior , does this mean you exercise very intensely for 2 days and recover for 5 days.Isnt a five day recovery good? Or does it mean a low or moderate intensity?
Is there a text book definition of what a weekend warrior is?

Books such as “Dinosoeur Training” , “Brawn” and if I m not mistaken Dan John’s e book give weekend warrior type training. They also give routines for those who can only train two days a week. I guess a neo-weekend warrior .

Ask Louie Simmons about this.

…Fred Hatfield has some interesting comments on this subject…I think I was wrong
complete fitness: whats healthy exercise
(current news letter)

[quote]ironheadpl wrote:
“Now he does yoga and tai chi every day, strength training with light free weights and push-ups every other day, along with isometrics and elastic resistance bands”

Well there you go…I will quit Powerlifting and take up Yoga and strength train with LIGHT weights. NOT!!![/quote]

And then we will all look like girly-men like him! Sounds like he was fit in college 20 years ago and then didn’t do shit for years and now wants to get back in shape. So he dragged his tired ass to the gym and hit the weights. Waking up the next day he was sore a shit and attributed it to old age and not that he was totally out of shape.

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Magister Ludi wrote:
The health benefits of weightlifting are well establlished, but that’s not why I lift. When I turned 50, lifting took on a whole new meaning for me.

When I squat, the face I see in the mirror is pure aggression. It’s proof positive that I’m alive.

The flushed face, popping veins and clenched teeth are exactly the face I want the grim reeper to see when that bastard comes for me; because I ain’t going without a fight.

Haha. Excellent post!

What irritated me was the general undertone of this article. You can tell what direction an author or journalist is trying to lead you, regardless of how objective he trys to stay. This guy was leaning away from weightlifting, and making it seem that pushups and yoga are the way to go after 50. He doesn’t say it. But that’s where he is heading.

And after all, wouldn’t you guys love to look like that fella in the picture? He really looks mean, I tell you…[/quote]

You guys!!! I totally disagree with your stance on the article - not btw with your stance on lifting. I think you read into the article what you wanted to read into it.

If you were kozlow and you had the herniated disk and were under extreme pain if you lifted would you lift? What is the point?

Is it not better to take up other activities that don’t accentuate the pain or is it better to keep lifting - be under extreme pain and then quit?

As long as we are healthy - relatively pain free - rest adequately then there is no reason to quit - ever.

And the article doesn’t say quit lifting at any cretain age - does it?

[quote]As far as recovery from injuries… The only serious injury I’ve had training (thank God) was last year in July. I completely separated my left shoulder while benching 360. My spotter wasn’t paying attention and a collar slipped off the bar and the load suddenly shifted. I was back under the bar again in 6 weeks and back to full steam in 3 months. Not bad for an old man. And no, I don’t take steroids.

So I have to say I respectfully disagree with your post.

A.B.[/quote]

I hope something was learned from this unjury, and that the doctor’s advice was followed.

In my workout life, ego is checked out beforehand. I have 2 kids and a wife who depend on my income, one stupid “trying to be a man” ego trip in the weightroom, getting me off work, would disrupt other’s lives. I have to keep it in check.

The man who showed me how to lift was over 55 years old and could still bench press over 405 pounds.

[quote]wwwe wrote:
As far as recovery from injuries… The only serious injury I’ve had training (thank God) was last year in July. I completely separated my left shoulder while benching 360. My spotter wasn’t paying attention and a collar slipped off the bar and the load suddenly shifted. I was back under the bar again in 6 weeks and back to full steam in 3 months. Not bad for an old man. And no, I don’t take steroids.

So I have to say I respectfully disagree with your post.

A.B.

I hope something was learned from this unjury, and that the doctor’s advice was followed.

In my workout life, ego is checked out beforehand. I have 2 kids and a wife who depend on my income, one stupid “trying to be a man” ego trip in the weightroom, getting me off work, would disrupt other’s lives. I have to keep it in check.[/quote]

I think you’ve got me all wrong…For me it’s not about ego; it’s an obsession. I love lifting, it’s my passion. It’s FUN! I have a wife and 2 kids who depend on me as well. They understand my hobby and even enjoy lifting too. I also happen to have great insurance and a great short-term/long term disability policy if I do ever take it too far. It’s all about planning, remember the 7 Ps? (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance)LOL. I’m no different than someone who loves to ski, fly experimental planes, sky dive, scuba dive, etc. My passion is training and I’ll keep doing it and pushing my limits until I can’t do it any more. Until then; catch me if you can.

A.B.