Ran two miles and hit the bag. Tweaked my Achilles. Limping around. It's stinks getting old. Going to compensate by walking fast for cardio for awhile. I heard a guy say in the past you have to be careful working out when you're older. He said, When you get older you're one rep from doing serious damage. I understand that now. I still try to kill it but shoulder, elbows, knees and other joints can be fragile. A coworker of mine is a long time power lifter. Now he only dead lifts with a two hand over hook grip. He's concerned with all the bicep ruptures he sees in the gym with aging guys dead lifting. Smart move on his part.
I know I talk a lot about injuries but it's a real gamble if you are going to workout as hard as you can. I believe Ferrigno, Grimek, Anderson, and even Clarence Bass had their hips replaced or operated on. Arnold, Baldwin and Zane had shoulder operations. I can also bring up a lot of other guys but my memory is fuzzy. I think Ferrigno had knee replacement. Few go to war with weights and come out unscarred. Usually the guys that use volume come out in better shape but then you have guys like Dickerson who seems to be an orthopedic wreck. He can barely walk. Maybe it was the Olympic lifting he did back in the day for athletic points for the AAU Mr. America.
I heard he used moderate weights at his best bodybuilding days. I don't have to mention the incredible injuries of Yates and Coleman.
On my job two guys I worked with were two 400lbs plus benchers with no bench shirts. They both have trouble lifting anything remotely heavy when they got over 45. Some examples of guys that never seemed to have problems is someone like Danny Padilla. He used the same weight for every set. Usually something like 5 sets of 12 reps. Outside of his heart operation I don't believe he has ever had a serious orthopedic problem.
I know some might counter drug users accelerate the amount of weight they can use drastically in 6 weeks so they are lifting heavier than their connective tissue like tendons and ligaments can keep up with. Valid point but aging affects everyone even naturals like myself.
I'm always searching what the optimal training protocols would be for me. I'm an experiment of one. I have decades of training journals. What I have found is that sometimes what worked in the youth of 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's does not necessarily translate to what's a good program for my 60's. Below are some of the strategies I use. Not a panacea.
1. If an exercise hurts. Get rid of it and never look back. (famous last words. One exercise I have trouble giving up is the barbell bench)
2. Lift with good form and moderate cadence. No explosiveness on bodybuilding exercises. Save the speed for something like power cleans.
3. Use a full range of motion. Most use a partial range so they can handle "impressive" poundage. Forget the ego. Use good form to target the muscle. Use a moderate rep speed and a full range of motion. It will limit how much you can lift but you should be concerned with the amount of work your muscle is subjected to and not stroking your ego.
4. This is a tough one for me. Rest. I violate this one the most. In general I lift three times a week. Body parts get hit directly once a week but as we all know body parts get hit again targeting other body parts. For example training chest with presses your are hitting the tricep and delts. Training back with pulling you are hitting the bicep. Doing deads or cleans on back day with a split you are training legs. What I have been mainly doing is lifting three days a week and running two to three times a week. Even that proves to be too much at times.
I never stop thinking about training strategies. It's an obsession. So many ways to skin a cat. I've trained with whole body routines. Used many various splits. Even used with much success in my 20's the split Mentzer used for 1980 that he borrowed from Mr. Florida Frank Calta called rotation for recuperation. I trained with high volume in my late teens too. I got really lean but gained little strength. I competed in power lifting in the NJ State championships as a 17 year old in the men's division using about 4 to 5 exercises a session for low reps typical of a power lifting routine. Why do I bring all this up? It's just even in my 60's I'm still running training strategies through my mind. In the end I think of what Jeff Everson said. He said, "Until pigs fly lifting weights will never be rocket science." He said there are successful lifters who are dumb as rocks and smart lifters who are really bad lifters as well as the other way around.
Tomorrow is back and a long walk before work. Sometimes I wish I never was involved with weights. I bet I would be healthy, strong and in killer shape if I just did body weight stuff and running. My son in law is a former Marine with three combat deployments. He does Jui Jitsu 5 times a week, body weight stuff and runs. He looks like a healthy athlete who can kick ass.
