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In my 60s with joints that are feeling it, my rule is "always lift as though you're working through a joint injury." None of the stuff that was always dumb like behind the neck presses.
Compete? In powerlifting? Or bodybuilding? Or what?
I'm 42. Basically, I take rest and recovery more seriously now. I also don't go as nuts as I used to...what for? The other parts of my life (kid, career, house, etc.) are fulfilling and time consuming anyway. I allow a lot more time for warm up, especially the parts of my body tat I know are vulnerable to injury. And I try to maintain a solid diet. Oh, and I mix it up a god amount in terms of what I do for exercise. I used to race road bikes, and when I did, that's the only thing I did. It has to be when you race. I stopped that about 3 yrs ago and now focus on fitness. I care a lot less about how I look and a lot more about how fit I am. That said, I look a lot better than most guys my age. I run, weight train, still do some cycling, and swim occasionally. I try to stay active in between.
physically and athletically, I'm very far from where I used to be, even just a few years ago but I am more fulfilled in other ways. Age is going to happen. Go ahead and fight it but don't be so intense that you let the fight dampen your life.
Best of luck.
To answer your initial question, I used to compete in powerlifting, strongman, highland games, and Olympic weightlifting. Before I got into strength sports I was a cardio guy and competed in swimming, running, triathlons, and mountain biking. I haven't competed in anything in over 4 years, though, with a highland games comp being the last time. Some good perspectives in this thread, and yes, now that I have a family I am less concerned about lifting and exercising for competition or appearance reasons and more just to be strong and healthy. Looking good is of course a side effect, and I'd say I'm more fit looking and stronger than most guys 15 years younger than me. I am realizing that for the long term I will need to tone it down and pay much more attention to my general health. Maybe I should start biking/running and swimming more again and focus more on maintaining my existing strength and muscle mass than pushing my self to the limits in the gym.
I think the key difference as you age is you need to go for whole health. I just turned 43 and I am feeling the difference. I am revamping my eating and cutting out foods that cause inflammation and thus stiff joints.
A few years ago I severely injured my tailbone doing kettlebells by throwing a lot of weight around. I am physically very strong so I was able to throw 30 pounds over my head but I think bad form and not being careful caused my injury. (FYI I am female, probably not impressive for a male.
So now I am sticking with moves and exercise that are less prone to injury. Even so I plan on amping it up as I really want to be as fit as possible and be in great shape. I think it's possible it just takes a little more time and whole health approach.
Me thinks, there is only one muscle in a human being that cannot be overworked but ought to be.
On the contrary, it is often underutilized causing many of us, present company included, to focus on and overtrain other muscles.
I won't comment on other areas but for those suffering from joint pains and crackity-cracks when they are using their joins, regardless of their age, you are not alone! I was like Pinocchio for most of my adults years.
My joints would crack, mainly my knees.
I noticed shortly after I started to take certain "natural" supplements, things got much better so I'd recommend looking into supplement your diets with them if you are also having similar issues:
- Calcium
I prefer my supplements in pure, powder/crystallized form but Bone-up is an excellent product with multiple minerals and vitamins included with Calcium.
- MSM
- Glucosamine Sulfate
- Chondroitin Sulfate
Trader Joe's has a good "timed release" one, I'd recommend as an option.
- Hydrolyzed Collagen Powder (Very good for your skin, nails and hair too)
Additionally, you might want to do some research and personally testing:
- TMG
- L-Proline (even though many take this for mainly for its heart benefits, I noticed its benefits during cardio and heavy bag exercises)
Even though post take L-Arginine, L-Citrulline DL-Malate and HCL Creatine as a pre-workout supplement, they also work as a post workout for recovery.
If you have a good diet and consuming meat, you won't need L-Glutamine unless it was a really heavy session and need a quick recovery as it would be consumed much faster, especially the N-Acetyl L-Glutamine.
For heavy lifting a homemade stack including Creatine/Beta Alanine/L-Norvaline/AAKG/BCCA/Agmatine Sulfate could give you an amazing boost allowing you to go heavier and longer.
For cardio training, I'd recommend using L-Carnitine/Taurine/L-Aspartic Acid/Green Tea Extract ECGC instead.
All PRE or POST workout stacks should have L-Arginin HCL or A-ketoglutarate (and maybe L-Ornithine) to make other supplement more effective.
Everyone is different so are the effects of the supplements but I have personally experienced benefits of the
above-mentioned ones and recommend you to experiments with them for yourself.
Proper diet and rest is the key though. Supplements won't do much if you are injured or not eating right or getting enough rest/sleep.
I also highly recommend stretching before and after workouts and doing Isokinetic exercises.
You need to have leg and core strength along with good form to do heavy/power-lifting but I still question how much is too much or one needs to lift, especially at a later age, if at all so they wouldn't end up looking like this:
You look anywhere on the net and you get these same type of threads...people are injured and they blame "bad form".
Bottom line is this: you start pushing 300lb+ squats (depending on your frame size), you are asking to be injured. It puts tremendous load on your spine, and it only takes one bad rep to screw up a back, hip, or knee, and then you'll have issues walking, never mind lifting weights.
I weight train myself but I don't see any point pushing beyond 300lb squat. I'm not competing in a powerlifting competition or trying out for the NFL any time soon.
I also have eliminated barbell overhead press. They kill my shoulders and are probably not a healthy shoulder exercise for most people to do, especially over 40. Use dumbells where you at least aren't locked into a range of motion like with a barbell.
Yes, 20 year old bro tough guys will call you a wimp and brag about their 400lb squat. These guys also won't be able to run when they are 40 so don't let it bother you.
You can't impose your limitations onto other people. There are 40+ year old men that toy around with 300 lb and 400 lb squats without ever being injured. What's true for one person might not be true for another. Granted, most men in this age range do not do heavy squats or heavy anything for that matter. You could say that most people don't lift heavy.
I've compensated for age by working harder and getting tougher and stronger. I avoid most injuries, because I'm more experienced in how to prevent them. If I do get hurt or strained, I've developed many alternative exercises I can still do while healing. Your body will age badly if you let it go. The secret is, to never let yourself go slack and have to get back into shape. That's when many serious injuries occur, when you're struggling to overcome a long period of inactivity.
In my 60s with joints that are feeling it, my rule is "always lift as though you're working through a joint injury." None of the stuff that was always dumb like behind the neck presses.
Agree 100%!
Behind the neck shoulder presses are terrible. Strain the neck and open up the rotator cuff for injury. Front presses just as effective for shoulder work.
OP, I suggest backing off the heavy sets, do higher reps, add in some yoga to aid stretching and lengthening your muscles and free up your joints. Whatever you do, don't stop lifting.
But be mindfull of the stresses your putting on your joints, somethings gonna give eventually and hopefully not lead to corrective surgery and or joint replacement.
The only old power lifters and hard training body builders I know listened to their bodies and knew when to back off.
At 40, after 14 years of iron, I hit my top # of reps on the 225 lb. flat bench press. A few years earlier, my highest max bench. Can't remember the details but subtle drop offs in resistance beginning in the early 50s. No major change until late 60s when most of the iron was replaced with exercise bands.
You can't impose your limitations onto other people. There are 40+ year old men that toy around with 300 lb and 400 lb squats without ever being injured. What's true for one person might not be true for another. Granted, most men in this age range do not do heavy squats or heavy anything for that matter. You could say that most people don't lift heavy.
Correct. Hitting the age of 40 does not necessarily represent some 'fall-off' age where every person automatically loses strength, fitness, or athletic capability. I hear and read many statements from 40+ year-old people who act as if they just fell off some physical cliff and are now wallowing in various stages of physical decreptitude, and that perplexes me. Granted, for many people, maybe the 40s is where they jump the shark in terms of physical prowess and notice serious physical limitations. But I believe there exists a sizeable segment of the population who does not experience this drastic physical drop off, especially groups of people who have remained fit and healthy and active since a young age.
Old age does not affect everybody in the same way or at the same rate. Obviously, we all age and physically degrade; that is a truism, and for anybody that lives long enough, old age and various degrees of frailty are inevitable. But I think too many generalizations are made regarding the onset and degree of physical degradation for people of various ages, but especially in regards to people who hit 40 or are in their 40s. For me personally, I felt fine on my 40th birthday; I didn't magically lose strength or stamina or quickness. I do the same types of workouts at the same types of intensities that I did in my 20s. Although, I'm sure I have signs of physiological aging. Run me through a complete battery of physical/physiological tests and I'm sure I would be deficient in many areas as compared to when I was 21. I'm sure I've lost lung capacity and maybe some heart-pumping capacity; I'm sure my reflexes and reaction times would show some deficiency. But judging by my performance, these assumed deficiencies are not readily apparent. But maybe they would be if I were an elite athlete competing against other elite athletes in their absolute physical primes.
But performance-wise, I can still perform at or near peak levels of performance. I'll check back in at 45, then at 50.
Last edited by AnthonyJ34; 07-10-2016 at 02:38 PM..
Reason: Spacing
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