How many Crossfit workouts per week in my 50s?

jenjohn95

I've been a faithful exerciser my whole adult life, mostly running, but also a few other activities. I started crossfit a year ago and love it. I see definition in my upper body that has never been there and actually enjoy wearing tank tops now. However, I'm 52, and most of the people in my classes are younger (less than half my age in some cases). I feel that my body doesn't recover from workouts as quickly as it used to. I'm not sure what other CF gyms are like, but mine goes in 6-week cycles. So, if you miss certain days, you're not getting to work on certain skills that you're building on throughout the cycle. Even though we work different muscle groups from one day to the next, I still feel like going every day leaves me constantly sore and inflamed. Inflamed muscles hold on to water, so some weeks, I don't see the losses on the scale that I think I should, which is disheartening, even when I know it's likely water. For people in their 50s (or older) who do crossfit, how often do you go to the gym versus doing other more gentle exercises?

claireychn074

I do Oly Weightlifting rather than CrossFit, so my sessions are longer but less intense (probably do less cardio but I do row, do chin ups and accessory stuff). I’m 51 and can’t do more than 4 sessions a week - and sometimes it’s only three. Any more than that and I accumulate fatigue and risk injury. I believe it’s important to listen to your own body: I could work out 5-6 times a week in my 30s but not any more.

Retroguy2000

"So, if you miss certain days, you're not getting to work on certain skills that you're building on throughout the cycle."

I don't do CF, and I'm confused by that. With your experience, they aren't introducing new skills are they? I mean, there are a finite number of movement patterns for squat, hinge, pull, push. So I would assume you could miss a day here and there as needed? Can you go, and if you're feeling a bit fatigued use lower weight or rest more during the session?

I'm a little older than you and I lift regularly, and for me every other day is my limit. Some times I take an extra rest day, or I work out but I do less volume that session. As Claire said, listen to your body.

You might benefit from a full week off every couple of months too. Do something light that week instead. As the saying goes, "If you don't take a deload, the deload takes you."

EDIT: You also suggest you want to be losing weight, so potentially a calorie deficit? That will make it harder to do all that exercise. If you aren't already, time some carbs in the hour or two before your session.

jenjohn95

@Retroguy2000 I'm mostly referencing that if we're not doing toes-to-bar or wall walks or wall balls, there's not an opportunity to do them independently at the gym. At least…I don't see people working on those skills in between classes. Most people just stretch and then leave. I can work on some things at home. Others are harder without the right equipment.

claireychn074

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48794029#Comment_48794029

Here’s something for you to think about - if you cut your workouts to 3 a week for one month to see how you feel, what will happen? You’ll still be exercising every body part, you’ll still be working out hard, you might just not progress in one skill. But if you’re not competing, does it matter if you don’t do wall balls for one month? You’re probably still doing thrusters and they’re basically the same but with a bar. There’s only two lifts I “have” to do - and that’s because I do compete in those lifts. Everything else is just an accessory and we work around fatigue/ pain. I can tell you now, after 9 years of lifting I still suck at back squat!

Retroguy2000

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48794029#Comment_48794029

I'm still a bit confused. What does it matter? I mean, let's say you miss a day where the class is doing wall balls. You've done that before, presumably? So you won't have forgotten how to do them. Then you come to the class next time and they do wall balls, and you do it with them. Maybe you don't get as many done due to less practice, but so what? You're competing with yourself to improve yourself, not competing with anyone else.

If you need to train the muscles without the equipment, you'll get similar benefits for those CF exercises by doing dragon flags on a bench, and using dumbbells to squat then shoulder press.

AnnPT77

I guess I'd ask what your underlying goal is: Do you you want to maximize performance at CF specifically, or is the main goal some combination of health, general fitness, strength, appearance, weight loss, fun . . . ?

Like you, I find I recover less quickly than I did when I was younger, and am less resilient in other ways. (I'm 69F if that matters, have only been routinely active athletically since my late 40s.) I need to be much more wily about recovery, nutrition, sleep, etc., in order to do my best. In addition, I use interventions like professional massage, physical therapy, and osteopathy to stay as tuned up as possible.

Like you, I also work out with many people who are younger - sometimes collegiate athletes - as well as some around my age. Unlike you, I'm an on-water rower (machines in Winter when my river ices over). While I doubt this is as muscularly intense as CF, it can be a fairly intense/demanding thing along various dimensions. I now do better if I don't row every day, but instead vary activity. That can include other activities that enhance my rowing capability indirectly. But while I care a great deal about performance, my main goals are health, general fitness, and fun. Those goals color my workout plans.

I feel like any workout plan needs to be individualized, which puts me unavoidably in the driver's seat. If I need help, I'm going to look for an astute coach in my sport who is used to working with masters (a.k.a. old people) athletes.

I don't know how to assess you, at 52, a year into CF. You mention having been active a long time, but you aren't very specific. One of the most important issues in planning training is how to build to an optimal schedule. IMO, a gradual build usually works better. From your post, it's hard for me to tell whether your "constantly sore and inflamed" is a consequence of building up intensity/duration/frequency too fast for your fitness level, or because of exceeding some personal limit (whether age based or otherwise).

You imply but don't explicitly state an interest in weight loss. If you're in a calorie deficit, how big a deficit? That matters. So does nutrition, especially but not exclusively protein. Ditto for hydration, sleep, and more. For me, factors I could ignore or back-burner when younger need to be consistently on point now if I want good results. (Even so, there are limits for me, but I'm 17 years older than you are, among other things.)

I guess what I'm saying is that I think it's going to be hard for anyone else to answer what you should do, even if some other over-50 CF athlete shows up. I feel like the more realistic answer is a hard think about what your most important goals are, in what priority order, and probably some experimentation with what approach delivers you personally and individually the best benefits in those terms. I feel like progress is almost always going to be slower than we wish - at any age! - but that progress is possible.

I'm not saying that I think that's easy. Given that, I'd underscore what I said above about finding some coaching - if possible - from an astute, experienced coach or trainer who's effective at working with older CF athletes.