48 year old lifter want to hear the voice of experience

awnurmarc wrote: »

The lesson seems to be that volume may become a problem but don't invent problems before the occur.

There is the concept of maximum recoverable volume, that Chad Wesley Smith talks about. It's determined on an individual basis from experimentation. Basically, you keep increasing your volume until your lifts start to decrease or you feel your recovery is significantly impaired, then you scale it back. For example, Mark Rippetoe I think is in his early 50s, and he deadlifts once every 2 weeks. Maybe that's something you can ask him about on his forum. There's also a physician on his forum who's become a certified trainer in Starting Strength, who focuses on older folks. Rippetoe can direct you to him.

Lastly, make sure the increases in weight are as small as possible. Sudden increases can generate a lot of intracranial pressure that your body may not be able to handle if it's not used to it.

OP, I watched your video and props for you for your spirit. If you dont do rows yet thats one exercise that is good for posture and good counter move for bench press. Wide grip and concentrate on holding it for a moment with your scapulas tight. This brings your shoulders back like you were a gymnastic

Plenty of good info so far. Since you're looking for "the voice of experience", I'll pass on mine, such as it is.

I'm 55, started SL 5x5 (MWF schedule) a couple of months before my 54th birthday (I'd lost 60+ pounds over the preceding 10 months, and didn't like the flabby look I end up with). Had the usual newbie gains, but after three months found I had to drop from 5x5 at working weight down to 3x5, and then later to 1x5 as I went up the weights, otherwise my squats on W and F were terrible compared to the Monday set. After about a year, I transitioned to Madcow (an intermediate program), because I was starting to feel pretty unrecovered even at 1x5 on SL. After one Madcow cycle, I'm currently feeling I've got maybe one more cycle through Madcow before I need to transition to something with even more recovery time (probably one of the zillion 5/3/1 variants). So far, I've yet to have any major injuries from lifting, but I have to be careful with my form on bench and OHP so I don't aggravate tendonitis in my shoulders.

I guess what I'm saying is that, yeah, recovery time is more of an issue than for the young studs, but there are more knobs to adjust than just # of workout days in order to control your volume to a level your body can handle. And since every body is different, you just have to listen to yours and adjust accordingly.

One thing that may be an issue for you would be your susceptibility to another stroke. The heavier you go, the more the Valsalva maneuver becomes important as a support mechanism. And the Valsalva, but its very nature, really ups intercranial pressure. If your stroke was caused by a "blowout", I'd think that the Valsalva would be very risky for you. If it was just a blood clot, then not so much. Something to keep in mind, anyhow.

Omega 3 makes the blood run like cracy at high doses. I had to cut my omega3 usage down when my finger would not stop running when I measure my blood glucose

awnurmarc wrote: »

The first time I ever squatted or performed a deadlift was at age 46. I started a stronglifts/starting strength type of program about three months later. But I had a stroke October 10. Right side would barely move on the 11th. I'm only mentioning it to explain why I started over. On the December third I walked to my gym (not bringing my cane the first time no one would ask questions) and squatted and pressed just the bar. I deadlifted 65 pounds.

I've made progress thus far but I'm starting to wonder if I will have to stop doing three days a week. I've heard that all older lifters have to get more rest. I have a 50 yr old woman friend who I'm trying to get a lift. So I was wondering if there are any older lifters Who do that kind of program. What alterations do you make, if any?

You have two things going on

1) Stroke recovery - that's a real issue and something you're probably going to need professional advice with

2) Age issues - this is not such a real issue. Well, let me preface that, do all the right things: eat right, hydrate properly, sleep right, take soft tissue work seriously (as in schedule it like you would your lifting sessions) and you'll be able to lift according to any schedule you build work capacity for.

As an example, you can squat everyday in your 40's (John Broz is in his forties I believe and has been squatting every day for 20 years and has no plans to stop), hell I'm in my forties and I might take a crack at squatting every day next year.

Many people running RTS programming Bench 4 times a week, squat 3 times a week and DL twice a week - a lot of them are in their forties. Again jumping to that frequency will be tough in the initial adaptation phase (kill or cure possibly!) but once you've acclimatised and built the work capacity you'll be fine and will recover fine (as long as you are not doing all the volume, with all the intensity, with all the frequency - which if you follow someone else's successful programming won't be an issue).

Basically run SL/SS until you can no longer consistently add weight according to the program and have run a few resets according to the program. Then you need to move on to more intermediate programming - your rate of progress will be different, the amount of volume you will need will be more and the structure of your program will need to reflect this. No one runs novice programming for ever because it stops working at some point for everyone.

lkpducky wrote: »

SonyaCele wrote: »

I've been told by my sports doctor not to lift heavy or jog. He said after 40 years of age its just too hard on our joints, This is just a general thing he tells everyone over 40.

My friends in their 50s, 60s and 70s who run with me in a marathon training club are thumbing their noses at him (a number of them have run upwards of 30 marathons).

I am glad to see this thread (I recently turned 50).

he's actually a very good well known sports doctor, but i think to protect him from liability or to be super cautious he just tells everyone over 40 that there are extra risks from jogging or heavy lifting, and he wont give his approval to anyone over 40. I told him i intend on still lifting heavy and jogging, and he just smiled and handed me some PT guidelines. Granted i was seeing him for a torn ligament at the age of 45 , so maybe there is something to his logic. In any event, i certainly don't jump around like a 20 year old anymore, i have slowed my pace, but i dont intend on not jogging or lifting heavy in the near future. Maybe when i'm 70 i'll suffer from arthritis from what i'm doing now, but i'll deal with that when the time comes.

SonyaCele wrote: »

i'm gonna add my daring two cents in regarding getting a doctor clearance before weight lifting. I've been told by my sports doctor not to lift heavy or jog. He said after 40 years of age its just too hard on our joints, This is just a general thing he tells everyone over 40. I know my body better than my Dr who spends about 10 minutes checking me over and using "general info." I lift heavy and jog and love it and have no plans on quitting until my body starts telling me its time to quit.

Personally, I would find another doctor that doesn't make blanket statements. Sure there are people over 40 that have issues that preclude these activities, but to say everyone is limited in this regard to me is not appropriate.

When I had to go to the orthopedic specialist for shoulder issues, after he examined me, he asked what I wanted to be able to do. He said the treatment plan would vary depending on my goals. There were some things he advised me not to do, but it was based on his examination of my specific condition.