Question for the 50+ year old members

[concreter]

None of the advice applies if your name is concreter.....

Just Turned 50!!!
This Summer has been rough. Lots of Work and Weekends..lol
Normally after about 4-6 weeks into the Season I am No longer sore from the workload. This year its constant. I only have 2 employees and am doing a lot more Myself.
Lightweight Workouts w- higher reps and shorter breaks once or twice a week.
Kept a Very Solid 250 all year and may just decide to stay there.
Less weight, less drugs, less workouts, less food....All sounds Healthier than chasing more Size/
I'll Miss Reppin the 125's for 12 though...lol

 

[Crom]

Just turned 50 here as well. I think this is very individual depending on previous experience and injuries. It bores the hell out of me to go high reps so I keep my compound exercises between 3-5 reps power lifting style and basically only do compound movements. Basically working the whole body directly or indirectly 4 days a week. Never gone for the pump apart from my first few years of lifting 25 years ago. Just heavy weights for me as that's what works for me.

As Alfresco said you just got to make the best of what you have.

 

[carbs]

43...fucked shoulder, fucked knees, lower back bad.

don't lift heavy anymore all about health and longevity now

 

[Sides]

I'm 50 now, started lifting at 17 and competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting, always loved to push heavy weights. You can get away with a lot of things when you are younger, but now that I am older my joints feel the effects of all those 600lb deadlifts and squats I did when I was younger. Things catch up with you eventually.

When I got into my 40's, the injuries started...badly torn rotator cuff, bicep tendon, serratus, hamstring and achilles tendon. That forced me to adapt my training style. My personal ethos still drives me to train hard, but I can't train nearly as heavy anymore, and I have to train smarter instead of heavier, longer, or harder. We have a tendency to think that more is better, but sometimes it's just too much.

The heaviest I would ever go now is sets of 5 on the deadlift and bench, usually I stick to sets of 10 or higher depending on the exercise. Higher reps, more sets, avoid any exercises that give you problems...there is always a different exercise you can do. Only competitive powerlifters need to do the barbell bench press, barbell back squat, or barbell deadlift from the ground. For bodybuilders and the rest of us, pick the exercise that is the best for your individual body type, where you can work hard without risking injury. Dumbbell bench presses, safety squat bar or yoke squats or goblet squats, and especially high handle trap bar deadlifts have all become staples for me, and have allowed me to keep the muscle without putting undue stress on the joints and tendons.

Yesterday is in the past, and what worked for you then may not work for you now. Take a fresh look at everything and decide what will work best for you now, and for the rest of your hopefully long and happy life.

 

[pesty4077]

Pesty you look great! Super lean & almost 60...wow.

*Less weight, more reps, good form.
No more ego lifting. No more more doubles. No more PR's. Hard for someone who's roots are in powerlifting.

Do joint supplements make much of a difference once the damage is done?
I would imagine losing about 20 lbs can't hurt. I'm sure the knees and heart would thank me.

I don't think so. Losing weight makes all the difference in the world too. I would suggest you try Cryotherapy. I have a friend in town that owns a place. If you can't find one, icing makes a big difference too after work outs.

 

[opietaylor]

adding bands to exercises seems to help me tremendously. I have to laugh occasionally as I've built my size with heavy weight and now use very little and the younger guys come in ego's blazing and don't understand why i'm using such light weights and way bigger. good concepts here ie. giant sets, supersets, rest pause, etc.

 

[Drago]

do you know Skip LaCour he was a natural univers champion
and at 55 year's old train Always heavy in the 6-8 reps range

 

[buck]

Genetically gifted or enhanced people are not the ones I would look to for advice on the best training. Someone that spent years not growing then changed their training and it took off would be the more likely candidate for good advice I would think.

 

[pahlevan]

How have you guys/ladies modified your training to preserve joint heath as you've gotten older? I turned 50 this year and I'm quickly learning that my connective tissue (especially tendons) can't handle the heavy weights like I used to. Torn shoulder tendons, bulging discs, arthritis in the right knee...it goes on and on
I love the gym and everything about it. It's a lifestyle I want to continue into my 80's god willing but these injuries as of late are just depressing the hell out of me.

Im in my mid 40's and feeling it. I do sets of 15 reps with drop sets. Just burn it out and get the pump. This plus TRT and HRT.

 

[tokon]

My opinion and my experience with others is that eventually, as you age
you pay for the indiscretions of your youth. Youth if very forgiving of
‘errors’ (and as they say, is wasted on the young) and your over
overzealousness and or ignorance will, eventually, to most everybody,
come back to haunt you.

The powerlifters, Olympic lifters (those two especially) are the worst
‘offenders’ with bodybuilders, now especially as the heavy usage of
PEDS building strength faster than the connective tissue; ligaments and
tendons are able to cope with, are a close second. Unfortunately most
of the damage that was accomplished(?) in our youth was well disguised
or ignored and sadly cannot be undone leaving surgical intervention
often times, being our only source of relief.

I am 64 now and started lifting when I was 18 years old. I would like
to think I was wise in my youth which accounts for my zero aches and
pains or structural damage (did not use AAS, now on TRT) but I had
an excellent mentor that taught me to avoid explosive movements,
control the weight -- don’t let the weight control you, and use
relatively high repetitions while not increasing the resistance too
frequently and to move at a fast pace (not movement) through your
workout. I rarely, if ever, tried to see how much I could lift for a
maximum of 1 rep. I am not that kind of guy.

Also, I my weight never yo-yoed up and down which is one of the
things that is really bad for you, really hard on your joints when heavy
and fucks up your metabolism and so called set points, only to rear
its ugly head later in life when to try to return to some sort of normalcy.
I feel bad for the guys here that keep doing this to themselves; get fat,
get lean, get fat, get lean, ad nauseam, especially if they use fat burners.
Just wait I think to myself (here, now); before you know it, it will it
will be too late to turn back the hands of time having done irreversible
‘damage’ to your metabolism and where you store fat. Stay as lean
as you can possibly be while slowly increasing muscle mass. That has
been my mantra.

But I digress . . . sorry.

Finally, I think is only natural for the ageing process to be in some
ways ‘depressing’ especially if you have injuries that may or may not
be healing or correctable and especially, if after having been obsessed
with oneself for so long (not speaking to you directly, only to the
bodybuilding culture in general) only to see the irreversible, slow
decline as you age, when comparing the now to the what was. The
bigger the delta the stronger the emotions. Few people get that,
hence the rise in the masters division . . . old(er) people chasing their
long lost youth.

Train sensibly, eat right, get what you can fixed and make the best
of what you got. And be happy with it . . . which is easier said than
done I know. But you have no other choice in my opinion.

I wish you nothing but the best moving forward. Stay well.

Great post!

Thank you.

 

[Dave Perez]

59 here...I train twice a week...legs on Monday and upper body on Saturday...both days are at 3 am...I still use 5x5 on squats and bench...everything else is for 10 reps...no more than 12 total work sets each day...

 

[1bigmofo]

How have you guys/ladies modified your training to preserve joint heath as you've gotten older? I turned 50 this year and I'm quickly learning that my connective tissue (especially tendons) can't handle the heavy weights like I used to. Torn shoulder tendons, bulging discs, arthritis in the right knee...it goes on and on
I love the gym and everything about it. It's a lifestyle I want to continue into my 80's god willing but these injuries as of late are just depressing the hell out of me.

I just turned 50 in january. i feel fortunate that i have not had a lot of injuries over the years. I’ve pretty much stayed clear of heavy heavy bench presses squats or military press. There are many ways to get to failure, hypertrohy or muscle breakdown. Goin foward id stick with higher reps, mix up schemes, focus on time under tension, drop sets, partials. Hang tough brother!

 

[nickels]

Not quite there yet, but I had to cut back significantly on the heavy lifting right after turning 40, and then had to cut back some more at 45.

I can still lift sort of heavyish, but not if I want to be able to walk and function like a normal human the next day or two.




It's much more worth is overall to keep some of the size, and then just feel good most of the time, rather than hobbling around like a blast victim the majority of the time because you're constantly recovering from a previous training session.

 

[bad rad]

I stick to 12+ reps now due to a lot of joint injuries. My profession was devastating to my skeletal structure. I broke both legs twice, dislocated shoulders, 5 ruptured discs, broken vertebrae, broken hip, replaced tendons, etc. I still lift hard but nowhere near as heavy as before.

 

[bench529]

I will be turning 60 this year started at 12. I can honestly say I have only taken time off one time due too shoulder surgery. I changed job 2 years ago which has effected my training. I spend allot more time in a car and at work than prior. I have cut back my volume by a third. I train 6 times a week for about 40 minutes. Try to get 20 minutes of cardio 4-5 times per week. I train at home with my wife. If I had to go to a gym I could not do it - no excuse to walk down 10 steps to the basement. Can't wait to retire and get to train rested. For the last few years a do one heavy training cycle per year. I turn 60 in June and hope to bench 400 at 190 raw. Did a 420 last year - got some hard work ahead of me

 

[tvanny]

I turn 61 next week. I’ve been lifting, natural, since my early twenties. In the last couple of years I’ve started to do some conservative juicing, mostly TRT with some extra thrown in a couple times a year. I built a good foundation, and improve quickly with anabolics. The problem is, my body is trashed. I had a right hip replacement in 2017, and had my right shoulder resurfaced in March. I’ve had to back off and be realistic about my lifting. No more PRs, keep the reps above 10 – 12, and take time to recover. I look better than I have in years! I had to put aside my ego and focus on longevity. Do any of you old farts have any experience with BPC157, or TB500? Maybe I’ll try some Deca for my joints (moderate dose).

 

[Reload]

Do any of you old farts have any experience with BPC157, or TB500?

I used both extensively after both shoulder surgeries and feel they made a big difference in the speed of my rehab/recovery.

 

[tvanny]

I used both extensively after both shoulder surgeries and feel they made a big difference in the speed of my rehab/recovery.

Thank you, I appreciate the response. I'll have to give 'em a shot.

 

[IronFist]

no more high weight here , high volume with lots of sets and reps.

 

[johnjuanb1]

I feel best training EOD but usually lift 4 days a week. My joints, especially elbows and wrists, need days off in between upper body workouts. They tend to take a beating from every upper body workout.
I try to go to bed very early. Sleep is your friend.