Training as We Age
Written by: Chad Coy
As a man, obviously, I have zero first-hand experience of being a woman. What I do bring to the table is a vast amount of knowledge from training women over the last 30+ years.
I have trained female athletes ranging from age 6 to 92 and the formula is simple; get stronger in the big movements, eat clean (for the most part), hydrate, sleep 8+ hours daily, take naps when you can, condition hard and lastly don’t give a single fuck about what others think!
As we age (men and women) should we train differently? Google search that topic and you will have 20 something year old coaches telling mature adults and specifically women to not do heavy weights, big compound movements, or hard cardio. In my opinion, as a coach of women for the last thirty years, this is fucking stupid! The human body was meant to move, and the patterns are simple:
· Squat
· Hinge (pick shit up off the ground)
· Push/ pull both horizontally and vertically, both bilaterally and unilaterally
· Core work- anterior, posterior, lateral, and rotational
· Carry/push/pull stuff- preferably heavy
Further, energy substrate training in the phosphagen, anaerobic, aerobic, and the oxidative systems is a must for all athletes, regardless of age.
Does this mean the 40, 50, 60, or beyond body cannot do the big compound movements safely? No, it just means that a variation of the movement might need to keep the body safe. The Silver Strong ladies (60-92 year olds) of Parisi Speed School routinely squat, deadlift, over-head press, bench press, perform chin ups, farmers walk, sled push/drag, and do bag carries.
Training Tips for the Aging
I am a no bullshit kind of guy, so I will cut to the chase- HIRE A COACH. A good coach will alleviate 90% of your headaches. A good coach will make you do the stuff you need to improve on and not just go back to the movements that you like or are good at.
Now that that is off the table, here are a few suggestions to get the mature body prepared to train:
1. Start with Self Myofascial Release (SMR)…. foam roll, vibrate, hammer with your Thera gun on the spots that need it before you start training i.e. quads, lower back etc. For lack of a better analogy, tenderizing the meat before you cook it. This should take no longer than 3-5 minutes.
2. Low level oxidative movement like biking, rowing, walking for 3-5 minutes will slowly increase the bodies core temperature and begin to prepare the mature body for what is coming.
3. A general warm up of 3-5 minutes of dynamic movement to further prepare the body for the training session that you are about to do. Air squats, jumping jacks, seal jacks, highland flings, walking lunge, and side lunges would be a good place to start.
4. Focused warm up for the session at hand…I like to call it a readiness warm up-5 minutes of constant movements…here are a few examples:
Lower body- reverse hyper extensions, glute bridges, dead bugs, cat-cow, bird dogs, KB squat holds, and some focused ankle mobility.
Upper Body- banded pull-downs, face pulls, band pull apart, dislocations, pushups, and possibly some light overhead work.
YouTube search any of these movements to see how to best perform the exercise.
5. Rate of Force Production (RFP) Jumps- vertical or horizontal, Olympic movement variants, slams/passes/pushes with a Medicine Ball, and bag tossing. This phase should take 5-15 minutes.
In this case, before you have even touched an APPRECIABLE WEIGHT you have moved from 16-30 minutes. I know it is a lot more than most people do, but when you have the classic chassis and the winter morning is cold, you take time to warm up!
Strength training and conditioning become very specific for what you are training for. I have clients that train 2x per week full body, 3x per week full body with focus days, and athletes that train 4 days per week and split the body into upper/lower. The body part split is further broken into dynamic effort and maximum effort days.
Unless you are using some type of nutritional intervention (e.g. an intra-workout supplement) and/or an ergogenic aid, I suggest keeping strength training sessions to no longer than 90 minutes.
Training as we age IS different. As much as we would like to think nothing needs to change, those warm-ups become more important than ever and listening to your body is critical to ensure longevity in your chosen sport/activity, reduce the likelihood of injury and remain mobile, as we age.
About the Author: Chad Coy started training in 1980 at the age of 12. He graduated from Purdue University in 1991 where I studied Exercise Science and Nutrition and began coaching female clients in 1989 while still in school. He opened Powerhouse Gym of Kokomo in 1995 and competed in drug-free power-lifting from 1993-98 and started training for Strongman in 1994. Along the way, he has won 8 National Titles, been to Worlds 6 times, and coached 14 other athletes to “pro status” in strongman. His passion is helping others and currently serves as a Master Coach and Educator for the Parisi Speed School.
