TacticalBarbell.com

PeterHealey wrote:Well just completed my first 'Ruck Up'. I opted for 3 miles with a 55lb KB stuffed into a daypack. I prepared the pack as best I could but by the time I got 1/2 mile in it felt very intense on my shoulders and it felt that all the weight was too low down and not evenly dispersed enough. I trudged through the session non-the less. Lessons learned is that I need a better ruck-sack or maybe a weighted vest. Any thoughts on a decent pack for this endeavor and/ or the weighted vest idea? Pete

Your best bet is picking up a good ruck, they don't have to be expensive. Here's a thread in the lounge that might help:

http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=8&t=150

Second, if you're going to use a kettlebell for weight, buy a thick pillow and fold it around your kettlebell when it's in the pack. A folded blanket or large towel might do the job too.

Thanks Aelian, I went with the 5.11 Tactical Rush 24l backpack. It's in the Amazon cart on my birthday list.

Nice research.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27327032

"We conclude that resistance-type exercise training can effectively augment skeletal muscle fiber capillarization in older men. The greater capillary supply may be an important prerequisite to reverse anabolic resistance and support muscle hypertrophy during lifestyle interventions aiming to support healthy aging."

"Remarkably, all age-related differences in muscle fiber characteristics observed in old versus young muscle at baseline (i.e., type II muscle fiber size, perimeter, and SC content; type I and II muscle fiber myonuclear content, CC, C/Fi, and CFPE index) were no longer apparent after 12 wk of resistance-type exercise training in the older men."

Any thoughts about switching from regular barbell deadlift to using a t-bar instead as an acceptable alternative? The main reason is that I seam to tweak my back too often on the regular d/lift as there is very little room for error. I am running the operator template with Sqt/bench/wpu and 1 x week d/l for 3 sets instead of wpu.

PeterHealey wrote:Any thoughts about switching from regular barbell deadlift to using a t-bar instead as an acceptable alternative? The main reason is that I seam to tweak my back too often on the regular d/lift as there is very little room for error. I am running the operator template with Sqt/bench/wpu and 1 x week d/l for 3 sets instead of wpu.

It seems to be fine by Greg Nuckols:


"In short, the differences between the two lifts are much smaller than often assumed.
Powerlifters should train with a straight bar. For non-powerlifters, it’s primarily a matter of personal preference. However, since the trap bar deadlift tends to be easier to learn and tends to allow for higher peak force, power, and velocity with any given load, trap bar deadlifts are probably slightly better than straight bar deadlifts for most non-powerlifters."

http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=3&t=276

I might be using T-bar as well in the future..

Sumo and pulls from the blocks are good variations as well since those are more forgiving on the lower back and allow to be more upright with straight spine. Plus the pull is shorter.

Sold. Thanks for the feedback.

PeterHealey wrote:Sold. Thanks for the feedback.

Lift safely, mate!

Here it comes...

https://www.amazon.com/Barbell-Prescrip ... 982522770/

"The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 directly addresses the most pervasive problem faced by aging humans: the loss of physical strength and all its associated problems - the loss of muscle mass, bone mineral loss and osteoporosis, hip fractures (a terminal event for many older people), loss of balance and coordination, diabetes, heart disease related to a sedentary lifestyle, and the loss of independence.

The worst advice an older person ever gets is, Take it easy. Easy makes you soft, and soft makes you dead. The Barbell Prescription maps an escape from the usual fate of older adults: a logical, programmed approach to the hard work necessary to win at the extreme sport of Aging Well. Unlike all other books on the subject of exercise for seniors, The Barbell Prescription challenges the motivated Athlete of Aging with a no-nonsense training approach to strength and health - and demonstrates that everybody can become significantly stronger using the most effective tools ever developed for the job."

I paid for 1-on-1 coaching with Dr. Jonathon Sullivan about 3 years ago, trying to fix my squat form. The dude is awesome. He's an MD and professor of Emergency Medicine in Detroit, along with a PhD and competitive marshal-arts athlete. He runs a Starting Strength gym focussing on older adults.

He's tight with Rippetoe, and they do lots of seminars together.

Check out this video of him and his client, an elderly woman, doing impressively-heavy barbell work. His point is that the barbell is the key to health in older adults.

http://startingstrength.com/video/big_medicine_peg

If this video doesn't inspire you, you're probably not human!

TB-er's, If you're in the club - this might interest you, especially since this thread was partially responsible:

http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=8&t=516