After 40 club

[Barkadion]

I don't want to sound negative but I don't think there is anything to add.. Maintaining, balancing out pushing and recovering, paying careful attention to your personal physical responds, and trying to stay in the game as long as you can. That's as much as I expect from myself personally.. Aging is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Bark, you are too young to take such a defeatist attitude.

Nothing to add? Why would there be details for lifters of this age range who have not yet reached a peak, and none for those who have?

It seems to me useful approaches would change with both age and training age.

Well, the peak is over, isn't it? One can delay decline for sure. You can take long hike down the mountain with slow zigzagging around the boulder, yes. But you are going down.

[PeterHealey]

Looking forward to the book. It all appears to be very pertinent to me. Without much of a history of strength training, lots of long, long endurance running I feel like I'm just getting going with reaching my full strength potential at the age of 54. Looks like some valuable information to keep me in the game for the long haul.

[K.B.]

The general writing available is pretty limited to "lower expectations, do less" which is valid but doesn't really add a lot.

I don't want to sound negative but I don't think there is anything to add.. Maintaining, balancing out pushing and recovery, paying careful attention to your personal physical responds, and trying to stay in the game as long as you can. That's as much as I can expect from myself personally.. Aging is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Barkadion - you are going to want to read Chapter 2 a few times. The mind is a powerful thing. Don't mistake limitations you put on yourself as universally applicable. For every 50 year old that's accepting mediocrity, there's another running ultras, climbing mountains, and generally being an all around bad ass. These people are all around you - but the mind focuses on what the mind is pointed at.

[TBPenguin]

Well, the peak is over, isn't it? One can delay decline for sure. You can take long hike down the mountain with slow zigzagging around the boulder, yes. But you are going down.

Sticking with your analogy sure, if the peak is over we're probably not getting to a higher peak. But if you believe that there are better paths for ascending the mountain (or mole hill ) then you should be able to accept there may be better paths for descending it as well.

[J-Madd]

JMadd, one thing that isn't obvious from the TOC is the person with enough training years to have peaked years ago, which kind of redefines what constitutes progress. The general writing available is pretty limited to "lower expectations, do less" which is valid but doesn't really add a lot. I don't think you can be expected to have the answers but any discussions would probably be interesting, help us to supplement our own experiments.

The topics that are obvious look pretty good and appropriate to me. Your chapter 8 looks to be a very needed one.

Hope the writing is going well.

Thanks TBPenguin. It does go well.

What I'm calling the "Old Warhorse Template" partly address the good point you raise. It's a long range (four block) strength plan for advanced (both in terms of years and the weights they are moving) trainees who need a more patient approach in order to continue to make progress. You can advance the ball, but it takes a more nuanced approach.

Another point to consider in this vicinity (emphasized in all TB programs) is the emphasis on multi-dimensional fitness. When you have a lot of tools in your box, there are a lot of avenues for achievement available. Certainly, after thirty years of lifting weights my PRs with the barbells are fewer and farer between (though they still do happen!), but I'm making regular progress in my jiu-jitsu and triathlon training, both of which I first took up in my 40s.

[J-Madd]

Looking forward to the book. It all appears to be very pertinent to me. Without much of a history of strength training, lots of long, long endurance running I feel like I'm just getting going with reaching my full strength potential at the age of 54. Looks like some valuable information to keep me in the game for the long haul.

Thanks Peter!

[J-Madd]

But you are going down.

No doubt Barkadion. None of us is going to beat the human condition. However, when the peak happens, how long you can remain there, and how precipitous the decline is all pose questions to which we are too quick to accept pessimistic answers. We can kick the can down the road much further than our youth-obsessed society would have us believe.

[Barkadion]

Barkadion - you are going to want to read Chapter 2 a few times.

Will do! Thank you, KB.

[Barkadion]

But if you believe that there are better paths for ascending the mountain (or mole hill ) then you should be able to accept there may be better paths for descending it as well.

That is very true, mate! But it is highly personal, imho.

It comes down to one's feelings and thoughts about what is better for him/her. Feelings and thoughts can be tricky. Another trick is not to fall into Kübler-Ross model. It is very applicable to getting older game. Personally, I hate to see myself sitting in denial..

[Barkadion]

But you are going down.

No doubt Barkadion. None of us is going to beat the human condition. However, when the peak happens, how long you can remain there, and how precipitous the decline is all pose questions to which we are too quick to accept pessimistic answers. We can kick the can down the road much further than our youth-obsessed society would have us believe.

True. But I don't see it as being pessimistic. Acceptance is a virtue

Looking forward to the book!