As an athlete in my 40s, and with a long training history, several things have become apparent.
The first is that I am now at a point where I cannot handle as much volume in training sessions as I once could, this has led to simplifying my programming to remove a lot of exercises that I would have done in my 20s and focusing on just the things that are important. By that I mean, If my deadlift is the focus, I will typically only do 2 hinge movements in a session, where before it might have been 3 or 4, for example, where my plan might have been,
Deadlift
RDL
Pull through
Bent over barbell rows
Accessory work
It would now be,
Deadlift
RDL
Accessory work
I would then rotate through these exercises on a weekly basis to make sure I hit everything I need to hit.
The second thing that I have to account for is that I can no longer recover from training heavy all the time, this was a conclusion I came to in 2019 after the Official Strongman Games World championships.
At the start of 2019, I was in great shape, my strength was peaking for competition resulting in a win at London’s strongest in the masters class and then a 5th place at OSG Europe’s in the masters. Because of that 5th place finish, I was invited to Worlds in November 2019. This is when things started dropping off. I was pushing to get stronger and stronger, and made the rookie mistake of chasing heavier numbers every single week because the competition required it.
My lifts effectively fell off a cliff and because I was pushing my body so hard my recovery was suffering, lifts that were easy at the start of 2019, were barely moving come November.
In my head I was angry, angry at myself for making such a big mistake and not trusting the process that had gotten me so strong at the start of the year, somewhere in my pursuit of bigger numbers, I changed the way I trained and that mistake cost me dearly.
It wasn’t until the end of lockdown in July 2020 that it really hit home that I was over reaching with my training and pushing too hard, I’d literally had 4 months where we weren’t allowed in the gym, so my training was just going for walks daily, some sandbag lifting and kettlebell workouts at home, this was effectively a 4 month period of active recovery, allowing my joints, connective tissue and muscles the time to recover they so badly needed.
We were allowed back in the gym in July and by August, I was back to lifting the kind of numbers I was hitting at the start of 2019, with just a month of training them again. This revelation was huge to me, as it confirmed that I had pushed way too hard in the lead up to Worlds and that I would need to re-think my entire training strategy.
Fast forward to 2023 and having recovered from an injury to my back in 2022, my training now looks completely different.
Instead of trying to add weight each week as you would with linear periodisation, I now rotate through a 3 week block with light, medium, heavy weeks built into it and it looks like this,
Week 1, Heavy week, sets of 3 with numbers that the other weeks percentages are based off.
Week 2, Active recovery week, Sets of 8-12 reps, 60% of week 1 numbers
Week 3, Prep week, sets of 5 reps with 85% of week 1 numbers
The lifts used in each week change, for example,
Week 1, Deadlift bar deadlift, 6 sets of 3 reps to a max effort tripple
Week 2, Romanian deadlift, 4 sets of 8 reps at 60%
Week 3, Axle deadlift, 5 sets of 5 reps to a top set of 85%
What I have found with this newer style of training is that I have much better recovery as I only put a maximum strain on my body once every 3 weeks and over the course of the block, I am able to hit everything I need to hit in order to progress.
It is a bitter pill to swallow that you can no longer train the way you once did, but for longevity, understanding what you can and can’t recover from is the most important part of training. Cutting back to a less is more approach has been the best thing I’ve done for my body in the last few years. Because I’m not training maximally all the time, I am recovering much better and my numbers are climbing back up to where they need to be in order to get back to international level competition.
So, In conclusion, if you are really struggling with getting stronger, or that you are constantly finding yourself picking up injuries, take a step back, re-evaluate your training and do the following,
Remove excess exercises that do the same thing, you don’t need more than 2 variations of a movement pattern in the session. You are literally flogging a dead horse by the time you’ve gone through the third and fourth variant. Instead, put all your effort into 2 similar lifts so you can get the most from them.
Reduce the frequency of heavy training days to 1 or 2 times a month. By heavy, I mean 85% or more of your 1 rep max.
Prioritise rest, 2 rest days a week generally won’t cut it, as you get older, recovery takes longer, so build active recovery weeks into your rotation.
Active recovery doesn’t just mean you lift lighter weights for a lower volume, focusing on control and mastery of the lift, it can also include low impact movement such as walking or swimming.
Sleep, this is the most important factor for any trainee, regardless of age. If you can’t get enough sleep, you will have a real hard time recovering.
Nutrition, this is obvious, but getting enough protein in to repair muscles and provide the building blocks for soft tissue recovery is vital. Studies will show that 1.2 grams per kg of bodyweight is the top end needed to promote muscle protein synthesis. This number is based on lean bodyweight, so if you use your total weight, you’ll easily go above that target. Add in fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy if you can tollerate it and you’ll be well set to provide everything your body needs.
Dan.