AllTheWay
TID Lady Member
- Mar 17, 2011
- 4,240
- 411
i was visiting with my dad this weekend and we were talking about lifting. he has spent a lifetime lifting. he played football in college and then was a high school football, wrestling and track coach. for as long as i can remember he talked about lifting. he tore his pec off the humerus benching. he has had numerous surgeries on his back and has had one shoulder replaced and is getting the other one replaced soon and had both knees replaced about 4 months ago. through all of this he has never stopped lifting. granted he lifts a lot less now but at 70+ years the only reason that he is still walking and going is because he has stayed active and stayed working out and coaching.
he asked me if i was still lifting heavy to which i replied not really but i am still working on trying to pull 350# for my deadlift. we chatted for a little bit about it and i was pleasantly suprised that he didnt lecture me. but rather he told me about how he had curled 95# the other day at his buddies house but that he wouldnt be able to do it very many times because things were wore out. he then went on to say that if he could go back and do it all over again he would go lighter on many things and do less reps on the heavy things. he said that he would do more to preserve his joints and his soft tissues. by going ligher on arms and such he would not tear down the tendons and ligaments but by the same token by going heavier with less reps on the majors like bench and deads and such one could build strength and yet not tear up the joint with as many reps.
for me this makes total sense. the current trend in performance medicine on the veterinary side is all about preventive medicine. train the animal and condition them to properly strengthen the soft tissues to withstand what it is they do but not doing so much as to wear out the joints or tear the ligaments/tendons. so in the young 20-24 month old race horse, instead of galloping them in endless circles around the track causing excessive wear on everything, warm them up and give them short works to strengthen but not break down.
what are your thoughts on preventative lifting? is it something that you think about? for us older folks would you change anything about how you lifted when you were younger? if so what changes would you make?
he asked me if i was still lifting heavy to which i replied not really but i am still working on trying to pull 350# for my deadlift. we chatted for a little bit about it and i was pleasantly suprised that he didnt lecture me. but rather he told me about how he had curled 95# the other day at his buddies house but that he wouldnt be able to do it very many times because things were wore out. he then went on to say that if he could go back and do it all over again he would go lighter on many things and do less reps on the heavy things. he said that he would do more to preserve his joints and his soft tissues. by going ligher on arms and such he would not tear down the tendons and ligaments but by the same token by going heavier with less reps on the majors like bench and deads and such one could build strength and yet not tear up the joint with as many reps.
for me this makes total sense. the current trend in performance medicine on the veterinary side is all about preventive medicine. train the animal and condition them to properly strengthen the soft tissues to withstand what it is they do but not doing so much as to wear out the joints or tear the ligaments/tendons. so in the young 20-24 month old race horse, instead of galloping them in endless circles around the track causing excessive wear on everything, warm them up and give them short works to strengthen but not break down.
what are your thoughts on preventative lifting? is it something that you think about? for us older folks would you change anything about how you lifted when you were younger? if so what changes would you make?