I am not going to complain about getting older as it's an opportunity not afforded to everyone. What I do need to talk about is how much easier it is for me to end up overtrained when considering being in my 50's while pushing both my training and conditioning.
My Current Programming
Monday- Upper Body Lifting
Tuesday- 50 Minutes Zone 2 Running - 10 Minutes Zone 4
Wednesday- Lower Body Lifting
Thursday- 60 Minutes Zone 2 Running
Friday- Upper Body Lifting
Saturday- Lower Body Lifting - 50 Minute Run - 10 Minutes HIIT Assault Bike
Sunday- No training or running with a focus on rest and recovery
*I also lead an active outdoor life of hiking, stand-up paddle boarding, and skiing.
How I Manage Day-To-Day Fatigue
I do a lot of things right when it comes to managing fatigue. I eat well, I sleep well, I stretch, foam roll, use the hot tub, ice baths, and cold showers. With lifting and running, I have to carefully minimize lower body assistance. Other than leg extensions and leg curls as mostly warmup sets my leg work is one day of belt squats and the other day of trap bar deadlifts.
Deloading
With lifting, running, and leading an active lifestyle I MUST deload every three weeks. This has become non-negotiable. By the end of week three of training, I don't feel completely recovered between sessions and I really don't even want to be in the gym which is far from normal for me as I love training.
Occasionally I get dumber than usual and go past the three weeks. I end up paying dearly for it. Overtraining is a b!tch to recover from. It sets me back for weeks. Hence, I'd rather cut myself short by only going three weeks.
Notes on Deloading
A deload is exactly what you think it means, taking it easy. I used to screw this up a lot. I'd put too much thought into my deload. I'd end up doing too much work. In order to curtail this, I only use bands and bodyweight movements for the week.
Regarding conditioning on my deload week, I don't change anything. I spend very little time above zone 2 so there's really not much to recover from. As long as I deload my lifting I've had no issues.
