When I talk about an older lifter, I am discussing someone with some serious miles under their belt. This probably has a little less to do with someone who is just picking up training as they have gotten older. However, this advice wouldn't hurt.
I find that I have had to substantially cut back the intensity I do on everything if I want to make progress. That goes for lifting, conditioning, and even rehab.
In my fifties, I am slowly realizing I am more like a house of cards than I am that piece of steel I was as a younger man. One false move and the entire house comes down.
You know something had to precipitate this blog. Yesterday Jess and I went on a six-mile hike. It's a hike we have done many times. However, this time I just wasn't feeling it. Probably because it was a deload week. Regardless, when we were getting to the tougher uphill hikes, I really pushed myself. I just wanted to be done.
Now I didn't feel anything at the time, but when I went to bed, oooo momma I had some pain. My right hip and groin were fired up. There was not a lot of sleep last night and the sleep that was had was restless.
As a result of pushing too hard the prior day, I really couldn't train normally today. The good thing is, I was smart enough to follow one of the rules I have written on the gym wall "If it hurts, stop doing it!" Pretty much everything I did aggravated the hip and groin and that was on an upper day - YIKES! So I did the smart thing and packed it in.
I notice these types of incidents happening more and more with various aspects of my training. Stretching in particular, if I stretch just a little too hard I am doomed. Instead, I use a reps mentality.
I have gotten to a point where I am not in constant pain. It's a nice way to live. But when pain comes back it makes you realize that much more how badly it sucks. So at this point in my life, consistency trumps intensity because you can't make progress if you can't train.
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