4 Training Variations for Aging Lifters

In a perfect world, age would just be a number and the aches and pains we endure daily from the compounding effect of years of training would cease to exist; again that would be in a perfect world. Despite our best efforts, father time always seems to have the upper hand on us and no matter how hard we try to avoid what aging brings with it, we just sometimes can't. In response to this effect and so that we can continue training, what we have to do is vary our approach in the gym and implement new strategies so that we can keep our seat on the gains train. Lifting heavy and employing inhuman levels of intensity has probably always been your game but unfortunately there will be a day when crushing heavy weights could end crushing your bodybuilding career. So rather than having that happen, try these 4 variations that will allow you to keep training hard, with lots of intensity while avoiding the impending danger that using heavy weights brings with it.

Stretch and Squeeze

Many times when we get into position to bang out a set, we have a certain number of reps in our head like we would like to achieve. That number then becomes the most important component within that set and we venture off, rep after rep until we hit our target rep count. What ends up being lost in this, especially when we're trying our best to avoid having gravity crush us under the weight, is the stretch and squeeze of each repetition. Once you really start focusing on maximum eccentric positioning followed by an exaggerated concentric squeeze, what you'll find out is your reps get much more difficult to complete, the amount of weight you can use considerably drops yet you get a much more out of your set by way of the muscle doing a lot more work. And all of this is accomplished using a lighter weight.

Rep Tempo

When you are using maximal or near maximal weight, the ballistic style of performing repetitions tends to take over and you end up looking to complete your target rep count as efficiently as possible. When your aim is to decrease the poundages you use in the name of safety and longevity, you have to make less weight feel like more and to do that, you have to really slow down your rep tempo. Start thinking less efficiently and think more productivity by increasing your time under tension within a set and move slowly but surely through the eccentric and concentric phases, increasing the time it takes to complete your sets thereby increasing the work output of the muscle being trained. You can easily make a hundred pounds feel like two hundred pounds by doing this and the effects will show quite quickly.

Set Volume

When you train heavy, your working sets tend to be somewhere in the six to ten rep range. Set failure within this range usually requires you to use a ton of weight and is extremely taxing on your structure as a whole and somewhat dangerous if a nagging ache or pain is lingering. So rather than taking that risk, increase your work volume within each set you perform by upping the number of reps you complete for your working sets. That means, lighten the load and set your range to somewhere in the fifteen to twenty rep area and make failure occur there. You'll still be training to your strength's capacity but just within different parameters and with a lot less weight.

Angle Manipulation

The final variation you should consider trying, and one that is a personal favourite of mine, is angle manipulation. Start taking your go to exercises on a different journey by changing up the angle from which you commonly use them. A change to the degree in which you push or pull a weight from can and will alter the movement altogether and provide a whole new stimulus for your muscles. A slight tilt forward of your upper body, a rotation of your elbow, a notch up or down on an adjustable bench or a complete repositioning or your entire body can make a weight that you normally handle easily much more difficult to lift. The angles you work in all have to do with gravity's pull, and when you can make lighter weights feel heavier, you're doing what you're supposed to be doing here.

Getting older definitely has its positives and negatives and it's up to us to engage in activities that can keep us as close to our heyday as possible and in our Heyday Tactical Trainers for as long as possible. Take the advice given in this article as a blueprint for your future training and just stay safe out there my friends.

Author: Dana Bushell

AST Sports Science sponsored athlete/writer, sponsored by Schiek Sports Inc.