My thoughts on training after 40. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY9x-uDMJ3o
Hope it helps…
Never considered getting my hormone levels checked, I don’t think I will be able to blame everything on that, but at least I can rule it out.
I had to modify my workouts over a year ago. I can no longer do high intensity training 3-4 times a week because my recovery time is now 2-3 days vs. a good nights sleep. And that is assuming no impact injuries from sparring.
I now have to do more paced workouts based more on cardio during the week and one high intensity workout (strikes for maximum results - fast twitch muscles) at the end of the week so I can recover over the weekend.
One of various reasons we note a longer time to recoup after intense workouts is, the hormones responsible for recoup are sub par. It’s a complex topic, and there’s still gaps in knowledge in terms of the impact of aging on exercise physiology, but key hormones are an easy one to check, and make a huge difference once corrected if it turns out one or more is subpar.
In men the most obvious is testosterone, especially aging men (over 40 say) but there are others to check.
Just ask any man who had low testosterone, and then had it adjusted (via medical HRT) to healthy normal range. It’s night and day how they feel.
See also:
One of my post 40 fitness objectives is to train without injury since recovery from injury can be a huge setback. That in turn means slower results from training which is a source of frustration.
That is one that took several instances to finally sink in with me.
I’m a bit of a masochist. I like training in the snow or cold rain because it makes warming up feel so much better. I like getting a little hungry because it makes food taste so much better. And I like fatigue and minor injuries because it makes rest so much more restful.
Suffice to say some winter training finished by a warm shower and bed was always wonderful to me.
I also loved sparring with guys who were in their 20s, even well into my 40s. It sometimes proved very difficult to hang in there with them but I’d rather “keep up” with the twenty somethings than be “king of the pack” with the fortysomethings.
Sadly I now find I injure more easily, things that would have been simply sore a decade ago can take me out of training for weeks. And recovery time from even minor injuries can completely offset any benefits from training if I overdo it.
I haven’t been reduced to “mall walking” yet, but I do have to watch myself. Problem is my brain and muscle memory combine with my ego and I sometimes forget I’m no longer 23.
Well that’s the thing that’s should happen with age, the wisdom to learn how to train smart vs hard. The attitude you’re in it for the long hall, so one extra day off, back off when it’s needed, not doing things you know will cost more then it’s worth, etc, is what keeps one in the fight not month after month, or year after year, but decade after decade.
Some times you don’t get the choice, but when/if you do, you take the smart route if possible.
I make the mistake myself once in a while of forgetting I’m not 22, and do something that I would recoup from in a few days, takes a week. Tried a heavy dead lift not long ago. Oh, big mistake that…
Some times gotta do what you gotta do. My friend is going into the Army shortly. He’s late 20s. He’s been working hard to get into good shape for basic.
I put him through one of my conditioning days, with sled, sad bags, battle ropes, etc and kicked his ass. It had to be done to put him in his wise talking place.
I paid for it all week, but he didn’t know that, which is all that matters! :D:D:D
I’ve been involved in the martial arts since I was a kid. I’ve always viewed it as something I will do for the rest of my life. I’ve reconciled with the fact that I never approached the physical accomplishments of Bruce Lee and that I may not maintain the same levels of ability into old age as Ark Wong, Chan Poi or Jhoon Rhee so I simply let them inspire me to keep training, even at my own level.
Kind of related; Helio Gracie in his '90s still trained Jiu-Jitsu every day, rolling with 20-30+ year olds. When he was asked how can he still train in his '90s he said “because I always trained like I was 90”.
Good stuff. Definitely true about getting away w/shortcuts being younger. Now I find that the more time I spend warming up, stretching/yoga and setting up a reasonable functional type program, the better off I am and the more injury free I am. It takes a little more time and effort, but the actual work periods are less, just more “stuff” before, after and in-between.
Agreed! My efficiency is such, that even with the added time taken to do what’s needed, I’m still in the gym, or where ever, a short amount of time.
Will,
I’m 42 and while I worked out pretty regularly until I was about 32, after marriage, school and work I got off the wagon. In the last three years or so, I’ve noticed I’ve gained weight at an increasing pace and I’m starting to wonder how much of this is hormone related or simply a question of eating more/moving less.
My diet is pretty healthy and balanced and while I like to cook/eat/drink (and occasionally overindulge) I know a lot of guys my age who eat more food and more unhealthy food who still manage to stay fairly trim without gaining significant weight. (I want to beat these people into unconsciousness 
)
This past year I got back on the fitness wagon and while I enjoyed results pretty quickly (I lost about 25 lbs in three months). I plateaued for a very long time and couldn’t lose any additional weight no matter how hard I worked at it (1-1.5 hours 4-5 days/week was typical), I’d lose a pound here, gain it back there. I kind of got discouraged and have stepped away for the past 6 weeks. While I didn’t really hurt myself I’m guessing now that I kind of over did it.
Additionally between school and work my schedule is getting very tight and so I’m often simply too beat to make it to the gym after a 10 hour day.
Based on your blog, I made an appointment to get my hormone levels checked, but I’m trying to figure out a proper way to balance a workout to be quick, efficient and effective. I’ve heard conflicting things about how its better to stretch/cooldown after a workout and the exact opposite and I’m curious if there’s an optimum approach to make one’s workouts as quick/efficient as possible.
Does this kind of make sense for a person who’s worked out over the past year but otherwise is getting older and needs a sustainable path…
[ul]
[li]15 minutes warm-up stretching
[/li][li]30-45 minutes dedicated workout
[/li][li]5-10 minutes cool-down
[/li][/ul]
Thanks in advance,
John
Testing is the only way to at least rule it out, but of course the fact is, it’s more often eating too much/moving too little, that is responsible for most weight gain.
Impossible to say as the above covers essentially zero variables that matter: choice of exercise, loading, volume, etc, etc. Might be a perfect match to what your goals are, or be totally wrong for your goals.
Read through prior posts here (many under “Will Brink postings” above), visit my general fitness/health site (BrinkZone) for a metric ton O free info.
Oh I’d definitely agree there, it’s just how that rate has increased over the past 2-3 years is where I get curious.
Likewise over the past 6 months I’ve been eating less/moving a lot more, and while I saw some initial gains, it pretty much stopped after a while. To compensate I kept increasing the amount of exercise but that mostly serve to demotivate.
Helio is truly a warrior. I do not even know where to begin in heaping praise on him. When Royce lost to Matt Hughes with Hughes beating Gracie with BJJ, Helio replied(paraphrasing) that it was not a loss for the Gracie family, it was a win for BJJ. There are very few people I would bow to, he is one.
Back on track, I rolled this morning with a BJJ purple belt in his 50’s. No issues. Always inspiring to see someone still banging. No reason for me not to plan to do so as well.
Steyr- Keep it up brother.
It’s really hard to put in more effort and see less results. That’s highly demotivating in the best of times. That can be due to a number of factors, from hormones issues, to over training, to simply unknown, or not well tested, such as stress, lack of sleep, and others.
Thanks for the post Will.
I went and saw the Doc on Friday. He looked me over and drew blood for the T test. I start back at the gym on Monday.
20 years ago when I was younger and bounced better, I wound up in the ER from time to time. Back then, it was just being active(and sometimes stupid)and enjoying life. The docs back then said that I would start to feel the effects of my actions after 40. I’m now 43, and they were not kidding, but that’s no excuse for the weight I have put on, or how out of shape I am now. However, that has already started to change.
Thanks again for the great posts and happy new year!
My basic premise is: if you’re over 40 and nothing hurts, you’re probably dead.
Thus, as mentioned in the vid, one has to learn to train smart vs hard, and learning how to work with, work around, or work through, sh&% that hurts, is your only real option.
Before 40, you had a choice as to do those things, now, not so much…