Train Smart After 50

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Welcome, Sponsors, And The Case For Programming

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Resident Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell, and I'm an exercise physiologist in personal dynamics. I'm the other Maxwell's Fitness Programist, and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really worked, and most importantly, why things worked. Hence the name there is a method to the method. Before I get started today, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gilden Group Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. I'm here to talk about some good fitness stuff, what we should do, what we should not do. I've said this before, I'll say it again to the new listeners. When I started my business, I made sure that I put into the title programs, Maxwell's Fitness Programs. You know, I've had that name since I started my business years and years ago when I was just making cards and going to people's houses and meeting people at gyms because I believe that it really is all about programming. I mean, you know, once the client comes to the gym and we've done their evaluation, I mean, you know, the hard part's done. I mean, I've figured out what we need to do. Naturally, like any industry, things are going to change a little bit. It's not that somebody's locked into the same program forever, but the hard part's been done. Like I figured out exactly what we need to be doing for the person to be on a nice continuous strength training and cardiovascular training program. Like that's the whole idea that the person sticks with it. So when they come in, it's all set. I grab the chart and we rock and

Mistake One: Trying To Make Up Time

SPEAKER_00 1:58

roll. So today I wanted to talk about some of the programming mistakes that people get into. And I'm going to specifically talk about what happens when people start training, start strength training after the age of 50 and they've been sedentary for a while, and what some of the mistakes they make are, and then what are the things we can do to improve that? All right. The first mistake is people try to make up for lost time. Now, this can be true for any age group, really. You know, like I mean, anybody could come in and say, Oh, I need to make up for what I wasn't doing. But things like this become more problematic when you're over 50, really, when you get over 40, because you don't recover like you used to. So making some mistakes and getting yourself into some hot water, you might not be able to get out of that as quickly as you used to. So when we make some of these mistakes after the age of 50, it becomes even more problematic. But I just wanted to add that these are things that anybody can do and every age group is guilty of. So the old I need to make up for lost time mistake. I mean, you can't. There's nothing you can do. And you, I mean, you've you've done it. You're getting to the gym. You're getting to the gym now. I mean, that's the time that you're now making up for. You're you're utilizing the time that you're in now. Sorry for the little glitch there. I had a microphone problem. If you heard a little pause there. So you can't. You can't make up for lost time. Don't try. Just let's move on and let's pick up where we are right now. I mean, I teach my trainers to always meet clients where they are now, in all regards. Meet them where they are, literally in their age, in their in their capabilities, in their mental space, in their emotional space. Meet them where they are and help them solve the problems. Whatever problem they are having. It could just be they want to get into a good strength training program. They don't know where to start. Well, they came to the right place. And so that's the problem we're trying to solve. One last thing on this, I often tell people something that I've heard, been told myself many times is well, that's true. The best time to start was yesterday, but the next best time is now. All right. So you're doing it. Forget about it. Don't worry about what you used to do. It's time to just move on. Forget it. Let's not talk about it. Let's move forward. Number two.

Ego Weight And Training To Failure

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Oftentimes people in their 50s, again, any age group, but it's more problematic when you're reaching middle life, they start to use too much weight. They use weight that they're not ready for. They can't handle. You don't know how many times I've heard people say, well, back in the day, I used to use 300 pounds on the bench press. Well, okay, that was then. This is now. Lots of things change through the years, right? And also a lot of times people add a little bit of weight to the weight that they used to use. It's kind of human nature, the ego gets involved, but they set the weights too heavy to start. Something I preach about all the time in my gym is form is everything. You want to be able to do the strength training correctly. That is number one. And if you're going too heavy, most likely you are not using good form. It's a better strategy to use a slightly lower weight than you think you should and master the form before you start increasing load. Okay. So problem number two is the old back-in-the-day approach, starting with more weight than you technically can do at this stage of your life. Look, you're gonna get there. We follow progressive overload. You follow progressive overload if you're on a smart program. You will get back up to some very nice strength levels one step at a time. Studies have shown that any age group can get stronger. People in their 90s can get stronger. Once again, I had another glitch with my microphone. Don't know what is going on. You can get stronger at any age group. Studies have confirmed it. We will get there. Start with the appropriate load. Number three, people just starting out, and especially over the age of 50 or say middle age, start to train to failure too often, meaning they go as hard as they can too early and too often. So training to failure means that you cannot finish the repetition that you're on. So let's say you're doing a set of chest press, you have it on, oh, it doesn't matter, 100 pounds, you're on your ninth rep, halfway up, you can't budget anymore. So you bring the weight back down. That is called going to failure. Research has shown that you don't need to do that on every set. You don't even have to do that on more than half your sets. You just have to get close often enough. And that's very vague, I know, but that's for another time and another place. But a mistake trainees make early on is they go to failure too often, which is going to fatigue their muscular system more than it needs to be early on. It's going to fatigue their endocrine system because when we go to failure, it actually creates more of a hormonal response. It can be good, use sparingly, but definitely when you're getting back into strength training or starting for the first time over the age of 50, you need to be really cautious about how often, how soon you go to failure. So that's mistake number three. All

Chasing Soreness Turns Into Burnout

SPEAKER_00 8:47

right. Number four, this is a biggie really with every age group and even with people who have been training for a while. And that is making themselves so incredibly sore that they miss workouts. That that one drives me nuts because I tell people all the time that soreness is a response to working out. And so they're, you know, they're they're literally minutely injured. That's what muscle soreness is. It's normal. It's going to happen sometimes. It's probably going to happen to a degree, no matter what, even if you don't go out of your way to make yourself that way. But the other part of this is you don't have to be getting sore to have a great workout. So often I hear people say, Oh, I really feel like we did something. I got super sore. It's like we do something every time. I mean, typically when you get sore, it's because you changed angles on an exercise. You're working more from a stretched position, or you haven't done something in a while and you're gonna get the DOMS, which is delayed onset muscle soreness. I mean, it's normal. It's just you shouldn't be seeking it all the time. And it's a big mistake to put that intensity over consistency. So error number four is people thinking they have to make themselves really sore. I mean, it doesn't happen in my gym because we control the intensity, we control the loads, we control the sets. I mean, we're telling the clients what to do, and we're making sure that they're not getting outduly too sore. All right. So that's mistake number four. And number five is really piggybacking on top of number four, which is thinking that you have to destroy yourself in a workout with either making yourself too sore, doing too many sets, doing too much, doing too much cardio, whatever. It's the old, you know, making up for lost time, or just, you know, I think sometimes people jump in with both feet, and so they're really, really going at it. And that's always a red flag to me. Again, as a trainer, we are dictating the amount of exercises, we're dictating the sets, we're dictating the intensity, we're dictating the loads, we're dictating how close a person gets to failure. I mean, all that's controlled. But where I still see this is when people kind of like when people are like seeming like way too eager, like they're way too all in, like that is always a red flag to me. Because, like anything in life, you know, that is going to balance out. I don't try to discourage the person's enthusiasm, but I definitely watch it. And I'm, you know, I can almost predict what's going to happen, which is they're going to quit working out. You know, when you see somebody that's like, oh, and by the way, you know, I know you typically schedule people two to three times a week, but I've got the money. If you've got the time, I can come five days a week. And I'll say, you know, I don't really think that that is best for you. You know, let's not do that. Okay, okay, okay. But tell me what I need to do on my off days, because man, I am ready. I am eager. I'm I mean, early on, I mean, you know, I've been doing this 31 years. Early on, I'd be like, oh, wow, you know, this person is like, they're ready, you know, they're getting after it, you know, they're they're gonna be a client forever, you know. And now I'm like, yeah, they're gonna train with me for about three weeks and I'm never gonna see them again, you know. When somebody is all in like that, I mean, it it's like there's a reason they're all in. Maybe they know themselves too well. And, you know, I I had a client start a couple years ago, and um, you know, he's the opposite of that. Like he knew himself really well. So he would say things like, you know, I've got to be careful not to get too carried away. So, you know, I really, you know, I'm I'm gonna go after this slow and I need consistency. Like he was open about himself and what he knows he needs, and you know, he wanted to kind of get into it piece by piece. So get the strength training down into a routine, then start working on the cardio as a routine, then he was gonna tackle more of the diet. And I'm like, that's a solid plan, you know. Every day you're getting better, you're getting better. You know, every day you're further on the road, you're further on the road. People that jump all in typically jump all out. All right. So you don't have to destroy yourself in a workout. You don't have to go from zero workouts a week to seven workouts a week. That's not the way to make it work, all right? Jump in to get a little bit better and then follow progressive overload as far as moving yourself forward. All right. Those are the five things people get wrong.

What Works: Simple Exercises And Form

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Now I want to talk about the five things that actually work that I've been using for 31 years. And I'm just picking five things because I'm gonna counter those five things. And no, they're not gonna directly counter. These are just programming ways to really make it work, especially when you're over 50. This is programming that works for any age, but especially over 50. Number one, it's important that we select the correct exercises. Look, this is very simple. I've always believed in KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. I mean, it does not have to be super, super tricky and you know, cool to work. I mean, those are usually just fads and trends. I've been using pretty much the same programming since I've been doing this. We have to work all of the major muscle groups in a week's time. There are essentially 13 major muscle groups. We have to get them in in a nice level of balance. From there, I pick the right exercises for the individuals that will work for them. For them. Not some silly thing you see on Instagram, not something you see your neighbor doing, not something, some ad you see that comes across TV. No, the major muscle groups, and then within those major muscle groups, the exercises that are most appropriate for you. Everybody's different. I mean, take the squat exercise. That's a foundational exercise that I think almost everybody needs to be doing in their routine. Having said that, I've seen some people do a goblet squat and they just can't seem to master the form. And so I'll move them over to a cable squat and they're great. And then vice versa, I've seen some people do a cable squat and they're just something off about it. And all the coaching in the world doesn't seem to help them master that exercise. We go to a goblet squat and it works fine. Or some people do a lot better on the leg press, which is a machine version of a squat. So selecting the right exercises for you is going to help you stay consistent and stay with it because it is working for you. Number two, from the jump, I teach effective form, proper technique. Form is everything. I mean, we have to learn how to do it right from the very, very beginning. And I had this conversation with a client again the other day. There are even things about form where different trainers are going to have different opinions, and that's okay. Like there's good form, there's great form, there's bad form, and within the good form category, there are some different opinions, like how long to pause, if you should pause, should you squeeze versus pause? Like all that's fine. I guarantee if you're worried about that, you're doing it right. But there is good form. And the three things that will make it good form is full range of motion for the exercise, not using any momentum in the lift or the lowering, and making sure the eccentric, which is the negative, is slightly slower than the concentric, which is the positive. If you're doing that, you are using good form. People have different opinions on tempos. And there isn't a perfect tempo for everybody. Everybody's different. There are some people that I'm watching and I think they need to slow down because they're close to throwing it. Their momentum is taking over. They need to slow down. There are others that I think that are losing intensity and losing focus because they're going too slow. So I need to speed them up a little bit. There's not a perfect tempo, for example, a four or a six repetition, second repetition that's going to work for everybody. It's pretty individual. But those three things are key, and those three things you have to do. You have to start by using good form, full range of motion. Don't let your ego take over and cut it short because you want to be able to use more weight. Momentum, don't fling the weight because you can use more weight. I mean, that's usually why people fling the weight, because then they can use a higher load. Your muscles are trying to lift the weight, don't throw the weight. And make sure the eccentric, which is the negative, is slightly slower from whatever speed you're using on the concentric, because the eccentric is 50% stronger than the concentric.

What Works: Progressive Overload And Intensity

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Number three, use progressive overload. It's key, all right? From the very beginning of personal training, us trainers and the people that taught us taught us the story of old Milo of Crotan. If you've heard it, fast forward. If you haven't, give a listen. So Milo was a famous wrestler back in the old ancient Greek days, and he was an Olympian. And legend has it that he had a baby calf that basically couldn't tend for to itself and couldn't walk. So every day Milo would lift up the baby calf, put it on its shoulders, and carry it where it needed to go. And as legend has it, as the calf grew bigger each and every day, week by week, month by month, Milo grew bigger. All right. That's the legend of Milo, a great story of overload. So if you're using a stressor that is slightly greater than the stressor you have used before, you are going to get stronger. When you're over 50 or any age group, but especially when you're over 50, follow a progressive overload schedule. Don't just randomly add weight because you feel like it. You know, in our job as trainers, once we know somebody and been training them a long time, you know, we have the art of being able to take a little off or put a little on, depending on what we see, once a person is close to their peak. But as you are gaining strength, it makes sense to follow a progressive overload schedule. You don't have to destroy every set. You don't have to destroy every workout. For example, let's say you were able to complete 12 repetitions in great form with 100 pounds on the chest press. There are different progressive overload schedules, but a conservative one would be do that same thing the next time you work out. So your second workout of the week, do 12 repetitions again at 100 pounds. The following workout, you would add 10%. So now it's 110 pounds, and you would attempt to do that 10 times. So you drop the reps, you would increase the load by 10%. And then you would do that for two workouts in a row. And if you continue that, it's like picking up the baby calf like Milo. A little more load over time will get you there. There's other progressive overload schedules. I use different ones for different people, depending on how they recover, depending on what I know of them, depending on if they've gotten themselves in trouble before by pushing too fast too soon. But we always use progressive overload. If you want to be successful over 50 and at any other age, use progressive overload. Number four, use the appropriate intensity. And that's that's true for both ends. I mean, I spoke a lot about people that use too much load or go to failure too often, which usually that's a recipe for burnout. And, you know, you don't want to do that, as I've already said, you know, follow progressive overload and you've taken care of that problem. But then at the other side of it is you have people that never go up. And then they wonder why they're never getting any better. So they're not using enough intensity. They're not pushing themselves hard enough. In training, we get around that. I mean, again, we're in charge, you know, we're the boss, we we manipulate the workout. But, you know, you're gonna have somebody that's resistant here or there, and we just have to have the conversation that look, if you're not training hard enough, you are wasting your time. So a successful program over 50 or at any other age is going to use the appropriate intensity that in time you learn. Me personally, I usually have to learn and discipline myself to pump the brakes. So I will still write out my own programs and I will still keep a chart because left to my own devices, I might push myself too hard. That's not a badge of honor, by the way. That, you know, that can get me in trouble. So I have to be disciplined to go, all right, Rob, what are you trying to do? Slow down here. You're gonna want to make sure that you're progressing so you don't burn out so quickly doing this. So I have to really exercise discipline, follow my own progressive overload schedule, and be at the appropriate intensity, not too hard and not too easy. All right.

Consistency Wins Over Motivation And Hype

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Number five, people over 50 and every other age, worry about consistency. Like, that's what wins. Remember, I told you the story about the clients that come in early and they want to like work out five days a week. I mean, they always burn out. I mean, I promise you, in any sport, in any form of exercise, consistency is gonna win out every time. Not nine out of 10 times, not 99 out of 100 times. Every time consistency is going to win. You're gonna see people going to the gym, they're wearing their cutoff t-shirts, you know, they're fired up, they've got the gear, they're going at it. You know, you're watching them, they're sweating, they're grunting, they're throwing their weights, they're getting the old alarm going off at the Planet Fitness because of the lunk alarm, you know, they are getting it after, and you're going, wow, man, look at them. And you're just showing up, doing your thing, you know, day in and day out. And finally you look at your friend and go, hey, where's that guy that always sets off the lunk alarm? Say, ah, you know, he he's not here anymore, you know. And then six months later, here he comes, he's back in the gym and he looks like he's gained 25 pounds and he's using less weight than he used to. I mean, I mean, that's the cycle of non-consistency. It doesn't work. You are far better off to get into the routine that works. Be disciplined, meaning you don't have to kill it a little bit. You know, it's funny when I give clients homework, you know, they'll say, Well, you know, I only have time to do blank. And I'll say, That's fine. Just do blank. I mean, there comes a point where there is a threshold for enough exercise, but nine out of 10 times the people that say that are doing enough already. There are some, you know, we have to go the opposite direction with and really get them to do more. But a lot of people who are already paying us for the service of personal training, they already have a desire to change and they're going to do it. And, you know, it is so funny. I have to pull people back in my industry, in my job, as much as I need to push them, if not more. Like people always say, you know, well, you know, you have to push people. I'm like, ah, so many people need the opposite. They need to be told that their consistent plan is working, and they just need the discipline and patience to see it through and trust the process. People, consistency is what works. I promise you that, you know, not to toot my own horn, but this is, I think, sort of a badge of honor. Not the part about pushing myself too hard because that gets me in trouble. That's not anything to be overly proud of, but my consistency over time, like that is my superpower. Like, I don't miss, thank God. You know, like I'm very grateful for that. Like, I don't miss. I can I stick with it. There are days where I don't feel like doing too much, like it's hot out or it's dark. Anyone that knows me knows I hate running, jogging, whatever you want to call it, walking in the dark, right? This morning is Wednesday morning. I had to because of my schedule, right? I don't like it. I'm not afraid of the boogeyman. It's like there's just a different feel for me. Like I don't see the roads as well, even though I wear these dorky lights on my shoes, you know. I just don't. And it's so freaking hot out, I can't go out later. So I get it done. It was like, it wasn't the most intense run I've ever had, but I did it. I'm consistent. If I know it's on my plan, I'm going to do it. When I go on vacation, and no, it's not punishment. I love to work out. When I go on vacation, I stick to my plan. It might be modified, but I stick to it. Consistency is what wins out. And I'm 60 years old now. I feel like I'm just as fit now, if not more fit, honestly, than when I was 40. I might have been running faster when I was 40, but I would think all other areas are just as good, if not better in many ways. My mobility's better because I've been focusing more on mobility and flexibility. So it doesn't matter what age you are, consistency is number one. All right.

Share, Follow, And Sponsor Thanks

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Hope you heard something you like. Please share this with people. I mean, I send it to people and I hope you send it to people. I'm just a small business guy here in Volusia County that, you know, if you don't, if you don't share it, I mean, they're not going to see it. You know, I'm not Joe Rogan and these guys. I'm just me. So, you know, it would help me out a lot if you share this with people that you think it would help, because that's why I do this thing. All right. I will see you all. Talk to you all next time. Thank you for listening to today's show. I ask you to please hit automatic download and also follow the show. It will cost you nothing. Now I would like to thank our second great sponsor, Procharge Liquid Protein. What I love most about it is it is extremely portable. I have a tendency to make a mess when I'm making my protein smoothies after I exercise because I spill the powders and all that other stuff. But instead, with Procharge, all I have to do is open up the cap and pour it in my mouth. There are two servings per container. Each serving has 20 grams of protein. My personal favorite flavor is lemon lime. Check them out on my website at fittothemax.net.