I got a ton of great feedback on the Old Man Conjugate series via comments here and in emails.
Many asked me to keep the series going, so here you go. Let’s review what the Core Concept of Old Man Conjugate is. More of what you can do, less of what you can’t. And no looking back at what you can’t do is being added. Yeah, I’m a little bummed that I can’t Squat and Deadlift anymore, but, there is a lot I can do. So, I am.I’ve trained using a Westside style Conjugate program for the vast majority of my training life and I love it. I have adapted it to suit my needs, ability and schedule and it seems to be working.
My current training split is: • Monday: Max Effort Bench • Wednesday: Lower Body • Friday: Dynamic Effort Bench • Tuesday and Thursday: Schedule allowing I do extra sessions consisting of bodybuilding and prehab/rehab • Nightly: Tens unit on the hip and leg + manual therapy once a week My focus is the Bench Press because I can do it. And I’d like to do a Bench Only meet if we ever get to do them again! My training has been all raw for the past few months for a number of reasons.- Torn Bicep (healed now)
- I have no bench shirt that I can use right now
Phil[/caption] In Phil’s words: Everything is a contest. Sometimes he beats me, sometimes I beat him. With that out of the way I wanted to give you an update on how the lower body training has been going because a lot of the feedback I got was from guys who have the same no squats or deadlifts issues as me. The past few weeks I have added in Sled Dragging as my first exercise.
I go as heavy as the hip will allow, and the first week I did it, I was pretty unsatisfied. A 45 and a 25 on the sled was all the hip would tolerate. I did backwards drags to hit my quads which have atrophied quite a bit over the last year. I would not suggest this as a primary exercise to anyone healthy, but if it is all you can do, then more of what you can. Plus, the cardio benefit of it is needed. Yesterday Phil and I were dragging away and I thought the weight felt extra heavy. Didn’t know why, it was only three plates, but my quads were blown up like balloons and I was gassed after 100 feet. Remember I said Phil pushes me? He added a plate when I wasn’t looking and it was 4 plates on the sled. That explains why it felt heavy. Yes I realize my 15 year old drags much more than this with ease, but he has two healthy hips. I am happy to report that I got a massive quad pump and I think the sled work is doing my hip a lot of good! Second exercise was the Back Attack for 5 sets of 12 followed by
45 Degree Back Raises for 5 sets of slow and controlled reps to failure. After that we did some
Grip work as we always do twice a week. Finished with stretching the hips and quads. [caption id="attachment_223362" align="alignnone" width="800"]
The Wall of Grip[/caption] This may seem boring and like it is not enough work, but it was neither. It was a solid Old Man Conjugate session that was very productive and induced no pain the next day. That is a win. If you’re old, or beat up, take a look at the core concepts of Old Man Conjugate and apply it to your situation. Don’t just follow what I do, think about what you can do and what you need to do more of. Remember, if you only work what you’re good at you will not improve. You have to do more of what you suck at. If you have any questions on how to apply these concepts to your training, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help. It comes down to making a list of what you are capable of doing TODAY and working hard at whatever it is. If all you can do for lower body is leg curls and back raises, CRUSH them. And then go and do a traditional upper body template. If you can’t bench but can squat or pull, adapt it to what you can do. Then find what you can do for upper body. A lot of times we see an older lifter who can’t bench because of a banged up shoulder or elbow. Well, you’ve got a healthy whole 'nuther arm. Smash some single arm dumbbell benches! Get the idea? Now go ahead and get your broken old butt in the gym and kill it. Did you miss last week’s log? Read it here
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C.J. Murphy
August 13, 2020
