Old Man Conjugate: Listen to Your Body

Time for another installment of Old Man Conjugate and this time I have some very simple advice for the old codger, and you kids will benefit too.
I’ve been feeling a little banged up lately as has my training partner Phil (older than me, but a little more handsome.)
We’ve been training together over twenty years and we have done some stupid stuff, like situps with Atlas Stones for weight held over the head instead of a plate. Those days are gone, we train much smarter, and safer now.
Our primary training schedule is as follows:

• Monday: Max Effort Bench
• Wednesday: Lower Body-he does his thing, I do mine because he can still squat and pull while I can’t.
• Friday: Dynamic Effort Bench

Two weeks ago I told him I was skipping DE Bench and doing high rep bodybuilding work because my bicep tendon was jacked and I felt extremely beat up.

He agreed.
The next Monday, I told him I was going to do my best to execute a successful ME Bench day, but I was still banged up. As we warmed up all of the weights felt extra heavy.

They did to Phil too.
I hit 225 as my last warmup and it moved like 455.
In the past, we would have forced our way through this and most likely suffered the consequences. When I say “past” I mean only a few months ago.
Since I started Old Man Conjugate, I made a deal with myself to not be stupid.

So what did we do?
We shut the bench down and did high rep Incline Bandbell bar work. It was the right call.
On DE Bench day we did the same thing, we put a leash on ourselves and did higher rep bodybuilding work to get the blood moving.
Again, this was the right call. I feel great now and the bicep is just fine.

The moral of this story is that as we age, we need to listen to our bodies much more than when we were 20 or 30. If something hurts or doesn’t feel right, why push it?

• I have no meet coming up.
• I have no one to impress.
• I have nothing to prove.

Forcing things at this stage almost always leads to injury, and the recovery at 52 is much longer than 32 or 42.
I’m not saying to train like a pussy!

• Train hard. As hard as you can.
• Train smart. As smart as you can.
• This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Staying at least new injury free must be a priority.
In our younger days getting hurt was not even a consideration. We didn’t try to, but we accepted the risk. And I’m paying for it now.

Listen to your body. It’s smarter than you.

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Vincere vel mori

C.J. Murphy

December 10, 2020