Programming 101: Part 6 Training the Older Athlete

A few weeks ago I put out a call to Elitefts.com readers for topics they’d like to see in my Coaching Logs, and this one got my attention.

Training the Older Athlete

Let’s define older.
I’ll say over 50.
Why?
Well, under 50 isn’t really older, and for most people, you feel pretty good between 40 and 50 according to the many I have spoken to and trained.
It seems that the toilet really flushes hard after 50.
Looking at those between 40 and 50, we can usually run them on almost whatever type of program we want unless there is a specific condition in place. Sure, we may have to adjust some things, but overall it is not too far off from what we can do with the younger crowd.
Once that halfway to 100 mark hits, I like to take some precautions.
In this article I am going to go over concepts I use, not specific sets and reps.
And, I’ll use bullet points because everyone loves them.

Programming 101: Part 6 Training the Older Athlete

Grey Beard=Old

♣ Strength is First:

Be sure to train limit strength first in your sessions.

Do not neglect this.

♣ One Rep Maxes are not necessary:

I’ve had a lot of luck with the primary strength exercise using rep ranges of 3-5, sometimes up to 8 in a volume wave.

♣ Contradiction to the Above:

If you have a competitive lifter, you will need to hit heavy singles occasionally.

♣ Vary the Movement:

If you are training someone who is not a competitive lifter, varying the movement each week is a great idea.
EG:

Squat one week, Good Morning the next, Pull the next, use a different Squat movement the following week.

♣ Use Accommodating Resistance:

Mostly chains.

Reverse Bands are cool too.

Chains are much easier on recovery for us older guys than bands, so use them more.

♣ Use Specialty Bars:

A lot.

I mean a lot.

♣ Use the Tsunami Bar and the Bandbell Bar:

A lot.

Both of these have different effects and are excellent for keeping the joints healthy, especially the Bandbell bar

♣ Once you’ve trained strength, stick to higher reps:

On accessory work, don’t worry about heavy dumbell work in the 5-6 range. Instead, use higher reps.

Higher reps have less wear and tear on the joints due to lower weights used and they flush everything with a nice pump.

♣ Use Active Rest:

A lot.
Add in sets of 15-50 rep band pullaparts, pushdowns and the like to get extra work in.

Pushups, abs work and pullups as Active Rest add up and don’t need to be done for super high reps. Just get it the volume.

♣ Add in Density:

This is easy.
Try this:

• Week one, do straight sets assistance work.
• Week two, do supersets.
• Week 3, combine them into a circuit.
• Week 4, back to straight sets.

EG:
Week 1: All Done a Straight sets

• DB Bench
• Pulldown
• Row
• Walking Lunge

Week 2:

• DB Bench + Pulldown Superset
• Row + Walking Lunge Superset

Week 3:
Circuit:

DB Bench + Pulldown + Walking Lunge + Row
Week 4: Back to straight sets

♣  Alternate Upper and Lower Body Exercises:

Why?
This gets the blood moving, and it adheres to the PHA style of training that works so well. See next point.

♣ Use PHA:

Peripheral Heart Action is an excellent tool to improve GPP, conditioning, and add density to training. This is simply alternating upper and lower body exercises in a circuit in alternating fashion.
EG:

Goblet Squat + Row + GHR + Press + Plank + Tate Press

♣ Do Cardio:

It’s good for your heart.

Really, have them do some cardio. Mix it up. Add some Long, slow distance, some steady state Heart Rate stuff, some intervals, mix it up, shock the body, keep the muscles guessing.

♣ Do RPR:

Everyday

♣ Use Mobility/Flexibility work as needed:

Don’t kill it, but a little stretching and some Acumobilty work keeps you moving pain free. I’m not talking about 30 minutes of hard stretching.

Just do some.

Consistently.

♣ Work the midsection:

I am not calling it CORE.

I hate that.

Use more stabilization work more than flexion/extension.

Deadbugs, ½ kneeling stuff, planks variations, Pallof Presses, 1 Arm Farmers walks and more.

Spend more time on these than on situps and crunches.

♣ Use the Prowler and the Sled:

It’s good for you and doesn’t need to be heavy.
I can probably go on for another hundred points but this sums it up.
Using different exercises a lot prevents overuse issues.

I understand that mastery of basic lifts is critical, but we are not talking about competitive lifters here, just older populations.
For the older population lifters, all of this applies, and it is assumed that you have some mastery of your competitive lifts.

If you/they don’t, spend more time on perfecting them. This can still adhere to my principles.
A Squat is a Squat.

If you use a Duffalo bar, one week, a Yoke Bar the next and a straight bar the next, you are still training the PATTERN.
You can add in the classic lift as the meet gets closer to dial in technique.
I hope you enjoyed this article on Training the Older Athlete.

OHH, OHH, OHH!

I almost forgot.
Since it’s St. Paddy’s Day week, I’ll obviously be at the Dropkick Murphy shows a time or three this week.
We want you to go too.
TPS is raffling off 3 tickets for the show on Saturday March 16.
$10 a chance, winner take all.
Cash only at the front desk.
100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Claddagh Fund, which is the charity the Dropkick’s run.
Drop a sawbuck for charity.

Winner will be drawn at 9:30 am tomorrow, March 15th.

Oh, don’t forget:

I created a ridiculous offer for Elitefts.com readers for my site TPSMethod.com.
The site has everything you need to be a better lifter.
Programs, coaching, video seminars and more.
Elitefts.com readers are eligible for a massive discount on memberhip.
You can save up to 50% off on membership right now.
Go to https://tpsmethod.com/elitefts_join/ to take advantage.
But if you are not ready to jump in, how about a week free?
Easy.
Go to tpsmethod.com and get a free week on me.
If you decide to stay be sure to cancel at the end of the week and sign up on the link above to get the EliteFTS.com discount.
The free trial link is at full price.
You have nothing to lose!
It’s free.
Oh, and on March 16 we are hosting the TPS Method for Powerlifting Seminar.
All the details are on my Instgram page, and Facebook.
It’s gonna be awesome. We hope to see you there.
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