Age is Just a Number: Adjusting Your Training for Longevity

In this episode, Coach Darren discusses the importance of adjusting training as individuals age, with a focus on recovery to reduce the risk of injury and improve overall health and fitness. Listen in to learn his top 5 tips for aging adults when it comes to productive and enjoyable training.

Adults need to emphasize and realize the importance of recovery methods such as sleep, nutrition, hydration, foam rolling, stretching, and mobility exercises. Training programs should be consistent and intelligent, and prioritize the ability to comfortably engage in activities outside of the gym.

Chapters

• 0:00 Transitioning Training As You Age
• 2:47 Importance of Resistance Training
• 5:12 Keeping Up Cardiovascular Health
• 7:17 Prioritizing Recovery
• 9:20 Staying Flexible and Mobile
• 10:13 Maintaining Athleticism

Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00:01) - What's up guys? Coach Darren here. Excited to jump into another episode with you today. I'm stoked because, uh, we're gonna be talking a little bit different topic here. It's gonna be more for the parents, the adults, and the ex athletes out there trying to keep their training up. Uh, specifically talking to the population, uh, typically 35 years and older. Uh, as at that point in our minds, you qualify as a master athlete as well as, uh, within the minds of a lot of different organizations. So, uh, training's gonna look a little bit different as you age. Uh, it needs to look a little bit different, uh, if you're gonna be getting the adaptations you're looking for and reducing the risk of injury. So, uh, a little backstory. We train quite a few adults online. We work with, uh, tactical populations. We work with individuals, uh, looking to a, keep up their performance, uh, train in a way that makes sense for them for, uh, multiple different avenues and aspects and things they enjoy to do outside of the gym.



Speaker 0 (00:00:56) - So I wanted to make a podcast talking about that a little bit, and, uh, give you some insights and ideas on how you're gonna transition your training. Uh, as you age, if it's something you can't just ignore and keep pushing through, it needs to be, uh, something that you're proactive with and paying attention to. So, uh, just go over a couple different unique changes, uh, that's gonna be different from when you're younger. And, uh, some insights into how we look at it at Henson Athletics, uh, because, uh, we find a way in, in my opinion, to continue to, uh, train in a way that is, uh, resembles and builds athleticism, but is appropriate for age and will allow you to do things outside of the gym that are important and not just be, uh, successful in the gym itself. So, uh, number one point, uh, is recovery.

Speaker 0 (00:01:39) - So you gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself. Um, if you are just getting back into training, or it's been a long time since you've had, uh, an assessment or a proper assessment of your movement and, uh, where you're at with past injuries, uh, any pain going on or similar, uh, that's gonna be your first steps. You need to either hire a professional and get an assessment. Uh, go to a facility that provides those, or, uh, look up online and try to find a, just a basic assessment you can do to make sure you're checking, uh, if you're moving well, where your mobility's at and if any injuries or conditions you've had in the past are affecting your ability to move. Now, I don't think a lot of people go through this. I think people just try to either have been inactive for a while or they've just been continuing to try to grind out the same trying kind of training they're doing.

Speaker 0 (00:02:21) - They're younger, and if you're interested in this podcast, you're probably not getting the results you want, uh, or you're having pain, uh, often. So, uh, if different facilities offer that, obviously we offer that enhanced athletics, you could see a physical therapist, an athletic trainer, um, anybody that's in that field that is well versed in movement, uh, flexibility, strength, and endurance. So typically you can get through that in, you know, 20, 30 minutes. And it's definitely the best place to start would be getting an assessment of your movement, getting, uh, a baseline on where you're at and how you're gonna improve. Uh, number number two would be using resistance training to build strength. Uh, this

Speaker 1 (00:02:58) - Is something that's foregone. Sometimes athletes are just more focused on endurance or cardio or adults, right? And, uh, number one is resistance training. That's gonna be where you get the biggest bang for your buck, where you're gonna have carryover outside of the gym, and it's gonna allow you to build, uh, more muscle and strength, which over time is what actually goes away. And that's gonna improve a lot of things, including how we feel, how our joints feel, but also, uh, just your how much energy you're spending throughout the day. The more muscle you have, uh, the more your body is using energy to, to, uh, maintain normal function. So therefore you can look at more fat loss and, uh, health over time. So, interestingly enough, in college, I did a little, uh, research project on this for my major in exercise science. And we did a, uh, base population of people, I believe 55 to 70 years old, and those that were taking care of themselves and doing the things they love versus those that were in a rest home or being taken care of or needed assistance.

Speaker 1 (00:03:59) - And, uh, we did a couple different tests, a handful of different fitness tests, but the number one, uh, differentiator for those guys was, uh, base levels of strength. So the people that could maintain the, a higher base level strength over time and muscle mass were able to take care of themselves for longer. So if that sounds appealing to you, uh, definitely in incorporate resistance training at least two to three times a week. Uh, this doesn't have to be crazy. This is just the basic squat, lunge, deadlift, press, pushups, pull-ups, rows, um, anything simple, simple movement patterns, uh, loading them up over time to get stronger. That also applies endurance athletes. If, if you are in well aware of what endurance athletes are doing for training at a high level, it does include strength training. It is imperative to stay away from overuse and injury over time.

Speaker 1 (00:04:46) - So, number two, resistance training to use resistance training to build strength. Uh, number three is gonna be the other side of that coin of keeping up your cardio or aerobic capacity. Um, this can be something that's also foregone completely. Um, this is going to help with, uh, cardiovascular health over time, improving your endurance and reducing the risk of chronic diseases or issues with your joints and whatnot. So keeping up your aerobic capacity is important for overall longevity and health. Uh, so when, when I say you need a strength train, that doesn't mean that you should just completely put cardio out the window, which you will see often people will just go to a global gym, uh, lift weights and, uh, not keep up their ability to, uh, do work over time. So, uh, you wanna do those at a low intensity though. So if you're doing your strength training, uh, you wanna think about keeping those lower zone two work, keeping your heart rate, you know, 1 25 to one 40, and, uh, going a little bit slower probably than you're comfortable with, um, just to build that capacity over time and allow yourself to recover between sessions.

Speaker 1 (00:05:47) - So you don't need to go out and sprint a mile. You don't need to do something super intense, um, per se, but actually get away from that mindset and more, just do it in a way that you enjoy.

Speaker 2 (00:05:57) - And that is getting you moving for a specific, a specific amount of time. Uh, something to look for is at least 75 minutes per week of, of low, low impact, low intensity work. Um, so shoot from between 75 to 150 minutes a week between your sessions and add that in probably on the days that you're not strength training. So you could potentially do, for example, a Monday, Wednesday, Friday strength training and do Tuesday, Thursday, and something active on Saturday or Sunday to get those minutes in. Number four, prioritize recovery. So people have a hard time with this. Athletes have a hard time with this, and, uh, as we age, it becomes more and more important. So recovery is key, okay? And that's gonna come with a lot of different, a lot of different aspects, right? But if you are doing a lot of work and you're not recovering, you're going to not only run into burnout injuries, but you're also not gonna maximize the, the work that you're doing.

Speaker 2 (00:06:51) - So it's important that after you work hard, uh, tear down your body, you give it proper time to recover between sessions and, uh, that is the a missing link, which you would think would be makes sense. It'd be obvious, but it's missed a lot. Um, so you don't need a lot of fancy stuff, right? The first things you're gonna need is make sure you're getting adequate sleep. So having a good routine going to sleep, uh, at a consistent time, and trying to get at least six to eight hours of sleep for an adult is usually great. Uh, for youth athletes, we want eight to eight to nine. So typically as we age, we need a little bit less sleep, uh, proper nutrition, so having a good balance between carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and hydration. So you need to eat, so you need to eat good foods, quality foods you need to eat often to, um, re repair your body.

Speaker 2 (00:07:40) - So, uh, sometimes people go on the other side of this and not eat enough, and they'll be undercovered, they won't feel very well, g very good, and their motivation will drop. So making sure you eat enough food, uh, again, a lot of people miss that. Uh, they go on the opposite spectrum and don't eat enough, and then they can't recover from their work, and it just, you know, it's just a downward spiral of, of things coming together. So usually you're not sleeping, you're not eating, you're not drinking water, and you're having a hard time recovering, and then your training drops out the window because that's the only option you have with where your recovery levels are at. Um, and then obviously your active recovery methods, foam rolling, stretching, uh, sauna, hot tub, ice bath, uh, things like that, making that a constant thing in your routine and something that you do, uh, frequently, which there's been a lot of hype on ice baths lately. So, um, I'm sure you guys have heard a little bit about that, but that would be a huge part of this as you age, is prioritizing recovery. And then the last kind of thing I wanna talk about is staying flexible and mobile. Um, doing things every day that incorporate stretching and mobility. This can be obviously in your prep work before you're doing your endurance work, before you're lifting weights, uh, making sure you're doing some consistent, uh, things and putting that into your

Speaker 3 (00:08:54) - Routine. And, uh, improving mobility and flexibility over time. As we age, obviously that goes away, especially if we're not using the muscles, uh, as frequently, or we've come from a long period of, of not training and, uh, are looking to get back into it because we wanna feel better and improve our lives. So, uh, those are the top things that I wanted to mention today for you guys. If you're listening to this and you're aging and you want to continue training, uh, on my, on my end, I'd also recommend training in a way that is so still athletics. So compound movements, uh, full joint movements, full ranges, emotion, okay, uh, keeping up, skipping, hopping, uh, running to whatever capacity you're capable of, uh, getting back to where you can run for what's fast for you. Now, all these things are huge when it comes to the pyramid of maintaining a movement and the ability to do things for the rest of your life.

Speaker 3 (00:09:47) - So all of those things package into one program, um, that's gonna be ideal. Again, you can't, you can't do too much, uh, mobility and flexibility work. You can't spend too much on time on recovery, really. Uh, those are two huge things. Incorporate some consistent strength training as well as some, uh, low intensity aerobic training, and you're gonna be in a really good spot. It doesn't have to be as super confusing or, uh, really crazy program, right? It just needs to be consistent and, uh, intelligent when it comes to what you're doing. So after listening to that, if you guys are interested in that, this makes sense to you and you're like, where do I start? Send us a message. We work with a lot of adults across the world. Uh, we do a pretty good job at, uh, a getting some composition changes that we're, they're looking for, but it's not our main priority.

Speaker 3 (00:10:34) - Our main priority is, uh, those bullet points I listed above, uh, getting you guys, uh, to the point where you're able to do the things outside the gym comfortably and what and effectively that you enjoy to do. And, uh, enjoying the process along the way and, and enjoying training again. So, I appreciate you guys listening in. Hopefully this hits some of you guys that, uh, this resonates with. And if you guys have any questions, again, hit us up. Uh, you can hit our website, han athletics.com, or uh, send us a message on Instagram. Have a great day, guys.