At this point in my life I intend to be a lifetime lifter. I do not mean by this that I want to be a competitive lifter for my entire life. I have never been a competitive lifter, nor do I plan to compete, but God willing, I do plan on lifting as long as I live, or as long as I can.
The First 20 Years
I started lifting when I was 16 years old and am currently still lifting at the age of 56. If I could go back and do things differently, I would. I was basically injury free for the first 20 years of lifting and it didn’t seem to matter how sloppy I let my form get, or how heavy I lifted, or how badly I abused my body with weights. If I did happen to tweak something in my body, it was as though I could just train through it and it would go away. Those days are over. After all the wear and tear I have accumulated over the last 40 years, it’s easy to get hurt.
There was a time when I could start my workout with heavy single rep bench presses and heavy single rep squats without any warm up at all, and I never got hurt. There is no way I can do that now. I must warm up thoroughly, I must use the best form possible, I must not overdo it with excessively heavy weights or high volume, and if an exercise is bothering a joint or a muscle group, I must completely avoid the exercise and find an alternative exercise.
Listen To Your Body
One of the biggest lessons that I should have learned early on, but didn’t start learning until the last few years is to listen to my body. When I was a kid playing sports, if anyone got hurt, the coach would often say, “walk it off,” or “run it off.” I would often hear athletes and military men say, “Make your body conform to what your mind is telling your body to do. Do not let pain or fatigue take over and dictate your course of action.” There may be a time and a place for that type of thinking, but when it starts to back fire on a regular basis, you better start listening to your body, and quit thinking that a heroic effort is the only way to improve or succeed at physical activities. The best long-term strategy is to let your body and your mind come into agreement. Use your mind to motivate your body, but listen to your body and learn when it is a good idea to call it quits for the day.
Short Term vs. Long Term Perspective
I once lived with a short-term perspective in regard to fitness and strength training. If I didn’t see results fast, I thought something was wrong. After all, in my early years of lifting I made some fast progress for several months. When the fast gains stopped, I always believed that I would start gaining fast again if I found the right type of training. One of the first people to jar me out of my short-term thinking was Bill Pearl, who was a Mr. Universe several times over. He never said anything that changed my thinking. What changed my thinking was a set of photos that covered Bill Pearl’s career from the time he was a Mr. America at the age of 21 until his last contest as a Mr. Universe winner at the age of 41. What amazed me was that I could only see very small improvements from year to year, but when adding up those small improvements that he achieved each year, Bill made enormous progress over the course of 20 years. Bill had a long-term mindset. He didn’t believe in high intensity training, but he gradually increased his poundages when he felt his body was ready. Little by little he got bigger and bigger until he far exceeded the body he had developed 20 years earlier as a Mr. America. Even though he no longer competed after the age of 41, Bill still had a physique worthy of competition in his 50’s, and as far as I know, he still continues to lift weights in his 80’s.
Lifetime Lifters
There are others who can be considered lifetime lifters. Andreas Cahling is in his mid 60’s and looking good. Albert Beckles seemed to be in his prime in his 40’s and still had an amazing physique at 50, and kept lifting into his 80’s. Serge Nubret had an amazing physique in his 50’s and lifted into his 70’s. Marty Gallagher is a powerlifter who has managed to lift injury free and is now approaching 70 years old and is still lifting. Clarence Bass is the author of the “Ripped” Series and the ripped diet that was extremely popular in the 1980’s. Clarence is now just over 80 years old, still looks great, and is still lifting.
All that to say that some people look at weight training as more than just a youthful venture for those who are in their physical prime. Those who stick with it realize that a lifetime of lifting has benefits. My advice to anyone who plans on being a lifetime lifter is to lift in a way that allows you to keep doing it for a lifetime. You don’t need to kill yourself by constantly going for max reps or by going all out with super heavy lifting. Super hard training is fine if you are in your 20’s and 30’s, but at some point, you can change to a strategy that will allow you to keep on lifting as you grow older. How can you do this? Consider using the following guidelines:
- Use the best form possible and train with moderate weights that are 60% to 70% of your single rep max. You can go lighter if you need to.
- Do not do exercises that cause pain in your back or joints, and do not do exercises that cause chronic muscle soreness or tendonitis.
- Never push a set beyond your ability to maintain a steady even rep pace. In other words, do not push a set to the point where you are forced to transition to a slower rep speed.
- When doing your workouts, never train yourself into a weakened state. Start strong and finish strong. This can only be accomplished if you keep your workouts brief.
- Train each muscle group at least three times per week. Some of you will be able to train each muscle group more than three times per week if you truly stay within the criteria listed in guidelines 1 through 4.
- Only add weight to your lifts if you can do so while staying within the criteria listed in guidelines 1 through 4.
I believe many people would be surprised at how much they can improve at weight training if they take a lifetime approach. If your body is starting to fall apart due to the use of high intensity, high volume, or heavy load training, consider a more moderate approach that is based on practices that will allow your body to hold up and remain healthy. From there, gradually add on and be willing to improve little by little. Your body will thank you if you take this approach over the course of a lifetime. Best of training to you.
Jack Lalanne engaged in lifetime of fitness through his 90’s.
Clarence Bass A Lifetime Lifter