The Aging Athlete - Strength Training

Strong at 40….50…60….70

If you have ever had the pleasure of doing physical therapy you know we love getting our patients/clients stronger. We love strength training because it is relevant and critical to preventing injuries, rehabilitating from injuries and extending our health-span. Extending our health-span is the focus of this article. Health-span is the time in our life that we are healthy, productive and independent. In other words, this is the time in our life that our bodies are enabling us to be active. Central to extending our health-span is managing the gradual decline of our muscle mass as we age.

According to Dr. Any Galpin, a human performance scientist at California State University Fullerton, it all starts to fall apart for us in our 40s. Sometime in our 4th decade our muscle mass begins to decline at a rate of .5-1% a year. Moreover, in that same time-frame our strength declines at 3 times the rate of our muscle-mass loss. To top it off, our speed begins to fall off at 3 times the decline in our strength. It is in the context of this muscle loss that joint degradation, cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction and fatal falls, begin to show up in the general population. It is true that much of the chronic disease and conditions that afflict us in our old age begin decades before they manifest clinically. But, strength training unequivocally reduces the risk of these maladies and can definitively reverse their course.

To understand how we naturally de-condition as we age, we need to consider muscle fiber types. Broadly speaking, there are 3 types of muscle fibers. Type 1 fibers, also called slow-twitch fibers because of the speed at which they contract, power us through everything from our activities of daily living to running a marathon. These muscles run on fat and oxygen, are fatigue resistant, and generally stick around our entire life, regardless of activity level. To be sure, we should train these muscles as well, but that is a topic for another day.

The other types of muscle fibers are Type 2A and Type 2B. For the sake of brevity we will consider them the same type of fiber as they both respond similarly to strength and speed training. Type 2 fibers, also called fast twitch fibers because they contract quickly relative to their Type 1 cousins, run on glucose, fatigue quickly and help us move fast and lift heavy things. Unfortunately, the decline in this fiber type is why we lose our strength and speed as we get older. In fact, if we don’t stimulate these muscle fibers with strength and speed training, their disappearance is precipitous in our golden years.

The good news is that we can dramatically slow down the rate of muscle loss with the right strength training strategy. For my patients, when it comes to strength training, wether it is CrossFit, traditional weight lifting, plyometrics, etc. I am largely agnostic. My advice is to focus range of motion, progressively increasing resistance (heavier weights), then once you have the first those two dialed in, focus on speed.

Range of motion should be your initial focus when strength training. Anytime you start adding a load to a movement, your body will move through the path of least resistance. This path of least resistance often involves a movement compensation for a range of motion deficit. That is to say, before you begin lifting heavier weight, make sure the joints involved are expressing their full range of motion with bodyweight movements. For the squat, we should be able to get our hips below our knees in the bottom position. For a hip hinge (deadlift), we should be able to hold our lower back in an extended position, while our hips flex and rotate forward. For pressing weight overhead, we want our upper arm to end up an inch our two directly lateral to our ear.

Once you have established adequate range of motion for a particular movement, start adding weight. You have a few levers to pull when regulating the amount of weight to use. I advise focusing on sets, reps and frequency. For any movement use an amount of weight that will allow you to get to 15+ repetitions over 4 or 5 sets, 2 times a week. Stick with this weight for a few weeks and then start adding weight, while reducing the number of sets and the frequency. Ultimately, to improve your strength you want to aim for an amount of weight that will allow you to safely get to 8-10 reps over 2-3 sets, repeating the movement at least once a week. These guidelines are not set in stone, but if you chose to use a weight that is heavy enough to limit your repetitions to 5 or fewer, your margin for error begins to narrow dramatically. Conversely, if you stick with lighter weight and lots of repetitions, you risk not stimulating your muscles enough to increase strength. One last note, a common concern for many clients when strength training is not wanting to, “bulk up.” I have never once witness a client accidentally, “bulking up.” Just ask anyone that has ever tried to add muscle mass (size), it requires deliberate tactics and monk-like discipline. You will not accidentally bulk up.

Once you have established range of motion and strength, you should begin focusing on speed. Our speed begins to fall off more dramatically than our strength and muscle mass and yet I rarely see anyone in the over 40 crowd training speed. We are not talking about 100 meter dash speed, but rather foot and hand quickness. For foot speed I like to start with hops. Hop forward and sideways, initially on both feet, then just one foot. Progress from hops to jumps(increase distance), again forward and sideways, then start the progression again, but one foot. Once you are comfortable with jumping, start jumping up onto a step or box, then off said step or box. Once you have jumps down, starting using an agility ladder to really fine tune your foot speed. For hand speed I like throwing things. This can be something as simple as throwing a tennis ball against a wall or a slamming a weighted medicine ball against the floor. Establishing foot and hand speed becomes essential in the 65+ crowd as this age is when falls become one of the leading causes of death. Our ability to get our foot underneath us and/or our hands down to cushion our fall can quiet literally save our lives.

Strength training is non-negotiable for the aging athlete and anyone who wants to extend their health-span. But finding the time, nagging injuries or just a lack of direction often keeps individuals from starting or maintaining an effective strength training program. Begin by maximizing your range of movement with bodyweight exercises, then continue by adding progressively heavier weights to those movements. Once you have the range of motion and strength components in your program, start adding exercises that promote foot and hand speed.

Some Strength Training Motions to Consider………

The Squat

One exercise that I think is essential for being productive in old age is the squat. Thinking strategically, if you are in your 40s or 50s, you need to be able to squat down with your hips below your knees and be able to do this while holding 35-40lbs. Accounting for loss of muscle and range of motion, this puts you on track to being able to lift 25lbs (a small grandchild), with your knees flexed beyond 45 degrees by the time you hit 80.

New to squatting….Start with the Mini-Squats

Squat - Thighs Parallel to Ground

Low Squat

Goblet Squat

Another exercise that I think is essential when considering longevity is the, “get up.” The, “get up,” is just like it sounds, you get up off the floor. This skill is essential and could save your life in old age. Again, if you are in your 40s and 50s and thinking strategically for the long term, you should be able to execute this while only using one hand or knee for support. But, ideally you should be able to do this with only using your feet as touch points.

Mini Get Ups

Half Get Ups

Turkish Get Up

One additional important exercise I integrate into my personal training clients and rehab patients is jumping or hopping. This is an essential skill as it mitigates the dramatic loss of speed we suffer beyond our 40s. Jumps can be done forward, side-to-side, with rotations, up onto a step and down off a step. Once you can confidently execute jumps or hops in all directions, progress to single-legged jumps or progress to jumping longer distance or onto/off-of higher steps.

Broad Jump

Lateral Hops

Depth Jump / Box Jump