Terminal City Training Vancouver Personal Trainer Strength & Conditioning

Injury Prevention for Older Weekend Warriors

My friend (and brilliant writer) Robert Anasi asked me to include some information here on keeping the body together as we get older. Some of us still feel drawn to proving and improving upon our athleticism (in Robert's case his bad-ass-ness too). Well, I am 37 and feel alot younger than that (like a kid much of the time) but truth be told I am older than alot of the people whom I follow in the world of strength and performance. Bob is a handful of years my senior and has a background as a very serious amateur boxer. He also likes to party and I am not much of a social or party-going dude. But I will do what I can for him and for my other readers.

nutrition- I will keep this really simple. One of my heroes in the strength sports world, Dan John, has recently taken to saying things like: if you are not eating breakfast, and eating within two hours before working out, then do not ask me anything about supplements. He also advocates flossing twice daily and taking a good quality fish oil. I couldn't agree more.

partying - you will pay for partying. Not saying you should stop but realize the price you will pay. Partying affects sleep, nutrition and mental clarity. All three are clearly of importance when carrying out weekend warrior activity.

foam rolling and myofascial release - learn how to do it. There are great resources available on the internet and on this blog there are some links. Buy a  firm foam roller and a tennis ball/ baseball (that one hurts)/ lacrosse ball (also hurts but at least there are no seams). Use them a lot. Email me if you want recommendations for free web-resources on this stuff. And check the sidebar on the Terminal City Training blog.

sleep - just do it. frequently. for long periods. and take naps.

water - just drink it. lots of it. even if you aren't thirsty.

more recovery time - you will eventually need more recovery time as you get older. Accept this and embrace it. More recovery might mean longer rest periods between sets, less volume when training, taking easy days when you really need them. You can still train really hard. But sometimes less is more. And you gotta get smarter about it.

strength train- of course I say that. It will help prevent injuries and can significantly prevent or slow down typical effects of aging. And who says that an oldster can't also be a badass.

active recovery- here are a few more tips to help you recover from exercise/training/practice/competition more fully: 


1) Eat something, preferably a mix of carbohydrates and protein, within 15-45 minutes upon finishing your session. The sooner the better! An do it more than once if possible. Continue to eat, even in small bouts, for a couple of hours. This may help to replenish muscle glycogen more quickly and efficiently. Your muscles will then have a better chance at returning to the optimum state sooner. 


2) When in doubt use ice on any sore areas. Especially good for the first 48 hours after the pain begins. Put a cloth or some other barrier between the ice and your skin. Try 20 minutes on followed by 20 minutes off as many times as you can. 


3) This is uncomfortable but makes you feel alive: try contrast showers or contrast baths. Really cold water followed by really hot followed by cold and keep going with it. End with warm so that you don't leave the shower/bath really cold! 


4) Maintain range of motion with dynamic mobility drills, such as lunges, mountain climbers, sprinter drills and the like. 
5) Visit a good massage therapist as often as you can swing it.
 


These are all things which are easy to do (okay, contrast baths take some willpower). Try to do these often and make your recovery and health a priority.

P.S.  Read Robert's book!

Sandbags make for fantastic training tools. No facility necessary, no expensive stuff. You've got to fight the bag for control. And, your grip strength will be worked hard. I've just been asked what to do with one once you've made it. Well, here is a short and far from exhaustive list of ideas.

Basic compound exercises can include:
zercher squats, shoulder squats, bearhug squats, overhead squats
zercher lunges, shoulder lunges, bearhug lunges, overhead lunges
rows of various sorts
deadlifts
step-ups (zercher, shoulder carry, bearhug... you get the drift)
cleans of all sorts
overhead presses
floor presses
sandbag shouldering
good mornings

for  variety and conditioning:

burpee with sandbag
farmer's carries of various sorts including standard, one-handed, overhead, cross-loaded
hill sprints
bouncer throws
pull like a sled on smooth floor
push along smooth floor like a prowler
heavy sandbag carry for time or distance or as long as possible
sandbag loading onto a high platform

some sandbag conditioning circuits that I use which I got from people smarter than myself:

 1)Throw and Go (from Ross Enamait of rosstraining.com. This one comes from Full Throttle Conditioning. Buy his excellent books)
sprint 25 metres out
sprint 25 metres back
walking lunges with sandbag 25 metres out
throw sandbag 25 metres back. Vary throwing style (overhead, side toss, from chest, etc) and sprint after the bag.
Continue for 10, 15, or 20 minutes.

2)Sandbag Circuit from Zach Even-Esh (you can buy his Underground Training Manual here). He recommends using sandbags ranging from 40% of bodyweight for beginners to this type of training while advanced trainees use 60-70% of bodyweight. Use your discretion.

Clean and Catch 25 reps. rest when necessary. Don't dump the bag. Squat it down nicely.

Push Press 10 reps. Hold lockout for 1 second and rest as necessary.

Carry & Squat. 10 steps ------>1 deep squat
                      10 steps ------>2 deep squats
                      10 steps ------>3 deep squats
               work up to 5 squats and then work your way back down the pyramid. Place bag down as necessary.

I have used both of these workouts many times and they are a staple in the training at Terminal City.

Resources:
Bull Strength Manual by Joe Hashey
Underground Training Manual by Zach Even-Esh. My review of this e-book is here.
rosstraining.com