Tag Archives: Training Programs

Training for the Older Lifter

By Thom Van Vleck

Thom Van Vleck and his brother Tedd who is over 11 years younger. Over the years we have talked a lot about training but our age difference has meant we follow different programs. Age makes a difference in how you train!

Thom Van Vleck and his brother Tedd who is over 11 years younger. Over the years we have talked a lot about training but our age difference has meant we follow different programs. Age makes a difference in how you train!

Shot Put Gold medalist Adam Nelson told me, “Most training programs are designed for a younger athlete and older athletes need to train differently”.

I would say training programs need to be adjusted over the life span.   When I turned 40 I told my Uncle it seemed like when I was a teen I could work out hard every day.  Then at 30 I needed a day to recuperate from soreness.  Then at 40 it seemed to take a week to get past a heavy duty squat workout soreness.  My Uncle, who was pushing 60 and still training very hard said, Thom, I’ve been sore for the last 15 years!”.  I laughed but he was serious!  He said, “If I waited until I felt 100% I’d never workout again”.

So the body doesn’t recuperate as well.

Then there is injury which is different than recuperation.  I remember being young and pulling a muscle or straining a tendon and it recovering very quickly.  Now things stay hurt longer and some things just continue to hurt even after they have healed.  I tore my hamstring many years ago and I will still “feel it” from time to time.

So injuries add up and then don’t heal a quickly (or ever!).  The reality is injury is what ends most lifters competitive careers.  Not age.

Finally, there’s the responsibility that comes with age.  I remember spending a lot of time as a teen lifting, reading about lifting, thinking about lifting, watching other lifters lifting….you get the idea.  I just don’t have that kind of time anymore.

So you don’t have the time as an older lifter.

So the older lifter has to think differently.  They have to be smarter with the lifts they train, manage their time, and stay injury free.  If they get injured they need to address the injury and be less likely to “train through the injury”.

So for me it’s the “Three Keys” for the older lifter.

1.  Facilitating Recuperation

2.  Avoiding Injury

3.  Managing time

So how do you facilitate recuperation, avoid injury, and manage time to achieve the goal of being strong?

Let’s think about adaptation.  Lifting is really adapting to heavier loads.  Younger lifters can adapt faster than older lifters.  Thus it is often beneficial to change up lifts for a younger lifter.  Simply put, they adapt faster.  So that means the older the lifter, the slower they adapt.

The thought is as a younger lifter you need to change up lifts and avoid getting “stale” which is the body resisting adaptation.  So the older lifter needs to work the same lift for a longer period of time.  By doing the same lifts longer they would avoid injury.  Sure there’s a trade off but an older lifter will lose more time injured than the younger lifter so he need to avoid injury more than just gain strength.

Another thing the older lifter can do is find a happy medium for the poundage being lifted in training.  It is ingrained in every strength athlete to lift more and more weight.  They don’t refer to weightlifting as progressive resistance for nothing.  But for the older lifter there needs to be a limit.  I believe that should be around 75% of one’s max and keep the reps explosive and low at 3 sets of 3.  This will allow you to walk that line between getting stronger (or just keeping strength) and injury.  You will also stay in a good groove avoiding squeezing out reps that lead to poor form and injury.

The next concept sounds counter to what I’ve just said but think about it first.  The older lifter needs to lift 3 to 5 days a week.  Essentially, more often than a younger lifter.  But it’s the way the lifter trains (doing 75% instead of higher percentages, the same lifts more often, and walking away rather than crawling away) that makes this lifting scheme work.  To be clear, I’m talking about doing the SAME lifts every workout, not a split routine. So you end up lifting less volume but doing it more often.  This scheme also helps you manage time by keeping you in the training hall more often but for less time.  I also believe by training lifts more often you need less time to stretch, warm up, and all that.  Because you are essentially staying in a lifting groove.  Your body is ready every day to train.

I think a final benefit of following this program is I am enjoying my training more than I have in years.  I don’t crawl out of the gym and don’t avoid stairs for three days.  The hard part is that I often hit a very good set and in the past that’s when it was “go time” to load up the bar and do something REALLY heavy.  Now I simply walk away or move to the next lift.  But that means I’m ready to go again in the next day or two.

So here’s some basic points:

  • Lift for 3 days a week 45 minutes max duration
  • 3 sets of 3 reps on average with a 6 rep max
  • 5-10 minutes foam rolling and dynamic stretching
  • Same workout everyday as the philosophy is master’s throwers don’t adapt as quickly
  • 75% of max and if a consistent tempo can’t be maintained then drop the weight. Lose the ego!

The type of lifts that give you the biggest bang for your buck (lift smarter, remember!)

  1. Hip Hinge Pattern Movements (i.e. Power Snatches, Cleans, Deadlifts).
  2. Unilateral/Bilateral Squat Movement (i.e. Squats, lunges) followed by Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) such as broad jumps, vertical jumps, sprints.
  3. Pushes (i.e. explosive type pressing movements) followed by shoulder prehab work.
  4. Core work (2 or 3 weighted core exercised for 6-10 reps which may include decline crunches, standing bar twists, handing leg raises).
  5. Competition lifts:  Work them in but focus on the technique and stay at 75% until competition day.  Going heavy too much in training just means more injury.

Lean Mass Building Workouts

by Roger LaPointe

Adding Medicine Balls to your training program can help build lean muscle mass.

Summer is a time when you want to just pack on some great, quick lean mass. Try out this two workout combination. Take a day of rest between these workouts. There is a lot of lower body work here and you will feel it the next day. You will really feel it the day after Workout B. Give yourself two days of rest after Workout B, or just do some easy jogging or medicine ball work.

Workout A

Bodyweight Squats 3 sets of 10
Front Squat 3 sets of 10
Back Squat 5 sets of 5 up to 60%
Stiff Leg Deadlift 5 sets of 5 – see how high you can go using perfect form. You may hit 300 #, which would be great
Iron Boot Leg Ext. 2 sets of 20
Iron Boot Hanging Leg Curl 2 sets of 20
Hanging Frog Crunches 3 sets of 10

Workout B

Body weight squats
Stretch
5 sets of 6 depth jumps
Isometrics in the power rack: Squat, Standing Press, Deadlift, Bench – in that order
Stretch

Live strong, Roger LaPointe

Making Your Weight Training “All-Around”

by Jarrod Fobes

Dean Ross performing an Index Fingers Deadlift at the 2012 USAWA Grip Championships. This is one of the many variations of deadlifts within the USAWA that could be done as a "warm up" prior to a heavy deadlift training session.

Let me start off by saying that I am very new to the sport of weightlifting, and in that regard my opinions on how weight training should be done don’t count for squat. But I am a long time athlete and coach, and I do know a thing or two about creating an effective training program. So I thought I would share how I have been incorporating all-around lifting into my overall strength training, and see what the athletes of USAWA think.

Initially I tried training two days a week; one day of Olympic lifting and one day training whatever all-around lifts I was most interested in at the time. This didn’t work because if I had to miss a day of lifting, I either had to sacrifice my beloved all-around lifts, or miss out on some desperately needed Olympic practice. Also, my all-around sessions tended to focus on the lifts I was good at, rather than the lifts I needed to do. I needed to find a way to make sure I got a good full body workout on either day.

The general program I settled on is nothing revolutionary or even particularly intense: one or two full-body workouts a week, three or four lifts, each one for three or four sets of heavy singles, doubles, or triples. I pyramid up each set. I realize this is a pretty inexact scheme, but between teaching four martial arts classes a week and holding a physical job, I have to be able to vary the intensity based on how rested and ready I am. What is not inexact is my record-keeping. I think it’s important to diligently record the weight lifted each workout, regardless of whether it was a PR day or not.

With such a necessarily limited workout, it’s pretty hard to train the nearly 200 lifts included in the USAWA. So I’ve started “stealing” sets from the core lifts. For instance instead of doing four sets of Clean & Jerks, I might warm up with a set of Miller C&J. While this is a tough finger lift, it’s just a warm up for the back, leg, and shoulder muscles. Afterwards, I’ll struggle through a couple sets of Clean & Jerks, going up in weight if I feel my technique has improved enough. Then I’ll do one or two sets of an all-around lift that trains muscles or movement similar to the clean & jerk. If I’m sore and tired that day, I’ll pick something I’m not very good at (like One-Arm C&J, Judd C&J, etc) and focus on technique. If I’m feeling strong, I’ll pick one of my better lifts like the Turkish-Get Up and really try to push weight. Not only do the all-around lifts function as assistance exercises to the core lift, but the strength and technique gained from the core lift helps the all-around training too!

I bet there are a ton of creative ways to get some all-around practice in during your training, and I’d love to see some follow-up stories from veterans as well as other beginners.

MIM

by John McKean

“Oooh, Hon, how sweet – you remembered the nickname my family gave me when I was young!” purred my wife, Marilyn.

I noticed she was staring at a crumpled piece of paper I’d recently started scribbling on, that carried only the title “MIM.” So, thinking quickly, I replied “Yep, ya caught me. I was just penning you a little love note!” For certainly I would’ve lost this year’s batch of her famous Christmas cookies had I mentioned that the note was the nickname, and to be the recording  of my current training routine, which stood for “Monkey In the Middle”!!

John McKean training a backdown set, or as he calls it, a monkey set, with added band tension.

The MIM style workout refers to the middle-weight sets or “monkey,” and is my latest version of the “backdown set.” I learned about backdowns during the 1960s from famous Pittsburgh powerlifter Bob Weaver. Big Bob was one of our first National superheavyweight champions, using his 365 pound bulk to establish the U.S. record total and a national squat record of 807 – long before supersuits or other supportive gear, and when judging was STRICT. Bob typically would start his training squats with a set of 5 with 135 pounds on the bar, and add a pair of 45s for every set thereafter, until it stopped him. Then he’d reduce to a couple of hundred pounds lighter and bang out a few FAST sets – this was, of course, the backdown work. By the way, an amusing incident of his progressive training – Bob most often didn’t pay attention to the total amount of weight continually stacked on and once found, after the fact,  his final set to be 855; yes, he got stuck with no spotters around. But, the experienced squatter had a trick he used for such emergencies – he’d quickly frog-hop forward and shove the bar backwards (he taught this to me – it really worked and was actually more reliable and safer than half awake spotters!). Trouble was, ole Bob had his back to a big window on the second floor of the Oakland (uptown Pittsburgh) YMHA – it went right through the glass and a massively loaded, plate clanging Olympic set tumbled to the sidewalk below! Fortunately, the horrific crash was on a small, little used side street at night, so no one was nearby! Not that any of their cars were parked down there either, but the Y’s directors weren’t exactly laughing!

Anyway, MY “backdown” is what I consider the MAIN building set(done as “rest-pause” singles), as this is where I place bands over the barbell for “speed singles.” Usually used for training our various all-round deadlift type lifts, I begin a session with a non banded double using a medium weight, go to a heavy single (not a limit but enough to cause a bit of a strain!), then backdown to a weight right in the middle of those two sets for band work. I start these “monkey sets” with a normal initial pull, but then try to accelerate through the finish. These sets actually feel springy and easy, since they follow the heavy single for the day, yet are actually more resistant due to the extra band stress. Since they begin easier off the floor, I am able to “trick” the body into a harder, faster  lift!  Each subsequent middle weight single seem to become more vigorous and speedier! An important footnote – if I’d not use a heavy free weight single beforehand, the monkey speed singles couldn’t be performed as efficiently with quite as much weight.

Pavel's new book EASY STRENGTH

However, don’t go crazy with band speed singles.  I find 2 to, at most, 5 banded-bar singles will do the job. In fact, in the brand new book EASY STRENGTH by Pavel and Dan John (Dragon Door Publications), Pavel mentions a similar banded deadlift routine that I’d once  given him. He wrote that the speed singles seemed just too easy and merely 5 of them were probably only good for old men (like me!!). But after his first workout he learned the hard way that this is a MINIMUM quantity, high quality routine (he stuck to 5 or 6 thereafter and claimed he was so strong with such little work that it seemed like “cheating”!). For that matter, throughout the entire EASY STRENGTH text the authors continually stress the extreme value of employing minimum reps and sets for optimum strength gains. It’s one of the few teaching tools  that elaborate on TRUE strength strategies for athletes, as the old time lifters employed – our all-round forefathers!          

“By the way, Hubby,” cooed Marilyn. “What were you gonna tell me in your love note?”

“OH,” said I. “Just those three little words you always like to hear!”

“Really?” she gushed.

“Yep,” I whispered, ” Bake them cookies!”

I never learn.

Hot Stove Workout

by Thom Van Vleck

A Hot Stove is where work gets done, and managing what's important means putting it up front or in back....managing your workout is the idea of this article.

I just wanted to share a workout plan I have for this winter.  As most of you know, I do a lot of throwing in the Scottish Highland Games.   Winter time for me is “off season”.  It is a time where I am trying to build strength again.  I also want to increase my conditioning and flexibility.  In season, I do a lot of throwing, and in the process I get pretty burned out on it by the end of the year and it’s good to get back in the gym for some old school training.

The first thing I need to tell you is that there is NOTHING I enjoy more than the adrenaline rush that comes with heavy lifting.  I get a high that will last for days.  Any hardcore lifter will know what I mean, that moment when the weight starts piling on and the goosebumps pop up on your arms and a chill runs down your spin and it’s “GO TIME”!  I love it.  But, as I get older I have to deal with a couple of factors:  Recuperation and Injuries.

Because of the increased recuperation time that comes with age and the injuries my body has endured, I can’t hit the max attempts like I did 20 or 30 years ago. I have to be smart!  Part of the problem is that I want to work my entire body at once and be cycling into heavy lifts that involve  my entire body.  So this year I came up with my “Hot Stove Workout”.

The “Hot Stove Workout” has my hitting the big numbers on a particular lift during my “Big Saturday” workout.  This is when I’m hitting that adrenaline rush and feeling good about moving some heavy iron (heavy for me!).  This is what I call my “Front Burner” exercise.   I am also using that time to work on my Erector Spinae and hamstrings using the Reverse Hyper, swiss ball (leg curls), and leg curling on the Reverse Hyper (a little exercise I stole from Al Myers).

Then Sunday is my conditioning day.  Right now I’m doing football agility drills with my son, who’s playing football in school, medicine ball drills, and tossing the pigskin around along with hitting the volleyball back and forth with my wife who’s on a volleyball league.

Monday is a day when I work on Grip, Neck, and Abdominal exercises, really going crazy on them.  Then my “Big Tuesday Workout” I hit two exercised that are my “Back Burner” exercises.  They are on their way to being “Front Burner” exercises and when one gets moved up, then another takes it’s place…destined to eventually make it to the “Front Burner”.  I always have three exercises and I make sure I have one that’s a leg movement, one a pressing movement, and another that’s a pulling or back movement.  It is also this day that I do any assistance work.

I then finish off with a set of 100 on the leg press.  These are very explosive, I drive up on the toes, and I usually have to crawl out of the gym after that.  By then I’ve worked out for 4 days and then I have three days to rest and get ready for the next Saturday.  I enjoy this workout very much and for now, that’s all I need to keep me lifting.  It doesn’t matter how great the workout is, if you don’t enjoy it or it doesn’t motivate you, then it’s the same as worthless.

By keeping a couple exercised on the back burner, using less weight, I’m able to be ready to switch them to the front burner.  That way I’m always hitting something heavy on Saturday and not having to build up over time for a big lift.  By lifting only once a week with over 90% poundages, I am able to recuperate and stay fresh.  I hope my workout has given you some ideas for your own training.  Everything I know about training I learned from someone else!!!!

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