Recovery time for the older athlete

[Dolly Dagger]

I've found out over my several attempts at a weight training program over the last year that I don't recover from training sessions like I used to when I was 30 (I'm 53). So I have to be very careful about how much weight I lift and going to failure so that I don't tear down so much that I can recover completely by the next. Usually I wind up either getting sick or just so burned out I quit. I don't want that to happen this time.

Does anyone have any links or books that reference how an older athlete can maximize the recovery process? Anyone take supplements to help with this? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Lisa~]

You won't find the information specifically addressed to older adults, because it's the same information for everyone. The older you are the slower you recover, for sure, but how to recover doesn't change. And how long it takes you to recover will depend on not just your age, but your conditioning level.

The biggest factors are regular, adequate sleep and enough calories to support your activities. NR2W harps on taking in enough calories. It can't be said often enough, you must eat well if you want to recover from the micro damage you do to your muscle during intense exercise. If you got sick before, you were probably under eating. Burn out comes, again, from under eating.

After those basics are taken care of (sleeping and eating), then the pwo shake helps, and other recovery methods can also be incorporated, everything from post-workout stretching, off-day foam rolling, contrast baths (if you're insane enough to do them), all kinds of odd things have been tried. But the none of them will replace food and sleep.

I won't argue that the older person is going to take a bit more time to work through a program, may need to incorporate intervals more slowly, etc. Gage that by how your body feels. But you should be able to build up your work capacity over time if your recovery methods are adequate.

[RobLL]

At the Summit last year I picked up a few definitions of failure, and one rule of thumb that were helpful to me.

After a certain age (I think it was 50) One Rep Maximums are not a good idea

Failure is not the last ditch heroic effort to do that last rep,
failure is: taking more than two seconds longer to do a rep, not being able to go the last little bit (even if the first part is OK), and losing form.

And this is not an Olympic Go for the Glory or die sort of thing. Charles Staley amused me when he said that 'bout half of what people do in a gym is not helpful. Some of us wonder which half we could quit doing. Hahaha.

My theory is that if I am a little obsessive about getting to the gym, lifting hard, getting tired, it is also right to listen to my body, and if I am thinking I should not go a particular evening, or that it is time to quit, even if I have not finished a workout I do.

[UConnJulie]

This is really true of all ages ... I ended up ignoring my body and pushing when I was tired, and really threw my hormones all out of balance ... it's taken almost a year to where I can do 2-3 weight workouts per week and not be exhausted!! So when you are tired, REST!!!

[Dolly Dagger]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

The biggest factors are regular, adequate sleep and enough calories to support your activities.

Food and sleep...yeah, the two things that tend to be out of whack. I do undereat when I'm trying to lose weight and sleep is always something I never get enough of.

I guess I just have to be more careful now. It's amazing the things I used to be able to get away with that no way I can now. Thanks for the advice. I'll check out the foam roller thing too.

[Dolly Dagger]

Originally Posted by RobLL

At the Summit last year I picked up a few definitions of failure, and one rule of thumb that were helpful to me.

After a certain age (I think it was 50) One Rep Maximums are not a good idea

Failure is not the last ditch heroic effort to do that last rep,
failure is: taking more than two seconds longer to do a rep, not being able to go the last little bit (even if the first part is OK), and losing form.

And this is not an Olympic Go for the Glory or die sort of thing. Charles Staley amused me when he said that 'bout half of what people do in a gym is not helpful. Some of us wonder which half we could quit doing. Hahaha.

My theory is that if I am a little obsessive about getting to the gym, lifting hard, getting tired, it is also right to listen to my body, and if I am thinking I should not go a particular evening, or that it is time to quit, even if I have not finished a workout I do.

Yeah, I get pretty obsessive and competitive with myself too. I push to the limit when I'm feeling good and then get so tired. I've got to learn how to push without going over the edge.

[AnnetteW]

What an interesting topic, and one I feel relates to me. I'm only 44, but in recent years have really felt the effects of lack of exercise and healthy diet. Add in to the equation the stresses of moving across the country, a new relationship, kids and college, and just life in general, and I really felt my body was falling apart. And I knew I couldn't blame it all on age, I'm not that old, but I could tell that age was a factor as far as recovery goes.

I'm notorious for starting a program, working hard, getting sick and burning out, and it's not for lack of calories or sleep, but lack of good calories, for sure.

This time around I did it totally differently. I started as slowly as I could. I did very light weights a few times a week, on different machines and freeweights. Really, light....I was trying to get the muscles and joints and ligaments and tendons and everything that connects just moving. I also started on cardio again and built that up slowly. I didn't want to hurt.

I increased everything so slowly, that when I started to "test" weights I didn't hurt. Sure my muscles would hurt, but the other parts didn't, and that's where I would usually get sore, in the joints and such.

I physically feel better than I have in years, and all it took was an extra 2 months of my time to really ease into the program and let my body learn to accomodate it.

In my opinion, low weights and high reps are definitely good for something, getting the joints moving again.

[julianne]

Charles Staley has a great sight for the over 40 lifter:

http://www.MastersPerformance.com

[MightyAl]

Great site! Thank you for the link!

Originally Posted by julianne

Charles Staley has a great sight for the over 40 lifter:

Masters' Performance