Age-specific training

[Q.]

I read all this stuff about training and I'm always thinking, "That's GREAT... if you're EIGHT-FREAKIN-TEEN!"

Still, I'd like to hear from some of the people who actually work with "older" clients. Yes, I'm sure that it depends on the individual but surely there are some inevitable changes in the human body over time that require a change in the approach to training. I don't feel that I can get the same results from the same amount of effort that I could when I was 20 or 30 years younger but I don't know what to realistically expect now, either.

Pretty broad question, I realize, but I'd appreciate comments nonetheless just because it's an interesting (and relevant) question to me.

Q

[gardener]

Great topic--and like you,I'd like to hear from trainers who have some experience with older clients--or academics who have studied the question.

You know my story--couch potato at 65 in horrible shape to more than reasonably fit on the cusp of 69--two years of working out on my own, a year with a really good trainer.

My impression is that the very young can make quite rapid progress, even dramatic progress, but that as the years advance, progress slows down. After three years, I've really started to be proud of my body. It's not that I expect to walk down a street in Manhattan and have someone gasp and exclaim that they want me to go to Jamaica on a photo shoot for bathing suits. Rather, I know that I'm far fitter and better looking than I would have been in the absence of working out seriously. And there are nice little surprises, like triceps finally firming up. Or, this morning, while shaving, I sneaked a look at my abdomen. There's definitely some holiday flab beginning to gather in the center, but, what's this?--suddenly there are two large vertical grooves showing, evidence of additional muscular growth.

Maybe as the boomers age, we'll get a magazine like Mature Male Health that will have illustrations of great average guys, not impossible ideals. (But I'm not volunteering to pose.. and I hate the feasts to come in the nex t month.)

[YOUNGONCE]

Check these sites:

www.ageless-athletes.com
www.cbass.com

Both are excellent.

[Q.]

Thanks so much for the links! Those were great! It'll take me a while to digest all the info, though.

I always get kind of misty-eyed when I see stuff on Paul Anderson (second link). I heard him speak once when I was a kid so I kind of paid attention from then on when I heard his name. He always seemed like a really great human being.

Q