5 Training Tips For Guys Over 35

This list could be considerably longer, but it's far too easy these days to get lost in a sea of information.

So, I'm taking the opposite approach and only telling you what I feel is VITALLY important. 

And choosing ONLY 5 tips is much harder than choosing 10 tips so I'm confident if you adhere to what I'm recommending here you'll see the benefits.

For the record, this article is NOT addressing things like prioritizing recovery, sleep, and nutrition as I'm confident you're already aware of the benefits of making those things the cornerstone of your nutrition, but just in case you're looking for more on recovery, check this article out here.

Here's my list:

#1 Stop Program Hopping: We've all done and we all know that it's impossible to measure your progress or find the right program if we bounce around from program to program. There are also bigger issues like increasing your risk for overtraining/overuse injury. Stick to ONE program for at least 9 weeks. 

#2 Start Listening To Your Body: Sounds simple because it i. Your body knows the answers yet so many people go against the grain and push themselves to the limit when they aren't 'feeling it.' Don't be that guy. Almost every time I've injured myself was when I came off a shitty night of sleep yet decided to stick to scheduled training anyway.

#3 Put The Same Intent Into Low-Intensity Training As You Do High-Intensity Training: There is a reason why endurance athletes spend 80% of their training in lower zones. In fact, Louie Simmons often talked about the 80/20 rule which is devoting 80% of your training to special exercises (accessory work) and 20% to the classic lifts (bilateral movements.) Of course, it's not easy mentally for people to wrap their minds around 'easy' training, but I promise you that it's just as important and often the low-hanging fruit for clients I work with. More on low-intensity training can be found here.

#4 Simplify Your Approach: I'm all for variability with training, but if we are being completely honest the list of exercise variations that we KNOW work is short. Relying on your 6 foundational movement patterns and variations of those patterns can save you a lot of time trying some BS exercise you saw on the gram.

#5 Use Specialty Equipment That Allows You To Work Around Injury and/or Limitations: This may sound as if it's contradicting my 4th point, but stay with me for a second. Using special bars like a Safety Squat Bar, Football Bar, or Accommodating Resistance (AR) are tools that keep us in the game and training pain-free. Moreover, I'm more like to use AR with my big lifts for longevity than I am for performance - let me explain. Let's stay I'm performing a 5RM trap bar deadlift and I hit 500 lbs. Which would put more wear & tear on my body: 500 lbs of straight weight or 400 lbs + 100 lbs of band tension? If you guessed the former, you're correct. Using AR allows for similar adaptations and loading at end range of motion without the same cost to the body due to the fact loading varied through the full ROM.

Closing

The 5 tips I've chosen are not easy to adhere to, but I'd argue will have a massive positive effect on the results you're getting if you're able to commit yourself.