Turning forty last August was quite the milestone. At forty, your youth is in the rear view mirror and middle-age is no longer the hypothetical future; it's the here and now. I have been lifting weights since my late twenties, and obviously, the sort of training I did in the past is now no longer viable, with my broken down physique and low testosterone. Or at least, that's what some would have you believe. In actuality, I feel pretty great most of the time, and I can still lift heavy and if you care to know, my dick hasn't fallen off (not yet, anyway). Recovery is the main issue--as long as I'm smart, I'm able to continue injury free. So here's a brief bullet-point look at my training and why I do it the way that I do.
-I squat two days a week with moderate volume: High bar squat only! Reading Starting Strength as a 27 year old might have been the single most damaging thing I did in my weightlifting career. Learning to squat low-bar, which isn't a natural way to squat, damaged my hips and led to my tendency to lean to my right side while coming out of the hole. The last year or so I've spent perfecting my high bar squat, and now my quads are nice and meaty and I fear not the bottom position, nor do I dread squatting. The hip issues I've had in the past have also disappeared. Squatting light weights for high reps also pays dividends. Starting Strength was always about adding weight as fast as possible, which is stupid. Add weight slowly! Master the weight. Make it your bitch, and then add five pounds. If you can repeat that for years, you'll end up squatting 500 lbs.
-I'm learning to love the high incline bench press. The high incline bench press (I'm talking about an incline angle of about 75 degrees) is probably the king of all pressing exercises. It's closer to a overhead press than a bench press, but you're still using your pectorals, so you can handle weights heavier than you can strict press standing. The range of motion is huge compared to a flat bench press as well. I've been using the incline three times a week for all of my pressing needs. I don't know how well it transfers to the flat bench, but frankly at this point, I don't care. It certainly translates well to overhead pressing; I went from barely being able to press a 70 lbs dumbbell over my head for one rep to doing it fairly easily for five reps after spending time incline pressing. No need to flat bench or overhead press! Just replace it with the high incline two to three days a week.
-I still deadlift but I'm careful about volume. One lingering issue for me is chronic trapezius pain. I get these huge muscle knots in my traps that cause my neck and head to ache. Deadlifting for reps is one of the triggers. As much as I love repping out heavy deadlifts, I just can't handle the recovery at this point. So I deadlift once a week, usually just hitting a heavy single or set of five. For assistance, I do good mornings, which are essential.
-I fill in the blanks with select bodybuilding assistance. The main reason I lift weights is to get stronger. I do want to look muscular, but I've never been able to embrace the ridiculousness of bodybuilding, even if I've trained like a bodybuilder recently. I still have to chase numbers in big lifts in order to be motivated to train. However, I've discovered the value of doing curls, pullups, rows, triceps movements, and even leg extensions to build and retain muscle mass. You won't get big arms without doing curls (another Starting Strength misconception). Filling out your training with at least fifty percent of it being easier bodybuilding movements ensures you retain your mobility and general fitness while keeping injury free.
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