Weightlifting for Masters - Matt Foreman

 

Here is an excerpt from the book above. 

The whole book is well worth reading

you old fart . . . no, wait, that's Fart with a capital F. 

Plenty of things applicable to not just Oly lifting in it.

There is also a companion book dealing more with the programming aspect for masters, 

and thanks for a heads-up on this to

GCBC: 

 https://www.amazon.com/Olympic-Weightlifting-Programs-Masters-Foreman/dp/B0CR7CX5SH 

One foot in the grave

and beyond.

Okay, so we've got various opinions from experts and they all support the idea that athletes start to go downhill in weightlifting when they pass 25 years of age. I imagine that's discouraging for you to read, since the vast majority of you are probably way past that magic number. 

You're in your 30s, 40s, 50s and some of you beyond that, right? You bought this book because you wanted some hope, some encouraging information that helps you believe you've still got a lot of big weightlifting potential despite the fact that you're a developmental crusty geezer, and the first thing you read in the introduction is that you've passed your peak. The experts agree that your best days are gone, and now your physical potential is spiraling into the crapper. 

Listen, I'm intentionally being sarcastic here because I know you're all intelligent people (is he being sarcastic with that last statement too?) with a realistic outlook on where you're at in life. If you're in your 40s or something like that, you already know that you've passed the young peak years of your athletic experience. Unless you live in some alternate universe of denial and ignorance, I'm not telling you something you don't already understand. You're not a kid anymore, and your body can't do many of the things it used to do.

But you still want to be weightlifters. My guess is that many of you found this sport at a later age. There's a pretty good chance that you were introduced to it through some extension of Crossfit, since that's how almost everybody in this country is discovering Olympic lifting these days (2014). It didn't take you long to get excited about it, I'm sure. This sport is very easy to fall in love with. 

You know that you are not starting at the optimal age. 

We all know that, however, you still want to do it. It's probably becoming a consuming passion in your life, and you don't really give a damn how old you are. You're emotionally invested at this point, and you're not going to stop.

That's where one of your first problems starts to surface. You see, there almost no literature floating around the weightlifting world about how to train and compete successfully when you're older. Most of the coaches and researchers in the sport don't really care about older athletes. They're focused on producing world and Olympic champions. That means their efforts are all going to be centered around athletes who start training in their teenage years (or earlier) and reach their peak in their early 20s. That's when you're physically ready for the big time, because your hormones and other physiological qualities are the highest they're ever going to be in your life. 

   

  . . . all of the weightlifting information you've researched doesn't really have much application to you. You're in your 30s, 40s, 50s or whatever, and the only training material you can find is structured for athletes who are 20-30 (50!) years younger than you. So what does this mean? 

Unfortunately, it often leads to older athletes trying to use training programs they found online that are specifically designed for younger athletes. These old lifters are new to the sport and they often don't have much coaching or experience, so they have to resort to the trusty old internet to get some guidance. They follow the only programs they can find, which are not intended for anybody at an advanced age. In short, you've got a 42- year-old weightlifter trying to follow a program that's set up for a 22-year-old weightlifter.

Where does this lead? Many of you know the answer to that question already. It leads to overtraining, injury, and just a general feeling of being beat to hell all the time. 

I'll bet I just described a large majority of you. Listen, I have a pretty wide circle of acquaintances in weightlifting and I talk to older lifters all the time. Almost every single one of them tell me how beat up they are. Their joints hurt, they're not making progress, and the frustration is starting to really dig into them. Why are these people all so banged up? 

There are two main reasons: 

1) First of all, weightlifting is simply a very difficult sport. Regardless of what age you're at, 

it's physically grueling. 

2) They're overtraining. 

Seriously, just back up and think about this for a second. You've got an old person trying to follow the training program of a young person, and the old person's body simply can't keep up with it. It blows my mind how many people these days just can't understand this concept. [I was listening to one of Dave Tate's round-table talk deals online. The topic of TRT use came up. Apparently the big "name" guys who are "no longer on gear" run up to 7 grams a week].

When you're old, you can't do the things you used to when you were young. It's one of the simplest ideas in the galaxy, brothers and sisters. And if you try to use a young person's training volume when you're in your 30's and beyond there's an extremely high chance that your body isn't going to be able to handle it. Presto . . . you've got an overtrained athlete. 

On top of that, many of the coaches who are working with older athletes are often younger people themselves, so they've got absolutely no clue what it feels like to be old. And even if the coaches are older individuals, it's very likely they don't have a lot of personal experience with older weightlifting. If they were athletes themselves, they probably retired at a relatively young age like most people do, so they don't really have a complete grasp of what the body can and can't do in the aging years. Also, their coaching efforts, like the information we found on the internet, is all specifically directed towards young athletes who are trying to make the Olympic team. 

Sadly, there's one more piece of the puzzle that makes your weightlifting endeavors so challenging . . . 

Most people don't give a damn about you. Seriously, they're not interested in what you're doing. When coaches start their careers, they dream of producing Olympians. I don't think I've ever met a coach who said, "You know, I feel a burning passion to help 55-year-old people lift their own bodyweight." 

The general public is part of this, too. When they watch 

weightlifting they want to see massive Russian dudes clean & jerking 500 lbs. Or they want to watch the Crossfit games and see a half-naked hot chick snatching 185. Most of the world doesn't want to see lifters with gray hair, loose skin, and sagging breasts trying to split clean 138 pounds [great written image there!). 

In a nutshell, there aren't a lot of weightlifting resources for old people because nobody cares about them. 

I care, brothers and sisters. I'm one of you, for crying out loud. I'm in my 40's now, and my desire to be a weightlifter is just as strong as it was when I started the sport 26 years ago. I know how much this means to you, believe me. And I also know how frustrated most of you are, for the reasons we've just mentioned. 

That's why I'm writing this book. I want to help. You're going to get a lot of resources in here, and hopefully they'll give you a chance to extend your weightlifting career for as long as you want it to last. 

You've go GOALS, and nobody should think they're unimportant. I salute you for having the courage and passion to pursue one of the hardest sports in the world at a time in your life when you don't enjoy the same advantages you had when you were a kid. 

You deserve respect, and you also deserve legitimate information that will make you better. 

Those are the fundamental ideas behind this thing. 

I'd say it's a book well worth reading.

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

"The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is . . . the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."

 - Mark Twain