Hi Paul, Just discovered this. Great advice. The best advice is often simple and no-nonsense. I'm an old man who lifted on and off for much of my life. But it wasn't until my late 50s that I finally stumbled on the keys that worked for me - and they're actually pretty much the exact things you mentioned: 1. Intensity. On the final (or possibly only post warmup) set, go as close to muscular failure as is safe for the movement. 2. Full range of motion with smooth negatives. eg: Those bogus bouncy calf raises I did for years were a complete waste of my time. 3. Find the movements that best target the weak points. You don't have to stick to only compound movements if they don't fatigue the weak points first. 4. Well, there isn't really a number 4, but a bit of editorial: People who say 50s and 60s are too old to build new muscle are full of shite. 5. (just added): Keep a training log! Being a fool, I didn't start doing this until I was 56 years old! ("Yeah, yeah, I know my routines. No need to write it down." - Bollocks!) My structure and genetics are below average, and I'm an old fart. But _intensity_ is the closest thing to a silver bullet I've ever found. And no lie, I have more muscle, better shape, and less fat than when I was in my 30s. (As they say, I wish I knew then what I know now...) If I can get results, then absolutely anyone can. (One caveat: it is not always psychologically easy to push yourself to true muscular failure.) PS: For this Yank with bad ears - Am I hearing perhaps a Sheffield accent or... maybe even Newcastle? I know, I'm probably way off!
Hi Paul,
Just discovered this. Great advice. The best advice is often simple and no-nonsense. I'm an old man who lifted on and off for much of my life. But it wasn't until my late 50s that I finally stumbled on the keys that worked for me - and they're actually pretty much the exact things you mentioned:
1. Intensity. On the final (or possibly only post warmup) set, go as close to muscular failure as is safe for the movement.
2. Full range of motion with smooth negatives. eg: Those bogus bouncy calf raises I did for years were a complete waste of my time.
3. Find the movements that best target the weak points. You don't have to stick to only compound movements if they don't fatigue the weak points first.
4. Well, there isn't really a number 4, but a bit of editorial: People who say 50s and 60s are too old to build new muscle are full of shite.
5. (just added): Keep a training log! Being a fool, I didn't start doing this until I was 56 years old! ("Yeah, yeah, I know my routines. No need to write it down." - Bollocks!)
My structure and genetics are below average, and I'm an old fart. But _intensity_ is the closest thing to a silver bullet I've ever found. And no lie, I have more muscle, better shape, and less fat than when I was in my 30s. (As they say, I wish I knew then what I know now...) If I can get results, then absolutely anyone can. (One caveat: it is not always psychologically easy to push yourself to true muscular failure.)
PS: For this Yank with bad ears - Am I hearing perhaps a Sheffield accent or... maybe even Newcastle? I know, I'm probably way off!