Contrary to the takeaway from previous posts, getting older isn’t entirely bad.
First off, I can remember when music was actually good. (My deepest apologies to Drake)
Secondly, as you get older you also develop a much deeper sense of self. I have a much greater understanding and confidence in who I am and what I value compared to, say, 23 year-old Dan who definitely gave more of a shit about what other people thought.
Lastly, there is the luxury of experience. When you’ve dedicated yourself to something for years and years - whether that’s your career, your hobbies or your relationships - you tend to get a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
When it comes to your training this is obviously very valuable.
While certain training principles are very well established - it is called “exercise science", after all - individual differences and unique responses to specific stimuli is also a very real and accepted part of the training process.
For example, I can just look at a dumbbell rack and seemingly add muscle mass. However, developing my cardiovascular capabilities is a slow and painful process for me.
Contrast that with our client, Alan, who took up running and tripled his distances while taking minutes off his mile pace in what seemed like a matter of weeks.
There can be a multitude of reasons for this but probably the most prevalent is genetics.
But why people react differently to training is similar to the current Spotify Top 100 hit list - not that interesting and mostly not in your control.
(OK, that’s my last comment shitting on the current state of music. I promise. At least for this week.)
While experience is remarkably helpful, there is also a downside. The concept of sunken cost.
I’ve seen sunken costs limit many, many a lifter as their training age increases and their progress stalls.
Sunken costs, at least as I’m utilizing it here, is the idea that you’ve been doing something for so long that approaching it a different way would feel like you’ve wasted your time.
When it comes to training this can manifest itself in such statements as:
“I’m a runner. If I add strength training and cut my running back by 3 hours per week, I’ll get slower.”
“I’m a machine guy. I’m not going to use less weight on a barbell.”
“I do barre five times per week. I’ll lose my flexibility if I start training with weights.”
“If I add conditioning to my workouts my deadlift is going to go to shit.”
The common theme here: I do “x”. If I start doing “y” I’ll lose the benefits of all the years I spent doing “x”.
Or, even worse, I do “x”. My identity is “x”. Fuck “y”.
If any of these describe you - and, let’s be real, if you’ve been training long enough you have at least some of this inside you - you’re missing out.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with specializing. Hell, the people who are the best in the world at anything spend a LOT of time doing that thing.
But equally true is that developing general strength qualities does benefit specific outcomes.
Take world class football players, for example. They do squats and hang cleans and sprints and lat pulldowns. And none of these are “playing football”. But they are really good at developing the physical capabilities that make for better football players.
Your training could benefit from that same well-rounded approach (even more so if you are a regular schmoe like me who isn’t a professional athlete). To put it more simply, I know you love running. Strength training will make you a better runner even though it’s not running.
Secondly, while many, many things will work, most things do not work forever. The need to change things up and add variety are critical to your progress and success.
These things don’t need to be wildly different from each other. If you are trying to get stronger training for a marathon is probably not the answer.
But using different implements (like barbells or machines), varying your rep ranges, utilizing different techniques and, yes, even adding in some anaerobic conditioning can all kickstart progress that won’t happen if you clutch onto your beloved training modality and program like a toddler squeezing a teddy bear at bedtime.
When I first started going to the gym as a teenager we bench pressed every day and it was always three sets of 10.
Did we love bench press? Yes.
Did we only care about the muscles we could see in the mirror and hope that would distract us from an overwhelming case of acne? Also yes.
But it was more a function of not knowing any better. The information was just not that readily available to us.
Today things are different. Every yo-yo with a Tik Tok channel has a protocol or approach that is different from the one before. And while this presents its own set of problems, at the very least you can’t claim to be short of ideas.
Experimentation is one of the truly fun parts of training. And while you can get carried away and turn your workout into a circus sideshow (which I do not recommend), trying new things can add a new energy and excitement to your training and perhaps even get you past a limitation or plateau.
Do not let the concept of sunken costs derail you from making progress. It is 100% beneficial that your squat pattern is completely ingrained from 10 years of squatting every week. Adding pauses or experimenting with high bar or, God forbid, subbing out squats for lunges for 8 weeks isn’t going to erase your gains or make your capabilities magically disappear.
And I’d be willing to bet that, in the long run, these variations will push your squat forward in a way that just continuing to squat will not.
Quick note to the newbies: you have the opposite problem. You need to stick with something long enough to get good at it and reap the benefits. Program hopping and impatience is your enemy. You’re teaching your body how to do these things. And this isn’t like college. You can’t expect to change your major seven times and still have your parents foot the bill. You have to stick with it for longer than you think.
Lastly, for those of you who have been training for a while and are stuck in your ways, remember that the changes don’t have to be huge. It’s not like if you are a Drake fan you need to start listening to Johnny Cash or John Mellencamp to expand your musical horizons. Maybe dabble in some Meek Mill or Kendrick Lamar. Similar but different.
I just surprised the shit out of you with that analogy, didn’t I? Listen, nobody is as surprised by those words on the page as I am.
Perhaps I’m not as stuck in my ways as I thought.