How BEST to use strength training as an older athlete!

Good morning!

Welcome to another Train For Life newsletter where we’ll discuss how to use resistance training to help you in your sporting endeavours!

Or more importantly KEEP you playing or competing for as long as you want to…

Don’t be put off by the title of this newsletter either as “athlete” really implies to anyone who plays a sport or competes at ANY level no matter how seriously or not.

I worked in professional boxing as a strength and conditioning coach for over 6 years, and one of the biggest lessons I learned was that injury prevention was so important in my role.

For sure performance based metrics like strength, speed, power and agility were the primary focus.

But by the end of my time the ratio had begun to shift slightly more towards injury prevention and keeping the athletes healthy.

As they were paid to fight NOT to be in the gym, safety had to come first.

And as an older athlete this is exactly the approach I would recommend in order to keep you participating and staying injury free.

So when it comes to resistance training WHAT should you be focusing on?

Here is a good approach that will suit the “ageing athlete” followed by a breakdown on each one:

• Preventing common injuries OR protecting common injury sites

• Stability and balance

• Trunk and spine (core) stability

• Exercises that suit your unique body

• Recovery

Preventing common injuries:

Every sport has those muscles or joints that seem to be more prone to injuries!

In tennis it is can be the shoulder and elbow, with football it might be the ankle or knee, and in golf it is more commonly the hip and low back.

Whatever your sport is it is wise to pay attention to those areas and target a good portion of your training to strengthen the muscles that support those joints and areas…

Assuming you have been playing your sport for a long time you will know the areas you need to work on, if you haven’t already experienced some pain in these areas?

Don’t overthink it, do some research if you need to and pick some key exercises that focus on injury prevention in your chosen sport.

As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Stability and balance:

As we get older balance and stability becomes more important to prevent falls and injuries, and this is ESPECIALLY true if you wish to play sports long into life.

Single leg exercises, balance exercises and working on the foot & ankle is a great place to start.

Below is not an exhaustive list of exercises but will give you some initial ideas:

• Step up variations

• Split squat variations

• Lunge variations

• Single leg press

• Single leg calf raise

• Single leg balance variations

The cool thing with many of these exercises is that they will also have a good transfer over to sports as well, a double whammy!

Trunk and spine stability:

“You’re only as old as your spine” as the saying goes.

And a strong “core” is important for both longterm health AND longterm sports performance.

Nothing will hinder your sporting prowess as much as a back injury or chronic back issues will…

When it comes to spine protection you should consider training ALL movements of the spine such as rotation, extension, flexion and side flexion.

This ensures that you will train all the supporting muscles of the trunk and spine too.

Again its not an exhaustive list but some exercises to consider are:

• Back extensions

• Cable rotations

• Cable side flexions

You can also train these muscles with isometric (static/no movement) exercises too if its more comfortable for you with some examples of exercises being:

• Side planks

• Bird dogs

• Deadbugs

• Pallof presses

Both movement based and isometric exercises have their place in trunk and spine training depending on your current injury status.

Understand that many sports such as golf and tennis involve MOVEMENT of the spine.

So it does pay to train these movements as it will strengthen the muscles that support and protect your spine while you move.

If you are in any doubt then reach out to a good coach, PT or physical therapist for more guidance.

Exercises that suit your body:

A lot gets made of certain strength training exercises that are deemed better for sports performance or have a better “carry over” to sports.

My take is always choose the exercises and variations that work best for you, as any strength you build through resistance training can help your performance.

So if barbell squats aggravate your low back then try DB split squats or seated leg presses instead?

Every exercise has its place and is useful, even machine based exercises…

For example, leg curls and leg extensions are useful to strengthen key muscles of the thigh that will benefit both performance and injury prevention of the knee.

To recap, the key is to find AND use what works for you and your unique body.

Remember the goal of resistance training is to help you play sport and remain injury free.

So if you’re getting injured from strength training then maybe rethink your approach or exercise choices?

Recovery:

On a final point, just ensure that you don’t overdo resistance training especially if you’re playing your sport frequently.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, recuperative abilities decline as we age so 1 or 2 sessions per week are all that is needed to benefit your performance and manage injury risk.

Constantly monitor to ensure it doesn’t hinder your performance in any way, and use common sense when setting up your training week…

You don’t want to be fatigued for your sport so separate the sessions as best as your schedule allows!

If you want to know more about how I can help you set up an exercise program that is suitable for you.

Please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn, or email me on [email protected].

For now thanks for reading today, and stay tuned for the next edition of Train For Life next Saturday!

Daryl