GeoffreyLevens
Level 6 Valued Member
Oh to be young again! I haven't seen 50 for 20 years... I guess, "older" is a very relative term HAH!
Kettlebell Best strength exercises for minimal routine for older folk to combat sarcopenia and slowing down
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watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
Full disclosure: I'm 50. I compete in Olympic weightlifting, so do a lot of barbell work, but I also use kettlebells, clubs, and bodyweight modalities.
For combating age-related decline of LBM and sarcopenia, are you....
Trying to combat scarcopenia? --> Hypertrophy programming
Trying to combat power declines? --> Ballistic programming
Trying to combat osteoporosis / bone density loss --> Strength programming
Trying to combat declines in balance, mobility, and proprioception? --> Movement programming
There are more issues than just sarcopenia to worry about and more than one modality or movement to use.
I do all of the above in periodized fashion.
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WxHerk
Level 8 Valued Member
Have you been clean//jerking kettlebells? Have you been snatching kettlebells? Has an SFG instructed you and refined your technique?
Depending on your familiarity with those movements you can definitely proceed. I'd be cautious about heavy movements, though. Receiving good, productive instruction is the only way to go heavier. By heavier, I mean gently pushing the envelope and expanding. Making a quick jump in weight, reps, or sets or any combination of those is a recipe for a serious injury, meaning no lifting of any kind for a long time.
I'll be 57 in September and A&A snatching the 32kg for 160~250 snatches per session, usually ~220. But I have been snatching since 2002 and have had a lot of instruction and practice and then more instruction and practice. So yes, you can continue with ballistics after age 50 BUT you have to be smart about it and not ever press too hard.
If you're still learning the movements it's never too late to learn. It is definitely too late to be overzealous, though.
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
+1
My kettlebell snatch pretty much sucks compared to my barbell snatch (~90 kg vs 24 kg).
But I know this is mostly a skilling issue and I've (hopefully) got a few decades to work on it.
If I rush it, I could not only fail to progress, but negatively impact my overall health and ability to train everything else.
Which would completely of defeat the purpose.
John Grahill
Level 8 Valued Member
Not to be purposely different but in actuality I find the ballistics to be easier on my joints and body than grinds. Having said that I do agree to be prudent at my age.
North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
If fighting sarcopenia, grinds are going to do the most good.
Power lifts/exercises with submax loads are a great addition, but grinds will hold back/ reverse muscle wasting better than many other strategies. Exercise selection is not terribly important as long as it involves multiple movement patterns and covers the basics of push,pull,hinge,squat.
You need tension + metabolic stress IMHO. This approach will have the greatest effect on hormonal and adaptive response.
Power lifts/exercises with submax loads are a great addition, but grinds will hold back/ reverse muscle wasting better than many other strategies. Exercise selection is not terribly important as long as it involves multiple movement patterns and covers the basics of push,pull,hinge,squat.
You need tension + metabolic stress IMHO. This approach will have the greatest effect on hormonal and adaptive response.
GeoffreyLevens
Level 6 Valued Member
I am 70 and proving this to myself. Trap bar dl and standing dumbbell press for awhile and slowly gaining muscle and strength both. My T-shirts are tighter.
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
Hmmm....
I'd agree up to a certain weight.
It's certainly true for me for any kettlebells I own.
But barbell cleans & jerks still kick my butt for a few days of recovery when I cross the 100 kg mark.
Kettlebelephant
Level 6 Valued Member
You know what has improved my sprinting and jumping (=explosiveness) the most? Guess what...actually sprinting and jumping!
People probably want to tell you that jumping and sprinting is bad for your joints, but that's only true if you do top level athlete stuff like weighted plyometrics.
Box jumps with stepping back down instead of jumping down and simple standing broad jumps won't do any damage at all.
If you're concerned about sprints on a flat surface simply go for hill sprints.
Fighting sarcopenia is easy...
Push, pull, squat, hinge, carry.
Pick an exercise from each category that you know you can handle.
Do 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps once or twice per week (depending on how you schedule your routine - example "One lift per day").
Use weight based on experience and daily feeling. Aim for "medium heavy".
- Little warm-up with mobility work
- 10-20 jumps followed by 3-5 short sprints
- Lift of the day (e.g. monday=push, tueday=pull, wednesday=squat etc. or monday=push/pull, wednesday=squat/carry, friday=hinge or whatever fits your schedule best)
- a few key stretches (e.g. Brettzel)
Very minimalistic and short sessions. Probably won't lead to records, but overall will keep the muscles on your frame and keep you explosive.
People probably want to tell you that jumping and sprinting is bad for your joints, but that's only true if you do top level athlete stuff like weighted plyometrics.
Box jumps with stepping back down instead of jumping down and simple standing broad jumps won't do any damage at all.
If you're concerned about sprints on a flat surface simply go for hill sprints.
Fighting sarcopenia is easy...
Push, pull, squat, hinge, carry.
Pick an exercise from each category that you know you can handle.
Do 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps once or twice per week (depending on how you schedule your routine - example "One lift per day").
Use weight based on experience and daily feeling. Aim for "medium heavy".
- Little warm-up with mobility work
- 10-20 jumps followed by 3-5 short sprints
- Lift of the day (e.g. monday=push, tueday=pull, wednesday=squat etc. or monday=push/pull, wednesday=squat/carry, friday=hinge or whatever fits your schedule best)
- a few key stretches (e.g. Brettzel)
Very minimalistic and short sessions. Probably won't lead to records, but overall will keep the muscles on your frame and keep you explosive.
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
And before one needs to even fight the fight...
Assess how much of a problem sarcopenia actually is for you.
I get a DEXA scan 2-4 times per year, so I know how my lean body mass and bone density is tracking.
For me, my bone density is in the 95th percentile of 30 year olds (I'm 50), and my LBM has stayed within my seasonal training peak and valleys for the last 5 years.
I'm not saying sarcopenia is not a real concern, but if one has been lifting for a few years, steadily, into middle age, there may be other fitness concerns that bump higher up the priority list.
Cardio fitness, resting heart rate, body fat percentage, blood health markers, mobility need to have a place at the anti-aging tables, too.
There comes a point, for health ROI purposes, where one is doing 'enough' resistance training.
Gepet
Level 4 Valued Member
Is there an article somewhere that groups the popular strongfirst programs depending on their programming purpose and how one could run some form of block periodization to train for different goals with them? Of course the strongfirst approach is not the only way but since we are here...
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
Sorry, I'm the wrong person to ask.
I don't know how the Strongfirst program taxonomy maps to those concepts.
My programming is specific to me and my sport, and derives from 7 years of my training data; I'm currently in the midst of a summertime seasonal hypertrophy block that is a subset of a biennial cycle.
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
Right.
Ballistics are not very hypertrophic, especially at light KB weights.
This fact is a constant source of debate in the Olympic weightlifting world when it comes to programming -- how much time to spend training hypertrophy and strength lifts vs power lifts.
The Chinese and Russian weightlifters are known for doing more hypertrophy work, and thus generally looking more jacked than those using Bulgarian methods.
Bodybuilders don't get swole using ballistics as their main modality.
DuncanGB
Level 6 Valued Member
This
Possibly, but probably in Czech
I would recommend:
S&S (up to Simple) >
StrongFirst Kettlebell Course programs (there is one foundational, plus 2 follow up programs) - or ROP >
> PTTP - or Kettlebells and Deadlifts Go Together Like Vodka and Pickles | StrongFirst + follow up Kettlebells and Deadlifts, Part 2 | StrongFirst
> S&S (up to "Solid")
Feel free to insert The Naked Warrior plus some pulls (swings, snatches, barbell deadlifts) between the cycles, and/or some "Easy Strength" templates/random act of variety. Many options.
...maybe a topic for a more detailed article?
North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
Yes and no. Many of the current hypertrophy programs are high volume/low tension designed to put on mass as easily as possible.
IMHO, 1/3 of your sets should be with 80% or higher rep max. Strength is important too.
Trever
Level 4 Valued Member
I’m 51 and currently do A+A snatching, BB deadlifting, double KB Clean/press/squat, TGU and hiking with loaded pack.
The biggest thing I’ve learned in the past couple years of learning about StrongFirst is that for me I have to take recovery seriously. 3-4 days of smart workouts with proper rest periods between sets, and walking/rucking on some of the alternate days. I’m trying to follow Dan John’s advice that “you can’t over recover”. For me the proper amount of recovery makes my efforts more consistent. If I try to workout too often I can feel my battery depleting which affects my energy, workouts, motivation, etc.
The biggest thing I’ve learned in the past couple years of learning about StrongFirst is that for me I have to take recovery seriously. 3-4 days of smart workouts with proper rest periods between sets, and walking/rucking on some of the alternate days. I’m trying to follow Dan John’s advice that “you can’t over recover”. For me the proper amount of recovery makes my efforts more consistent. If I try to workout too often I can feel my battery depleting which affects my energy, workouts, motivation, etc.
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