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Kettlebell S&S and the older guys

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One thing to keep in mind, as we age it's tough to "add" muscle. Your T and GH levels begin that downward spiral around 30. At fifty they are just a fraction of what they once were. So it's not so much adding muscle as it is retaining it. Most weight programs will help us with that. Lots of good ideas above, compound exercise, adding a compound exercise to S&S, carries, crawls, and getting up and down.
 
NO, NO Jim, keep after it. That's what helps us retain that muscle mass. Can gains be made? Maybe, but it's gets tough as we get older. Glad you're having fun!
 
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NO, NO Jim, keep after it. That's what helps us retain that muscle mass. Can gains be made? Maybe, but it's gets tough as we get older. Glad you're have fun!
No worries there, banzaienger, I couldn’t quit if I tried. Having iterally the time of my life and actually getting a little stronger, although I suspect a lot of that is neural adaptation.

One other observation. My A+A training and “easy strength” seems to make everything work better; digestion, balance, sleep, mood, you name it. My daily OS resets no doubt have a lot to do with that as well.

I call my approach “Finishing Strong”.
 
No worries there, banzaienger, I couldn’t quit if I tried. Having iterally the time of my life and actually getting a little stronger, although I suspect a lot of that is neural adaptation.

One other observation. My A+A training and “easy strength” seems to make everything work better; digestion, balance, sleep, mood, you name it. My daily OS resets no doubt have a lot to do with that as well.

I call my approach “Finishing Strong”.

Finishing Strong. I like that. I find mass harder to gain as I approach 50 but it is not my goal anyway. I find that you can definitely make strength gains though assuming you were not an advanced lifter in your youth.

There is a lot of good info on over 40 strength training and the health related benefits (retain bone density for example, and power movements like snatches and swings are especially important as the ability to generate power is the first ability to decrease) in the book "the exercise prescription." It focuses on barbell basics but I found the introductory chapters on thinking of exercise as the cheapest, most effective form of prescription an interesting thought experiment. Strength exercise addresses everything from men mental health, to muscle loss, to hip fractures, and yes, bowel movements (you brace during these movements haha so a strong core makes EVERYTHING easier. Another interesting benefit of barbell work is improving balance, a major factor in injuries in the elderly.
 
Guardian7, I did no weight training before the age of 55 so I am still getting stronger (and may be adding some mass). I had been a recreational runner and cyclist, but no strength training.

Strength training has really been an eye opener for me in how it can stop and even reverse the effects of aging for a previously untrained guy like me. In many ways I am more functionally capable at 69 than I was at 49.

The key for me has been to try not to get caught up in being competive about strength. The only certification I have is as a Level 2 (Pro) coach in OS. I did that because I find that movement system to be very accessable for the “civilian”.

Simple kettlebell programming like S&S and the “Dan Martin Program Minimum” are all I really need to achieve my goals. Swings (A+A style) for power and goblet squats, get-ups, presses, rows, and carries about four days a week works wonders.
 
I call my approach “Finishing Strong”
I call it 'Strongevity'.. Like @aciampa says I want to finish this thing on my feet and wipe my own a** on my last day..
Hopefully when I drop I'll have a kettlebell in my hand and people I care about who'll miss me when I'm gone, I guess in the end we're all forgotten given enough time, but leaving a legacy of loved ones who remember us is about as good as it gets.
 
@Jim Lauerman , kudos to you. I'm coming from a slightly different segment of the timeline but can confirm that after a couple of years kettlebell training, at 49 I am more functionally capable than I was at 39. I have more knowledge of, and faith in, my physical capabilities than I have had at any previous point.

Definately, hit my double bodyweight deadlift at 45 and started Muaythai for fitness around 44. I was a competitive soccer player until 20 but wasted my thirties with ineffective health club workouts until I switched to kb, bodyweight, and barbell work by finding a hardstyle gym and taking classes. Fatherhood forced home workouts which in retrospect was a benefit. I am stronger than when I was younger. They only thing I have to take more seriously is recovery, although I don't see a decline in ability to work within a given session. More in fact by training smarter. SF style programming mainly. And yes OS is weird but great.
 
So, when your HR reaches 60% of your max HR, as in 180 - your age?

I perform sets of 5 swings with a heavy (for me) KB and then fully recover. I use a heart rate monitor and when my heart rate returns to 60% of max, I perform the next set.

Does that help?
 
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