Strength Training should be a priority regardless of your age but it does become crucial to keep at it especially if you're over 40. Its cousin, conditioning is just as valuable and should be treated with respect. In our younger years, we don't treasure fitness as much even though we give ourselves the idea that we can be invincible and can take on workouts we shouldn't be doing. We recover faster in our 20's because around those years, according to studies, we peak at the highest level of what our bodies are able to handle. When we reach 30-35, we are taught to believe it becomes a downhill slope and we need to slow down because we don't recover as much and our bodies are starting that infancy stage of becoming fragile.
Over 40, things become interesting but the truth is, if you've been training a good portion of your life and know the ways of adapting and understanding what your body's capabilities are, their weaknesses and what challenges you can take on, you can withstand quite a bit. However; it is important that as we do get older, we do need to be aware. Now there are guys who's level of strength and conditioning even beyond 40 are insane and often times inspiring. Take someone like Slim The Hammerman for example, the king of sledgehammer levering and other strongman feats, has said that in his years of 40-50, he felt like he was dangerous. Invincible as well and was doing things that is practically impossible for men even today. This was saying something cause this was a guy who worked in a Rock Quarry shattering and carrying stone 10+ hours a day often 6-7 days a week and that's backbreaking work as it is.
The Great Gama is another example of being able to do things most men couldn't even fathom and wrestled for more than 50 years at a level that would make Frank Gotch blush. His strength and conditioning is legendary and inspired even the likes of Bruce Lee. We are all capable of doing incredible things. We may not have the strength of Slim or have the stamina and power Gama had, but we can condition our bodies to withstand many things beyond certain ages. When you're over 40, those in their 60's will still call you a young man. As complimentary as that is, on the other end of the spectrum, a number of folks in their 20's will call someone over 40 an old man which if you're not used to it, can be a stab in the heart. Shit I'm at a stage in my life where remembering what it was like before google and having the Black Box in my room. When my parents were that age, it was in between JFK the headlines of Charles Manson.
Now that we've taken little trips down memory comparing being a teen in the 90's and parents being teens in the 60's, let's get back to what I wanted to talk about. Having strength is an asset nobody can afford to lose but real physical strength isn't benching 500 lbs (although it's cool if you're a powerlifter or strongman), it's being able to get up without pain and to do things like carrying groceries, walking up stairs fluidly, handling furniture, loading boxes in awkward positions, it's about having strength that can keep going. That's where conditioning comes into play, it's to be able to stay strong when it counts in the most crucial times. It doesn't matter if you're into weights, bodyweight, bands or whatever, if you can keep going and have that wind, you're above the majority.
This is where I believe circuit training is by far one of the best methods for conditioning. It leads up to a total instead of just doing hundreds of an exercise in one shot. Doing hundreds of push-ups and squats at a time is great, essential even in some cases but that shouldn't be your only option to get in solid condition. With circuits, you learn to do small steps that lead to a bigger outcome. When I do my Circuits with the Dopamineo Band, I have it planned out for what I want to accomplish; I pick a certain number of exercises, do 10-20 reps and take as little rest as I can until I'm finished hitting all the rounds I want to do. Really when I do rest, it's just a few seconds. I've done this with Bodyweight Training as well where I've lasted as long as 45 minutes with less than a couple minutes total resting. My totals have ranged from 500-1500 reps at the end.
You don't have to go that long when it comes to circuit training, 30 minutes even would probably be better suited. Sometimes if you picked out a hard circuit of exercises, resting until you caught wind again is an option but i believe at your very best, do what you can to work more with less rest. That's from a circuit POV, if it's Sprinting or other HIIT styles, then rest as long as needed to be efficient for your next round or set. Although I've done workouts doing HIIT for 30 minutes but it's on a 45 sec on/15 sec off protocol doing 5 exercises 6 times, that's a different level of conditioning.
What makes it valuable to be able to have great conditioning beyond 40? It gives you a lasting impression on being an asset to yourself and to others. It's inspiring and even admirable at times but deep, deep down, conditioning with the right mindset and knowledge, goes a long way to having a quality of life to be proud of. Being able to keep up or even outwork those younger than you has its perks for sure especially on the ego, but that's where it stops. Don't try to prove to others in a manner where it compromises your personality and be an asshole. Prove to yourself that you can be capable of doing things others would never expect you to be capable of. It's not always what others think, what they think is their problem; you on the other hand learn what YOU can do and make a habit of being fit and healthy to live long and prosper (did I really just quote Star Trek even though I'm a Star Wars nerd?).
The value of conditioning goes beyond the physical, it's a matter of pride with humbleness that you are in the kind of shape that would drop jaws. When others feel the need to tear down people who aren't in the shape THEY'RE in or call people losers and whiners because they don't follow their style of training, that's not someone to be trusted. That's someone who doesn't know the true value of inspiring others. Sure they may be in "decent" shape (even claiming to be the very best in the world when they're REALLY not) but if they also smoke like a chimney, drink enough caffeine to put others in the hospital (and call it being healthy) and tell others to go extreme all the time, that's nothing more than a sales pitch to guilt trip you into buying something from them. It's not realistic or even good for the body, it's degrading and wastes everybody's time.
Be amazingly awesome and do what's possible for you to be in the best condition you can be in while staying healthy and living a quality of life that brings purpose to you and for others.







