Loved this essay Jack. It’s been so long I almost forgot how you almost completely reinvented your approach to working out after a phase of very heavy lifting to prioritize more well-rounded strength, mobility and cardio. It’s cool you captured some of that in here.
Also (more broadly) how you never let an injury stop you from your fitness goals but instead saw it as an opportunity to reinvent your approach. And be big enough to change your ways.
This touched my heart. I've been lifting off and on for 30 years. I had most of the injuries you are talking about plus a few.
I love your insight into your journey. You hinted that it was ego that got in the way. Trying to keep up. I wonder how much effort went into recovery? It's the adaptation that causes gains, not the stimulus.
I work for a Chiropractor powerlifter who squats 700 natural. His workload is extraterrestrial, built up over years. I tried to keep up, but kept getting hurt. We are both 40 years old.
It's not the choice of exercise that was tearing your body down. It's the volume of work, intensity of work, and the body's limits of what it can recover from. I had to learn all that the hard way.
Who am I kidding, I still haven't learned. Damn ego.
Yeah, I'll stick to my 'granny' free weights. I laugh when my Peloton instructor tells us what weights to pick up! However, my grip strength is improving every month and I have muscles so I'm fine.
I've been thinking of going to the gym for months already. I thought I'm missing out by not lifting weights like my other peers. But I guess fitness is more about what feels good to the body than following what everybody else is doing.
What's your current fitness routine, Jack? If you've written about it before, I'd love to give it a read.
...congrats on those 7 years man...i gained some sweet sciatica after a dune buggy accident and years of working in a dimly lit office editing educational cartoons...unfortunately took a injury to get me back and focused on some sort of body perspective, but my goal has been sustainable action ever since...and so far so good and more (adventure) to come...
I’m 57 and I’m that guy you write about. I had an L5-S1 herniated disk at 50 and had to modify my workouts after that. This gives me even greater perspective and clarity of what to be careful of now. Thank you!
This is a well written, wonderfully insightful, and educational post.
I have been lifting, competing in sports, for 49 years. Currently, I am 63 yo (64 in August), and am in excellent condition, both strength and VO2 max.
I think many avid lifters follow the same path as you, and I, unfortunately. After I left the competitive college sports world, I entered the world of bodybuilding and powerlifting. At 290+#, I benched in the mid 500s, squatted in the high 600s, and deadlifted in the low 700s. Eleven years int training this way, I, too, came to the realization that in order to live a long, healthy, vibrant, and highly active lifestyle, I had to make some changes.
My "expertise" was/is in the realm of functional strength and speed. I began training like I was instructing the athletes I worked with to train. My focus became remaining highly functional under moderately heavy to pretty heavy loads (both relative terms, I know), so long as technique was still intact.
Thank you for sharing your experience. The more of us, out there, telling the next generation of lifters/athletes about our mistakes and experiences the better.
Great essay! Always astonished at how closely our philosophies align. Loved how you wove in the personal anecdote. I had a similar experience, except for me is was the shoulder that went first. Forever changed how I approached the gym.
Loved this essay Jack. It’s been so long I almost forgot how you almost completely reinvented your approach to working out after a phase of very heavy lifting to prioritize more well-rounded strength, mobility and cardio. It’s cool you captured some of that in here.
Also (more broadly) how you never let an injury stop you from your fitness goals but instead saw it as an opportunity to reinvent your approach. And be big enough to change your ways.
Love it
This touched my heart. I've been lifting off and on for 30 years. I had most of the injuries you are talking about plus a few.
I love your insight into your journey. You hinted that it was ego that got in the way. Trying to keep up. I wonder how much effort went into recovery? It's the adaptation that causes gains, not the stimulus.
I work for a Chiropractor powerlifter who squats 700 natural. His workload is extraterrestrial, built up over years. I tried to keep up, but kept getting hurt. We are both 40 years old.
It's not the choice of exercise that was tearing your body down. It's the volume of work, intensity of work, and the body's limits of what it can recover from. I had to learn all that the hard way.
Who am I kidding, I still haven't learned. Damn ego.
Yeah, I'll stick to my 'granny' free weights. I laugh when my Peloton instructor tells us what weights to pick up! However, my grip strength is improving every month and I have muscles so I'm fine.
I've been thinking of going to the gym for months already. I thought I'm missing out by not lifting weights like my other peers. But I guess fitness is more about what feels good to the body than following what everybody else is doing.
What's your current fitness routine, Jack? If you've written about it before, I'd love to give it a read.
...congrats on those 7 years man...i gained some sweet sciatica after a dune buggy accident and years of working in a dimly lit office editing educational cartoons...unfortunately took a injury to get me back and focused on some sort of body perspective, but my goal has been sustainable action ever since...and so far so good and more (adventure) to come...
Jack -great essay and teaching, as usual 😊
I’m 57 and I’m that guy you write about. I had an L5-S1 herniated disk at 50 and had to modify my workouts after that. This gives me even greater perspective and clarity of what to be careful of now. Thank you!
Jack,
This is a well written, wonderfully insightful, and educational post.
I have been lifting, competing in sports, for 49 years. Currently, I am 63 yo (64 in August), and am in excellent condition, both strength and VO2 max.
I think many avid lifters follow the same path as you, and I, unfortunately. After I left the competitive college sports world, I entered the world of bodybuilding and powerlifting. At 290+#, I benched in the mid 500s, squatted in the high 600s, and deadlifted in the low 700s. Eleven years int training this way, I, too, came to the realization that in order to live a long, healthy, vibrant, and highly active lifestyle, I had to make some changes.
My "expertise" was/is in the realm of functional strength and speed. I began training like I was instructing the athletes I worked with to train. My focus became remaining highly functional under moderately heavy to pretty heavy loads (both relative terms, I know), so long as technique was still intact.
Thank you for sharing your experience. The more of us, out there, telling the next generation of lifters/athletes about our mistakes and experiences the better.
In Good Health,
Stephen Ashcraft
President, In Good Health, LLC
Makers of COR-Restor
Great essay! Always astonished at how closely our philosophies align. Loved how you wove in the personal anecdote. I had a similar experience, except for me is was the shoulder that went first. Forever changed how I approached the gym.