Never too late! Older people over 50+ need strength training even more than younger people. Our muscles and bones start to detioriate at a much faster rate but we can reversre the process pretty easily with a good strength training program.

Strength is the FINAL way we interact with our environment. A good strength trianing program can double your strength in less than 3 months or triple your strength in less than 6 months. Being stronger just makes everything in life easier.

If you could clone yourself and your clone was 3x stronger than you , who would have more energy at the end of the day? Who would have better perormance on the pickleball court wtih a less chance of being inured? Who could handle daily chores easier? Pretty much your clone would dominate you in all aspects of life.

Good for you! Pickleball is pretty addiciting. Are you doing any strength training?

Exercising is better than doing nothing at all.

But why leave so much potential on the table?

Why not be be strong and exercise?

How about strength be your base not exercise?

If you make strength be your base, you will be better at exercising, but it doesn't work the other way around.

Getting stronger makes you better at exercising but doing more exercising doesn't make you any stronger.

Getting stronger increases bone density, bigger muscles, stronger ligaments and tendons. Exercising does none of the above.

In order to understand how to get stronger, I think it's helpful to to start by defining strength.

Strength is the ability to produce force against an external resistance. Simply, strength is force production. The person that can produce the most force is the most strong.

Someone who has enough force production to squat 150 pounds is stronger than someone who can only squat 100 pounds.

Someone who has enough force production to bench press 200 pounds is stronger than someone who can only bench press 135 pounds. It's black and white.

If you want to get stronger, you can't just be exercising at a gym. You have to be constantly increasing force production.

It doesn't matter how many lunges you are doing or leg extensions. Yes, you may get hot and sweaty and feel sore the next day but if you are not increasing force production then you are not getting stronger. You are just exercising.

If you want to get stronger, force production must be increasing.

Know thy limits.

There are times when I turn clients down because I'm aware of the value I bring to the table.

For example if you are into bodybuilding, I'm the wrong guy to hire. Although many smart body builders will build up a base strength first then sculpt and shape it through bodybuilding.

If you are professional power lifter or olympic lifter then I'm not the guy to hire.

If you like doing cardio with light weights (90% of the people I see at the gym are doing this), then I'm not your guy to hire.

What I am though is a professional barbell strength coach. And if you want to double your strength in less than 3 months or triple your strength in less than 6 months, then I can help.

So excited for my client JoAnn. She is 59 and an active pickle ball player.

She just did 135lbs in the squat for the first time. We call this getting your first plate because she finally go to use the big 45lb plate on each side.

JoAnn has been training with me for about 3 months. When she started her squat she was at 60 pounds.

She has more than doubled her strength in a very short amount of time. All we did was add 5 pounds to her squat each workout.

After just 3 months of training she said she feels stronger than she was in her 20s.

She said strength training is about the only thing she has ever found that is truly like drinking from the fountain of youth.

She also has a higher confidence in her pickle ball game that allows her to play more aggressive.

She knows that doubling her strength has also gave her denser bones, stronger ligaments and tendons. While many of her friends that are in the same age are getting injured, she feels there's nothing better to prevent injuries than being stronger.

#getstrong #strengthtraining #barbellcoach #liftheavy #strength #pickleball #squat #strengthcoach

https://m.primal.net/HdKo.mov

I don't do contracts because I'm confident in my ability to deliver results. You can cancel at any time for any reason.

If I wasn't confident, I would probably look to lock my clients up in a 6 month to year contract.

Would you rather be old beat up and weak or old beat up and strong?

You can't prevent old and beat up but you can decide if you want to be weak or strong.

By the way the photo is from the cover of The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 book written by Dr. Jonathan Sullivan and Andy Baker. Fantastic book going into detail how barbell strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health as you age.

Are you stuck on a current lift? Need some programming advice? Do you want some technical feedback of your lift?

My DMs are open.

Curious how strong your are in natural human movement patterns?

Get under a barbell and see how much you can squat for 5 reps.

See how much you can bench press for 5 reps

See how much you can deadlift for 5 reps

The numbers on the barbell don't lie.

In my novice program I'm able to add 5lbs to my clients lifts 3 x per week. They are getting stronger by 15lbs per week with each lift.

How do I get a way with this?

Stress Recovery Adaptation

Stress/Recovery/Adaptation framework is based on Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). Selye is the creator of the model for stress events.

According to GAS theory, organisms respond to stress in stages: alarm or shock, followed by resistance as they attempt to adapt to the stress. This adaptation aims to render the organism capable of withstanding similar stresses in the future.

With the appropriate prescribed amount of stress, the lifter can recover within 48 hours and adapt to the new stress. Then we repeat the process and stress it more by increasing the weight 5 more pounds.

Depending on the age and genetics of the client we can do this for a couple of months to 5 months.

Take advantage of this biological process. If you do, you can get very strong in a short amount of time.

Does the human body move in isolation or as a whole system?

When you move around in your daily life whether that's doing chores, playing sports, or just taking a walk, you body is working as a whole system not in isolation.

That's why I focus on getting people stronger in big compound movements that mimic natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press.

When you are getting stronger in these lifts you are getting the whole system stronger.

Compound lifts are movements that engage multiple joints simultaneously, typically necessitating the use of multiple limbs to complete a single repetition.

Take the squat, for instance, which demands coordinated involvement of the ankles, knees, hips, and back to execute a proper full squat.

And look at all the muscle groups that get strengthened in a squat.

It focuses on the front of your thighs (quadriceps), the back of your thighs (hamstrings), and your buttocks (gluteus maximus). It also involves the inner thighs (adductors) and the calf muscles.

The muscles along your spine (erector spinae) help you stand up straight during the squat, making your back stronger. Plus, your core muscles, like your abs and obliques, get a good workout too, making the low bar squat great for overall lower body strength and stability.

These compound movements are essential for building a strong foundation and promoting overall strength and muscle development. Incorporating these exercises into your weight training routine can help you achieve your fitness goals more effectively.

#barbellcoach #compoundmovements #getstrong #squat #deadlift #liftheavy #strengthcoach #strengthtraining #pickleball

The lifting shoe is the most important piece of equipment you will need if you are going to lift heavier weights. You can find them from anywhere around $100 to $300. You don't need to break the bank. The shoes in the $100 range are just fine for starting out. Adidas, Nike, Do-win, Risto and Rogue fitness carry good quality lifting shoes.

I know, I can already hear some of you saying "Eww, they look ugly." Yes, they do but they do an incredible job of keeping your foot stable during a heavy load.

I have lifted in personal trainers, vans, and converse. Trust me, they don't work well when it comes to lifting a heavy load. Trying to do a squat in a pair of converse is like trying to do the squat on your mattress.

Weightlifting shoes are not compressible. They are firm and hard which allows for better force production to take place between your foot and the floor. All other shoes are too squishy.

The straps you see on the tongue are metatarsal straps and secure the metatarsal region. The straps help maintain proper foot positioning and prevent any unwanted movement or sliding within the shoe.

There's also an elevated heel of about 1/2 to 3/4 inch which allows for greater ankle mobility, enabling the lifter to maintain proper form and achieve a deeper squat without compromising their balance or technique. This can also help prevent the feet from moving forward under heavy weight, keeping the lifter in the correct position throughout the lift.

Make a lifting shoe a priority if you want to strength train.

#liftingshoe #weightliftingshoe #squatshoe #squat #deadlift #barbellstrategy #strengthcoach #liftheavy #getstrong

Meet Jeannie. She's an online client who lives in Chihuahua Mexico. She's 27, a mother of 4 beautiful children and had her last child about 6 months ago.

She started lifting in the program about 3 months ago and built her squat up from 100lbs for 5 reps to 175lbs. In the video, it's her light day doing 155lbs.

She loves the feeling of being strong and she said she's doing it to perform better in daily life. She's also an avid basketball and volleyball player. She mentioned that the increase strength is a game changer on how she feels throughout the day. She feels like a super mom and not exhausted and tired at the end of day.

Strength is the final way on how we interact with our environment. Increasing your base strength in a short amount makes everything in life feel easier.

#squat #deadlift #getstrong #liftheavy #barbellcoach #strengthcoach https://m.primal.net/HWiX.mov#strengthtraining

Who wants to increase their base strength with an online strength coach?

January promotion. First month free. No credit card required.

You just have to have the will to get strong. It's life changing and I can help you get there in a short amount of time.

No contracts! If I can't deliver you results then I deserve to be fired.

Only 3x per week to get incredible results. That's only 3 hours per week.

You will be hitting a new PR 3x per week. That's the proof you know you are getting stronger. You will be getting stronger on each lift by 15lbs per week.

You will feel like a whole new person full of strength. Everything in life will feel easier as you get stronger.

Rapid feedback - Programming and feedback the same day through our custom app. You will video your last work set of each exercise and I will provide technical feedback to improve your form.

Flexible. You workout when it's convenient.

#squat #deadlift #liftheavy #strengthcoach #barbellcoach #getstrong #strength #proofofwork

So true.

That was good!

Help as many people as I can to increase their base strength. Strong people + hard money = Good 2024

Is doing the deadlift dangerous?

Not really. I would argue that walking around life with a weak back is what really is dangerous. Back pain is the #1 cause of workdays in the US and very few people are deadlifting yet they suffer from back pain which I would argue is the result of a weak back.

Humans have been bending over and picking things up for millions of years. Every time you bend down to pick up a child, you just did the deadlift movement. If you are doing weekend chores and pick up a 50lb bag of fertilizer, you just did the deadlift.

Most of us sit in a chair thorough the day and are not working out our back the same way our ancestors were. So when the weekend finally rolls around and you go do some chores to lift up something heavy you are more than likely doing that with a very weak back. And this is when back injuries occur.

Doing the deadlift with "proper" technique and intelligent programming is one of the safest things you can do to build a really strong back. I emphasize proper technique because I cringe when I walk into a gym and see a lot of people deadlifting with questionable form.

Even if you already suffer from back pain, learning to deadlift can be a miracle for taking the pain away. The top feedback I hear from clients and my own experience is that after a week or two of deadlifting their back pain either went away completely or significantly. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back.

The failure to strengthen the large muscles in the back is a recipe for future pain or continued pain. These large muscles when built up through the deadlift will stable you spine better than anything else and especially important for the older person who is facing spine degeneration.

I'm not going to say there's zero risk in deadlifting. Injuries can happen to anybody at anytime in any sport or hobby. You could just lay on the couch and not do anything. But then you are going to have a lot more serious health issues versus and injury.

Looking at the data, weightlifting with proper technique and intelligent programming is one of the safest activities you can do. Soccer and basketball have one of the highest injury rates than any other sport. Soccer leads the way with an injury rate of 6.2 per 100 hours of participating and weightlifting is one of the lowest at .0006. The reason weightlifting is one of the lowest is that its done in a controlled environment where as other sports and hobbies ar e more dynamic and unpredictable.

You can either have a weak back or a strong back. If you chose a strong back then make deadlifting a priority.

#deadlift #liftheavy #barbellcoach #getstrong #strengthtraining

Meet Rob. He's in his 60s and is a commercial airline pilot and loves to play competitive tennis. He recently had a full knee replacement and is working on getting his strength back up.

In this video he's doing the overhead press. As we age its very common for older people to lose their mobility of raising their hands over their head.

He's not lacking any cardio but he knows how important it is to increase his base strength to remain competitive on the tennis court and injury free.

He also wants a stronger back for his long international flights. He's been noticing more aches and pains in his back over the years. He's making good progress on his deadlift. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back.

#barbellstrength #barbellcoach #getstrong #liftheavy #strengthmatters