Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of the challenges for an older
lifter is working around shoulder
problems.
Some shoulder problems are the
result of age related dings and
dents. You get enough years under
your belt, and you start to have
aches and pains and stiffness.
But some of them are the result of
exercise choices we made when we
were younger.
For example -- when I was a kid,
the conventional wisdom was that
the press behind neck was to very
best shoulder exercise under the
sun. Everyone told us to do them.
And they told us to go heavy. Reg
Park had handled 300 pounds in the
press behind neck, and we were
supposed to go after the same thing.
I never hit 300 pounds in the press
behind neck, but I did work up to a
seated press behind neck with 235
or 240.
And yes, it was a good exercise for
strength and muscle mass.
And yes, I'm 56 now and my shoulders
like to complain, especially if I
sleep on my side with my arm extended
over my head. That usually means plenty
of snap, crackle and pop when I wake
up.
Cause and effect? I don't know. But
I do know this. If I were to do it
over again, I'd do military presses
and push presses. (And dumbbell
presses -- don't forget the dumbbell
presses!)
Of course, the press behind neck isn't
the only exercise to avoid. There are
plenty of them -- and some of them are
pretty common movements.
I cover the question of exercises to do
and exercises to avoid in Gray Hair and
Black Iron. If you have a copy, co back
and re-read that part. If you don't have
a copy, grab one -- it just might give
you more years of great lifting.
Like Dinosaur Training, it's a book I
wish I'd read when I was younger.
As always, thanks for reading, and have
a great day. I'll be hitting it hard at
about 6:30 tonight. No press behind neck,
but I'll be doing some other fun things.
If you train today, wherever you are, we
can train together in spirit.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Go here to grab your copy of Gray
Hair and Black Iron:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training is great
for serious, old-school shoulder training --
and for building ferocious strength and power
with heavy dumbbells:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are right
here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Train hard, train
heavy, train smart." -- Brooks Kubik
