Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Three quick notes, then we'll talk about 20 rep
squats for older trainees.
1. Go here to reserve your copy of Knife, Fork,
Muscle as we wind down the pre-publication
special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.html
1a. Researchers at UCLA just issued a break-through
paper on Alzheimer's that follows the diet and
nutrition advice in Knife, Fork, Muscle VERY
closely. In other words, Knife, Fork, Muscle
is cutting-edge stuff -- even though it also
includes many old-school ideas.
2. If you are a former subscriber to the Dinosaur
Files newsletter, shoot me an email with a brief
testimonial to help launch the sales page for
the new quarterly Dinosaur Files -- which will
be going up sometime mext week!
2a. THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in a
testimonial for the Dinosaur Files!
3. I'll be on Carl Lanore's SuperHuman Radio at
12:00 noon today -- listen live or catch the down-
load later on.
And now . . . the question of the day.
Is the 20 rep squat a good idea or a bad idea for
older trainees?
Several readers asked this question in response to
yesterday's email about the 100,000 Squats Club.
One reader in his late 40's noted that he had a bad
shoulder and was going to focus on squats and
deadlifts while it healed up. He said he had been
surfing the Interwebs (oh-oh) and found an article
by a guy in his 20's talking about the 20 rep squat
program -- and was thinking about trying it.
And he asked if I thought that was a good idea.
Frankly, I don't .
I know that many younger trainees have done very
well with the 20 rep squat. But it's a very difficult
and demanding program -- and it's hard to recover
from your workouts -- and it requires you to whip
yourself into a frenzy before your 20 rep Death
Set -- and push yourself into the ground, so you
finish the set and lie on the floor for 10 or 15
minutes before you can move.
That's one thing for guys in their teens or 20's.
It's another thing entirely for an older trainee.
John Davis did 15 and 20 rep squats when he was
building himself from a 181 pound lifter to a full-
fledged Heavyweight. But then he switched to 5 x 5.
In one of his books, Tommy Kono talks about doing
20 rep squats when he was younger. A few years
later, while still in his 20's or 30's, he tried them
again but switched back to lower reps. He just
didn't have the drive to do them any more. And
I think that's probably true of most older trainees.
You work hard, and that's great -- but you don't
need or want to do those 20 rep Death Sets.
There's also the shoulder issue. Most older trainees
have some degree of shoulder problems. That makes
high rep squatting difficult.
Heck, it makes any kind of squatting difficult.
Which reminds me -- if you have bad shoulders,
this little device will save your squat workouts:
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/dave-drapers-top-squat-1
There's also the recovery issue. Younger trainees can
recover from 20 rep squats. Older trainees may not be
able to do so.
And then there's the issue of form. Older trainees should
ALWAYS perform every rep of every set of every exercise
in perfect form. Younger trainees can sometimes get
away with sloppy reps, but they often lead to injury
for an older trainee.
Lower reps allow you to perform your exercises in
strict form. But doing 20 reps in the squat makes it
very difficult to maintain good form for the entire set.
Finally, I will note that most Masters weightlifters do
low reps in squats or front squats -- and the older they
are, the fewer reps they do. They find that too many
reps make their knees sore.
Of course, if you have been doing 20 rep squats your
entire life, and you enjoy doing them, then keep on
doing what you're doing. But if you're thinking about
"giving them a try" at age 50 or 60 -- that's probably
not a good idea. It's better to dance with who brung
ya.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day. If
you train today, make it a good one!
And remember to send in those testimonials for the
Dinosaur Files!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more training advice for older Dinos, grab
this:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- including Knife,
Fork, Muscle -- are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Never try to change
horses in mid-stream -- or mid-workout." -- Brooks Kubik
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