38 was wonderful. And also the year of stupid and undeserved injuries. Not from forcing the last 6 inches of my splits in a day, or from ego-lifting weight that was too heavy, but from tiny missteps. A leash yank and a slight misalignment in a stretch I did pretty regularly.
I tore my hamstring tendon and it took over a year to heal, with physical therapy, and still isn’t where it was (But it is finally at a working place again!), and my shoulder complex didn’t tolerate much load or stretch for 6 months.
Apparently, I’m human. 🤣
I think it hurts the worst because I was already doing all of the things you should do to prevent injuries. Well, sleep could be better. I used to think that since I’ve taken hundreds of hours of yoga teacher training and practiced responsibly, and also weight train, that I wouldn’t get stupid, undeserved injuries. Life finds a way to humble you.
So, since I was wrong 😂, learn with me!
Honestly, coming out the other side of this, I have so much more perspective and I feel like whenever the call to teach again comes back, I’ll be a much better teacher as well. (Considering making a new series for YouTube, any interest?)
Strength training at almost 40 now focuses less on the bro split and more on the muscles that matter for the life I currently live, and more on Amanda at 60 and 80 years old, and how she wants to live.
(Things that have changed are below in bold if you want to skip right to the point!)
Now, I have heard from multiple people that I trust that our metabolism does NOT hit a wall at 40 like used to be “common knowledge.” It is just that we move less. We get jobs where we sit instead of being on our feet. Keeping this in mind, I try to maintain some type of movement every day, in addition to my lifting days, where I used to do EITHER a yoga class OR a gym workout. Most mornings I try to get in 20-30 minutes of movement with a little bit of stretch and a little bit of body weight strength.
I take longer to warm up. Partially because my volume and consistency are down from what they were, and partially because this is the tried and tested way to add more volume and load without having setbacks. Adding a maximum of 10% per week, not every week. Think of it like a stoplight. Red- dial it back. Yellow- maintain. Green- Add a little.
My warm up is specific to my injuries and planned lifts. You bet your bippy I’m gonna be doing wall angels before I work my shoulder. I’ve learned that even after being healed, those injuries take a long time for your brain to rewire those pathways to move again, and introducing a “safe” activity before loading helps mentally and physically.
I also literally get warm. My home gym is in a little room off the garage. It’s cold in there. I’ve got a space heater, but it needs to run for a while. Cold muscles really are stiffer. That isn’t necessarily an environment that you want to be pushing your limits in. I’ve brought a few kettlebells inside that house, and when it is really cold, I can take a few days of doing an alternate workout to save myself the extra cold-muscle risk.
Accessory muscles aren’t optional. Why yes, I did do Copenhagen planks before. Maybe once a month. Now don’t get me wrong, I hate them, but I know those little muscles are going to help to bring back my bigger lifts. While I’m not chasing numbers specifically, my goal in lifting weights has always been to maintain bone density and muscle mass. To do that, you need decently heavy weight. Yoga is beneficial for so much, but there simply isn’t a substitute for picking up heavy sh*t.
I have a much heavier focus on balance, getting up and down off the floor, and deep core. Some people call these functional movements. I just call it practical. These have been a focus for me for a while, but it’s worth spelling out here. As much as we would all like to think we are too young to worry about those things, training those muscles for decades will hopefully help to keep us from saying, “help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” So as soon as my shoulder allows me to rep out Turkish getups, you know I’ll be suffering through them!
Strength training truly is for life. Not just that I’ll be doing it for the length of my life, but I do it to live my life to the fullest.
My hopes are that I’ll be carrying my groceries, walking my dog, and going on my hiking adventures with confidence for decades to come. Those are my whys. What are yours?
Living Wildly Well 