Great work, Dr. Sullivan. Your contributions are very important, and appreciated, especially by your fellow geezers here. -Bill
Great work, Dr. Sullivan. Your contributions are very important, and appreciated, especially by your fellow geezers here. -Bill
This article expresses what I believe far better than I could have expressed, and with more and better scientific background. I'm a family physician who practiced in the US for many years (I now live and work in a third-world country) and I wish that I had known then what I understand now.
Great job! Have you written other articles on related topics?
Awesome article.
'Death is winning, do something' (Paul Carter)
Wonderful article, thanks Dr. Sullivan.
I know many people on this board don't hold faith in fate or fortune, and I'm not sure I do all the time but the timeliness of this article does give me pause.
The past couple of days have seen me questioning why I do this (barbell strength training) at all. The internet is a curse and a blessing, and seeing the logs of people who started much younger than I am (37 this past March) discourages me at times.
Am I told old to continue this? How close am I to my genetic/age strength limits and is it fruitless to continue, when I will never have the lofty squat numbers of a 20 something starting the program? Can a 37yo even develop a respectable amount of muscle who doesn't have the benefit of muscle memory?
Actually laid awake at night the past several nights mulling over whether I'm a fool for doing this when all the folks I know my age chide me over not doing any LDS work instead of 'acting like a teenager'. Many friends/family believe my lifting weights is a form of a mid-life crisis and sometimes mock me. In fact, this very morning I had a heart to heart talk with my wife about quitting lifting, esp. when the likes of Sanjay Gupta and Dean Ornish are so heavily promoting veganism and long slow cardio (to my wife's credit, she said she doesn't want "no skinny ass husband" and told me not to quit).
This couldn't have possibly come at a better time.
Excellent article. I think Im going to send this over to my grandfather he plays alot of racquetball and golf but I cant get him to do anything with a barbell. I think the added hip strength would help him increase his golf swing too but maybe this will sway him.
Bahadur: Who cares if you can't hit the numbers you may have been able to do if you would have started at twenty. If you enjoy training and what you are getting out of it, why worry?
Bahadur, You would be stronger if you were not such a mind wimp.
Hell no you are not too old at 37(!?) to do just fine. The people who chide or mock you merely demonstrate their own lack of commitment and dedication. Don't bring the subject up around them and put the kibosh on any direction they take to introduce the matter. If they persist agressively find new friends or avoid them. The real foundational aspect of your success is the support you got from your wife. Dearly Beloved thinks I'm a little eccentric on my lifting, but supports it for much the same reasons yours does. As for the likes of Ornish and Gupta, how much can they deadlift? That's at least some indication of their credibility.