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Thread: Maintenance: When to Stop Trying to Train | Mark Rippetoe

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by dalan View Post
    Apologies for speaking when you didn't ask me but this subject is unfortunately near and dear to me. In my experience, you'll know simply because you'll know. It won't be like one day you say to yourself, "Well, that's it. I'm done getting stronger." It happens over a long period of time until one day you realize your current one rep max used to be your eight (or 10 or 12) rep max. Even then you won't believe it. You'll say things like, "I could get back there, I just need to refocus on my training." And you'll try. And try. And try. Possibly for years but it just doesn't seem to want to happen. Throw a couple decent injuries in there, maybe a surgery or two just to muck things up even more, and you slowly start to realize you aren't what you were. When you do realize it that's when you know. If you're still getting stronger, you aren't there yet. At least, that's how it went for me. Thanks for reading.
    No apology needed. I didn’t really expect a reply from Rip, so any discussion is very welcome.

    I’m assuming you have been training for many years ? If so, then this is different from a weak 60 year old with strength potential on the downslope. I’m seeing it somewhat like press progress, in that it truncates sooner, so the NLP/intermediate/advanced stage is truncated. I’m still improving on all the other lifts but DL and as it’s the DL which tends to last longest in terms of progress and I’ve injured my back doing near PRs, that suggests to me that I’m at the point where perhaps it’s time to begin maintenance ? For the other lifts, not yet, I can push the press and though I don’t think I’ve got much more to go, it doesn’t cause me injuries, same with bench and squat (the squat being the next lift where I would think there was a greater potential for injury as potential is reached).

    I clearly don’t know that any of this is true, it’s been prompted by Rips article and my own recent injuries which it doesn’t seem I’m shrugging off-I’m still stiff across the buttock and have discomfort in my lower back permanently at this point, even though I continue to lift.

  2. #12
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    At least one caller every Q&A episode from now on:

    "Hi Rip, I'm 45 years old, six feet tall, and 175 pounds. I just tweaked my back deadlifting for the second time. Should I 'stop trying to train' like you wrote in your article?"

  3. #13
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    Sounds like Rip traded in his lifting shoes for a pair of pumps.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nockian View Post
    No apology needed. I didn’t really expect a reply from Rip, so any discussion is very welcome.

    I’m assuming you have been training for many years ? If so, then this is different from a weak 60 year old with strength potential on the downslope. I’m seeing it somewhat like press progress, in that it truncates sooner, so the NLP/intermediate/advanced stage is truncated. I’m still improving on all the other lifts but DL and as it’s the DL which tends to last longest in terms of progress and I’ve injured my back doing near PRs, that suggests to me that I’m at the point where perhaps it’s time to begin maintenance ? For the other lifts, not yet, I can push the press and though I don’t think I’ve got much more to go, it doesn’t cause me injuries, same with bench and squat (the squat being the next lift where I would think there was a greater potential for injury as potential is reached).

    I clearly don’t know that any of this is true, it’s been prompted by Rips article and my own recent injuries which it doesn’t seem I’m shrugging off-I’m still stiff across the buttock and have discomfort in my lower back permanently at this point, even though I continue to lift.
    What's your height and weight, Nock? As we all know, a few extra pounds of bodyweight will help the lifts.

    I'm not quite in your same situation, just turning 60 next month after starting barbell training when I was 53. Last October I pulled 519 and squatted 418 in competition and, barring injury, I plan to better those numbers this fall.

    My lower back was feeling kind of fried the last couple of months so I recently changed from an HLM program where I was squatting every workout to a 4-day split type of program where I'm now squatting with less frequency. So far so good, as I hit a 3x3 PR of 385 for the squat last week and a 5 rep PR for the deadlift at 465, and my lower back is feeling not nearly as worn out. I've added snatch grip deadlift for the light pulling day and seated presses as an upper body accessory lift.

    Of course I've had tweaks like everyone else, including two torn adductors and a painful back tweak that set me back for almost a year, but I'm stronger now than I've ever been in my life. I'm sure I'll reach that day where I realize things aren't going to improve but, as the saying goes, "It is not this day."

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJPinAZ View Post
    What's your height and weight, Nock? As we all know, a few extra pounds of bodyweight will help the lifts.

    I'm not quite in your same situation, just turning 60 next month after starting barbell training when I was 53. Last October I pulled 519 and squatted 418 in competition and, barring injury, I plan to better those numbers this fall.

    My lower back was feeling kind of fried the last couple of months so I recently changed from an HLM program where I was squatting every workout to a 4-day split type of program where I'm now squatting with less frequency. So far so good, as I hit a 3x3 PR of 385 for the squat last week and a 5 rep PR for the deadlift at 465, and my lower back is feeling not nearly as worn out. I've added snatch grip deadlift for the light pulling day and seated presses as an upper body accessory lift.

    Of course I've had tweaks like everyone else, including two torn adductors and a painful back tweak that set me back for almost a year, but I'm stronger now than I've ever been in my life. I'm sure I'll reach that day where I realize things aren't going to improve but, as the saying goes, "It is not this day."
    5’8” 180lbs. I’m definitely stronger, but then I started from a very low base-looking back I really struggled with 120 Lb squat. I was 140lbs and weak as a kitten and not very well. High watermark for squats was 118Kg 260lbs single. I’m heading back to 225lbs for a set of 5. Press I’ve bounced off 110lbs for a single for a while but I’m back to struggling a 99lbs. I actually lifted more when I was 20lbs lighter, except for squats. The extra 20lbs doesn’t seem to have changed anything.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJPinAZ View Post
    ... I'm sure I'll reach that day where I realize things aren't going to improve but, as the saying goes, "It is not this day."
    Like RPJ, I'm not of a mind to go gentle into that good night.

    Yeah, my knee's a mess, and the cancer shit is annoying, but I'm going to rage against the dying of the light as long as is humanly possible.

    And that means getting on the platform for as long as my body allows.

    YMMV...

  7. #17
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    Good, Brown. Now read the article again. I didn't tell you to get off the platform.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Good, Brown. Now read the article again. I didn't tell you to get off the platform.
    I went back and read the article again Rip.

    My take away from the article was that at some time, you'll need to to come to grips with aging / health, and that means transitioning from training to exercising.

    My thought was, and is that that moment is farther away for most folks than they realize.

    I read the piece from the perspective of being a competitor as a masters lifter. I have no illusions of being completive with the likes of people such as David Ricks, but I like the atmosphere of training, and competing. So even though I run into injuries, and suffer from some not insignificant medical issues, I continue to believe that I can add kilos to my total as I compete locally, and nationally.

    I also brought my own baggage to the article: doctors telling me to stop lifting such heavy weights, and other assorted nonsense. So when you stated you transitioned from training to exercising due to age and injury, and that you were post competitive; I heard the voices of my cancer docs saying "stop".

    Yeah, I probably missed the intent of your article, but not through misreading it.

    "I mean that once you have tried every permutation of intermediate/advanced programming, done multiple resets to try to run back up onto your previous numbers, done all the dietary and rest manipulations possible, and you are still injured frequently or stuck because you're injured frequently, then it's time to shift to maintenance."

    I don't think I'm there yet, and I'm willing (and somewhat able) to continue to incur the odd strain or back tweak in order to chase those kilos and competition PR's. I thought that this type of mindset had a place at the table, and I wanted other "masters" to read that.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Browndog View Post
    My take away from the article was that at some time, you'll need to to come to grips with aging / health, and that means transitioning from training to exercising.

    My thought was, and is that that moment is farther away for most folks than they realize.
    Did I leave that part out?

    I knew when I wrote it what was going to happen. It's my fault for even thinking that people would not misinterpret if I was sufficiently clear.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Did I leave that part out?

    I knew when I wrote it what was going to happen. It's my fault for even thinking that people would not misinterpret if I was sufficiently clear.
    There are always a supernumerary amount of folks that are just hoping somebody will tell them it's okay to slack off.

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