Trying to be efficient and not focus on what isn't broken

Satish Punna

I am in my forced 4 week down phase at the end of a long and successful season capped of by IM AZ.  I managed to stay uninjured for a whole year but did have some creeping niggles (calves and feet) leading up to  last weekend's race.  

After reading Dave Tallo's yoga thread, I thought I would start doing one of my yoga videos which I haven't done for over 2 years and discovered I am a lot more inflexible than I used to be.  Now some of this may be due to just having raced etc, but how much I am not sure. 

So - I am thinking- do I need to incorporate more stretching or yoga or mobility exercises into my routine next year. And as always occurs at this time of year I am starting to wonder if I should be doing some strength exercises.   The kicker is that over the past 12 months I did minimal stretching or strengthening , and not only did I avoid injury I also had my best race season yet.  

So as I start thinking of next years training- (what else is there to do now that I have so much free time on my hands?)- I'm wondering if, how, and where to incorporate these into my training, as a newly minted 48 year old.  I don't have unlimited time and  would rather be swimming/biking/running than doing yoga and stretching/strengthening, plus I don't want to add stress on top of my regular training stress.   I don't want to waste time and energy trying to fix something that isn't broken, but I don't want to be broken either.  

Any suggestions are welcomed.  

Al Truscott

Satish Punna said:

...

So as I start thinking of next years training- (what else is there to do now that I have so much free time on my hands?)- I'm wondering if, how, and where to incorporate these into my training, as a newly minted 48 year old.  I don't have unlimited time and  would rather be swimming/biking/running than doing yoga and stretching/strengthening, plus I don't want to add stress on top of my regular training stress.   I don't want to waste time and energy trying to fix something that isn't broken, but I don't want to be broken either. ...

Short answer: yes. This year, I suspect you were living off the benefits of good genetics and a lifetime of good behavior. But...every one of us is getting older every day. And those disappearing telomeres mean you need all the help you can get, if not for next year, for twenty years down the road. My experience...

"When I was your age", I had begun doing a daily (well, 4-5x/week) 8 minute stretching routine of my own devising (often in the sauna), focused primarily on keeping me fit for skiing. Likewise, all my life I have *usually* done 2-3 x/ week in the weight room, 25-35 minute sessions, started first for swimming, and then with skiing in mind. The only injuries I suffered during 4 + decades up to about age 63 were d/t accidents - landing wrong after a ski jump, hitting a pick-up truck while biking @ 25 mph, getting cross-wise on my MTB, etc. Then, for reasons probably related to laziness, once I retired, I stopped being so religious with stretching and weights.

Everything suffered: skiing went south, shoulder acted up from swimming, an endless series of hamstring/gluteal injuries when running, decreased race performance in triathlon. A year and a half ago, I'd had enough, and re-committed to the stretch/body weight work, and weight room work. Now, 5-6 days a week, it's 25 minutes every morning with those self-designed stretches, 2-3 x a week in the weight room, again about 25-35 minutes.

My perspective is, try to figure out just what your body needs, and figure out a way to provide that in the minimum time possible. An hour of yoga, or even 30 minutes, may not be necessary. Slogging away with weights, especially heavy ones, will just put you at risk for joint damage. But a little bit @ your age, with your body type, can go a very long way, I bet. Doing nothing will slowly catch up with you.

Here's the weight training program I've mostly followed over the past 30 years...they describe 12 exercises, I do 8: Hamstrings, quads, press, lat pull down, shoulder raise, triceps, biceps. Four repetitions, each lasting 30 seconds (15 up, 15 down), always moving. 2 minutes work, one minute rest between. I also do squats with heavy weights in the month or two before ski season, otherwise, just the same as the others.

https://www.webmd.com/men/features/want-more-strength-slow-down#1

ABBEY BONNER

I agree with @Al Truscott. I believe stretching and rolling is very important. I go through a stretching/rolling routine everyday and I am sure it keeps injuries at bay for me. Which stretching you do is dependent on you and your body.

Dave Tallo

Satish,

I can't really comment with any expertise on what it must be like to be a 48-year-old athlete, but I'll take a stab at it

I believe that as much as we overcomplicate it, continued success will come from consistent training - rolling days into weeks into months into blocks into years.  And, I think this can allow for continued athlete development and improvement year over year.    So, that sets up the question "what do I need to do to keep ^this^ rolling forward?

As Al notes, you have the genes, morphology and form that cover off a lot of the consistency puzzle.  I THINK you could keep hitting things without extra yoga/strength, and probably keep progressing. 

But if you want to maximize performance, and within that consistency envelope, show up for every session in the best possible state and ready to perform at your best, with that cumulative gain rolling forward session to session to week to month to year, then yoga and weights do start to play in.   

If I had a hierarchy to achieve this, it would be:

-more sleep

-yoga

-strength

And if you find the answer to the time puzzle, let us know!

Gordon Cherwoniak

Satish,

I'd agree with the stretching and weights.  Even in my 20's doing a 18-24 hours of figure skating the overuse got to my knees.  Once I got some balance and strengthening where needed I never had any issues in my final 2-3 years with just some light weights as Al point out that were targeted for my needs.  Prior to that I had issues where I would utilize anti-inflammatory medication for my over use issues to keep me on the ice. 

Forward to the last couple years 43-45. I was doing a light weight program with my brother, mostly to help him just get to the guy and I had once of the best IM ramp ups with no injuries. I believe it does help me.