Training young people vs. more “life experienced”… What’s the difference?
A lot of times when I want to write articles on here, it’s sparked by either an event in my life, or from the various conversations I’ve had with my personal training clients…the people who choose Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs…for which I’m thankful.
In this case, it was from a couple different things my clients have told me. One was when a client said “My butt is actually being lifted…at 70 years old” and another had told me “I know it probably doesn’t mean anything to you but I was able to lift my cat’s specialized litter more easily” (just to put it into context, that last one was in her 80’s which is awesome FYI)
But yesterdays was what sparked this article…but its relevant to the others as well. What my guy told me was “I can’t train like I’m 20 years old anymore.” Which is ironic because he’s not even thirty yet.
It’s funny, because what constitutes as effective training doesn’t change that much based on age…the principles are universal after all. The main thing that changes is the margin of error.
When you are younger, you can get away with making mistakes. I sure made my share. In fact, I kept doing same mistake repeatedly for years…then I divorced her 😆.
As a person gets more mileage under their belt, and their body responds slower to training, they need to have better strategies then go hard or go home bro.
But methods are many, principles few and while methods may change principles never do. The principles of progressive overload are universal. And a simplified way to look at effective training progressions regardless of age, gender, or training experience is progress the things you can until you can…what you can’t.
Yes, lifting heavy things is important…but you have to earn the right by lifting light. When you lift light in the beginning and progress it, it allows your body to put various structures in place in the form of gains (muscle thickening, cns efficiency, bone thickening, tendon thickening) which prepares your body for weights that are heavier, and heavier and then all of a sudden what was initially heavy to lift is actually well within your capabilities, because you adequately prepared it.
It’s especially important as people get older to do it the right way, because as strength coach Mark Rippetoe had famously quipped “strong people are harder to kill and more useful in general”
If you want to be harder to kill and more useful in general but aren’t sure where to start…I can help. I offer a free trial where we identify the best exercises for you based on your goals and figure out appropriate starting points. All you have to do is text me at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Why you should ask questions
This past Monday I was scrolling through my phone and decided to delete some of my talking heads videos. Somehow during this process I came across an old screen shot of mine that told the heart wrenching story of someone in the gym being made fun of for not knowing what they are doing and posted it in a local facebook group which got a pretty good response.
So I was telling one of the guys I train about this. He had mentioned that the gym can be a pretty intimidating place for a lot of people.
Somehow it never was to me. Lifting weights felt natural to me, but even when I didn’t know how to do something I was never afraid to approach someone that obviously knew what they were doing to pick their brain for a minute. Oftentimes people can get intimidated asking for help because they don’t want to appear annoying.
Ironically that’s the opposite effect of what actually happens. In Brendon Burchard’s book High Performance Habits he talks about the fact that “high performers” ask a lot of questions and it actually endears them to the people they’re asking.
Why? Because when you’re interested in something that they are passionate about it gives them an opportunity to share their passion.
In fact when I reflect on my own journey, part of the reason I became a modern day performing strongman is because I saw a guy roll up a frying pan and I asked him a lot of questions which kick started a long distance friendship that I maintain to this day.
When people sign up for the free trial at my personal training studio, my passion becomes pretty apparent when I start explaining the method behind the madness. And I always encourage my clients to ask me questions whenever they are curious about something.
So whatever it is that you want in life, find someone that knows what they’re doing and don’t be afraid to ask questions. It can help put you on track towards your goals, and you can find people with mutual interests.
If you are interested in transforming your physique, taking your strength, muscle gain and burning off unwanted body fat, I have a free trial at my personal training studio…just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and just ask 🙂
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Stop Procrastinating and try this…
In my personal training studio we have an inside joke where whenever someone thanks me or shows appreciation, it’s immediately responded to with my catch phrase “Thank you for choosing Eric Moss Fitness for all your health and fitness needs” followed immediately by a laugh, or groan with an eye roll.
Kicker is, people actually are thankful for choosing Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs….and I am thankful they chose Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs after all.
But the best way to thank me, is by continuing to choose Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs (you can get an idea of my humor here), or by sending me referrals. Often times they tell me they’re trying to send their spouse, romantic interest, friend etc. to me, even asking “Have they reached out yet?” This can sometimes go for weeks on end.
Usually my reply is, “they’ll reach out when they’re actually ready”. And yeah, this stuff takes commitment and effort so they should be ready…but at the same time, people will spend their whole life getting ready to get ready then as “Pink” from Pink Floyd would say “And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”
Getting ready to get ready is how my motivational speaking coach Dr. Rob Gilbert describes procrastination.
So then what do you do? Get started before being fully ready. In the book Think and Grow Rich the author Napoleon Hill recommends that when you get an idea, create a plan and get started to work on it immediately, learn from your mistakes and adjust your plans accordingly until you succeed.
Of course a way you can shortcut the process is by taking on a coach that has a plan with a high track record of success. There’s a number of decent personal trainers out there, but if you happen to choose Eric Moss Fitness for all your health and fitness needs, I’ll be thankful.
If you are unsure if you should choose Eric Moss Fitness for all your health and fitness needs, I have a free trial so you can see if you like it first. Just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself. Easy right? And if you do that, I’ll also be thankful you reached out 😆
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.