It's been over 12 years since I started CrossFit at 53 and three years since I wrote my previous Geriatric CrossFit tips. Since that last post I've aged as one does -- and been through a very helpful back surgery. More about that later sometime. Suffice to say my personal best lifts are probably all behind me now.
Here are my tips updated for age 66:
- I do my own warmup before the group warmup; it takes about 30 min. It starts with a 15 minute bike ride to the box, then a mix of PT exercises, static holds, and general barbell work off the rack including back/front squat and strict press/handstand hold.
- Old muscles take a while to activate and tire quickly. So adjust reps accordingly. (Perhaps the dying mitochondria?)
- You need to go at least 3 times a week to be able to do things safely, but 5 times is too much at my age. Joints and muscles take longer to recover. I think I'll be 4 times in winter and 3 times in bike season.
- If you are an active retired person you now have time to overtrain. Which is a real thing that I have experienced.
- If you are doing CF at 66 you are probably very good about physical therapy. I do a lot of informal PT based on past experience and online refs.
- Forget about those old Personal Records. They are dust in the wind. I used to sometimes do "Men's Rx" WODs now I sometimes do "Women's Rx".
- I don't do 100% any more; 80-90% is fine. My goal is that I can always do another round. I do a lot of bicycling, so I have no guilt about scaling the cardio so I can focus on lifts and gymnastics. That 10-20% buffer is helpful for avoiding injury.
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