Building strength over 40....50...60.... or at any age!
I am recently coming off a moderate shoulder injury and I can't help but see a big decrease in my overall strength. I realize that if I want to get back to where I was before my injury I have to go back to the very beginning. I have to get in the mindset of a novice. I have to focus on those things that created the strength that I possessed in the past. If I want to look the way I did before my injury I have to shore up the foundation that everything else is built upon.... strength!
I have to begin again focusing on the Holy Grail of strength building exercises. Exercises that every strength athlete incorporates to becoming stronger. If I want to have the physique that I had before the injury I have to put that desire aside knowing in doing so I will get back their again. Strength was the foundation of my physique and strength will be its foundation again.
If I want to build strength I must focus my energies on multi-jointed compounded exercises and avoid and/or limit my use of single jointed isolation exercises. This is where it all started for me and that is where I am going back to.
To accomplish my goals I don't need to be Superman strong nor do I want to be but the reality is that increasing strength is the ONLY way to get back what the injury stole. I am incorporating beginning multi-joint compound exercises with an intermediate level of experience. Call it a beginners routine with an experienced twist.
The next time you find yourself in a position of stagnation or you have an injury setback maybe revisiting where you started will help. For me it just happens to be compound exercises and that is where you will find me for the next 16 weeks.
SEMPER FI