Ever wondered if age really is just a number when it comes to physical fitness? Tag along with me, Leanne Knox, as I shatter the stereotypes of aging and strength with stories from the frontline of coaching master athletes. Imagine standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 73-year-old Olympic weightlifter Stefan Jacobsen, whose grit and muscle defy the calendar. Together, we'll unpack the treasure trove of benefits that strength training offers, from fortifying bones to rejuvenating the heart. It's not just about lifting weights; it's about lifting spirits and proving that the golden years can indeed be strong and vibrant.
Now, let me introduce you to the lively squad I fondly call "Dad's Army" - a band of powerlifters whose ages range as widely as their personalities. From Rocket Rod's explosive energy to Terry the "pterodactyl's" ancient wisdom, these folks bring a dose of humor and heart to every early morning training session. But it's not all chuckles and kettlebells; we get real about the challenges of training as a master athlete, acknowledging the need to adapt and overcome obstacles like injuries and the natural ebb of time. Expect laughter, a few life lessons, and maybe even the secret behind that infamous deadlift session recording where we tackled a rather... delicate situation.
Finally, we zone in on the powerhouse of the body: the posterior chain. I'll walk you through the importance of these often-overlooked muscles, not just for elite athletes but for everyone aiming to counteract the slouch of the digital age. From my mother's triumphant recovery after shoulder surgery to an open discussion about women's health and strength training (yes, we're talking about that too), this episode is a clarion call for the empowerment that comes from growing stronger. So, lace up your gym shoes and turn up the volume – this is an episode that celebrates the strength within us all, no matter the number of candles on the cake.
Ever wondered if age really is just a number when it comes to physical fitness? Tag along with me, Leanne Knox, as I shatter the stereotypes of aging and strength with stories from the frontline of coaching master athletes. Imagine standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 73-year-old Olympic weightlifter Stefan Jacobsen, whose grit and muscle defy the calendar. Together, we'll unpack the treasure trove of benefits that strength training offers, from fortifying bones to rejuvenating the heart. It's not just about lifting weights; it's about lifting spirits and proving that the golden years can indeed be strong and vibrant.
Now, let me introduce you to the lively squad I fondly call "Dad's Army" - a band of powerlifters whose ages range as widely as their personalities. From Rocket Rod's explosive energy to Terry the "pterodactyl's" ancient wisdom, these folks bring a dose of humor and heart to every early morning training session. But it's not all chuckles and kettlebells; we get real about the challenges of training as a master athlete, acknowledging the need to adapt and overcome obstacles like injuries and the natural ebb of time. Expect laughter, a few life lessons, and maybe even the secret behind that infamous deadlift session recording where we tackled a rather... delicate situation.
Finally, we zone in on the powerhouse of the body: the posterior chain. I'll walk you through the importance of these often-overlooked muscles, not just for elite athletes but for everyone aiming to counteract the slouch of the digital age. From my mother's triumphant recovery after shoulder surgery to an open discussion about women's health and strength training (yes, we're talking about that too), this episode is a clarion call for the empowerment that comes from growing stronger. So, lace up your gym shoes and turn up the volume – this is an episode that celebrates the strength within us all, no matter the number of candles on the cake.
Welcome to Uplift you, creating strong bodies and mind. Get ready to power up your day with practical strength training tools, inspiring stories and build resilience of body and mind. It's time to Uplift you, together with your host, leanne Knox. Hey there, welcome back to the Uplift you Strong Body, strong Mind podcast, episode number five. You Strong Body, strong Mind podcast, episode number five this series, I am talking about coaching different populations. My first episode on this, which was episode four, I talked about in general how those populations link together.
Speaker 1:
Today, I'm going to discuss something that's really dear to my heart, and that is coaching people who are termed masters in more than one sense and in general in the sporting world, in the barbell world, this is people aged 35 years and over. Yep, that's right, if you're 35, you're now a master. You better believe it, and, in fact, when you listen to the different types of research, the scientific research about things that relate to aging, they often talk about that ageing process starting at the age of 30. I'm here today to give you a little bit of a different take on what happens after the age of 30. Yes, yes, our bodies do start to deteriorate. I'm here to tell you, however, that there are ways to increase the way we perform, the way we think, and all of this is based around strength strength of body and strength of mind and following that process with a little bit of fun. So there's plenty of research out there that you can find that will give you the benefits of strength training for your body and your brain increased bone and muscle mass, protection of your heart, protection against many major diseases, insulin regulation, brain and hormone health, increased serotonin and dopamine. I'm not here to give you all of the scientific research on that. That will be later in my podcast, with some really great guests coming on who can discuss all of the science-based evidence with you.
Speaker 1:
I'm here today to basically talk about one of my favorite strength coaches quotes, and here it is A strong person is harder to kill and more useful in general. That's right. I'm here to discuss the stories behind coaching and being an older person. So let me go back to the start of where my eyes were opened about what older inverted commas people are capable of. It was 2015 and my first world championships. My eyes were opened when I sat there and watched 75-year-old people still snatching and clean and jerking what the average person on the street is not capable of without training.
Speaker 1:
At this World Championships, I met one of the most amazing and inspiring lifters in my 12 years of lifting in the barbell world and his name was Stefan Jacobsen, from Sweden. Now Stefan at that time was around the age of 73. And I got to watch him lift, still clean and jerking one and a half times his body weight at the age of 73. And I had the privilege of talking to Stefan and learning a little bit about his background. He told me that he competed for Sweden in the Olympic Games back in the 70s when I was a baby, and he told me the most amazing story of how he didn't have a coach. He taught himself and made it to the Olympic Games. And here he was 50 years later, still in the sport, still lifting amazing weights with the biggest smile and laugh that I'd heard for a very long time. These are the stories that are so inspiring. These are the people that allow you to see the value of training as you get older. Whether that be strength or whether that be in any other physical endeavor, it helps strengthen your body and your mind. I love coaching older people. I'd like to discuss and relay my fantastic group of people that I have at Whitsunday Weightlifting who have been training with me for over six years now.
Speaker 1:
My current powerlifting coach, damien Horne, likes to call them Dad's Army, and if you've seen that show you'll have a little chuckle along with me, because Damien named them that when they went in their first competition where Damien had the pleasure of meeting these beautiful people, their first powerlifting competition. And in a powerlifting competition things run like clockwork. You have a lot of lifts to get through. Every person lifts nine lifts each, so if there's 20 people in the competition, that's 180 lifts that you need to get through in the course of three to four hours. So each lifter needs to be ready to go when their name is called. So here we go. We have my little group of masters powerlifters, and Damien is wondering, as they're meant to be warming up, where they are, and he looks over and he sees one of them running around looking for their glasses, when in fact the glasses were on top of their head. The other one was looking for their cup of tea and Damien just wanted to get the show on the road, the saying goes. So he very kindly nicknamed them Dad's Army and that name has stuck.
Speaker 1:
So let me go behind the scenes on what it's like to coach a fantastic group of people aged between the ages of 40 and 76. As I said, for the last six years this faithful group of people have been turning up three mornings a week to do strength and powerlifting training and in that process we have developed a few nicknames, affectionate nicknames. So let me introduce you to this dad's army. We have Rocket Rod, we have Rondi Rue, we have Terry, which is short for pterodactyl, aka my mother, who is the oldest and the wisest in the group. We have Brucie Jolly and Rickstar Ricky. So that's the group of people that are faithfully there every Tuesday, wednesday and Friday morning cheering each other on and sharing their wins and, I'd have to say, sometimes arguing like siblings. I've heard a few stop that Rodney's. And oh, you're too strong. Or please, please stop, that's just, that's just too heavy, and the list goes on and on.
Speaker 1:
Now, for your listening pleasure, I actually recorded two of these episodes this morning, this very morning, at training, and the first one that you will no doubt enjoy listening to is the deadlift session. So in the deadlift session, every Tuesday morning, we get to watch and do deadlifts. So every Tuesday morning we have this merry band of powerlifters walking up to the bar, challenging themselves to get that bar up and some very unorthodox yet amusing ways to encourage one another very unorthodox yet amusing ways to encourage one another. And here is the real story, the real stories that happen behind strength training as you get older and even in the younger population. The first clip will be the terry, or pterodactyl, of the group doing some heavy deadlifts, because there's a competition in three weeks and what you hear occurring is a very common occurrence and one that is well worth discussing. So I'll let you listen to that one and I'm sure you'll hear what I'm talking about. Go on, terry. No, granny, go. Come on, granny, let's go Get it up, get it up. Get it up, ah, let's go, I'm going to pee. Oh, that's okay, just pee. Strong people pee.
Speaker 1:
Now the second clip which is about to play is a common strategy for powerlifters to use to get hyped up when they've got something heavy to lift. And this is Rondi Roo being encouraged by Rocket Rod. Have a listen, need a slap to do this, rodney. You want a hard one or a soft one? Ah, soft one, come on, get ready. Hard one, ready? No, just slap. Come on Rhonda. Better pick it up there. So I trust you enjoyed that strategy of slapping. And, yes, slapping is scientifically backed to improve performance Number one if you slap the area that you're about to use. So if you slap your legs and you'll see this in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting competitions if you see people slapping their quads, it's because they're increasing that blood flow to their quads.
Speaker 1:
In the clip that you just listened to, it was Rocket Rod giving Rhonda a nice big slap on the back, and I can hear you thinking what in the world would that do? Besides make someone angry? And there's a point in that, because when you get a hard slap on the back, it's an instant shock, it's a wake up, it's a let's go and get focused. And not all powerlifters use it, but a lot do, and especially in the deadlift. So the other big reason it works is because deadlifts require a lot of upper back strength. When you get a slap on the back, your body, your muscles, instantly react by connecting with your brain to tell you to engage that upper back and engage those lats for deadlift. So if you're a deadlifter and you want to give it a go, just make sure you brace, because if someone comes up and slaps you on the back when you're not ready, it can sometimes end in tears.
Speaker 1:
So what are my biggest takeaways for training people who are over the age of 30 and 35? Because after 12 years of not only coaching people in this age group, but also being a lifter in this age group Remembering that I started barbell training when I was 40 years old I have seen trends in not only my lifters and myself, but in the whole general population of masters lifters, and if you speak to the physios and the medical world, they call it degeneration. So I remember one time in around 2015, after about four years of lifting, I started to get some pain in my glute and the pain used to spread down my leg. So, after a few months of trying everything I tried rolling, I tried putting the ball in, I tried strengthening my core, I tried stretching I finally went and got an MRI and the diagnosis was a bulging disc in my L5 and S1, which is extremely common, and in fact, bulging discs, although they may sound scary to you, are present in nearly over 70% of the population over the age of 50. So, rather than look at that as doomsday, that's the end of my movement career, I reached out and looked to some of the best experts in the world in how to help with bulging discs, and this was a four-year process, mind you, a four-year process of trial and error, listening to the experts trying so many different ways to rehab that L5-S1 area, which consequently has the most amount of movement in the spine and therefore is the most susceptible to bulging. In that time I came across a most fantastic world-leading expert of the back whose name was Stuart McGill. And if you follow Stuart McGill you can see that it certainly is possible and very common to be able to rehab bulging discs, depending, of course, of the extent of the bulge.
Speaker 1:
So there is one area straight up that I know a lot of people over the age of 30 struggle with, whether it's in your lower back, whether it's in your neck, in the middle Disc degeneration is a real thing and often can be treated through strength, and I would like to even say 90% of the time is treated through strength, doing strength activities. So what did I do? Number one I waited for the inflammation to go down, because when something is severely inflamed, that is not the time to start getting into some heavy strengthening of that area, and this applies to anywhere in your body that you may be having niggles or you may have an injury, so waiting for the inflammation to settle down. Secondly, starting with some gentle movement, and in the case of a degenerative disc bulge or even a disc bulge, the best light movement that I found to be effective was walking, because walking increases the fluid around the disc, it provides a little bit of movement and blood flow into that general area, into the muscles. So walking was my go-to to begin with.
Speaker 1:
I then followed Stuart McGill's big three for the back, which you can look up and I'll put in the show notes, and this big combination of three exercises is a fantastic foundation for anyone, regardless of age and regardless of whether you have any bulging discs, because what it does is it keeps that area stable, and that's what we're looking for. We're looking for stability around the spine. So I followed the Stuart McGill Big Three protocol. I then went to one of my favorite strength coaches, who I've already mentioned in previous episodes, that being Louis Simmons, and I looked at what did Louis do when he blew his discs out, not once, but twice. He actually developed a machine called the reverse hyper. So we purchased a reverse hyper for Whitsunday, weightlifting and I, religiously, I started on that machine using using that machine, which is designed to provide a small amount of traction in the vertebrae and strengthen the lower back, the glutes and the hamstrings. I used that three times a week, starting light of course, and then progressing heavier. Light of course, and then progressing heavier. And for the last seven years I have continued that.
Speaker 1:
Because here is the thing with any type of degenerative injury that most masters are dealing with it's not a one-time fix is all. It's not okay. I have tendonitis in my shoulder. It's not okay. I have tendonitis in my shoulder. I have a bulging disc in my back which I've healed, and now that's okay. I've healed the tendonitis, I've healed the bulging disc and now I can go on with my life and go on with my training and ignore that area, because the key word there is degeneration, which means you are fighting against time. We're all fighting against time from the day we're born. So, instead of thinking of it as a one-time fix, think of it as a protocol you get to include in your everyday life for the rest of your life so that you can stay relatively injury-free, pain-free, and be able to continue what you love and talking about that subject of the cycle of inflammation, niggles injuries in people over the age of 30 or 35, and these days, I'm seeing in people even younger as well, because of modern lifestyles.
Speaker 1:
Let me discuss the areas which I believe, from my experience of coaching and lifting, require the most amount of effort in order to remain or be as pain-free as possible while you are getting stronger. What I want you to do for this is walk up to the mirror. Have a look in that mirror. What can you see? What parts of your body can you see? You can see the front of the shoulder. You can see your abs, which are the outer layer of your abs. You can see your quads, your quadriceps. Now, what I would like you to do in order to see which parts of your body which are integral to keeping you as pain-free as possible in your journey in strengthening life is get a smaller mirror, hold it up, turn around, look back in the big mirror. Now what can you see? You can see your back, the rear of your shoulder, your glutes and your hamstrings and your calves, and that is the key to joint ligament, tendon health and continued strength development with as little amount of pain as possible Because, let's be real, if you're going to do a repetitive strength program or any type of training which is repetitive day in and day out and I encourage you to do so there is a thing called overuse, injuries and the back of your body.
Speaker 1:
So the muscles that you can't see are the ones that keep your body healthy. Keep your body healthy. Most of the time when people come to me with niggles and this is sore and that is sore and I'm having knee issues, I'm having shoulder issues, I'm having back issues, the key to helping those people is developing the posterior chain. So everything that's on the back of you, the muscles that you can't see when you think about it. What are the activities that we regularly engage in every single day of our lives? I'm doing it right now. I'm sitting down, I'm facing forward. I'm on a computer, which means my arms are forward. I'm driving a car my arms are forward again, I'm facing forward. I'm on a computer, which means my arms are forward. I'm driving a car my arms are forward again. I'm texting, looking at my phone, my arm is forward again. So our movement is predominantly forward.
Speaker 1:
Because our movements are predominantly forward, our the front of our body is predominant in those movements. Therefore, our quads, the front of our shoulder, our pec muscles create the majority of our everyday movements and they are overused. And what happens in that process is the opposing muscles are not strong enough to counteract the overuse of the front of our bodies, and that's basically what it comes down to. So if you can think every day, what can I do today to strengthen the rear of my body? What can I do today to strengthen my hamstrings, my glutes, the rear of my shoulder, so that I can pull my shoulders back and keep that nice straight, neutral posture? And when it comes to the lower back, for example, a lot of people are in anterior. So forward hip tilt or pelvic tilt, all right, that puts a lot of strain on your lower back.
Speaker 1:
So how do we reverse that? We employ the muscles that are on the back of our body, being our glutes and also our anterior sorry, our core muscles, the very deep core muscles and the oblique core muscles which are on the sides of our body. So if we focus on those areas, we can correct that posture which we tend to be in every single day as we're standing and as we're sitting, and a lot of this has got to do with becoming aware. Becoming aware of the way that you're moving, the way that you're sitting, the way that you're driving. Where are you looking when you text? Are you constantly looking down? That's going to lead to a tight neck and tight traps. So little things like lifting your phone up in front of your face so you can keep your chin back. If you can keep your ears over your shoulders, your shoulders over your hips and your hips over your knees and the middle of your foot, you're keeping your body in a more natural neutral position.
Speaker 1:
So my biggest takeaway today if you are experiencing niggles, pains, injuries, you have bicep tendonitis, you have infraspinatus, supraspinatus, tendon issues, which is a lot of I would say 90%, of the people that come to me that I coach, including myself when I was heavily into Olympic weightlifting. It's all about pulling those shoulders back, getting the rear delts, the lower traps, the rotator cuff, getting all of those groups of muscles stronger to counteract our forward posture daily lives. So, going back to my little dad's army, let me give you a little bit of a background there. My mum, terry, has just had a shoulder replacement because, after years of using her shoulders in many different sports water skiing her shoulders in many different sports water skiing, tennis, everyday life she tore one of her tendons and she had arthritis in her shoulder. So rather than try to fix the tendon through surgery, which would have had a very small chance of working, my brave mother, at the age of 75, went and had a whole shoulder replacement. So that has been a journey for my mum. It's been a journey of 12 months of dedicated rehab work, strengthening the rear of her shoulder, strengthening her shoulders, her shoulder in general, to the point where now she is.
Speaker 1:
This morning she lifted 87.5 kilos on the deadlift, as you heard in that clip. Look, she may have weighed herself a little bit but that's completely natural and normal with those heavy belts and that's another conversation for another day which is empowering women to understand that it's okay for this to happen. There's ways that you can help that, but it's a natural process. Can I of strength training? And can I tell you, a few years ago I was spotting at national titles and it was senior titles, which means the majority of the people in those titles were in their twenties. And there were quite a few times where I had, where I walked out on the platform and had to clean the platform up after 20-year-old girls were out there doing heavy, clean and jerks. You can't escape gravity. Also, I went to the Arnold's a few years ago and there was an awesome powerlifter there, very, very strong powerlifter, by the name of Steffi Cohen, who was more than triple bodyweight deadlifting in sumo, and can I tell you, the pee on that platform was more than a few drops. Yet she kept going and there was no shame in that process. And when we talk about this openly on places like this podcast, it empowers women to continue in their strength development and know that peeing on the platform or peeing during heavy lifts, especially with those not really thick belts on that, are pushing on your bladder. You are pushing down on the floor really hard. So let's just let's think about it. Everything's moving down. Then these things happen and that's okay. So let's have. Also go back to our dad's army.
Speaker 1:
Now, brucey, he is about to have a little bit of a knee reconstruction and rather than say, okay, I'm in my 60s, I'm getting a knee reconstruction, I'm just going to stay home and rest. That's not Brucey's approach. Brucey's approach is I'll come to the gym and I'll do what I can. So what can Bruce do? He can work on his core, he can work on his upper body and in doing so he remains in the community with his friends, being inspired by other people who can lift him up while he continues in his strength journey and as the inflammation goes down, we can start Bruce on some rehab for his knee so that we can get Bruce squatting again. We also have Rod, who is a very good golfer as well and in fact the reason he started strength training was because he wanted the strength training to help him with his golf. And Rod's had a few niggles, here and there he's had the sore shoulder. He's had a sore back a few times. However, rod has not missed many sessions at all. Through those niggles he turns up to training, he does the necessary work, the rehab that will allow him to continue training, and in doing so Rod has broken national and world records in the deadlift and in the total, despite having the niggles.
Speaker 1:
So what I'd like you to do is think about that next time you get a niggle or something sore or you've even torn something. A year and a half ago I tore my bicep insertion tendon. I didn't stop training, I kept training, I did what I could, I rehabbed it and today I'm just as strong as I was a year and a half ago. So, if you find yourself in this situation, as a master, find the people that can help you navigate how to continue to train and strengthen the area that is currently inflamed or sore or torn, because I can guarantee you there is a way through that injury. That's not the end. That's not the time to say, okay, I'm done, I'm just going to rest now or I'm going to do something completely different that does not require that part of my body. No, go and find the people that can help you, and my first point of call will always be a physio, find a great physio.
Speaker 1:
And I'd like to give a shout out here to one of the best physios I've worked with. Her name is Jess Serwistenko, and the reason she is one of the greatest physios I've worked with, and I refer most of my people to, is because she is a fantastic national record holder in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting and, most importantly, she's had her fair share of injuries, even as a physio, and has rehabbed herself through those and come back even stronger. I'll put Jess's notes in my show notes so you can go and look up, jess. So, in summary, today we've had a bit of a laugh about coaching people over the age of 30.
Speaker 1:
I've relayed to you some of my experiences of training as a lifter from the age of 40 and on. I've told you about my beloved dad's army and some of the things that they've encountered and overcome and are still overcoming today, each and every day, and I've highlighted the importance of looking in the mirror behind you, thinking about those posterior muscles, that posterior chain which is so important in your overall health, that posterior chain which is so important in your overall health. And what I'd like you to think about as you go on your day today is what can I implement into my everyday life in order to counteract our modern lifestyle? What can I do? What can I do each morning to help me with this? If you'd like to know more about that, then let me know in the show notes and I can give you specific exercises that will help your overall strength, health and wellness and lift you up in both body and mind. Until next time, stay strong.
