Episode 193: 5 Exercises Not To Do Over 50?

In this episode, Dr. Jeff Armstrong and Corbin Bruton delve into the myths surrounding exercises for individuals over 50. They discuss the video titled 'Five Exercises Not to Do Over 50' and break down each exercise, providing insight based on exercise science principles. They cover kettlebell swings, Olympic weightlifting, box jumps, barbell squats, and tosses, passes, or throws, emphasizing the importance of individuality, safe progression, and maintaining functionality as we age. Tune in to learn why age should not be a limiting factor in your fitness journey.

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Aging Well Podcast. I'm Dr. Jeff Armstrong, an exercise physiologist and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with my co host, Corbin Bruton. Our goal on the Aging Well Podcast is to inform and to educate. In this episode, we address the question of what exercises someone over the age of 50 should not be doing to age well.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 0:26

Hey, I came across a YouTube video titled five exercises not to do over 50. I want to discuss these on this episode of the aging well podcast. What do you think?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 0:39

I think you're gonna have fun with this one because I think that everyone should be doing exercises no matter what their ages are, but really think you're gonna have a good time with this down this YouTube video.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 0:52

Yeah, before we get into the video i'm not going to share the exact video source because I think it's just going to end up drawing people to it and you start getting more clicks to something that is maybe presenting information. It's not necessarily the best information, but certainly they'll be able to find it if they really want to But, first, before we start talking about what exercise is not to do over 50, I want to share, I don't know that there's any exercises not to do. You know, when we talk about exercise, and you learned this through the exercise science program, We follow the basic principles of exercise. The principle of specificity, you know, the body makes specific adaptations to impose demand. There has to be progressive overload, that we have to do more on a regular basis than the body is accustomed to doing. We have the principle of individuality, which I think gets ignored a lot. And I think that's the main, Principle that we're really talking about here is suddenly hit 50 and things change and that everybody over 50 should not be doing specific exercises, I think, is completely ridiculous because everybody's different. as a 50 year old, you may be more biologically a 60 year old, or you might be more of 40 year old. You know, it's everybody's different. Everybody has different needs, different capabilities. And the idea of restricting anybody from doing any specific exercise is just absurd. To me, did I miss any other principles? We have the principle of reversibility, you know, use it or lose it. so What are your thoughts on this idea of not doing specific exercises over? this particular age, whether it's 50, 60, 70, whatever.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 2:38

for me, honestly, I think you should be doing exercises. I really can't think of any exercises myself. Unless you're limited to performing an activity, due to an injury or, surgery of some kind, which limits your mobility to perform an exercise in its entirety. But other than that, I really can't think of any exercises that you should not be doing.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 3:06

And if you're limited in this moment, whether it's from a surgery or you've never worked out in your life and you're now 50 years old and want to start working out, there might be something you should not be doing right now. We started a baseline and we can progress. Theoretically toward almost anything. I mean, earlier, I think it was last year we had, one of my former students and one of her clients and her client was a, older individual. She's about my age. I don't want to real, real too much about her because she's actually somebody, a friend of mine, somebody I knew, and I actually referred her to the trainer, but she was wanting to get in shape. because she had decided she wanted to donate a kidney and, you know, very admirable thing to do. It wasn't a family member. It wasn't anything. She just felt like I got two kidneys. I've always felt I wanted to donate one to somebody in need and now's the time to do it, but I want to get my body in shape so I can get through the surgery fine So she started lifting probably around the age of 59, 60 years of age, and once the surgery was over and she'd recovered, she continued lifting. She's now working toward being a, a senior power lifter. I mean, she's in the dead lifting and doing all these other exercises. She gets stoked doing Yates rows and different things like that. And, you know, this is somebody that's never lifted before. You'd look at her, she does not look like somebody who is necessarily athletic. She's jumping into these exercises that some might say, no, no, you're too old to be doing those. And so let's kind of dive into these one by one and talk about them. The first one the person on the video talks about is kettlebell swings. What do you think?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 5:04

I think kettlebell swings are fine. it's a great exercise. It's really not that challenging. it's only as challenging as you make it I think everyone should be doing it from athletes who are training in their younger years in sports up into even their seventies or eighties. I think kettlebells are a great specifically kettlebell swings. Those are, a great movement in my opinion.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 5:29

Yeah, it's a great explosive hip hinge and hip hinge is important. If you are going to have a healthy gate as you age, being able to engage the gluteal muscles explosively to be able to move is going to be one of the critical factors being able to move quickly as you age. I'm not a huge fan of kettlebell swings from the standpoint of The progressive overload piece, you know, it takes a lot of kettlebells. Kettlebells could be very expensive, and as you progress with those, you gotta buy more kettlebells. But if you have access to kettlebells, it's a great activity. I'm more of a Bulgarian bag person, It's the same basic swing that I do as one of my, core five fifty, which is, you do hip hinge with the bag, and then you do side tosses and spins in each direction. So it's five different exercises. You do 10 repetitions each set. So it's 50 reps, and that's where I get the five 50. a swing like that, whether it's with a kettlebell, with a Bulgarian bag. You know, and there's other implements that you can use to get that same hip hinge motion, is a beautiful exercise for anybody at any age to be doing. if you are over 50 and in really poor, weak shape, yeah, you might need to be developing that hip hinge a little bit more first before you dive into the swing. But. As time goes on, progression should lead toward being able to do that, and you could be 100 years old. You should be able to do a kettlebell swing. I mean, so

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 7:06

Totally.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 7:08

I was blown away by this video. where are you coming up with this stuff? Did you just randomly select exercises? it's not the age that is the determining factor. It's the capability of being able to do the exercise any exercise. is not inherently unsafe. It's unsafe when we do it poorly and doing it poorly is bad technique and overloading and by overloading meaning that we are doing too much load than we can maintain adequate form. If you can do in good form, do it. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 7:44

No, that's okay. And another thing is if they're saying, you can't do it because you're 50, you're limiting yourself and putting yourself in that box. you're already going in with a hindrance mindset it shouldn't be that way. You should be able to. Realize your potential if you're not able to do it a hundred percent with good form That's okay train for it work up to it. It's like riding a bike, right? You start off with training wheels. Eventually you take those wheels off. that that's my opinion

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 8:17

I'm still riding with training wheels. No, I think you're right. and it's this whole notion that we hit certain age milestones and we can't do things anymore is just. absurd. The next one is any form of Olympic weightlifting.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 9:05

this one I can kind of see but again, it comes down to the actual Age It's do they have the range of motion, right? So if they're doing an Olympic cling where they're straight armed and lift it up above their head and try to squat, okay, well that comes down to, do you have the shoulder mobility flexibility? Do you have the hips, flexibility to have your arms up over your head as you're squatting? I can understand this one because You could potentially injure yourself. But again, if you have good form, good technique, if you've done this your entire twenties, thirties and forties, then doing it in your fifties, shouldn't be something that you stop doing. Oh, I'm 50 now. I shouldn't be doing a power clean. I shouldn't be doing an Olympic lift. I shouldn't be doing a deadlift or a squat. No, you should be doing those Olympic weightlifting movements. maybe not as heavy as an Olympic level. You're not going for gold, but you're trying to be a champion with your own body and your own health. if you have the flexibility movement and experience. don't let 50 hinder you from doing these exercises. if you're a novice and you've never done that, start with the basics first and foremost before you yourself to an Olympian level.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 10:26

well, the whole idea of Olympic lifting, is there's a progression to learning the technique. most people learning Olympic lifts will first start with a PVC pipe. if you're over 50 and you can't move a PVC pipe, then you got bigger health and musculoskeletal issues than, Yeah, you think and need to do something about it. We had Kimmer here on I forget which episode it was. she was the woman who had MS and went from having MS to becoming a master's Olympic weightlifter. I'm pretty sure she's over 50. But it's not stopping her and she started later in life. age is not the limiting factor here. As you mentioned, it's, it's much more the capability of being able to do the lift or not be able to do the lift. And learn the technique, master the technique, and then begin to build off of that? If you can do that, then there's no reason why you can't do Olympic lifting at any age. I personally will not. Lift anything overhead because I have mobility issues in my shoulder. I have a type three acromion, which limits the amount of overhead work I can do. I can't get into the right position to do an overhead squat. I just have little interest in Olympic weightlifting. I'll occasionally do some hang cleans or something like that. it's not because I'm over 60 and I shouldn't be doing them. I have less interest. It's not feeding into my particular goals at the moment and I do other things that kind of accomplish some of those same goals. I would never tell somebody, no, you can't do something like this because you're over 50. The next one is box jumps. What are your thoughts on that?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 12:13

I'm a huge advocate for box jumps. I did a lot of box jumps in my, Classes back when I was doing personal training the individuals that were over 50, I would have them do box jumps. it may not have been that high. it started off low and they progressed upwards. But I think with box jumps, it teaches us something that we had naturally as a younger kid to be lighter on our feet to not have so much impact. it gets us back into The original body mechanics of the movements of when we were younger, as you jump, you're not just going to jump and land hard. You're going to jump and land soft and absorb into it, it also teaches you how to jump and get back down to the ground, which in return is going to kind of help individuals not fall, you know, and that's, that's a huge concern, scientifically, for individuals as they age, increasingly a higher risk for individuals, but box jumps or things where people can adapt land soft and be aware of their surroundings. I really think it pays off in the long run and I don't see why we Wouldn't be doing box jumps.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 13:31

back to the progression piece. you start at what you're capable of doing. It may not even be jumping onto a box initially. it might just be jumping into the air to get a little bit of a vertical and then eventually you're jumping to where it might be a two inch box, a four inch box, six inch, and then you start progressing upwards. Do I expect somebody over the age of 50, particularly over the age of 60 or 70 to be jumping up a 42 inch box? No, but certainly they can progress as far as their bodies are capable of doing. And it kind of goes back to, you know, and we talked about this when you were in my exercise science classes that, we have the health related and the motor skill related, components of physical fitness. And we have, as exercise physiologists, tended to focus on the health related when it comes to the aging population. cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscle strength. Body composition and flexibility. Those are supposedly the important ones for our health. we think that these motor skill or I prefer to say neuromotor skill related components are more for athletes. And once you're done being an athlete, you don't have to focus on those as much. And that was speed, power, balance, coordination, agility, and reaction time. So power, Speed are all critical for us to be able to be maintaining healthy movement patterns as we age. And like you said, it's going to help to prevent that risk of falling as we get older. If we have a little bit more explosiveness and power in our bodies box jumps do that. there are people who get really stupid with box jumps, but Those are usually people in their 20s and 30s trying to jump too high, or they stack boxes up that are unstable, or put weights on top of the boxes, and so you're landing on something that's a little less stable, and there's a much greater risk of injury. But in appropriately built box of the appropriate height, and you're doing it within your capabilities. I see no reason why somebody over the age of 50 can't do box jumps.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 15:34

I mean, you nailed it.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 15:35

All right, let's move on to number four, which is barbell squats. This one surprised me to be on that list. If you're going to limit somebody from doing an exercise such as barbell squat and their rationale was that it was the compressive load put on the vertebra, which creates the issue. Yes, if you are over the age of 50 and you have early signs of osteopenia or osteoporosis probably doing back. Barbell squat is not the best thing to be doing, but if you do a back squat or barbell squat properly and proper form, properly loaded, proper range of motion, age is not a limiting factor. Agree or disagree.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 16:24

100 percent agree. it shouldn't be a limiting factor.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 16:29

there are variations that maybe I wouldn't do. And if it does present problems for you doing a. where it's loaded up on the spine. First thing I would look at is how are you doing the back squat? You know, if a lot of people will try to do a high Bar squat rather than a low bar squat, and it just doesn't fit with their body mechanics for me into a high back squat because and for anybody, listening, the viewers, you know, maybe throw an image out there or something, but it's where the bar sits high on your back rather than a bit lower It requires a more vertical body positioning and if you have mobility issues or your bone structure as such, it may not be the best form to be doing a squat in. I can't do high bar squats. I need to go low bar so that I can get a little bit more forward lean and get deeper into my squat. That's just my body. Those are my mechanics. if I can't, for whatever reason, support a bar on my back, say, I lack the external rotation to hold the bar properly, or I have some shoulder issues, we have other variations that we've talked about repeatedly on this podcast, the Zurcher squat being one of my favorites when it comes to a nice safe position to be doing a weighted barbell squat. Front squats, I'm a little less inclined to do those. And as you get older, maybe you have arthritis issues, it might be a little bit harder to hold the bar in that position. There's goblet squats. dumbbell squats. There are countless variations we can do of the barbell squat that are totally suitable for the older population. What do you think?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 18:13

I think squats should be a part of everyone's workout routine. It's one of the main staples. And if it's not a main staple, it should be, in, every single person's. Workout routine, no matter if they're, you know, an elementary school, just using body weight, messing around, or they're 60, 67 years old in their home gym, It doesn't matter. You should have squats as a part of your routine. the overall benefits of squats as far as strength, getting your heart rate up, working your back, your core, your legs, your glutes, like everything. spikes your metabolism, it helps with your hormones, like squats are one of the best exercises, period.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 19:04

I'd say the best exercise. is the Zurcher in my opinion, but, if you can only do one exercise, To boost your metabolism, to build some overall functional strength, that's going to help you improve your lifestyle. The squat is the exercise to do. Now, if the argument here is barbells maybe some other variations might be better for you in your situation, but that has nothing to do with age. That's an individual limitation that prohibits you from putting a barbell on your back and doing the squat. But you can in almost. Any case be able to progress to be able to do a barbell squat all right, should we move on to number five?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 19:46

hmm.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 19:47

This one blows my mind anything called a toss pass or throw So if you're over 50 Don't go out with your grandkids and throw the ball around because that's just going to harm your body horribly

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 20:00

A lot of people, want to play a pickup game of basketball at the YMCA. And now you're limiting them. You're saying they can't, some people have, softball teams their work that they go on. And now you, you're saying you can't participate in that. Now, if you're saying that, well, what I'm really talking about a medicine ball toss or ball slam why can you not do that? what's the logic behind this? even with a medicine ball toss, you have it right at your chest, you throw it up in the air, you're watching it and you're trying to catch it and you're absorbing it in. That's a great workout. As far as the slam, you've taken a slam ball, picking it up over your head and slamming it down into the ground. That's a normal movement for like chopping wood or hammering, taking a sledgehammer and slamming down something. why are we limiting ourselves to not do those movements? why are we hindered? Why are we going in with this hindrance mentality? I don't get it.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 21:07

the video I think was much more focused on using medicine balls and those type of implements, but like you said, those all translate into very functional activities for somebody to be doing, and to say that you can't do those over the age of 50 is just absurd to me. I think, we want to be able to maintain our capacity to be able to toss and pass and throw. As we. And so why not do these particular activities? That's again why I like the Bulgarian bag because it's getting many of those same movement patterns. You're not necessarily throwing from the standpoint of it leaving your hands, but you're doing the same basic movement patterns. And, tossing, throwing. Passing a ball, medicine ball, whatever it might be, is multidirectional, it's explosive, it is functional. There is, to me, absolutely no reason not to do toss, pass, or throw. this video, when I saw it, I was like, we gotta address this on the podcast because People are going to watch this and say, I'm over 50. I shouldn't be doing this. And I want to start lifting. But, I can't do this. I can't do that. It's like, do the exercises you're capable of doing. If you can't do it at the moment, and you want to be able to do it, don't let age be the factor. Progress toward being able to do the thing. should we jump into CHAT GPT now?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 22:37

Sure.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 22:38

All right, well, CHAT GPT, I'll quote them here. They say, As we age, it becomes important to choose exercises that minimize the risk of injury while maximizing health benefits. Here are five exercises that are generally not recommended for people over the age of 50, especially if they have joint issues, osteoporosis, or other health concerns. Now, to address that statement if you have joint issues, osteoporosis or other health concerns. That should be the limiting factor. And again, it's not age, why they're not recommended for people over 50, like 50 is a magical age of decrepitude and decline. You know, most of us at 50 are not even entering into third age, let alone fourth age. our goal should be to be. Much more capable at 50 than maybe generations before. And I might be a little bit more inclined for some of these lists to say, okay, yeah, over the age of 75, 80, 90. these might be exercises that are not recommended, but again, am I going to restrict somebody or not suggest that maybe you could continue to try and build towards these? So what's number one on. chat GPT's list.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 24:04

number one on chat GPT's list is high impact aerobics.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 24:09

Yeah, it says to avoid these exercises like jumping jacks, running on hard surfaces, high impact movements that can be harsh, On aging joints, particularly knees, hips, lower back. So no more tennis, no more pickleball. Cause don't you run a little bit in pickleball and that's supposed to be one of the exercises we should be doing as we get older. no jogging, no running, jumping jacks. Come on, no aerobic dance classes. any of that, skip it all. They say as an alternative op for low impact activities like brisk walking, swimming, or cycling. which provide cardiovascular benefits without straining the joints.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 24:47

coming up with these recommendations?

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 24:49

this is AI.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 24:51

ChatGP pulling this

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 24:52

Well, they pull it from the internet and other sources. And so I think there's just enough of that old information out there that is a bit more ageist in terms of exercise. the older, early exercise physiology, when I first started, in the field, which would have been 40 some odd years ago. okay, yeah, they, they were a bit more restrictive in doing exercises and a bit more cautious about doing exercise. But over time, particularly those of us who were younger exercise physiologists being fed that in the mid 80s, as we aged realized, wait a minute, I can still Do a lot of this stuff. I still want to do a lot of this stuff. Why should I restrict myself as I get older? you see, so many 70, 80 year old, you know, women, you know, let alone men, I mean, because men, you know, You know, we can argue, well, they've had physical activity and jobs all their life. It's not that hard for them to do some of these things in their later years. But we expect women to get frail as they age. we see these 80 year old women doing CrossFit throwing a medicine ball around or running marathons. Those should not be the exception. They should really be the norm as we look at aging well.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 26:16

taught a senior boot camp, like it was called like Fit, it was a boot camp for that third age population, These women in their seventies pushed themselves harder, had better form, better technique, better endurance, better strength than some of the 19, 20 year olds that I was. They just had this go getter, tenacious mentality that was on that back and down and loved to sweat and work out. when I say they were stronger, they had more endurance, they could go farther, they could last a lot longer and they're like night and day difference. And so, to have the mentality of, oh, you're 50 now, you're frail, that is, that's not, that's not true. Stop thinking that you can't do something just because you're getting older, and start believing that you can. It is possible. You have the abilities. this human body is created to push itself beyond its limits. So take it to the limit and see where you can go.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 27:29

blow those ageist stereotypes out the door.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 27:32

That's why I want to know who, where is it pulling this information? Is it like the FDA? Is the CDC is the World Health Organization? who is putting this limiting factor where it's like, Hey, you can't do that. Why? can't we do this?

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 27:47

that's why we need the Aging Well podcast, so that we can take this information that somebody might be getting from ChatGPT and address it and, put it in the right perspective. And number two is heavy weight lifting. Progressive overload. It's all about lifting heavy. Now, they say why to avoid is that lifting very heavy weights can put undue stress on the spine and joints, increasing the risk of injury, particularly for those with osteoporosis and weakened bones. Now, what chat GP doesn't understand that lifting heavy weights heavy as we look at intensity is relative. what is heavy for me might not be what's heavy for you and vice versa. Nobody's going to tell me not to lift heavier weights if I can get stronger if I can bump my zurcher squad up You know my goal. I want to hit 500 and That that's a goal Maybe not 500, but I certainly want to hit 400 and I think that's going to be my goal To be able to zurcher for reps about 400 pounds by the time I turn 62. That's about seven months away

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 28:54

I've never been able to squat 400 and that was my goal. going into my thirties, I was like, I just want to hit this and I was just stagnant at 3 98 and I just could not. I was like, Oh, I just, I don't know.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:11

That sounds like a mental block hitting it 398.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 29:15

3 98. Yeah,

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:16

How do you even load 398 onto the barbell?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 29:18

no, they just have The little one and a half pound weights. So that's where it gave you the three?

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:25

if it gets to an eight, I guess.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 29:26

yeah.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:27

suck it up and throw the two and a halves on each side and put it up there and just do it.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 29:31

I know every time I did it, I would, be like, okay, I got this, I got this. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling strong. I would go down good form, and then as I would come up, Ugh. Every time and it was just super annoying.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:45

I got news for you. You're not dead yet. And so until you are dead, you have the opportunity to progress to hit that 400 pounds. when you hit 40, because you've got 40 coming up as your next mile marker, right?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 29:56

I

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 29:57

When you hit 40, don't say, well, I'm 40 now, I can't lift heavy weights anymore. or maybe you can lift heavy until you're 50, and 50 you have to stop. when we talk heavy, I want to underscore to the listener and the viewer that heavy is relative. It's a heavy load for you. Heavy is being where you can only do maybe one to four repetitions. I would consider really heavy lifting, where it's a bit more strain on the body. does that put undue stress on the spine and joints? Probably for most of us over the age of 50 that are engaging in exercise. It's not going to put that much strain on the joints because we're not lifting that much. Now, if you are, a power lifter and you've been lifting and you're benching 600 pounds. that may get to a point where it starts putting some extra load on your joints because you've been lifting so heavy for so long you might want to rethink some of your training strategies because you don't need to get much stronger than that to age well, but you're not likely to see somebody that's been lifting all their life have osteoporosis and weakened bones. They're more likely to have stronger bones and be able to sustain those lifts. And where the risk of injury comes up is when we're stupid with what we're lifting. When we start ego lifting, that's what they should be saying avoid ego lifting over the age of 50. because over the age of 50, there is a much greater risk of injury with that than there is at 20. You're 20 and bench more than you are capable you might get hurt from that, but it's going to be a little bit easier to recover from that injury. It's harder when you're older. They say as an alternative, use lighter weights with higher repetitions to engage in resistance training. Or engage in resistance training with bands to build muscle strength without high risk of injury. lighter weight, higher repetitions isn't necessarily building strength as much as it's building muscle endurance. If you want to build strength, you got to get closer to that five range in the repetitions. we've talked about the five by five program. When you look at starting strength, they start people with minimal weight, and you just keep adding five pounds every session until you. Can't complete the five repetitions. If you're progressing in a slow, controlled fashion, the risk of injury, as long as you're maintaining good, healthy, proper technique, is not there. What do you think?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 32:25

No, I think you just said everything that I do think

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 32:28

All right, then we can move on to sit ups or crunches. It says, traditional sit ups or crunches can strain the neck and lower back and are areas that may already be vulnerable in older adults.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 32:44

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this one because I know you're a big fan of Sit ups and crunches.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 32:52

I don't like sit ups and crunches because they pretty much isolate the wrong muscles. they are all about six pack abs. primarily focused on the rectus abdominis. a lot of people when they're doing sit ups, they're going to be using a lot more of the hip flexors as opposed to the actual abdominal muscles. There are risks if you're doing them improperly, pulling on the neck. there could be risk of injury to the neck and maybe the lower back, but that's not the reason not to do sit ups and crunches. I prefer to do other core strengthening exercises. here I might somewhat agree with them, but again, it has nothing to do with age. I don't have my 15 year old wrestlers doing crunches. I have them doing Paloff presses, and Bulgarian bag. We do a bit more dynamic types of movements that can target the abdominal muscles. rather than doing crunches and sit ups. Not that there's not a place for crunches or cable. I like cable crunches for abs. and those are not going to put stress on the lower back or the neck. and they could be waited a little bit more effectively. But I think it's more the effectiveness of the exercise than the risk of injury and particularly labeling it based on age. Do you have any favorite exercises to target the core?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 34:22

yeah, I like a lot of twisting movement I get a good core workout when I do twist lunges I really activate my core that way. anytime you mentioned the Bulgarian bag, I do those movements where I'm bringing something up over my head, my core is so engaged. I guess I'm just blessed like that to have my core. even the medicine ball toss when you're throwing it up in the air and you're catching it. feel that all in my abs. I feel it in my rectus abdominis. I feel it out into my obliques. so I just, yeah, core. you're, if you're doing your exercises correctly with good form and good technique, your core is going to be active and engaged. as far as with chat, GBT is saying of sit ups and crunches, they're all You shouldn't really do them. I can see where they're coming from because of the strain on the neck and lower back. But as we age, we want to prevent injuries and stuff like that. And of the, one of the big risk factors that we have mentioned is when people fall down, are they able to get back up That crunchy movement can help sit you upright. do you want to completely eliminate it Do you want to prioritize it? No, I just feel like it's one of those, like figure out what your goals are. And if you want to add it, great. If you don't you don't have to, there's plenty of other core exercises.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 35:57

And I think there's a progression to consider when we look at the core as well. initially, we want to start with things that are more stabilizing. So a plank, something that is more anti flexion, anti extension as opposed to the flexion in a sit up or a crunch planks are really good for that. With certain Pilates exercises, a Palof press is much more anti rotational and those anti movements give us a bit more of an isometric contraction, to the core, which is what we want the core to be doing because it's stabilizing our posture. We don't need, unless maybe you're a diver or something like that, to have such an explosive crunching, flexing motion. Right. do those first, progress those towards maybe then doing crunches and more dynamic movements where you're doing rotational flexion, extension types of exercises to strengthen the core we move on to deep squats or lunges. you just mentioned you love doing lunges with a twist. They want us to avoid lunges and squats because deep squats and lunges can be difficult for those with knee problems or arthritis as they place a lot of pressure on the knees and can worsen joint pain.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 37:14

Yeah. I mean, they're not wrong. it comes down to progressive. movements, right? Go where your body is allowing you to go. then eventually Push past it, not to the point where you're like, Oh, I'm popping my knee out of place. just push and then pull back. I don't see anything wrong with this, especially if you're focusing on form and technique and you're going slow and controlled, you know, a lot of. A lot of the literature out there, they, they focus, it's not so much the actual movement, but it's, it's that slow and controlled decline that helps build muscle and strength. It's not necessarily the explosion, especially if you're doing like a single leg. squat or really deep squat. Nice and slow and control. And you don't need that much weight with that. and then explode up or slow movement going up again, focus on, am I feeling pain when I shoot up really fast? Well, maybe I need to keep my temple, a little bit slower and, and, and not have it be. Working from the joints, but actually working from the muscles themselves,

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 38:31

I think it's a matter of what you're capable of doing. It has nothing to do with age because you can be young and have knee and joint pain. you can be much older before you start to account. But you know, our bodies should be functional and being able to go into a deep squat position. I agree with their alternative. Try partial squats or use a chair for supported squats to maintain leg strength while reducing knee strain. the key is to progress to where we're able to do more. without that knee pain, without that knee strain. High intensity interval training with plyometrics. Which, there's a little bit of duplicity in that as well. I mean, high intensity interval training and plyometrics are really, in a sense, just two separate things. I think what they might be alluding to here, and again this is a computer so it's hard to tell what they're alluding to because computers really can't allude, they can just regurgitate how they have been trained. But they say, the reason to avoid these is while HIIT can be effective for cardiovascular health, incorporating plyometrics, jumping exercises, can be risky for older adults due to the high impact on the joints and the risk of falls. Now, yeah, if you're talking in your 80s, that risk is much greater, but 50.

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 39:55

And honestly, with plyometrics, there's different types Yes, there are the jumping style, but there's also where you're standing and you're moving side to side, like an inverted funnel, and there's also plyometrics that you can do in a plank position, like mountain climbers or ski abs those are all considered. plyometrics. if we go off the inverted funnel idea, well, what does that do? That makes you more agile. That makes you have far better balance and that's helping prevent falls. why would you not want to stay on top of that In your fifties as you progressively age.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 40:38

Yeah, you don't stop doing that stuff once you hit 50. starting it up might be a little bit more, you should be a little bit more cautious about doing that. But, you mentioned in the inverted funnel or the john for peer style of plyometrics where you're just moving multidirectionally trying to keep that core more centralized and the hips are moving multidirectional. The degree to which you are taking that movement upward, how high you're jumping is really a matter of progression. And if you're not capable of doing that, you can still be doing more modified versions of that, even dancing and things like that. is in a sense a bit of a plyometric type of movement as you're moving multidirectionally, so I would not limit an older person from doing those things unless physiologically, we're talking about 50 year olds, I wouldn't limit them from doing this just because they're 50. So what does CHAT GPT recommend as an alternative?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 41:39

the alternative is they're recommending that one considers moderate intensity interval training in IIT or low impact hit focusing on safe controlled movements to achieve similar benefits.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 41:54

Okay, I mean that's not, Changing the activity. It's just what it's suggesting is an appropriate intensity level given the person's capabilities and, you know, modern intensity interval training for somebody with joint issues and mobility issues and weak muscle. is probably not enough exercise for them. you want to do what is considered a bit more high intensity for them at their level of ability. we want to be pushing our limits just ever so slightly beyond what we are accustomed to. That's the overload principle, but doing it within a safe and controlled movement that is progressible and is not going to increase the risk of injury. Any other final thoughts on this whole topic?

corbin-bruton_3_09-14-2024_074249: 42:53

My final thoughts are, not let your age limit you. you can do anything that you put your mind to. the body may not want to do it right away, but the body will adapt. just gotta get the body out of its own comfort zone, and it will adapt, and it will grow. And you will grow, not just, not just physically, physically, and mentally. Emotionally as well and if you could just get over these little roadblocks of oh, I'm 50 now I can't really be doing that and start saying, I'm 50 now I can and should be doing that. will literally watch yourself grow and expand your mind and push your body to the limit that you never thought you could. And I would just encourage everyone to continue to do this because it helps them age well.

jeff_2_09-14-2024_074249: 43:55

your ability to be stupid as you get older diminishes. As we, get over 50, we have less capacity to do dumb things that we could do when we were in our 50s. But hopefully, as we approach 50 so on, we approach those ages with a little bit more experience and a little bit more intelligence, and we'll know our body's limitations, but not feel like we have to, because of a number, limit ourselves. We limit ourselves based on our own physical capabilities, and if we don't limit ourselves, then we'll be able to age well.

44:36

Thank you for listening. I hope you benefited from today's podcast. Until next time, keep aging well.