How an old man trains with barbells

My Dad is scheduled to turn 83 years young on August 14th and still spends time in his garage pushing and pulling the iron. He’s an old school guy whose lifting almost exclusively consists of barbell training. As a caregiver for my disabled sister, he applies the strength he maintains from lifting weights to everyday caregiver tasks like getting her in and out of the bathtub or sitting her on the toilet. It’s an acquired skill requiring balance and coordination but strength is also necessary.

As is common among children of aging parents, I often ask my Dad if he has any aches or pains or if he has any health conditions giving him trouble. He generally responds in the negative. One thing I’ve learned in these question and answer sessions is that aging parents, like the rest of us, generally like to give the impression that all is well even if it is not. They always seem to have the right answers to our probing and well-intended questions. They don’t want us to worry about little things like their health and well-being, so having a watchful eye and looking for little clues is a tricky way to get some assuring confirmation that all is reasonably well. My Dad does confess that he has pain on the bottom of his feet and some days this pain is a nuisance and source of discomfort when he walks.

One thing I’ve observed about my Dad is that he moves slowly but he always has been slow in his movement; I think that is how he is wired. I’ve also observed him bend over and squat down to pick something off the floor and bounce back up effortlessly. This has caught my attention and left me impressed more than once, and I regularly compliment him on his up and down agility. He attributes this to his leg strength from regular heavy squat barbell training when he was younger and the legwork he currently does on the hack squat exercise machine in his garage.

Like an old school barbell guy, he trains at least twice a week in his garage, sometimes three times, and performs 2 to 3 sets of between 6 and 12 reps of the bench press, upright row, bent over row, and military press. The weight he uses for these exercises is age-appropriate and safe for someone training alone. He completes a similar number of sets using the hack squat exercise machine and does some weighted neck work using a head harness. He’s never been a big cardio guy but lately he has been spending time walking on the treadmill in his garage.

A topic on my blogflections to write list is one that chronicles an actual training day of my Dad in his garage with some short video footage. It would be great to do that on his 83rd birthday and that will be my goal. If not his birthday due to conflicts with his schedule and mine, then as close to his birthday as possible.

I think it would be a great Pierini Fitness read, a blogflection of how an old man trains with barbells.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum