In recent years, participation in the sport of weightlifting, including both Olympic style and powerlifting has steadily increased in masters categories including both male and female lifters. This is particularly true for ages fifty and over. Both Olympic style and powerlifting now require masters athletes to post qualifying totals to avoid overcrowding at national meets. This competitive side of weightlifting requires specialized training in both strength and technique that helps athletes, across their lifespan, reach personal as well as competitive bests at local, national, and for some, international meets.
 
Many sport governing bodies have a varying definition of a masters athlete, usually around 35. For the purpose of the following article and training considerations, the populations being discussed are weightlifting and powerlifting athletes over the age of 50. This age range is important to consider since changes related to strength, power, and flexibility are noted in this target population. It is recommended that coaches working with masters athletes explore relevant research on developmental changes and guidelines associated with age-related differences between masters lifters and younger lifters. Thus, the purpose of this article is to provide coaches of masters weightlifting and powerlifting competitors with guidelines, considerations, and recommendations for successful training. In part one of this two-part series, we’ll discuss age-related changes to program design through the use of prehabilitation and equipment. This article incorporates both research findings and experiential knowledge to support safe and successful training by masters lifters at all levels.
 
Olympic lifting includes the snatch and clean and jerk are performed, while in powerlifting, the squat, bench, and deadlift are the most common lifts, though some organizations additionally offer a standing curl. In some competitions, formulas are used to allow for competitiveness between age and weight categories to decide outstanding lifters for sessions and meets. In all, the opportunities for masters athletes to compete in local, regional, and national meets creates a viable leisure activity for lifters of all ages. However, when training older athletes, coaches should consider potential constraints that differ for the lifters fifty and over.
 
Age-Related Changes
 
An important consideration in program design for any athlete is assuring that the program is safe. This becomes more important with age depending on skill, past injuries, disease, and the athlete’s experience level. Older experienced lifters tend to pay close attention to recovery time, as well as understand the potential risk-to-benefit ratio of forced reps and over-reaching programs. For the masters athlete, experienced or novice, there is a heightened need for awareness of training-related injury and how age mediates both safety and recovery rates, both of which can impact on successful training.
 
Before programming and providing training routines for masters athletes, some basic understanding of the physical constraints common in many lifters over 50 must be considered. These include basic changes in physical capabilities associated with fatigue, muscle and joint soreness, muscular strength/power, structural changes in the body, and flexibility throughout the lifespan. Many of these constraints stem from the effects of aging, such as back and neck problems, the rate of fatigue, and loss of muscle mass.
 
Prehabilitation
 
Beyond the training for performance is a need for masters athletes to prevent future injuries and manage the ones they have already acquired. An important aspect of training masters athletes is to ensure proper warm-up, recovery, taper, and deload. When utilizing a supercompensation model, the latter two considerations are met.
 
It is assumed that masters athletes usually have outside constraints to training, such as a job or family responsibilities that limit time available to train. There may be an urgency to get right into the main program, but without a proper warm-up, injury risk is increased, and training efficacy decreases. Prehabilitation is an important consideration for creating effective long-term success for masters lifters. Rather than go through specific physical therapy rehabilitation exercises after an athletic injury, athletes are now pre-rehabilitating frequent injury spots in hopes of avoiding injury. For the masters athlete, where the need for surgery may end a long career, preventing injury holds a high priority. Areas of importance for the masters athlete are the rotator cuff, knee, spine, and hip. There are also the age effects of lowered bone density and arthritis, however, weightbearing exercises have been shown to mitigate bone density loss, and specific sets and rep schemes have been shown to be effective and considerate of osteoarthritis.
 
Utilizing prehabilitation in part of a warm-up can save time and add value to those first 10 minutes. After warming up muscles with prehabilitation exercises (common movement specific physical therapy exercises), self-myofascial release is recommended to inhibit chronically shortened muscles and improve blood flow in masters weightlifters. Lower extremity foam roll usage is recommended for all athletes, as well as more pin-point lacrosse ball myofascial release for the upper extremities, especially where the latissimus dorsi meets with the upper trapezius.
 
Equipment
 
As the primary goal for masters athletes is to train and compete in a safe, yet purposeful, manner, equipment enables older weightlifters to push the threshold of their training without added risk. As will be discussed later, using bands and chains to keep loads high but at the stronger points in the lift is recommended.
 
 A common pre-competition use of bands for squats or deadlifts is in a reverse manner, where the band is placed at the top of the cage to reduce the load at the bottom of the lift and build confidence with finishing the lift. While the research is mixed as to the impact of band and chain usage on performance in competitive lifting, it does lighten a load in the most dangerous position. In general, equipment is used to allow the volume and time under tension to remain low and alters the load of a lift in relation to percentage of one-rep-maximum.
 
A common accessory to power lifting is a squat suit, which has been shown to increase the velocity and power an individual can put into a weight. Instead of opting to lift heavier with a suit, a masters athlete can stay at their same raw periodized weight and volume, experiencing decreased spinal load and risk for injury; the goal for a master athlete is not to push the threshold, but to add support to avoid over taxing joints.
           
Another example of using equipment to maximize training but reduce injury of risk is found in the figure below. Specifically, for masters athletes a yolk (“safety bar”) with handles provides an example modification to equipment which allows for heavy loads but increased focus on positioning of the spine. When used with handles, the yoke bar provides the lifter support to get to competition depth without the fear of getting stuck on the bottom or rounding the spine. The handles provide support for athletes struggling with balance and/or flexibility allowing for a full squat range of motion, and if desired, higher loads.
 
As competitive weightlifters and powerlifters age, considerations and constraints previously taken for granted become more exposed through, increased fatigue, joint pain, and loss of bone-density and muscle mass. Prehabilitation techniques as a warm-up and lifting equipment can be viable strategies to protect the spine, minimize weakening of the joints, and keep the masters athlete safe in their training. Next month, we’ll introduce specific training and programming strategies to account for age-related considerations and constraints, but to also keep the masters athlete competitive.

*To see Images, download the PDF.