Masters, old folks, geezers…The definition of “master” can mean a lot of things. According to Merriam-Webster, it can be a noun, an adjective or a verb. However, in the weightlifting world, it means just one thing. It means you’re at least 35 years old, with emphasis on the “old.”

Yes, “old” is relative. When you turn 35 in the sport of weightlifting, it is essentially the same thing as a 35-year-old MLB player; It means you’re past your prime. The other night, I was watching the classic movie Major League with Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger. The story is as old as sports itself. A young whippersnapper, Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn played by Sheen (think CJ Cummings) and the over-the-hill catcher Jake Taylor played by Berenger (think Chad Vaughn) are on a quest to prove the doubters wrong and win a championship. Different ends of their careers, but they have the same goals in mind. In one scene, Jake Taylor is on a bus ride to the next game, icing down his knees while the rest of the team is sleeping. This is age-related recovery at its finest!

I give this example for one simple reason; masters lifters need a little more tender loving care, and this manifests in various ways. The considerations of coaching master’s lifters vs “regular” lifters are to be taken seriously. I like to place them in two categories; technical considerations and personal considerations. To steal a phrase from Greg Glassman, “the needs of Olympic Athletes and our grandparents differ by degree, not kind.”

Those degrees can mean all the difference in the world. I’ll start with the fun stuff, the technical considerations. First, I try to focus on one thing at a time. For example, I have a 62-year-old female lifter who can behind the neck snatch grip strict press two kilograms under the world record snatch for her weight class; strength is not her issue. Timing and an early arm bend are the main culprits, so we focus on pulling from various heights to work on it. My preferred method for technique work is simple, triage the problem then move on only when completed.

Secondly, for strength work, I like to utilize pauses and tempos. While keeping the time under tension principles in mind, I’ve found that high volume squatting takes too much time for these folks to recover than the younger folks. However, I can elicit similar stimuli by utilizing tempos and pauses which allows them to bounce back faster. My goal for strength work is simple as well, find the minimum effective dose, no less, no more.

Thirdly, to add some fun into the mix, I finish most workouts with old school bodybuilding work that allows me to target weak spots. I add unilateral work like Bulgarian Split Squats to work imbalances in the hips. Most of my lifters also get rotator cuff and shoulder prehabilitation exercises to keep their shoulders healthy. I have a fair share of CrossFit athletes turned weightlifters, and I’ve noticed their shoulders have some mileage on them already. We also get our fair share of curls. Everyone loves finishing a tough day by working on their “guns!” 

Lastly, I consider their lives and how it impacts their training schedules. This can be a deep rabbit hole and one that is unique to everyone. One of my lifters owns her own business, which creates varying training scenarios. I pair her with one of my talented seniors to keep her extrinsically motivated when she’s able to lift with the team. She responds well to the challenge of lifting with someone 20 years younger. I also find that masters tend to need a little more wiggle room regarding when they fit in their training days. To counteract this, I’m in constant contact with them regarding adding or subtracting movements depending on the weeks training schedule.

Now for the gushy stuff, the personal considerations. I don’t want to generalize too much, but the needs of my 27-year-old lifters and my 44-year-old lifters are quite different when you consider kids at home, careers, mortgages, spouses, and the list goes on. Now when you add my 62-year-old lifter, your considerations include semi-retirement working situations, grown children, age-related health concerns, etc. Therein lies the challenge, or to me, the fun. They all need technique work, they all need strength work, and they all need mental toughness. They just get slight variations that can change daily.

I’ll be honest; I also coach my masters differently, as I should. I spend more time focusing on how they feel, how they’re sleeping, their recovery, and their personal lives. Not to say I ignore the ins and outs of my 27-year lifters’ lives, but I spend more energy discussing life and how training alters that. I expect training volume and training days to float depending on how their small business is doing and I make sure to give accessory work that can be completed at home when they need to take care of a sick parent. In short, they get to live by a different set of rules.

Here is one more freebie: coffee! Our team “mom” hosts a weekly coffee get together before Sunday morning training sessions. It was her idea and totally organic. I like to stop by from time to time and drive to the gym with the team, but truth be told, I like them to have their own time. It has created close knit group, a true weightlifting family. Plus, an ancillary benefit of a closer group is the lack of complaints when someone’s heavy metal comes on the teams’ custom playlist, because Jane Doe’s Stevie Ray Vaughn and John Doe’s old school hip hop are soon to follow!

I understand none of this is rocket science. I customize programs to cater to their weaknesses, as I’m sure you do as well. But I try to care about their whole persona JUST as much as I care about their last heavy single before they taper. I laugh with my team, I joke with my team, and I’ve even cried with my team. The more I coach, the more I believe that truly caring for your folks lifts just as much weight as that perfectly timed pull, if not more.