Training After 40: Flatten the Decline, Don't Fight It

Nobody gets stronger forever, yet most fitness advice acts as if we will. Cliff sits down with Darren "Daz" Ellis, founder of New Zealand's first CrossFit gym, former Masters CrossFit Games athlete and his co-author on Awesome After Forty , for an honest conversation about training when you're past your peak, short on time and carrying a few old injuries. Read Awesome After Forty (Cliff Harvey and Darren Ellis): https://books2read.com/u/mBpNKR In this episode we cover Why Daz now puts mobility under strength at the base of his training pyramid The "glide path": accepting decline and working to flatten the curve Residual activity, and why less training volume can also mean less mobility Why "good enough" form is good enough for most lifters Progressing without adding load: range, tempo, reps, density Choosing exercises that suit a busy season of life Sport as cardio, daily steps, zone 2 and where VO2max fits Why some ageing athletes get better results by doing less Talking about wear and tear without making it your identity What both would tell their 25-year-old selves Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:18 Training around family life 04:20 Seasons of life and the best time to train 08:33 Shorter, more focused sessions 09:24 How Daz has stayed fit into his 50s 14:23 The honest side: tendons, niggles and old injuries 17:08 The glider analogy: flattening the decline 17:37 The "age is just a number" myth 21:21 Mobility moves to the base of the pyramid 23:23 Residual activity and lost mobility 27:38 Form: good enough is good enough 31:09 Decline, comparison and the pull-up reel 36:31 Progression beyond adding load 37:53 Skewed strength standards online 41:15 Picking exercises for busy seasons 43:03 Autoregulation and training to failure 47:21 Cardio: sport, steps and zone 2 52:26 VO2max and Norwegian 4x4s 54:37 Cyclic cardio vs lifting 58:12 The optimisation fallacy: big rocks first 1:01:07 A 10 bpm drop in resting heart rate 1:04:03 Subtracting junk volume 1:06:27 Diminishing returns and athletic identity 1:11:42 You at 48 is not you at 24 1:13:12 Injuries, wear and tear, and identity 1:18:32 Reasons vs excuses: it's never too late 1:21:01 Advice to your 25-year-old self 1:25:47 Peaking early and youth specialisation 1:27:56 Where to find Daz About Darren Ellis Darren "Daz" Ellis (MSc Exercise Physiology) has coached for more than 20 years. He opened New Zealand's first CrossFit gym, qualified for the 2015 CrossFit Games Masters (40-44) division, and now coaches strength, mobility and movement for people over 40. He is Cliff's co-author on Awesome After Forty . Links mentioned in this episode Darren Ellis Coaching: https://www.darrenellis.coach Darren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenellis.coach/ Awesome After Forty (Cliff Harvey and Darren Ellis): https://books2read.com/u/mBpNKR Fiatarone et al. (1990), strength training in nonagenarians: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2342214/ Helgerud et al. (2007), the 4x4 interval study: <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17414804/" rel="no

Training After 40: Flatten the Decline, Don't Fight It | Darren Ellis