A Weekly Training Template For The Aging Athlete

If I just spent the last 12-18 months regaining my athleticism after a long layoff and I am happy to retain and refine where I’m at for life, then this would be my weekly training template. The truth is that when I’m not chasing a specific goal, this is the template I fall back on. It allows me to still build some strength, maintain lean muscle mass, explore ranges of motion, stay well conditioned, and overall feel good day to day.

Day 1: 30-90 minutes of aerobic conditioning

Day 2: Full Body Resistance Training

Day 3: 30-60 minutes of anaerobic conditioning

Day 4: 30-90 minutes of aerobic conditioning

Day 5: Full Body Resistance Training

Day 6: 45+ minutes of mixed conditioning

Day 7: Mobility work

Let’s take a closer look at each of these training days. I’ll provide the why’s, some how’s, and an example of what this looks like for me currently.

Day 1 / Day 4

30-90 minutes of aerobic conditioning

If you haven’t had enough “Zone 2” training information thrown in for face in the last two years, then here is a little reminder. If you want to go faster for longer, this work is important. If you want your cardiorespiratory system to function better for longer, this work is important. From a performance and longevity perspective this type of work is foundational. Here are a few different ways you can approach it to keep it interesting:

• If there is a form of long distance aerobic work you love doing and makes your body feel good, then do it. Running, cycling, rowing, paddling, etc.

• If you just want to throw on a podcast or show and be at the gym then your options are only limited by equipment available. You can go for 60 minutes all on one machine or mix it up with 20 minutes running, 20 minutes rowing, and 20 minutes on the stair stepper.

• Looking for something the break up the monotony of a single movement for 30-90 minutes? You can build your own Cardiac Output Circuit. Pick 4-8 bodyweight or light load exercises, and complete them in a circuit while maintaining an effort level and/or heart rate in your aerobic zone.

Since there are two of these days in a week, I like to do something different on each day. If the weather is nice enough then I make it a priority to get outside for it. One of the days I will run. From a tendon, ligament, and bone health perspective some light running once a week is great and if I take too much time away from it my body never feels great when I do come back to it. On the other day I just go with whatever my body is asking for. Sometimes its low impact like the bike, other times its something more full body like the rower, and occasionally its variety so I create a cardiac output circuit. Here is an example of one of my favorite circuits:

• Offset Kettlebell Farmers Walk (50yards each), Walking Lunge (50 yards), Table Top Crawl (25 yards), 25 light Kettlebell Swings, 500m Row. Keep heart rate between 130-150, or make sure I can breathe through my nose but its challenging. Repeat for 45-60 minutes.

Day 2 / 5

Full Body Resistance Training

I use the term “resistance training” instead of “strength training” intentionally here. Not all the work on these days is going to constitute as strength work, but it will be resisted. These days are full body training sessions that target three different training qualities: power, strength, and hypertrophy. If there is any particular physical quality I am trying to develop then it will get a bit more volume than the other two. Here is what a sample training day might look like:

A1 | A2: Barbell Box Squat 4x3 | Seated Box Jump 4x3

B1 | B2: DB Bench Press 4x6 | Standing Rotational Medball Punch 4x3

C1 | C2: Barbell RDL 3x8-10 | Pull Ups 3xMax

D1 | D2 | D3: Hamstring Curls 3x12 | Bicep Curls 3x12 | Kneeling Cable Crunch 3x15

A & B sets are set up to be Power/Strength Complex sets. C is a superset for opposing movement patterns of the A & B sets with an aim toward hypertrophy. D is hypertrophy isolation work to support the C set plus some direct, weighted work for trunk flexion. With a quality warm up before you can still be in and out in under 60 minutes.

Day 3

30-60 Minutes Anaerobic Conditioning

With your aerobic days taking care of improving mitochondrial function, increasing capillary density, reducing inflammation, and helping improve recovery we need to work the other end of the intensity spectrum to build robust metabolic health and cardiovascular fitness. The anaerobic conditioning day is your intervals day, working at intensity’s above what you could sustain on your aerobic conditioning days. It will help improve or maintain V02max, an important indicator of life span, along with improving your bodies ability to clear lactate and transform it into usable energy. Similar to your aerobic conditioning days there are a number of different ways to get this work in. I like to mix up the modality week to week. Here are a few of my favorite interval set ups for these days:

• V02max - 4 x 4: This is 4 minutes of max effort work, followed by a 4 minute active recovery.

• Short Threshold - 8 x 4: This is 8 minutes of hard work, followed by a 4 minute active recovery.

• Long Threshold - 15 x 5: This is 15 minutes of work just above threshold, with 5 minutes of active recovery

Day 6

45+ Minutes Mixed Conditioning

On a 7 day per week template like this, in theory Day 6 falls on a Saturday. Which for most working people is a day they have more time to enjoy the activities they love and want to stay fit for. So this is your day to dive full on into that thing. For me that could be any combination of trail running, mountain biking, paddling, or some other form of outdoor exploration.

Day 7

Mobility

This is your recovery day. A day to spend time tending to any areas that have been bothering you, focus in on specific joints or movement patterns that may be limiting you, and explore movements that feel good. Here is a sample mobility day for me:

Breath work: 3-8 minutes of intentional breathing to bring my body into a relaxed state. Using some form of 1:2 (inhale:exhale) ratio of breathing will work. I’m currently at a 10 second inhale: 20 second exhale, which drops me into a really nice state after 6 minutes. Before moving on this is a great time to bring some attention to different joints and muscles to determine what might need a little more attention than other areas.

Soft Tissue work: This is usually in the form of foam rolling or a massage gun for me. I spend about a minute per muscle group starting at the ankle and working my way up the body.

Create Space: I use this time to get into some longer hold stretching (90+ seconds) for specific muscles, movement patterns, or joint angles.

Take Space: Now that i’ve created some length in certain areas I will go through more active movements to engage the muscles responsible for helping create that space. For example if I spent some time in the Couch Stretch opening up hip extension, I would follow that up with some active hip extension work like a shoulder elevated glute bridge.

This template is easily modifiable and flexible to meet different schedules and preferences. If you want more time in the gym, swap out one of the Aerobic Conditioning days for another Resistance Training Day. If you play indoor flag football on Thursday nights (Day 4) then turn your Saturday (Day 6) into your Aerobic Conditioning day. In terms of maintaining all around athleticism for longevity just try to get 1 day of doing something fast, 2 days of moving something heavy, 1 day of moving through a variety of ranges of motion, 2 days of moving at a moderate pace for a longer time, and do what you love doing as much as possible.