You know you've arrived at a different place when yes, you do want to keep strength-training but no, you don't really give a toss about how strong you actually are. Is this an oxymoron or what? Quite probably, yes. But. It gets even weirder: I call this "the joy of plateaus" which no lifter says ever or thinks or wants or should even physically hear let alone read for fear their eyes become blinded.
Why not you ask?
Because we've all been led to believe that you can always add a little more weight to the bar. You can always increase by 1-rep. You can always work a little bit harder, a little bit longer and a little bit more intensely. To not improve is to turn your back on all that is good, clean and pure. Plateaus are the devil's work no less, a place where you stall, where progress is hindered and the anti-iron demons of Antioch descendeth upon thee with great wrath and tremendous fury.
In case you haven't realised it yet, "progress" is the Holy Grail for all lifters who, when they fall asleep after their late night healthy-fats-snack replete with protein shake and rectal examination, dream of making even more progress. You could almost say that endless progress is the penultimate fantasy of a large portion of the lifting populace and hey, I'm not anti-progress just like I'm not anti-plateaus, because not all stalls are stalls.
Some are reality.
Some are your bodies way of explaining you've reached your max.
Your bodies way of saying you will never lift further than insert_amount_here, kemosabe.
No, I'm not being a kill-joy (this article is labelled the "the joy of plateaus", remember?) but am being a realist. You will hit your potential, your genetic limit, your max amount or whatever you want to call it sooner or later in every lift, pull and push you've ever done and ever will. And you know what? It's okay. It's okay because reality is okay in fact, large swathes of us -- myself included -- thoroughly enjoy living in reality.
Mainly because it's, well, real I suppose.
Go figure.
Thing is, when you're 50yrs-old and as mundane and weak as I am, you really don't buy into the whole if-I-don't-improve-I-am-nothing mantra. There's lots of reasons for this but the main one is you and I are more than what we lift; yes, this should be blatantly obvious but I've since learnt over time that which is blatantly obvious often isn't to the blatantly gullible. Which could be you. As facetious as this sounds, it's not meant to be.
I had a heart-attack end of 2019 and have not been able to achieve any of my prior maxes after half a year, which has influenced my thinking greatly. I'm of a mind that the sooner the older lifter reaches their genetic limit -- the young(er) lifter can improve for aeons -- the quicker they can get the whole must-improve, must-improve, must-improve mantra out of the way and simply focus on perfect form, feeling the muscle and the movement (this is crucial), and enjoy their bodies.
I know, I know, that last part sounds kooky but you'd be amazed by how many of us don't actually enjoy our bodies. I always feel sorry for our wonderful human sisters who are constantly inundated by the visual bombardment of what "perfect" is from magazines to posters to films to commercials to advertisements to television shows to social media but there's a heck of a lot of guys buying into the bullshit as well or maybe, maybe just a lot of guys not enjoying their body.
Do you know what a paralysed person thinks when they see you complaining about how far you had to walk from your car to the front door? Do you know what a deaf person thinks when they see you complaining about how loud and annoying your kids are? We should not only enjoy the actual, physical sensation of motion but be grateful for it as well: that's what I mean when I say a lot of guys aren't enjoying their bodies.
Or to be more precise, the ability to move.
They're too caught in the need to complete a task that involves physical movement; they simply wish to get said task done; they are going through the motions and don't appreciate the sensation of movement. Have you ever been for a brisk walk and come back refreshed and feeling alert, more alive? That's exactly what appreciating the motion means. There's a physical, mental and spiritual aspect to it that is invigorating and restorative.
It's like dancers and yes, I've used this analogy before but it's a great one so I'll use it again: dancers love to dance. When they are dancing they come alive with the movements, the patterns, like some hidden aspect of themselves is suddenly allowed to bloom and show itself. They are free and unencumbered and literally lose themselves in the dance. Everything lines up just like it should at that exact moment in time -- a moment of movement no less.
That's why there is a definite joy for us older lifters in reaching a plateau which turns out to be hitting the wall, finally. What a relief! Now you can learn to appreciate -- truly appreciate -- the motion involved, the movement of your own body which is restorative, energizing and strengthening. Yes, this is called "maintaining" as in keeping-what-you've-got-because-you-can't-go-any-further but don't paint that in the negative. Rather, turn it around and see it for the life-affirming action it is.
TO RECAP
~ When you reach your genetic-slash-physical limit, well done! Most people will never know theirs
~ Drop the I-must-improve mantra and fully engage with your body pushing, pulling and lifting now
~ Focus on perfect form, feeling the muscle and the movement (this is crucial); be present in those moments
~ Make working out a natural and celebratory part of your life that you enjoy and are grateful for
~ Remember, health and longevity are your targets. Stay in that mindset
Some readers will see the above as a cop-out but apart from the fact I couldn't care less, I reckon it's each to their own. If this is you, this is you; if it ain't, it ain't. Sure, if you hit a plateau you just can't push past then yes, there are several options you can address this with such as increasing volume, improving your periodization or incorporating more isolation-movements for lagging body parts blah blah fucking blah.
Do your thang, kemosabe: be hardcore.
Me, I'm okay with limits. Limits are an expression of reality.
Like I stated above though, last year's heart event has greatly influenced my thinking -- or to be more specific, evolved it past the obsession of I-must-improve, I-must-improve towards enjoying my physicality and accepting its limits (and not allowing said limits to limit my physical enjoyment). This may all sound a bit new-agey but I trust it helps those who needed to hear it. Kia ora whanau.