[quote=scaredyclassic]I was reading a weightlifting trainers page recently. He said he much prefers training even very out of shape 50 plus year Olds v young people.
Why?
50 and up people actually played hard outside and have some tolerance for physical exertion and discomfort. They are trainable.
Young vealraised people are fucked.[/quote]
The over-50 crowd is more “trainable” because we have been through the paces of life.
-Long summer road trips in vehicles with no air-conditioning;
-Had to play outside in the heat due to no computers, pads, videogames, videos, etc. and only 3-5 channels available on TV (when the rabbit ears were turned correctly :=0);
-No color TV for most until the early/mid ’60’s due to high cost;
-No central AC available in 75% of homes (yes, even in the nation’s “hot” midsection);
And, most importantly, PE required EVERY DAY in K-12 public schools. PE included team sports, individual sports and the following mandatory activities:
-daily sprints (in starting blocks)
-rope climbing
-obstacle course
-pushups, pullups and other calisthenics
-relay and other track events such as long jump, high jump, shotput, discus
-tumbling to master cartwheel (both sides), roundoff-back handspring, walkovers, limbers, etc, leading up to aerials.
Due to state “budget cuts,” mostly in the last 15 years, the vast majority of CA K-12 schools only offer PE 1-3 times a week because they are sharing PE instructors. It is only required for 1 yr in MS and not at all in HS.
Also, public school districts are increasingly worried about their “liability” so don’t want kids to get injured while learning to do something physical for fear parents will try to sue them. So the monkey bars, rings, jungle gyms and slides of yesteryear are now history.
As a result, most HS graduates are uncoordinated if they have not participated in sports (and paid for it) outside of school.
