Introduction
At Age Free Strength, we understand that the aging process can make it challenging to maintain your strength and mobility. That’s why we’ve designed our programs to focus on the specific needs of seniors, while still being applicable to males and females of all age groups.
Conventional science states, amongst many other things, that muscle mass in men and women decreases approximately 3–8% per decade after the age of 30 and this rate of decline is even higher after the age of 60.
Our programs will stop this decline and increase strength and muscle – all with safe and effective workouts that can be tailored to your individual needs and goals.
Our approach to strength training incorporates the science of biomechanics, physics, and neurology – to optimize the anatomical motion, exercise efficiency, and target muscle activation. We apply this science to support the ‘why and how’, ‘how long’ and ‘how often’ we work out, but our promise to you is to always keep it simple and fun to encourage consistency.
We will include science references for those interested in exploring the details, but Age Free Strength will be the ‘go to’ website for living a healthy and vibrant life.
Our mission is to teach how to develop and maintain muscle mass, strength, flexibility and mobility, as we age - safely and free of exercise injuries.
Working Out Anywhere
Our optimal exercises, exercise options, workout routines and programs can be done at home, in gyms and while travelling or vehicle touring and camping. The equipment used will differ, but the approach is the same.
We live in Australia and since I retired in August 2022, my wife and I have lived mostly on the road as ‘grey nomads’ – which is Aussie for ‘aging tourers’.
Prior to us hitting the road I had a well-equipped home gym, with a cable/plate machine, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands and a variety of benches.
With the weight restrictions of our camping lifestyle, I’ve adapted the exercises to specific equipment that takes up minimal space, weighs less than 5kg, but delivers more than enough resistance.
This equipment is all you need for a home gym also.
with Unitree PUMPS
We are very active retirees and it’s the outdoors camping lifestyle that was the catalyst for this Age Free Strength website.
The Science – in Simple Terms
The science behind our strength training exercises and programs is based on Doug Brignole’s ‘The Physics of Resistance Exercise’ and other biomechanics and ‘hypertrophy’ (muscle growth) references.
We will go into appropriate detail in future posts but, as a brief summary:
- All muscles pull, none push. It’s the resulting action of muscles pulling on bones (levers) that rotate the joints they control to make a pushing movement
- All muscles pull from their insertion to their origin
- Exercise selection and direction of motion must align with the opposing force and target muscle fibers for optimal muscle activation and joint safety
- Exercise selection and form, the load applied, the equipment used, and positioning should leverage the target muscle’s strongest positions in the range of motion – typically the first 40% of the contraction movement
There are a many more principles that we apply to the equipment and ergonomics used, the exercise selection, volume, exercise form and our programs. The above is just a small flavor, but when applied properly you will reap the benefits.
What We Offer and Cover
The Age Free Strength website will come with free content via blog posts and email subscriptions. In the future, we will create a member only area with comprehensive descriptions of our workouts. These video workouts and programs will be accessed by a one-off subscription.
In the meantime, our blog posts will go into detail, with examples, of why and how we work out and make recommendations for exercise equipment, nutrition and healthy living.
Some of the topics we will cover include the following:
- Aging – what it means for strength, mobility, flexibility and vibrant health
- Workouts for seniors and all ages – level of resistance/weights, volume (sets and reps), duration, rest between sets, repetition tempo, frequency, recovery
- Workouts while travelling, touring and camping – resistance training, walking and hiking
- Workouts for men and women – any difference?
- Consistency – the key objective and how to maintain it
- The biomechanics, physics and neurology behind exercise selection, efficiency, form and safety
- Exercise equipment recommendations and options – at home, in gyms and while touring
- Full body and split workouts – anywhere and everywhere
- Weight resistance training and cardio – combine or separate?
- Training to failure – is it necessary?
- Mobility and flexibility – what is enough and how to maintain it
- Diet and nutrition including fasting, vibrant longevity (latest research), supplements
- Losing fat and improving body composition
- Sleep
- De-stressing – meditation, breathing and therapies
- Body types and genetics – the role they play in how we respond to exercise
We look forward to working with you on our Age Free Strength journey, starting with the post links below
Nice simple website. Clear and concise. Gives me the info I need.
Thanks Austin, stay tuned for the first Post, ‘Working Out as we Age’
Advanced
Thanks Myah. First ‘post’ coming soon.