In this post we discuss why Stone Age workouts won’t help you in middle age and other common fallacies in the rehab and training world.
Let me start with a quote from a recent Times article on how to stay fit and injury free in middle age.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a lot of super cutting-edge training and therapy looks like Stone Age cooking.”
That comes from a sports journalist who’s just written a book on the science of injury-free athletic training.
Whilst the article itself contains some interesting facts, the translation of those insights to middle-aged people presents a number of issues – all of which are common in the field of training and rehabilitation.
What worked for you will work for other people
This type of thinking is ubiquitous. For example, how many times have you told a friend who has a sore knee ‘try this, it worked for me.’
Whilst well-intentioned, it’s obviously not scientific. For a study on a specific exercise to be considered valid for a particular condition, it requires a significantly larger sample size than one.
What works for elite athletes will work for you
On a few occasions I’ve had to break the news to someone that they’re not an elite athlete. For many this comes as a shock.
If you’re in your 50s and you’re using an exercise, stretch, or frankly anything that you’ve seen an elite athlete do, you should probably stop and reconsider.
These people are likely half your age and genetically gifted. Nothing that works for them can be applied to you.
Sorry if that hurts.
Golden age thinking
Finally, something that relates to the quote at the start of this post: the idea that our ancestors lived in better times – and how they lived has a bearing on how we should live today.
You’ll see this everywhere and it has connections to all kinds of ideas – from standing desks to carnivore diets and barefoot running.
Crawling around like you’re cooking on the floor is not super cutting edge training and therapy. If it is then moving to Afghanistan and joining the Taliban should solve back pain.
Given that a single exercise can produce different effects in two individuals of the same age, it’s difficult to see the relevance of drawing inferences from the activities of our ancestors 2.5 million years ago.
I would argue there’s none whatsoever.
Summary
When we’re in pain and discomfort and having trouble finding solutions, we tend to broaden the search for answers.
This can lead us down all sorts of rabbit holes, from advice given by the coaches of elite athletes, to ideas on how early humans used to live.
None of these dead ends will lead you to reliable solutions. What’s required is an assessment of you, the individual, with all your idiosyncrasies and experiences.
Don’t waste your time hunting (and gathering) useless information, get in touch if you need help.
Leave a Reply