• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Rated R: For Restricted Movement

People my age have no business doing certain exercises. I think there should be a rating system for exercises, with some rated R for "restricted movement" and mature athletes just shouldn't do them.

Andrew Read

Written by Andrew Read Last updated on December 21, 2012

In about two weeks a bunch of people are going to make a bunch of really dumbass resolutions. Many will be good ideas – lose the weight that puts you at risk of heart attacks and diabetes is a good one – but many will be plain ol’ dumb.

Sadly, for me at least, the majority of these really dumb ideas come from men in my age group. I made a shocking discovery last weekend. I’d always heard this joke about triathlons, that if you walk past the bike rack for the men’s 40-44 age group you’d find better bikes than the professionals have. It’s true. The bike rack in transition was filled with bikes bought by guys trying to buy speed. In these days of aerodynamic wheels, frames, and helmets this is actually possible. However, the number one guaranteed way to get faster on a bike remains to go ride it more. Save the five thousand dollars you were going to spend on wheels and spend it on a good coaching plan and massage. I know my way will make you faster, more supple, and stave off injury.

We’re probably all familiar with the rating system for movies, the one that has ratings for kids of all ages, children under parental supervision, only for mature audiences, and then into the stuff that is only available in certain dark corners of the Internet. Training should work the same way, but backwards.

Here are the exercises I believe should be rated R:

Olympic Weightlifting

Olympic lifting is all in vogue thanks in large part to CrossFit. That’s a good thing. The down side is that good lifting takes enormous amounts of flexibility that most people, especially those in the “mature audience” section, don’t possess. I remember a conversation I had with Pavel Tsatsouline about mature athletes and the Olympic lifts. His comments were harsh but true: “Andrew, you must be young and weak to learn the Olympic lifts properly.”

When I see pictures of people my age attempting these lifts I don’t see the bar overhead as the only sign of a successful lift. Mostly what I see is things like lack of ankle flexibility. That is due to a lack of ankle dorsiflexion in the ankle. That in turn makes the lifter push his hips back instead of squat straight down. This, in turn, causes a greater torso angle, which massively increases the stress to the spine. This problem is further compounded by a lack of extension in the thoracic spine, which also causes the same things. The lifter is then forced to really reach quite far back with his arms to keep them vertical and the weight over his feet.

And I am not singling out any one lifter. These people are not alone. While they can vote, drive, and see dirty movies they are performing a lift with a body that is rated R for “Restricted Movement.” They would be far better off spending training time addressing these issues and choosing lifts that aren’t reserved for those with G rated bodies (G for “Good Movement”). That doesn’t mean we can do only corrective work, it just means we needs to realize when we are too old, move too poorly, and are accidents waiting to happen.

Older guys, and others with these R rated bodies, need to start acting their age. There’s a very real reason why you don’t see many forty year olds winning UFC belts and there’s a very real reason why forty year olds should not go and start training MMA when they have zero background in that style of training, or in most cases no actual physical background since high school.

Sprinting

It just takes my breath away how many Internet experts advocate that people should begin running with sprinting. No. No you shouldn’t and please stop it now. Telling a novice runner they should begin with the most intense form of that exercise is like saying someone new to lifting should try to squat double bodyweight their first night in the gym. Or that instead of learning how to do a push up you should instead focus on your first push up being a one handed handstand push up. Somehow the idiocy of those suggestions is evident, but when it comes to sprinting everyone loses their minds and wonders why they get hurt.

As we age the body tends to lose some of its bounce. While doing some work to retain the stretch shortening cycle is a good idea, going from zero to sprinting is not. And don’t even get me started on other R rated favorites like hill sprints. What a great idea – don’t just do a more intense form of the exercise than you’re likely capable of, but add to it by going up a hill (there is no font for sarcasm, but if there were this would be in that font).

Cycling

rated r exercises, overhead squat, sprinting, mature athletes, aging athletesAs much as I hate to admit it, cycling is another poor choice of hobby for those rated R. If you have spent the last thirty years of your life sitting at a desk, the last thing you should do is choose a hobby that involves lots of sitting. (This goes double for any seated machine resistance exercise.) Not only that, but cycling locks down the upper half of your body – meaning no power linkage is occurring through your core. That linkage is a skill that will help prevent injury in many cases. To add further misery to it, there’s only a single motor pattern in cycling. That’s three strikes.

I’m not saying these things are bad. Just that they’re bad for many. Particularly many in the over thirty-five bracket who don’t have a history of martial arts, athletic training, or maybe even doing anything physical. When you’re making your choices for things to try next year just be smart about where you actually are physically.

Failing that, because I know a lot of people will tell me I’m wrong, my suggestion is to go train MMA, sprint, and perform the Olympic lifts every day – especially if they’re over thirty-five. But leave your expensive bikes to me, I promise I’ll actually be in good enough shape to ride them fast.

Olympic weightlifting photo courtesy of Maxwell Shifman.

Other photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

Andrew Read

About Andrew Read

Andrew Read is like that old guy in the Rocky movies - he has a funny accent, hates everyone, and no one ever knows if he's happy or sad. But just like Mickey, he knows training.

Even back in grade school his teachers would complain he was spending too much time reading bodybuilding magazines or trying new exercises in the gym. These days nothing has changed and even after a lifetime of competitive martial arts and some time spent in special forces he still maintains that same passion for increasing human performance, especially that go all day, out run a zombie, live in an apocalyptic wasteland kind of fitness.

Having been a Master RKC, Andrew is recognised as one of the best kettlebell trainers in the world.His specialty is elite performance and he has been involved with training three world BJJ champions.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

shutterstock103833947
Over 40 Weeks of Free Mature Athlete Workouts
woman clean and jerk
Thank Norbert Shemansky for Your Weightlifting Category
You’re Not 20 Anymore: 2 Tips for Older Athletes
Two Over-60 Athletes Who Prove You Can Compete at Any Age

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Actor Jonathan Majors Ate 6,100 Calories a Day to Become a Bodybuilder in “Magazine Dreams”

Eddie Hall Preps for Bodybuilding Debut by Training His Back With a Pro

How to Do the Dumbbell Split Squat for Single-Leg Size and Strength

The 2024 CrossFit Games to Stay in Madison, Wisconsin

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About