Olympic Weightlifting for Masters: Training at 30, 40, 50 & Beyond Paperback – November 26, 2014

Master's weightlifting in the United States of American refers to lifting for those who are past their physical prime. It is one of the largest demographic groups in USA Weightlifting. In the U.S. you can officially enter Master's competitions when you are in the 35th anniversary of your birth. There are categories for every 5 year increment, 35-40,40-45,45-50....etc. The competitors are a mixed bag. Some are lifters who just got old and want to continue to compete despite the fact that there abilities are deteriorating. The fun of training, competing, and being around the sport is rewarding enough for them.Another group are those who were athletes in some form and discovered the fun of competitive lifting later in life. Yet another group is people who were never very athletic, but started lifting for exercise and were drawn to the sport, often discovering talents they never knew that they had.Matt does a great job of giving information and guidance to all of the above in his humorous and straight forward way. Matt's years of experience as a high level competitor along with his excellent writing skills make this book invaluable reading for any aging athlete.I loved his first training book, Bones of Iron. This is a great companion to that book, even if you are not in the Masters age category yet. One fact that none of us can escape, is that time passes and if we are tough enough, smart enough , and lucky enough, we will get older until we pass our physical prime. The reality is that there is only one alternative to getting older. So, unless you are ready to be the guest of honor at a funeral, it is best to enjoy journey.As I am entering my 60's this year, and have trained consistently since I was 12 years old, I can concur with Matt's advice. (although I have not always been smart enough to follow it) I enjoy training so much that I tend to over do it. As the years pass, less becomes more. "Progress" becomes slowing the decline rather than setting new PRs. Training still enriches my life and allows me to live better.I highly recommend Matt's book to anyone who plans to train for the long haul.

I began my weightlifting career in 1990 as a junior lifter. Following an injury, I left the sport for 23 years, and then returned to it in 2014 after taking up Crossfit. When I first started lifting, there was very little information available to help someone learn the sport--the only videos were occasional brief snippets on Wide World of Sports, and you might--if you were lucky--find something useful to read at the public library.Now, YouTube has hours upon hours of video, and everyone who has spent more than a couple of weeks at a CrossFit gym thinks he's a weightlifting expert and professes as much from his blog and in comments on other people's Instagram feeds. And yet, despite this proliferation of information, there is very little out there oriented towards the masters lifter. Most empirical research was conducted on Eastern Europeans in their teens and 20's whose recovery was being assisted by drugs, and most of the programming out there is similarly oriented towards younger lifters who have neither the demands on their time nor the recovery needs of masters athletes.Matt does an outstanding job of walking an athlete through what to expect as a masters lifter. He takes a real-world approach to training, recovery, and injury prevention. He interviews some of the best masters lifters in the country, who freely share their insights and wisdom. And he even covers the basics for the many people who discover (or rediscover) this amazing sport later in life, and need to work through the steps from ground zero.My one critique with the book is that the section on prehab and rehab exercises refers the reader to several websites, on the rationale that the sites will stay more up-to-date than the book would. I disagree. Websites come and go, but science-based information on how to prevent and treat injury has a shelf life at least as long as that of this book. Other than that, the information in the book is thorough without being boring and insightful without either being overwhelming to a a new athlete or too basic for an experienced one.I bought a copy for myself and also sent a copy to my coach. I have a feeling my copy will be passed around and dog-eared by the other masters lifters at my gym and will prompt many of them to purchase copies of their own. I highly recommend Matt's work.

Overall a good book with fun anecdotes and perspective from mature lifters. Unfortunately if you own any of the other books written around Catalyst athletics gym or staff and programming then this book is a complete waste of time and money. This book uses the same illustrations and breakdowns as those found in Gregg Everett's book on Olympic Weightlifting (which is much more extensive and practical when it comes to actual programming.) I don't regret buying this book but after a casual first pass it's sat on the shelf collecting dust. I'm a 37 year old lifter with 15 years lifting experience and I have no problems adjusting mainstream workouts to fit my needs or ability and neither should you if you have any time under the barbell.