Hidetada Yamagishi shares the secrets to longevity in bodybuilding.
The unfortunate truth about any sport is that the glory days can’t last forever. As we age our body deteriorates until we eventually cannot do the same actions as before. While that’s true for all human beings on this earth – how fast this happens is up to you. The kinds of actions we take while young will determine how far we can push our athleticism in the future. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Hidetada Yamagishi shares his secrets towards longevity in bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding is just like any other sport – eventually every athlete needs to retire. One advantage bodybuilding has is that the prime years of a bodybuilder can last for quite some time. It’s not uncommon to see 40 or even 50 year old bodybuilders on the stage. You won’t see that very often in sports like basketball or football.
That being said, it’s important to avoid burnout in the long term as a competitive bodybuilder. While it might seem like you could go on forever in younger age – eventually time will catch up to you. It’s important to be active in maintaining longevity in the sport before it’s too late.
That’s why we spoke with Hidetada Yamagishi about maintaining longevity and avoiding burnout in bodybuilding. Hidetada has been competing for quite some time as a pro bodybuilder. He’s been competing as an IFBB pro since 2005. That’s 15 years on the stage and no signs of slowing down in the immediate future.
During our video interview with Hidetada Yamagishi, we asked him to share his secrets for longevity in pro bodybuilding. One of the biggest factors is to slowly adjust how you train. Specifically, by slowly phasing out the bulking and cutting cycle that is so popular in bodybuilding.
Instead, Hidetada Yamagishi recommends staying in shape and lean year-round. Not only is this a good tactic in building truly exceptional conditioning but it’s also better for your health. This will give you more of a foundation as you head into middle age and beyond to stay fit and competitive on the bodybuilding stage.
He also brings up another secret that some might not often think about – skin care. As a person ages their skin does as well. While we all often understand that wrinkles on the face start showing up first – it also appears across the rest of the body. This becomes more noticeable for bodybuilders early – as the skin is brought down paper thin for looking as lean as possible on stage.
While it might sound foolish, Hidetada Yamagishi encourages bodybuilders to put a focus on skin care and find ways to maintain moist and elastic skin going into older age. It will help make a huge different for competitions.
Lastley, Hidetada recommends training and eating smart. It’s easier to lift heavy with less sets at a younger age. As you get older, moving more towards lighter weight and higher reps is imporant. It will maintain a healthy body, avoid injuries at a time when injuries will be harder to recover from, and the results can be just as good from a musculature perspective.
Hidetada even believes that his muscle size and conditioning looks better now that he lifts less heavy than when he was younger. Muscle maturity likely plays a role in that – but as Dexter Jackson has shown time and time again – lifting light does not dismiss you from the big leagues.
You can watch Hidetada Yamagishi explain his full secrets to longevity in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
