Slow and steady

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  • Brigit02
    Brigit02 Posts: 130 Member
    edited July 2023
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    nossmf wrote: »
    I'm happily married for 21+ years, my job has me sitting at a desk, I don't play recreational sports. My motivation to continue lifting is a combination of liking the way I look after a lifetime of hating it (scrawny geek in school, borderline obese as an adult), plus protecting my joints to feel better now that I'm age 46 and the body wants to succumb to the arthritis that runs in my family.

    It's great you've found something you like doing that's helping you have a better life.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,020 Member
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    I'm starting to believe the whole "take creatine, eat above maintenance, and workout results will skyrocket" statement. A couple weeks ago I was able to bench press 225 for 5 sets of 5 for the first time ever. Today, on my final set of five, I got a spotter and went for max reps, cranking out 10, a personal best. According to online 1RM calculators, this corresponds to a 299 1RM, which would also be a personal best. (I've officially benched 285 for one rep a few years back.) Obviously I'm not going to try that weight anytime soon, but it's a nice ego boost.

    Now's where age and experience kick in. A few years back my bench press numbers started to fly up, and ego-lifting-me just kept pushing the actual single-rep maxes every week, eventually peaking at 285 at BW 190. But that celebratory day was quite fateful, as I felt pain in both shoulders which almost required twin rotator cuff surgery. Managed to avoid surgery and went with physical therapy instead, but it cost me several months in the gym.

    Problem then was I wasn't allowing my joints or stabilizing muscles to get stronger along with my primary movers. This time I will keep all my sets at 4+ and take my time actually increasing the weight used. Used to think my days with a shot at a 315 bench were over, but now that dream is starting to peak its head up once more. But IF I get there, it'll be months from now, not trying in the next couple weeks just because a calculator thinks I can.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,509 Member
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    Outstanding!

    I often like to finish with an AMRAP. Aside from being good stimulus, it tells you where your failure actually is.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,020 Member
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    Last November I hurt my elbow and had to stay out of the weight room for several months. Used that time to do cardio 5-6 days per week, really try to cut fast, and it worked. Once I got clearance to resume lifting and wanted to slow-bulk, I backed off the cardio to a single day per week, getting at least a little bit of heart-healthy work without burning away precious calories meant for muscle-building.

    The last couple cardio sessions, however, have started to really feel like I'm slogging through. Pretty sure my cardio-level has been dropping steadily, and it's starting to show. Wonder if I should add a second day of cardio each week. I can easily eat enough calories to offset the burn, but I'm worried more from a fatigue standpoint, since building muscle already requires intense lifting with equally intense recovery. I currently take the dog for occasional walks (when my daughter neglects to do it), as well as long walks each day from parking lot to office, so I don't really consider walking a sufficient cardio activity to maintain my fitness level, but maybe that's just a paradigm I need to shift in my head.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    nossmf wrote: »
    Last November I hurt my elbow and had to stay out of the weight room for several months. Used that time to do cardio 5-6 days per week, really try to cut fast, and it worked. Once I got clearance to resume lifting and wanted to slow-bulk, I backed off the cardio to a single day per week, getting at least a little bit of heart-healthy work without burning away precious calories meant for muscle-building.

    The last couple cardio sessions, however, have started to really feel like I'm slogging through. Pretty sure my cardio-level has been dropping steadily, and it's starting to show. Wonder if I should add a second day of cardio each week. I can easily eat enough calories to offset the burn, but I'm worried more from a fatigue standpoint, since building muscle already requires intense lifting with equally intense recovery. I currently take the dog for occasional walks (when my daughter neglects to do it), as well as long walks each day from parking lot to office, so I don't really consider walking a sufficient cardio activity to maintain my fitness level, but maybe that's just a paradigm I need to shift in my head.

    I may be stating the obvious here, but if your CV fitness is dropping, and you want to add cardio, it doesn't have to be intense cardio.

    I know you like to burn some calories with your cardio, but for general CV fitness, it's good to include a range of intensities, especially if you can time-budget a little more duration on lower-intensity sessions. Different intensities accomplish different things, and higher intensity has disproportionate fatigue/recovery penalties.

    I've got to believe there's some logical beneficial intensity between "walk the dog" and your standard fairly-intense cardio workouts.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,020 Member
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    After that first brush with bulking, I cut for a while again, and am now in my second bulk cycle, just in time for the holidays. I thought I was being clever to allow for guilt-free consumption of sweets, but what's really been happening is at the end of the day when I finalize my food log, I'm barely eating above my "loss" rate, only enough to maintain in most cases. Can I force myself to eat more? Sure, but there are times when it actually feels "forced" rather than "feel free to enjoy".

    Whole new respect for Duane Johnson when he was training for his Hercules role and forcing himself to eat these massive meals several times per day. Now I understand his comment that the hardest part of preparing for the role was the eating.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,020 Member
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    One-year update:

    Just passed the 200# mark, which is when I had planned to switch from bulk to cut. However, along with my weight going up, so has my bench press. It's now to the point where I think getting a 315 1RM is within my grasp, but not if I suddenly cut calories and lose energy in the gym. Consequently, I'm going to keep the bulk going until I get that third plate bench, hopefully by my birthday in early June, and THEN I will swap to a cut.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,515 Member
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    nossmf wrote: »
    One-year update:

    Just passed the 200# mark, which is when I had planned to switch from bulk to cut. However, along with my weight going up, so has my bench press. It's now to the point where I think getting a 315 1RM is within my grasp, but not if I suddenly cut calories and lose energy in the gym. Consequently, I'm going to keep the bulk going until I get that third plate bench, hopefully by my birthday in early June, and THEN I will swap to a cut.
    Press on my friend!


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    Congratulations on the great progress, @nossmf . . . and appreciation for your helpful contributions here in the Community (strength training intensity strategies thread, greeting new members, etc.). You're always positive, encouraging, plus so smart about your own program. A good model!

    Keep up all the goodness, and we'll look forward to hearing more about your (well-earned) successes!


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