If anyone can find the Bill Murray dubbed as "Fat Hercules" SNL skit, I will pay you money, not much but some. "That rock is too large, I can lift a smaller one."
Hmm… 6’5 and 245 lbs 45 years old Bench is 360 ish 23 inch biceps I need to eat better… go to the gym typically twice a week but hit is really hard.
Ride a Peloton 5-6 days a week for 45-60 minutes a day. Lift 4-5 days a week, focused on upper body (bicep curls, hammer curls, cross body hammer curls, tricep extensions, arnold presses, lat supported rows, pushups, sit ups). Legs twice a week (quad extensions, hamstring extensions, squats, leg lifts). Lost 38 pounds since July largely due to riding (had to take a one month break for hernia repair).
Sounds like you need to rename your dog T-Cell to make sure you always have one. This is raging AIDS, not Magic Johnson fake AIDS.
Last year I shifted my focus to more cardio using a spin bike and lighter lifts with a lot of functional movements focusing on flexibility. Have an unresolved L5-S1 herniation and I lack some sensation in my glutes and upper hamstrings. Eventually lost some interest in the cardio-focused workouts and have been doing some heavier lifts this year, but I think the switch helped recalibrate my system. The best I ever felt was doing hot yoga 4-5x per week and lifting a couple of times per week. Probably relevant that I had lower back issues even then, but those workouts made me feel incredible. Nothing like it. For anyone needing some inspiration or just looking for a good read, I would highly recommend Spark: The Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey. He presented a vast amount of evidence, both anecdotal and scientific research, and it's really well done. The mindset of exercising for the brain benefits is also really beneficial imo, and at minimum it'll provide you a placebo benefit post-exercise.
I'm curious if any of you stretch or do massage for DOMS and how you tackle soreness. My chest and front deltoids get crazy sore. I usually just rest but lately I started stretching more. I don't consume nearly enough protein for as hard as I work and the supplements I took back in the day just made me look and feel fat, so I quit all that. I started back to the gym a couple months ago and am trying to rethink my whole routine. I'm curious too how much protein some of you consume and how you go about eating. Do you do a lot of bars and shakes or do you eat 7 meals a day like The Rock?
Had a laminectomy on the L5-S1 23 years ago. Without the disk I have some instability and when it shifts it hurts pretty good, but I was able to go back to playing basketball and riding my mountain bike after six months. My disk not only herniated but also a part broke off and tag-teamed with the bulge on my nerve. They suggested a fusion but after hearing a horror story about that operation I decided to just be careful and strengthen my core. I too feel pretty good now that I am working out. May get back into centuries and try my first half marathon this summer. Not bad at 64...
Consult your doctor or physical therapist of course, but proper technique/lifting form and warmed up stretching is mandatory to avoid injury imo. I prefer dynamic stretching if possible for a more natural movement. I usually use stretching, foam rolling (or a masseuse as well as there's smaller massage aids for upper body), lots of water and just listen to your body. If something hurts or has minor pain, take steps to recover rather than push though it and make it worse. As I got older I was no longer training for competitive sports, my goals changed with a focus on longevity and long term health. As other's mentioned, Athlean X on Youtube has good content imo. https://www.youtube.com/c/athleanx/featured You get better in the recovery phase, so 8+ hours of quality sleep, vitamins/natural supplements and diet all affect it for your overall health. I personally gain muscle easily so I'm just trying to keep weight off and optimize health. When I wanted to gain mass/strength I would use whey protein drinks.
Yeah, I also have congenital spinal stenosis, so the combination of the 2 is what is giving me sensory deficits. They've improved incrementally over time and staying active and the right kind of physical activity helps keep it at bay. Not interested in surgery at 30, but eventually that may be the best option.
That's all really good advice. Appreciate it. I begin with the bench press, do some other chest-centric exercises and then focus on my shoulders. It 's occurred to me to warm up gradually with some cable crossovers or something, but then I can't bench as much. I went a couple years hardly able to lift one shoulder, so you'd think I would know better by now. Stretching my chest beforehand... that never occurred to me. I'll definitely try that next time. I seem to have a knack for dropping weight very quickly, but unfortunately I don't seem to be able to build muscle fast. I'm almost at peace with that now at my age; and want to devote more energy on building my core, stretching & cardio going forward for reasons others have mentioned anyhow. I've watched a lot of videos lately from the AthleanX guy. Seems he's cornered the market on YouTube when it comes to videos on lifting and form. It's been very helpful, but I think you're right: it's past time to talk to a trainer. TBC... Thanks again.
6'3" 185 plan to gain some weight in the coming months. shooting for 10lb weight gain, im a hard gainer. Took a break because of broken clavicle and i trained for a half marathon. 1:51 time bench 215 clean 275 power clean 255 snatch 210 deadlift 355 <-weak squat 295 <-weak want to get most of these back/up. new goal is to snatch 225 before end of the year which means all my other raw strength numbers will go up. for strength gains i like 1 day of heavy, 1 day high rep, 1 day moderate. each week i add small amount of weight and/or rep on heavy day. go in 3-4 week cycles then a deload then start again. so like heavy day is 5 sets of 5 heavy back squats 7 each leg bulgarian split squats holding 50lb high rep day 30 rounds 10 squats (no weight) 10 step back lunges i play around with number of rounds if i hold a weight moderate day is almost always different but i shoot for 40-60 reps of moderate weight combined with something to elevate heart rate real food >>>>> protein powder >> supplements (i dont take any) quick dynamic stretch routine before bed keeps me loose. kneesovertoesguy has cured my knee tendonitis
I do use a protein supplement, Iso100 from Dymatize. Fortunately this one tastes pretty good (at least the Gourmet Vanilla). I did try a different one that didn't mix very well. Since I am losing weight via aerobic exercise I need to do something to help build up my weak upper body. I have been thinking about adding Creatine but not all that knowledgeable about the stuff and need to do more research.
I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app for my phone. I heard it helps you track calories, protein, etc. I'll update this thread with my thoughts on it at some point. If anyone else has any recommendations I'm all ears.
