General Health & Fitness - Stay/Get Back in Shape

Ddseddse said:
Yeah, the strength comes back fast. I think a lot of it is the fact you develop good neuro-muscular pathways, that never really go away even thought the muscle mass goes away, so when you start back you can recruit more muscle fibers faster than if you were a true beginner.

What I posted above is my general warm up. In addition to that, I always warm up each lift with a set (of 5 in my case) of empty bar, and then start warm up sets of 5/3/1 starting around 50% of my goal weight and building to about 80-90% of my target weight, so I'm pretty ready to go by the time I'm ready for my main lifts

I subscribe to the lift heavy with fewer reps philosophy, even as an older guy (approaching 60), especially as an older guy. Volume is poison to us geezers. My philosophy is heavy weight, low volume, adequate rest. I mostly try to keep myself injury free by feathering that last variable. Depending on how I'm feeling, it might be 24 hours rest, or it might be a full week between workouts.

But you're right, the starting back and feeling great and slapping too much weight on the bar is a danger in the first few months.
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5-7 is the sweet spot for me. I'm pretty conservative with moving up weight, only when I can control with ease through a full range of motion

I probably have been leaving certain gains on the table, not going for heavier 1x rep singles or doubles. I'll be adding those to my bench routine now that I don't have to worry about failing reps

That is a very thorough warm up, I am only now getting better with that. Previous MO was jumping right into working sets if I was already kinda warm and moving around that day. And I wondered why the third set somehow felt better than the first
 
Heelsandeers said:
5-7 is the sweet spot for me. I'm pretty conservative with moving up weight, only when I can control with ease through a full range of motion

I probably have been leaving certain gains on the table, not going for heavier 1x rep singles or doubles. I'll be adding those to my bench routine now that I don't have to worry about failing reps

That is a very thorough warm up, I am only now getting better with that. Previous MO was jumping right into working sets if I was already kinda warm and moving around that day. And I wondered why the third set somehow felt better than the first
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Ha! Yeah even with all the warm up, sometimes the third set feels better to me too, especially when I'm just getting back into it and haven't really hit the "grind it out" stage yet where the bar slows way down on those last few reps.

Sometimes I'll even mutter to myself "Just getting warmed up!" between the second and third sets as a way to psyche myself up for the last set!

Good form is critical to me. Full range of motion and perfect form. As soon as I feel my form break down even a little, I'm done. I do lift alone most of the time though. I think I have pretty good form, I've read Rippetoe's starting strength cover to cover a couple of times and occasionally go back for a refresher. Still would be good to have a coach to occasionally give pointers.
 
Apt thread for me. I had a colonoscopy/endoscopy done on Monday. All clear except for some inflammation in my stomach. I haven’t met with my doctor again but I’m assuming he’s just going to say you need to eat cleaner.

I have been in a rut with eating fast food and sweets and stuff so the whole colonoscopy prep/procedure might be the kickstart I need to get in better shape.
 
An unfortunate side eemffect for me of focusing on eating well and being fit has been a steady degradation of sleep. Im lucky now if I get 4 hours of good sleep. 5-6 hours of constant waking and tossing and turning is the norm. And it definitely correlates directly with working out, etc. I lift 4 days a week and do 4 more that are cardio/core. As I've move up on activity and honed in on eating, my sleep has gone to shit.

So the net is that im more fit than ever but probably more prone to dropping dead of a stroke or heart attack.
 
wmheel1287 said:
An unfortunate side eemffect for me of focusing on eating well and being fit has been a steady degradation of sleep. Im lucky now if I get 4 hours of good sleep. 5-6 hours of constant waking and tossing and turning is the norm. And it definitely correlates directly with working out, etc. I lift 4 days a week and do 4 more that are cardio/core. As I've move up on activity and honed in on eating, my sleep has gone to shit.

So the net is that im more fit than ever but probably more prone to dropping dead of a stroke or heart attack.
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That is a strange one. Can't say I've heard that before. Have you considered decreasing the number of weight days? Seems counterproductive but if it leads to more days of better sleep I would think there's a net benefit

I sometimes notice not falling asleep easily on days I have more intense workouts, even when they early afternoon. But that eventually leads to longer/deeper sleep the days following

Whenever my sleep suffers poor diet/alcohol is usually the indicator
 
Does anyone struggle with a few pounds of weight gain every year when it first gets cold and the heat comes on? It's all fluid I know....but damn it is every single year around early November
 
Heelsandeers said:
That is a strange one. Can't say I've heard that before. Have you considered decreasing the number of weight days? Seems counterproductive but if it leads to more days of better sleep I would think there's a net benefit

I sometimes notice not falling asleep easily on days I have more intense workouts, even when they early afternoon. But that eventually leads to longer/deeper sleep the days following

Whenever my sleep suffers poor diet/alcohol is usually the indicator
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I've tried about everything. It just continues to spiral worse. My diet is shockingly clean to the point that I annoy the shit out of everyone in my life. Here's an unexpected discovery...people you love prefer you fat, you're lower maintenance. They don't realize it and they don't mean it, but it is very true.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I've tried about everything. It just continues to spiral worse. My diet is shockingly clean to the point that I annoy the shit out of everyone in my life. Here's an unexpected discovery...people you love prefer you fat, you're lower maintenance. They don't realize it and they don't mean it, but it is very true.
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My sleep is not the best, most likely undiganosed sleep apnea. With that being said, sleep is very zen like for me. Meaning the more I consciously think about it, the worse mine gets.

A few years ago I got one of those Whoop bands that does the sleep tracking (now they have the Aura rings and I think even the Apple watches do that), and I started tracking my sleep. Until I realized that my sleep was a lot crappier when I was always obsessing about whether I was getting quality sleep or not. The minute took my Whoop band off and stuck it into a drawer to gather dust, my sleep (or at least my perception of my sleep) dramatically improved. I don't know if you currently use a sleep tracker, and of course YMMV, but that helped me out.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I've tried about everything. It just continues to spiral worse. My diet is shockingly clean to the point that I annoy the shit out of everyone in my life. Here's an unexpected discovery...people you love prefer you fat, you're lower maintenance. They don't realize it and they don't mean it, but it is very true.
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Are you using a pre workout? What is your daily caffeine intake? When do you workout? Are you taking any supplements?
 
hedge said:
Did they do both procedures at the same time? I assume so, they wouldn't want to put you under twice in the same day...
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They did indeed. Took the Michael Jackson propofol nap. Time traveled and was given a mostly clean bill of health.
 
p5mmr9 said:
Are you using a pre workout? What is your daily caffeine intake? When do you workout? Are you taking any supplements?
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I dont do any supplements except multivitamins and magnesium. Caffeine is somewhat moderate. I drink about 2 keurig pods per day and usually a diet mt dew. Workout sometimes late night after I teach. Class ends 1030. Doesn't seem to be a difference in the routine and outcome. Last night, no class and no workout. In bed by 930. Got up at 630 but slept maybe 3.5 hours of that time.
 
wmheel1287 said:
An unfortunate side eemffect for me of focusing on eating well and being fit has been a steady degradation of sleep. Im lucky now if I get 4 hours of good sleep. 5-6 hours of constant waking and tossing and turning is the norm. And it definitely correlates directly with working out, etc. I lift 4 days a week and do 4 more that are cardio/core. As I've move up on activity and honed in on eating, my sleep has gone to shit.

So the net is that im more fit than ever but probably more prone to dropping dead of a stroke or heart attack.
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Do you take magnesium? Highly recommend if you're over the age of 40. I notice a clear difference in my quality and quantity of sleep when I take it. If you're gonna do it, go with the magnesium glycinate. It absorbs more effectively then the other versions out there.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I dont do any supplements except multivitamins and magnesium. Caffeine is somewhat moderate. I drink about 2 keurig pods per day and usually a diet mt dew. Workout sometimes late night after I teach. Class ends 1030. Doesn't seem to be a difference in the routine and outcome. Last night, no class and no workout. In bed by 930. Got up at 630 but slept maybe 3.5 hours of that time.
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Ah hahaha, nevermind my previous post. Just saw this one. Good timing lol.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I dont do any supplements except multivitamins and magnesium. Caffeine is somewhat moderate. I drink about 2 keurig pods per day and usually a diet mt dew. Workout sometimes late night after I teach. Class ends 1030. Doesn't seem to be a difference in the routine and outcome. Last night, no class and no workout. In bed by 930. Got up at 630 but slept maybe 3.5 hours of that time.
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Sorry if you already covered this but as someone with obstructive sleep apnea, I’ve been to the other side and back with trying to figure out sleep.

Do you practice proper sleep hygiene? No caffeine like 12 hours before bed? Sleep in a cool, dark room? No food three hours before sleep? No drinks two hours before sleep? No screens an hour before sleep?

Do any meditation or reading or things like that before you go to sleep?

I will say, it’s pretty bizarre that eating healthier and working out has led to worse sleep.
 
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