If this topic has been posted before, I apologize, I searched for it but couldn't find any reference. My question is about recovery time and aging. I'm 44 now, and I've been told recently I'm not giving myself enough recovery time. I was told by someone at the gym, that at my age I shouldn't lift more than twice a week because my muscles don't have time to repair themselves. I lift Mon. Wed. and Fri., and I run on a treadmill 30 minutes each on Tues and Thurs. I do 90 minutes of Taekwondo on Mon and Thurs. evenings, and 3 hours of TKD on Saturday. I've been on this schedule for a little over a year, but I haven't noticed any real improvements (except in strength). Am I giving myself enough recovery time to build muscle and lose fat? I am currently 198 lbs, and stand 5' 11" and I'd like to get down to about 185-190 before summer. Any advice is appreciated!
First off... Whoever told you that is a twit. Louie Simmons is 59 years old, has been a competitive powerlifter for nearly 40 years, and has up to 12 workouts each week. So... Well, that last sentence is pretty telling, isn't it? Man, you should've found us here sooner. I would've suggested you switch the program after maybe 4 months. If you aren't seeing the results you want, something needs to change. What kind fo weight training are you doing now? I'd consider moving the Wednesday session to Tuesday, and work your Upper Body on Monday, Lower Body on Tuesday, and have some kind of Full Body routine on Friday. That still gives you 3 good, solid lifting days each week, and gives you an extra day (Wednesday) for total rest. Also, with all the TKD you're doing (6 hours a week), I'd cut back on the extra cardio. Instead of 30-minute session, I'd consider something more brief, but a bit more intense, like 10-15 minutes of interval training. That's plenty of time to drop about 10 pounds. No problem, no worries, no big deal. Straighten out your nutrition ( one place to start ), be consistent with your training, and it's a done deal. Definitely let us know any other questions.
Thanks! I appreciate your reply, and I'm going to check out that link right now. Thanks again. UPDATE: Wow, I just read that article by John Berardi, really good stuff. Thanks again.
I must admit I've never heard that. My dad served in the army for 18 years, and even people approaching 40 still do everything they can to keep in shape. I'd imagine [and I'm by no means qualified] that the average 44 year old should rest a little. I fail to see how more exercise could have a negative effect, unless you were working a muscle that was showing signs of pain and fatigue. But your fit and healthy right? I know my instructor, at 50 still trains everyday. Also, having battled with asthma all my life I know a thing or two about stamina. You say your on a treadmill. I used to do that a lot and never noticed any improvement. I really gained control over my lungs and strengthened them up by running outdoors in the evening. Particularaly if it's cold. That rose my stamina a lot. Perhaps you could substitute the treadmill for a jog instead? See if you get any improvements that way.
An uncle of mine is a farmer, and here in the Philippines farming in small holdings is mostly unmechanized (meaning a lot of manual labor). He's just over 50 and he can heave a whole 50 kg sack over his head more times than most of the guys in the gym I go to. Sure there is the issue of recovery time with respect to age, but extended, consistent and intelligent training compensates for this. If you don't feel any of the typical symptoms of overtraining with this workout, then you should be fine.
Well I'm 46 and heres my plan. I do a 2 hour workout on Tues, Thurs, and Sat training with martial arts. Then on Monday I do heavy lifting and on Wednesday I do really light lifting/cardio. Sunday I take off and go diving or be the best couch potato I can.......
No, aml01_ph, I feel fine and never felt like I was overtraining, just not seeing real muscle growth or the leaner body I was looking for. And in answer to Ragnarok I consider myself to be in pretty good shape and physically fit. The guy at the gym, who incidentally is older than I am, said he thought I needed to give more time between weightlifting sessions than just 1 day in order for the muscles to have time to rebuild before their next breakdown. It kind of made sense to me at the time, but I wanted to get the opinion of this forum. I've started following BeWaterMyFriends advice and moved my routine around as he suggested and I think it's helping. Thanks to all who replied.
Its not that your healing will slow down, its your ability to grow huge. Ronnie is 44 and takes the most obscene cocktail of rubbish to stay huge. Basically as you get older your general testosterone production will slow which means your muscles may not grow as huge, but you should still be able to stick in fit conidition etc. Correct me if im wrong though
