+ 3 Working around injuries!
I figured I would write this as I am going through this big time now. I am pretty fucking old and it seems years of very heavy lifting and no stretching has caught up with me. I have lower back issues, shoulder issues, and elbow issues. My legs incredibly have held up so do not want to jinx that. I used to take time off from the gym with most injuries and come back when feeling better. This cycle has caused me to have to many excuses and miss to many workouts. I have now just started to say fuck it and work around each and every injury and just not miss a workout. Only been a month but I feel much better doing it this way. I use baby weights often now and some isolated shit to work around things but its so much better for me to get in the gym I have found. It makes me keep at it and feel more motivated and less depressed even though hurt. I saw a few college girls doing lat pulldowns using more weight than me last week! It made me laugh but fuck it I got in and did my thing. Eventually things feel better and I get back to real weight and this way no missing workouts and once in a while i actually discover a new way to lift that benefits me. Prime example is incline dumbell bench. I use a steeper angle now and baby weights but I feel every second of the lift from top to bottom and contract the shit out of my chest. Even though using half the weight I get sore now in upper chest and feel its looking different. I hold my chest really high and just fucking mentally get into the muscle. ITs actually mentally exhausting doing it this way. I like to look at the upside of things haha. Anyone else here skip days because of injuries or figure out ways around it?
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I think that sometimes having recurring injuries or being prone to certain types of inflammation as we get older force us to become more efficient with less weight. Like you were eluding to, being able to really connect with the whole movement, get a great stretch and contraction with a much smaller weight, and still getting growth out of it.
I know the feeling of coming back into a packed gym of hot bodies, me feeling like hammered shit. Frail. Pathetic. Ugh. I'd wear sweatpants and a hoody for a month before I put on some weight. Gyms will humble you cus there's always somebody bigger than you.
Depending on the injury, I say let it heal totally. And I'm pro ped /healing peptides. Deca does wonders for my joints.
I had to take this entire week off cause my shoulder hurt so bad. I was supposed to have surgery to clean it out last week but because I’d need 8 weeks of recovery I couldn’t do it. I lifeguard in the summer and I enjoy the job more than I care about the pain. Doc says a shot of cortisone will get me through the summer and I can have the surgery over Christmas break!
This is very interesting. Theres a younger guy at my gym
Around 30. Out of the whole gym i have noticed him improving so much in the last 6 months… i asked him what he changed and he said something similar to you he lifts decent weight. But he is a totally time under tension kid. He doesnt just count his reps he TIMES each rep Im not positive but i think he said 4 seconds
Not sure what he is on but i do see him changing and lifting weights slow & controlled
Yea man time under tension works great as you get in your later years. I love incorporating german volume training it leaves me sore and pumped for a for days especially on the days i carb up
anvilWork around everything, if I didn't I would be skipping all days lol. 20 minutes of core work and stretching, prior to every workout and have for the last 3 years.
Yes sir I know the feeling. Years of being an auto mechanic accelerate that as well. I now warm up with 2 sets of the bar 1 set of 135 then limit the weight to 225lbs for my 3 working sets. And try to stay leaner instead of bulking I look better at 220-230 than I ever did at 270
It genuinely makes me feel sad when I see older guys write stuff like this
I know I am too going through that mid forties period where the injuries and strains are creeping in more, they never did before I was 40 and I could get away with all kinds of crazy shit - could still go for maxes when I was sore and not tear a muscle or tendon! Lol From many posts I see guys write like this, it seems you just have to accept 'the things we cannot change' and realise that if you want to keep lifting and not be out of the gym for 6 months to a year you gotta lighten the load and increase the reps - even if it means regularly hitting 20 reps per set and simply swallowing your pride a little. Gotta continue doing things that make you happy, even if that means taking up a new hobby alongside lifting. I dunno mate, still trying to figure out what I am going to do as I approach 50 and then I guess 60. Never felt like this would EVER happen did it back when we were 18 yet here we are 
Haha it makes me sad to write it! I have hobbies and other things for sure but nothing that keeps my body the way I want it like Lifting. So yeah I swallow my pride and do baby weights or whatever it takes to keep at it.
anvilDon't worry Press, the anvil has and will guide you through!
I'm not sure you can save me bro!!! Lmao
anvilCan and will my brother.
Lol. I feel you 100%
I had the exact scenario happen last week. I was waiting on 2 college girls to finish so I could use the lat pulldown machine. Finally they were done and I promptly sat down and adjusted the weight to a lighter amount. Haha
I have been dealing with horrible elbow tendinitis for a couple years. It was just in my right elbow and I had an MRI just to confirm, and yep…just tendinitis. Now it is in both elbows. I’ve tried rehab exercises, Osteo Bi-Flex pills, collagen pills, forearm braces, everything. But nothing worked. After taking a few months off I felt awful not being in the gym, so started back hard in January. Now my left elbow hurts too lol.
Anyways, like you, I have made progress doing “baby weights” for many reps. I did decline chest on Monday with just 35 pound dumbbells and did over 200 reps and my chest was on fire a few days. Felt great. The way I see it, we have to adjust as we get older to keep moving forward. It seems to be the only option if we want to continue our love of bodybuilding.
lol that really made me laugh. Yeah fuck it I dont care if two college girls lifted more than me. Well I care but zero I can do about it when fucking hurt! So yes exactly like you have to keep adjusting and being as smart as possible to make gains or changes or atleast the same. Its a constant fucking challenge. There was a time when I could pick up two college girls and throw them across the gym. Now sadly sometimes I have to watch them out lift me!