Forget all this weight loss, anyone lifting weights?

[Medstud21]

IMO, weight training>cardio to keep a good body composition and maintaining a healthy weight. Of course, diet is the most important component. 80-90 percent of what we look like will depend on the diet IMO. Especially as we get older.

[xraygoggles]

I try to weight train 3x/week, not necessarily for building muscle mass per se, but to keep whatever I have, and to strengthen back muscles for when I get older.

I try to maximize efficiency: one upper & lower compound workout per day, along with some accessory work. I use low-medium weights for deads/squats/bench/overhead press, 5x5 or 3x8 (1x5 for deads). For the accessory work, I try to do more volume 12-15 reps x3-5 sets.

I only use db/bb, since the machines limit usage of stabilizer muscles, and can cause joint pain due to restricted range of motion.

I also do yoga and some stretching work, to stay limbered up.

[ShredtheGnar]

I have been lifting fairly regularly for the last 3 years or so. Was off and on (mostly off) the 4 years prior to that after finishing residency/fellowship. I was a D1 athlete in a sport (tennis) that didn’t require a lot of weight training at the time, but I still lifted because we had access to the athletes’ weight room and trainers. But I have more muscle bulk now than I did in college.

I follow a Push/Pull/Legs routine, but my main goal at this point is to avoid injury. I’ve had a couple of minor injuries from lifting over the last 7 years (all more than 3 years ago) that really set me back, so I’ve modified some of my goals for adding weight to my lifts and take a very moderate approach. I lift at least 5 times per week, sometimes 6. I don’t have a good squat rack yet, so the legs portion of my routine isn’t as robust as the Push and Pull parts. So if anyone has a good suggestion on a squat rack of some sort I’m all ears.

I also try and run 2-3 times per week, and have started playing tennis with my oldest daughter who has shown an interest, so hopefully that’s enough cardio. I hate running and don’t mind or even kind of enjoy weight lifting though, so it’s easier for me to stay motivated.

This is the rack I purchased. Built like a tank with tons of adjustments for all kinds of lifts. https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-s2-squat-stand-2-0

[cyrano7]

Weightlifting probably contributes more to my good mood than anything else. I have a great solution for you regarding upping your maxes while minimizing injury risk. Also, band work is included as well.

Nsuns (Redditor) built a beautiful cyclic AMRAP progression program called CAP3. It’s an excel sheet (lord knows we all love those) you can find on google/Reddit. It has you working submaximally but I’ve experienced consistent progress (5 lbs increments on major lifts) every 3 weeks or so. It’s been a real life changer for me because starting strength and some of these other similar programs with linear progression kill your joints and plateau too easily. You can play around and input different lifts as well. I was able to get my bench up to 295 weighing 175 and my overhead press up to 185 at the same weight. I don’t have my squat and deadlift numbers, but definitely mid 300s for deadlift. Unfortunately these are not current numbers (2 little ones, house doesn’t have room for my deadlift platform, more excuses blah blah). Good luck!

[Panscan]

Definitely not annoyed by it, as you know i have reasons IF is useful to me and i do use it from time to time - even my non IF usual routine is IF influenced, i only have one small meal in my sixteen hours which is a huge cry from the constant grazing i used to do all morning long.

However I found IF incompatible with strength straining and the weight gain necessary to support it. Which raises the question, is all this strength training and weight gain good for us, or not? Even barring injury - which could happen doing cardio or sports, too - does packing on even mostly muscle mass have a metabolic cost? It's hard to find useful data on longevity in bodybuilders because so many of them used anabolic steroids or weird supplements for many years.

I certainly don't buy Mark Rippetoe's advice to "not worry about seeing your abs," which may be good advice for a powerlifter and makes for faster strength gains as a bodybuilder but surely can't be worth the metabolic cost in the long run. My fear of getting fat plus naturally being a hard gainer are why my progress is much slower than some, but I've kept my BF in the 12-15% range which i think is healthier in the long run than getting up to 20%.

One reason I'm so fastidious about deadlifts is that i have nearly complete disc loss at L4-L5. That started in my mid 20s and i was talking to a spine surgeon in my late 30s. Then i discovered deadlifts. That plus every other year RFA has decreased my back pain 80%. If I go even 3 weeks without DLs, my pain starts to come back. Having a strong back has been miraculous for my back pain.

Conversely i have to be careful with squats, if I go too heavy or too frequently i pay the price. Right now my sets twice a week are at 205 and my hips and legs are ready to increase weight but my back is saying no. So I'll deviate from Starting Strength, again, and just go up in reps till I get more like 8-10 at this weight, and reassess.

I also think the squats and deadlifts are really important for injury prevention playing soccer and skiing.

This is my routine:

Sunday: pullups or chinups, bodyweight (50+) or weighted (3*6-8) which i alternate every workout; bench or press (3*6); row (3*6-8)

Monday: squat (3*6-10) and deadlift (1*5 plus warmups)

Tuesday: alternate from Sunday, no row
Thursday: squat and cleans (3*6)

Friday: same as Sunday

Sunday: same as Tuesday and so on

I am running about 25 miles a week, one long slow Maffetone run on Saturday, one middle distance speed workout on Wednesday, and two easy 4 mile runs Monday and Thursday. So twice a week I both run and lift, try to run in the morning and lift in the evening.

i really need to add some flexibility and be more consistent with my core work. If anyone has a good flexibility routine to share I'd love to see it, that is absolutely my greatest deficiency but i haven't found something i enjoy (and my back does not like yoga).

I'm 47 and everyone keeps saying by 50 both strength and speed start to noticeably decrease, so this may be close to as good as it gets...

You're crushing it. DL were always my favorite but I always pulled sumo and it hurts my hip now.

Rip is like a dave ramsey equivalent. Decent basic info for noobs, which falls apart for higher level applications/ once you're past a year or two in.

[MWPT]

Lifting for 20 years or so. 1hr 3–4x/week with varied dumbbell, barbell, and TRX. Also have added more plyometrics in my 30s which has helped preserve some explosiveness. Goal is to dunk a basketball at 35, but also realize it’s prime age for an Achilles rupture.

[Medstud21]

Lifting for 20 years or so. 1hr 3–4x/week with varied dumbbell, barbell, and TRX. Also have added more plyometrics in my 30s which has helped preserve some explosiveness. Goal is to dunk a basketball at 35, but also realize it’s prime age for an Achilles rupture.

Don’t worry, I’ll fix it for you.

[FIREshrink]

Lifting for 20 years or so. 1hr 3–4x/week with varied dumbbell, barbell, and TRX. Also have added more plyometrics in my 30s which has helped preserve some explosiveness. Goal is to dunk a basketball at 35, but also realize it’s prime age for an Achilles rupture.

could you dunk before age 35?

[MaxPower]

could you dunk before age 35?

I could. 20 years and 45 pounds ago. Now I’m feeling good if I can touch the rim. Life comes at you fast…

[CordMcNally]

My goal over the years has shifted from getting strong to mainly vanity. I'm not really at a point in my life where I need to absolutely maximize my bench press or squat. I'd still like to maintain good functional strength for overall health. I guess I'm just mainly training for life at this point.

[CordMcNally]

Goal is to dunk a basketball at 35, but also realize it’s prime age for an Achilles rupture.

Get an adjustable goal.

[Huggy]

Ideally I lift 3x/week. I've been doing the AllPro routine for the past several years. Here's the routine.

Lift on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
- Back Squat (2 warmup sets, 2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Bench Press (2 warmup sets, 2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Barbell Row (2 warmup sets, 2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Shoulder Press (2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Barbell Curls (2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Straight leg deadlift (2 working sets, 8-12 reps)
- Calf Raises (2 working sets, 8-12 reps)

The way the routine works:
Every Monday you do 100% of your desired weight, on Wednesday you use 10% less weight, and on Friday you decrease another 10% of the weight.
On Week 1 of the routine, you perform only 8 reps of each exercise. Week 2 - 9 reps. Week 3 - 10 reps. Week 4 - 11 reps. Week 5 - 12 reps.

At the end of week 5, you go back to week 1 and up your weights by 2.5-10lbs depending on the lift if you hit all of your targets.

I started this routine in medical school because I was not consistently going to the gym multiple times per week. I wanted to make sure I performed all of my major lifts at least once per week. Previously when I was doing Chest and triceps on Monday, Back and Biceps on Tuesday, Shoulders on Thursday, and Legs on Friday, I would always end up not making it to the gym four times and I would miss out on doing Shoulders or Legs.

[FIREshrink]

I could. 20 years and 45 pounds ago. Now I’m feeling good if I can touch the rim. Life comes at you fast…

impressive, very nice. I could get a bit over the rim, grab it with my fingers, but never come close to dunking.

Jumping/explosiveness has definitely gone down the most in 25 years. For a while I thought I’d introduce plyo and an actual jumping routine into my workouts, visions of grabbing the rim at 50 or something, but my Achilles is my Achilles and it didn’t like for one second high frequency jumps.

I do maintain eccentric calf training purely to treat chronic AT, and I can handle track sprints of 50-75 m and soccer - would love to include more plyo but fearful of injury.

[Jaqen Haghar MD]

Weight training has really advanced over the past 30 years. It used to be all bro splits with heavy weight to failure, but so much knowledge has built up over the years that it’s actually amazing. Now people have come to realize just how much drug use is actually out there influencing things, and how different training is for a user of anabolics vs a natural.

I love me some bro splits from time to time, as they are a fun way to train, but I find myself using less weight, and more volume and frequency with better results these days.

There is a lot of junk marketing out there, but also some real gems of information to be found on simple platforms like YouTube.

This guy has a great channel, along with any of the Renaissance Periodization Stuff…

[MWPT]

could you dunk before age 35?

Lol yes. But am I 6’ or 7’ tall? Maybe somewhere in between? That would change the degree of the athletic feat.