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Heavy, light or mixing?

HDH

HDH

TID Board Of Directors
Sep 30, 2011
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This is a subject I've seen plenty of guys disagree on. What it really comes down to is what's right for you. In my case, I'm old and broken down so I stay at the lighter end of things :p My workouts take longer but I enjoy spending time in the gym. Not to be social, I like to go around 3 am when I pretty much have the place to myself and can move from machine to machine. To me it's just a matter of tearing our muscles down properly.

I think most guys these days can agree on a good mix of light and heavy, unless gaining strength is the main goal or high priority. Heavy to me these days is 10 reps. I have too many problems for less reps than that. Most of my shit I don't even count anymore unless I'm doing one side at a time so I can keep it even.

Heavy, light, mixing it up, how goes the training?
 
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BD Cool

BD Cool

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Dec 1, 2011
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I'd love to lift heavy again... as in the 4 to 6 rep range... but as I've gotten older my joints quickly act up if I do. Also, I have a pinched nerve in my neck... my left tricep is substantially weaker than my right.

Like you've mentioned, the bulk of my lifting is now on the lighter side... 10 - 15 rep range. Although the weights are lighter, I still try to make my workouts difficult with short rest periods, drop sets, etc.
 
The other Snake

The other Snake

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Aug 19, 2016
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I'm with ya HDH. I think the disagreement in heavy or light is in a lack of training years. If you're 20-30 y.o. you think anyone not doing heavy reps of 4-5 are just pussies. Then they hit their 40's and if they have trained hard and reached their potential, they realize to extend their career, the heavy shit needs to stop. The higher you climb, the greater the fall. Getting injured with triples of 315 in the squat at age 25 is not the same injury as a triple with 500 at 40 y.o. The higher the weight, the greater the injury. Then factor in the ability to recover from such a catastrophic injury at mid-life and you learn to play it smarter.

As for time in the gym, well I dumped 2 1/2 hr into a calf, chest, shoulder and tri workout last night. I have heard that if you're spending more than 90 min in the gym, you're not doing something right. I parallel my argument to that with to another sport I enjoy, hunting. Yeah, I want to put an arrow through a big buck's engine but I also enjoy the time in the woods. Oh and if you want to argue time in the gym, you sure as shit better look better than me and have put the number.
 
midevil

midevil

TID Board Of Directors
Jan 20, 2011
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As mentioned I believe it depends on your age, injury history (huge impact later in life) and genetics.

Supersets with moderate weight works for me right now. I still toss in heavier weight for low reps on occasion but will never fight the weight or do negatives etc..
 
Lizard King

Lizard King

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Sep 9, 2010
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I have no ambition to bench over 400 again, could be my shriveled up old man sack but 225 feels so much more satisfying for reps these days.
 
The other Snake

The other Snake

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Aug 19, 2016
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I have no ambition to bench over 400 again, could be my shriveled up old man sack but 225 feels so much more satisfying for reps these days.
I wonder what % of the men in the gym ever handled 400 in the bench. I hit it once and never saw it again. 390 in a meet a few years back but that was with a pause so I bet I was close.
 
R

rawdeal

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Nov 29, 2013
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T.U.T can be a valuable strategy for damaged goods old farts who wanna be careful but miss the intensity of the good old days. If you never used to do 10 or more reps and have trouble adjusting to that when common sense says you'd better ... doing 6 or fewer reps with agonizingly slow reps and less weight is an alternative. Takes some mental discipline to do it right, but might be a solution for Silverbacks.
 
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HDH

HDH

TID Board Of Directors
Sep 30, 2011
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It was hard for me to make the transition to lighter shit. My ego absolutely hated it. I had two choices though, adapt or keep working around shit. My back would have me sitting on the sidelines at times too.

Everything I do is to music, I try to pick songs I can get lost in and keep the movements to the rhythm. It helps to keep everything in form and I focus on tearing down that particular muscle. My rep range can go from 15 to 40. Mind to muscle connections are a great way to feel the blood pump into your muscles with moderate to light weight @BackAtIt no reason not to get a pump ;)

I like giant sets moving from machine to machine. I mix back and chest on the same day, shoulders on another and legs on a third day. I do a little shoulders on back and chest day and light traps and arms on both upper body days. No tris on back/chest day if I do shoulders. I'm good for 1 1/2 to 2 hours each of the three days. I take days off in between training days so I have a day of rest between each training session.
 
woodswise

woodswise

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Apr 29, 2012
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I am doing higher reps these days, with occasional heavy low rep days. I don't have a lot of injuries, but have chronic hiccups that I take muscle relaxers for, and the muscle relaxers I believe to have hurt my strength a lot. So I am focused these days on cutting fat, lifting high reps and getting into the best shape I can. If I ever figure out these hiccups maybe I'll go for some of that old man strength one more time!
 
69nites

69nites

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Aug 17, 2011
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I do maintain lifting heavy, however I stopped pushing what heavy is.

I'm no longer pushing my maxes higher but not allowing them to degrade. I'm sure the day will come that I'm no longer doing heavy triples on my deadlift, but that day hasn't come. I haven't pushed a sub 5 rep set on bench since my rotator cuff tear which has been years.
 
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