Lighter is righter, I'm not 25 anymore and don't want to be in bed with my lower back sciatica for 3 weeks ever again.
Yes sir, that lower back will give me shit too if I don't keep my training in check. I have degenerative disc disease and fawcet joint at L5. It's not as terrible as it sounds but can have me fvcked up for a few weeks. It's fortunate that I haven't had a problem in quite some time.
You covered all of my Older Gentleman stuff. I read all of the old Arthur Jones/Ellington Darden material years ago, so my mind got adjusted to the slow-lowering of a weight. I have a lot of difficulty wrapping my mind around slowly lifting the weight, however, it just seems instinctive to get that baby up as fast as I can. Still good style; I don't jerk what I should be pressing, but it's hard for me to ease it off the chest when I wanna explode it off the chest.
So my TUT tends to be an imperfect TUT, something Jones called "negative accentuated."
Warm ups for me are super slow, mainly bench and shoulder pressing. My shoulders have gotten to the point where I need an empty smith bar to run through the motions or a machine set on the first plate. It hurts through the first set, sometimes into the second. I keep the rep range between 25 and 35 for shoulders and 30 to 40 on benching throughout all the sets.
I really had no choice having to move slow in both directions. What I have found to make it easier is repping to the rhythm of music. Slower music is great for the slower reps. I like the loud angry shit for pumping the weights out. I will go fast like this but the weight will always be under control. Hell, good music makes my workout, I can get lost in it and not realize it's taking me a whole song to do one set of shoulder presses, lol
Yup, with all the osteo-arthritus I have throughout my entire body Ive had to back off a lot but still seem to get the noticeable results as I always get compliments. I do have to take 3+ days between lifting and do at least one heavy set to keep the muscles full cause I did notice how flat I got recovering from shoulder surgery and how much better I looked when I got my strength back. Good warm ups to one heavy set of no less than 6 reps. Use wraps and straps and never touch my chest when I do bb bench etc etc.
That must be tough to keep a steady workout schedule. Honestly bub, light or heavy weights won't make a difference in you looking full. Maybe a good suggestion would be to drop the heavy sets and see if your recovery time will quicken. If I throw a heavy set in, it would be a little sore the first week then progress. By the third week, I would be sore throughout the week.
Just a suggestion, you could always go back to heavy sets but giving it a try may have you feeling better throughout the week. You may also find that lightening everything may help even more. Light works, it just takes a little longer. You know what it feels like when your muscles are tore down after heavy. You are looking for that same feeling.
I'm running a three day program so I don't train two days in a row. I give myself the two days off between chest and shoulders. It's been a good schedule for me. I couldn't do it without the revamp on my training.
