Any experienced lifters?

[fearsomefour]

I am looking to get back to lifting after forever off. I was never a big lifter (even when I played football....our team was so bad the lifting was "optional"....haha). But now I am old and how shall I say....a fat ass. I am not looking to "get big" per se, just looking to get a lot stronger. I have a torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder and a small tear on my right shoulder.
The program I am doing is based more on gaining strength, so, less reps (1-5 generally) with higher weight, I have yet to set my starting point as I am trying to drop 20-30 lbs quickly before I start the lifting.
Any advice as to how to "on ramp" back into lifting and into this kind of program specifically?

 

[BonifayRam]

Yes I am. I have been in layoff mode myself since I retired in may of 2012. Yes I have been through two shoulder surgeries too.Where do you plan to start at home or small gym or large?

 

[Sum1]

Been a couple years, but I had the best results when I was doing a 5 by 5 program...5 sets of 5 reps of higher weight. My main goal was to lose weight at first, but then I started working on toning and getting stronger. My arms grew and the fat around my chest and shoulder area really started to subside.

I generally would jog to the gym (about a mile away) lift for about an hour...then walk home and have my protein shake. Dropped about 90 lbs. I'd bet that it was actually 100 lbs of fat while adding 10 lbs of muscle.

 

[fearsomefour]

Cool Sum. Great results. The program is pretty similiar to that. Not the body building mode of higher rep counts. Main lifts are bench (never great at this and I have a blown shoulder), deadlift (love it), squat (ankle mobility gives me an issue here) and bunch of additional stuff that are not the main focus. That is certaily encouraging you were able to get those sorts of results doing a similiar sort of program.
Bonifay, I have a gym membership to sort of a typical gym in that it is not a hard core lifting gym. Lots O machines and cardio stuff. Has a heavy bag set up, which is great and a small free weight area. I am the perfect member to the ownership I am sure, pays on time every month and never goes in. I have my own trap bar I picked up for like $40 when another place went out of business.
I want to get much stronger and stave off the back problem everyone seems to get with age. Always having a sore or stiff back (not from injury) just seems like bullshit to me. Can fix that by losing weight and getting stronger. I may just break down and go in for a session with the owner and have him go over technique with me, make sure I am not too out of wack.

 

[-X-]

I am looking to get back to lifting after forever off. I was never a big lifter (even when I played football....our team was so bad the lifting was "optional"....haha). But now I am old and how shall I say....a fat ass. I am not looking to "get big" per se, just looking to get a lot stronger. I have a torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder and a small tear on my right shoulder.
The program I am doing is based more on gaining strength, so, less reps (1-5 generally) with higher weight, I have yet to set my starting point as I am trying to drop 20-30 lbs quickly before I start the lifting.
Any advice as to how to "on ramp" back into lifting and into this kind of program specifically?

If you're just starting after a long layoff, don't start heavy. Do a full body work out (all body parts) every three days for about a month to get your body acclimated to the stress. Then you can start strength training. I'd eat copious amounts of protein (supplements too) once you begin to ramp up, and establish what your max is for all exercises. Do 4 sets of 6 with 80% of your max and you'll start to see significant increases. You MUST take in a lot of protein as you do this though.

If you start to feel pain in your shoulders as you bench or do shoulders, you're going to have to lay off. It gets a lot worse if you push it.

If that becomes the case (or is immediately), you might have to consider that strength training isn't the way to go. Cross-training is every bit as difficult, and it gets you pretty strong & solid. I tried that for a couple of weeks and it kicked my ass. Hard.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Tons of advice out there.

Start slow. Don't get caught up in the "weight" and focus on technique.

Work out by muscle groups; arms, legs, back, shoulders, etc.

Alter the exercise where possible; free weights, machines, and lift types to keep the muscle guessing.

Eat protein and drink it.

Have fun and it's a journey so stay motivated.

 

[LesBaker]

I'm in the gym 4-6 times a week.

First you better get those shoulders taken care of or you are asking for BIG trouble. Unless they are old injuries and have healed.

If they are healed then follow the advice in this thread. I'll add a couple of other things that I like.

Break you workouts into three or four separate workouts. In other words back, biceps and shoulders one day, legs the next, then core, then chest and triceps and shoulders. Pushing and pulling muscles are best worked together. I don't know how often you're going to get in the gym but start with that type of thing and then go from there after you have built up some strength. There are a few of us in here that are in the gym a lot and will offer all the support andadvice you want.

 

[fearsomefour]

If you're just starting after a long layoff, don't start heavy. Do a full body work out (all body parts) every three days for about a month to get your body acclimated to the stress. Then you can start strength training. I'd eat copious amounts of protein (supplements too) once you begin to ramp up, and establish what your max is for all exercises. Do 4 sets of 6 with 80% of your max and you'll start to see significant increases. You MUST take in a lot of protein as you do this though.

If you start to feel pain in your shoulders as you bench or do shoulders, you're going to have to lay off. It gets a lot worse if you push it.

If that becomes the case (or is immediately), you might have to consider that strength training isn't the way to go. Cross-training is every bit as difficult, and it gets you pretty strong & solid. I tried that for a couple of weeks and it kicked my ass. Hard.

The tough part is trying to lose weight while getting stronger. Lean protein and plenty of it I guess, which also good for losing weight.

 

[fearsomefour]

I'm in the gym 4-6 times a week.

First you better get those shoulders taken care of or you are asking for BIG trouble. Unless they are old injuries and have healed.

If they are healed then follow the advice in this thread. I'll add a couple of other things that I like.

Break you workouts into three or four separate workouts. In other words back, biceps and shoulders one day, legs the next, then core, then chest and triceps and shoulders. Pushing and pulling muscles are best worked together. I don't know how often you're going to get in the gym but start with that type of thing and then go from there after you have built up some strength. There are a few of us in here that are in the gym a lot and will offer all the support andadvice you want.

Thanks for the reply. I am going to work 4 days a week. Mobility work to get going then the lifts with some other stuff. I injury my shoulders a lot time of go, never got them fixed, the right one mainly is a little stiff. The left one is still bothersome from time to time.

 

[fearsomefour]

Thanks for all the feed back guys. I think the overriding message is dont bite off too big a bite to start. Ease into it and get a base of strength first before starting to try to lift big. Feel ok with it, my left shoulder is my real concern....that and not great squat technique. I appreciate all the feedback.

 

[laramsoriginal]

Been lifting consistently (well with a 6 month break last year cause of work) for nearly 5 years.

I love it and I get a lot of comments from younger guys telling me they hope to like I do when they're my age......crazy cause im just 31 years old. These guys were 20-22 years old. Their comment made me feel old lol

 

[LesBaker]

If you have bad shoulders be very, very, very careful. You may want to look into a personal trainer for a few sessions to help you design a plan, it'll help you and it's worth every penny spent.

 

[Thordaddy]

I'd concentrate on getting your legs in shape and strong and see what the testosterone does for your upper body without lifting unless you do what Les suggests and get those shoulders fixed.

I'm assuming those torn cuff diagnosis are known to be true,sometimes we self diagnose WRONG and what you think is a serious shoulder problem is nothing more than muscle imbalance ,I've experienced that and it can be so painful you are sure there is structural damage when it's just impingement.
Lemme ask you,what positions and activities do you engage in daily with high reps or extended periods ,i. e. is there any repetitive lifting even light stuff that you do a lot in your job?