Back to gym after a decade absence

Homelander

Hi guys, as per the title I've finally returned to the gym after a decade long absence. By gym I mean weightlifting, as I've never stopped doing cardio.

Looking for advice on what's a solid routine for strength and mass, and what's a good rest period between days.

At the moment I'm looking at Chest/Tri/back on a Friday, and Biceps/shoulders/legs on another, generally speaking. I've always thought core isn't that necessary as it gets a solid workout with the standing exercises I do anyway.

I'm not exactly a newbie as back in my peak I was in very good shape, maybe 100kg and very muscular with low body fat and max bench of 120kg or so. I have a good idea of exactly what I used to do to get myself in that shape, however I was young, and it was a very simple lift heavy, lift simple, and eat very well.

Now I'm 34 so I'm guessing it will be much harder now and max routine/compound will be more important than ever.

The only thing I cannot do is squats due to a nerve issue in my leg but anything else is a green-light.

Any advice gratefully received on what are good groups to do together!

Black Sheep

At 34 you shouldn’t notice a fundamental difference to be honest, I was stronger in my late 30s than my 20s in the end. You’re just… Less durable, might be the best way to put it. I think it’s more visible in some other sports than in lifting.

I would normally have suggested you ease back in with a 3 day a week whole body program and try to progressively overload until you start to stall - since you’re detrained just milk a linear progression as long as you can. Bench, deadlift, some kind of barbell squat, some kind of pressing overhead, some kind of row, pull ups if you can do them…

When you say you can’t squat, however… Slightly changes things. What can do do? Can you use a trap bar? Can you do single leg DB or machine movements for the lower body? Can you push a prowler or drag a sled?

Cill94

No reason why the programme you did 10 years ago couldn't work now. The basics don't change whether you're 24, 34 or 74!

William Heffernan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058247733/back-to-gym-after-a-decade-absence

The program isn't as important as your application and adherence at this time. Personally, I think you should find a program that enjoy as a priority as that is the program most likely to see you training with the frequency and intensity that will see you get the best results.

Give yourself a realistic time frame and take the stress out of it by ensuring that your expectations and reality are as closely matched as feasible because when people return to training those two factors tend to be further apart than they need to be and the 'stress' of that leads to people being disappointed and disenchanted.

Good luck on your new journey and let us know what program you decide on. Start and training log and you'll get a tonne of support and encouragement.

Owenee

The program you choose should depend on things like what you enjoy doing and your fitness level at the moment. I got injured during a high intensity program last year so, even though I really enjoyed it, this year I'm doing a more strength-based program, which I am also enjoying a lot. I'm also using vital herbal horny goat weed supps now, energy and confidence are crazy good, and I've taken it for 3 days. Noticed a huge benefit. you can try it

Homelander

So just to come back to this, I was a bit rusty at first having not lifted a weight since around 2011 but I settled into a simple routine of push/pull.

Chest/shoulders - bench press, chest press, tricep pulldowns, shoulder presses, lateral raises.

Back/biceps - seated row, lat pulldown, hammer curls, normal curls, 21s.

That's it. I haven't even started legs yet as I remember the torture of it.

As said before I was big into the gym in my early 20s so it did come back naturally enough. Even now at 35, though I thought it might be hard at this age, after even 4 odd months in the gym and eating 200g of protein a day I have made very good gains. Can comfortably bench 100kg and size difference is very noticeable.

So yeah if anyone's reading and on the fence, go for it.