Stopping lifting

[sportsfan8724]

Over at the peak testosterone forum a guy started a post called stopped working out. It really peaked my interest. The guy states how he he stopped exercising and finally is feeling better and in all aspects. Others chimed in and said the same too. Just has me wondering if the low t symptoms in many cases are caused from lifting which is why trt doesn't fully help many people. I've often wondered if the intense lifting over 20 years is a lot of why my hormones were messed up and why I felt terrible. Trt definitely has helped but like many im still far from normal. Can't ever picture not lifting as it's hugely important to me but to feel great it has me wondering...

 

[Vince]

Whenever I skip a workout, I feel worse not better. It could just be me, but I always enjoy exercising and working out. I feel that it's very beneficial for my mental and physical health. I can't see feeling better without it.

 

[Nashtide]

Over at the peak testosterone forum a guy started a post called stopped working out. It really peaked my interest. The guy states how he he stopped exercising and finally is feeling better and in all aspects. Others chimed in and said the same too. Just has me wondering if the low t symptoms in many cases are caused from lifting which is why trt doesn't fully help many people. I've often wondered if the intense lifting over 20 years is a lot of why my hormones were messed up and why I felt terrible. Trt definitely has helped but like many im still far from normal. Can't ever picture not lifting as it's hugely important to me but to feel great it has me wondering...

I think there is something to this. As we age, we must get sufficient rest between workouts and tone our workouts down a little. Maybe less volume? Maybe less intensity? I have found leaving a rep in the tank helps me feel better and recover quicker. I'm 56 if that helps.

 

[madman]

Over at the peak testosterone forum a guy started a post called stopped working out. It really peaked my interest. The guy states how he he stopped exercising and finally is feeling better and in all aspects. Others chimed in and said the same too. Just has me wondering if the low t symptoms in many cases are caused from lifting which is why trt doesn't fully help many people. I've often wondered if the intense lifting over 20 years is a lot of why my hormones were messed up and why I felt terrible. Trt definitely has helped but like many im still far from normal. Can't ever picture not lifting as it's hugely important to me but to feel great it has me wondering...

Believe it or not one can still over train on trt as you have to understand your levels are still in the normal physiological range whether mid-normal-high/normal of the upper end of the range mind you many will peak into the supra-physiological range temporarily but one would not really want their trough to be in the supra-physiological range as it is not needed for one to experience the benefits of trt and to notice improvements in low t symptoms.

If anything even when one has healthy testosterone levels sleep/nutrition/training intensity and rest all play critical roles in recovery and whether one over trains or not.

If your sleep/nutrition/training intensity and rest are sub par than being on trt even with testosterone levels in the upper end of the physiological range is not going to be beneficial and may very well result in feeling terrible overall regarding energy/mood/libido/strength and muscle gains/recovery.

Sure having higher testosterone levels in the physiological range will allow one to recover quicker and see mild gains in strength/muscle and overall body composition changes but sleep/nutrition/training intensity and rest need to be properly manipulated in order to attain these benefits.

One would need to use supra-physiological doses (250-500mg) test weekly in order to really notice improvements in strength/muscle gains and wolverine like recovery abilities but even than nutrition plays a critical role in ones GAINS or LACK THERE OF!

 

[Tommy Wall]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ocial-********

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org...577-3/fulltext

 

[Vince]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ocial-********

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org...577-3/fulltext

Tommy good article, I have read that too much exercise does contribute to coronary disease. Basically a man who sits on the couch watching TV, drink soda and eat chips and a man who exercise is too much both have the same risk for coronary disease. I don't know if that's true but I have read it.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

OP,
That sounds like an all-or-nothing mentality, which in itself is not good. That said, I have been lifting and active for about 37 years now and I can definitely see that overtraining is a much bigger problem than generally recognized. I have started to apply the Maffettone heart rate method to moderate my longer endurance workouts, and I have seen nothing but benefit from never going to failure in my lifting. Legendary poster Chilln had a theory that people try to maintain or increase the workouts they did when younger while their hormones are also in decline, which leads to a vicious downward cycle, and that seem to fit the profile of many people.

 

[Vince Carter]

Over at the peak testosterone forum a guy started a post called stopped working out. It really peaked my interest. The guy states how he he stopped exercising and finally is feeling better and in all aspects. Others chimed in and said the same too. Just has me wondering if the low t symptoms in many cases are caused from lifting which is why trt doesn't fully help many people. I've often wondered if the intense lifting over 20 years is a lot of why my hormones were messed up and why I felt terrible. Trt definitely has helped but like many im still far from normal. Can't ever picture not lifting as it's hugely important to me but to feel great it has me wondering...

Just about everything on that forum has to be looked at very very skeptically.

 

[Vince]

In my own practice I was already seeing the ill effects from training in many marathon runners. I made many copies of Noakes' study to give to disgruntled runners, especially health professionals, in an attempt to impress upon them that exercise itself was not protective against disease. Still later, I began to realize that is some athletes extreme exercise might even promote heart disease.​

https://philmaffetone.com/when-athletes-have-heart-attacks/

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

Speaking of Noakes, something he said that I found particularly insightful is that if you're eating a diet that is wrong for you body, (a high-grain/carb diet for example, for many people) if exercise makes you eat more of it, then the exercise is actually doing more harm than good.


I also think that many people are somewhat OCD when it comes to exercise (as opposed to gentle activity, like walking) and that is hard to find an ancestral example of to explain how we could be adapted for that.

 

[FeelingLost]

I really like Loki's approach to working out. He works each muscle group hard once a week. This gives that group 6 days to grow and heal.
Have you seen picts of Loki, this method fricking works. I'll try to find his post where he talks about his workout.

EDIT found that post. There are several spin your mouse wheel a little to get the full story.
https://www.excelmale.com/forum/sho...tric-Oxide-Stack&p=84976&viewfull=1#post84976

 

[Saul]

I really like Loki's approach to working out. He works each muscle group hard once a week. This gives that group 6 days to grow and heal.
Have you seen picts of Loki, this method fricking works. I'll try to find his post where he talks about his workout.

EDIT found that post. There are several spin your mouse wheel a little to get the full story.
https://www.excelmale.com/forum/sho...tric-Oxide-Stack&p=84976&viewfull=1#post84976

As we get older I agree. We just don't recover as fast. I rotate every 4 days and also have 1 or 2 day breaks in between in the cycle so I am about 5-6 days between groups. I work out each muscle group more though. I need more cardio though.

 

[Vince]

I feel working out regularly helps me both physically and mentally. I have no plans of ever stopping working out and exercising.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

The variable that people don't seem to address when talking about number of days per week is whether one goes to failure or not. I used to go to failure and beyond, and training that way I needed at least 3-5 days to recover. I now don't go beyond the point where I have to really grind against the weight and I am now much stronger across a broader array of lifts, and able to lift much more often. A good example is that we all work calves 7 days per week however it is usually well within our ability. I am not necessarily recommending what I do, however one of the biggest misconceptions in lifting is that one needs to go to failure to improve. If that were true farmers and gymnasts would not be strong, but they're really strong.

 

[SixHouse]

"Piqued" your interest. A peak is the top of a mountain
Stop lifting completely for 1 month as a test. Report back. If you've been lifting for over 20 years then you know anything you "lose" after a month off will come back quickly and easily.

 

[Vince]

"Piqued" your interest. A peak is the top of a mountain
Stop lifting completely for 1 month as a test. Report back. If you've been lifting for over 20 years then you know anything you "lose" after a month off will come back quickly and easily.

In the past, whenever I stop working out. I found it only made me lazy.

 

[Kaes]

We're all different. I've been working out religiously for over 30 years and this post made me think.
I'm pretty addicted to my morning gym routine, but I must say that, upon consideration, I, too, have felt a stronger libido during "forced" time off. Maybe the assumption that muscle mass and a strong cardio routine correlates with one's mojo is misguided. Hmmmm. Thanks for the comments. Interesting.

 

[sportsfan8724]

Kaes you still do light cardio right? I'm running into more and more people who weight train who have libido issues and feel shitty. Just is an interesting topic. Also the series on tom Brady this week is interesting his trainer has him stretch and do no weights and swears it's the secret to his ageless magic. He eats very on point and stays limber and obviously active but no weights and the man looks 28.

 

[FeelingLost]

Correct me if I am wrong here but we burn T when we exersize. If you exersize 5-6 times a week when does your body ever get the chance to make more.
Is our gas tank of T reserves being depleted faster than our bodies can make it? If that is the case would'nt you get all the symptoms of a person with low T?

I see so many 30 somethings on this forum asking questions with TT in the 300s but then they always write and I workout everyday or 5-6 days a week and see no gains and my blood test shows my T is low. I have brain fog and no energy.

I think there might be a correlation.

 

[sportsfan8724]

As more and more people are lifting more and more people are having issues. I think steady state cardio a few times a week is great. And maybe push ups, dips, pulls up, and body weight squats twice a week max might be ok but I fear many are doing more harm then good anymore. One fact is we need to be active such as walking and eat well! Bodybuilding after near twenty years of doing it has me just unsure anymore!