Over 40, coming back after many months off.

[2Thick]

Trained very consistently for well over 25 years with very few layoffs lasting more than a week or 2.

Jacked up my shoulder a while back. Have been out many months, shoulder is better. No surgery was needed.

Don't look that bad. Still pretty big and muscular. Lost a few pounds of bodyweight, gained a bit of fat, muscles have flattened and softened a bit.

46, weighed close to 230 @ 5'7 before layoff. Now weigh 210-220 or so, depending upon what time of day it is.

Used to hit legs and back really hard. Trained 4 days a week, 12-15 sets for most bodyparts, 8-10 sets for smaller ones. Worked quads separately from calves and hammies. Did lots of squats, rack pulls, bb and t-bar rows, pullups, leg presses, machine squats, hacks, bb presses and curls, etc - the basics.

I'm about to start back, and am curious as to how bad it will be and how long it will take me to hopefully get back to where I was a year or 2 ago. I have no doubt my cardio and muscular endurance have suffered - I'll probably need to work my way back up in volume over many weeks/months. Not sure how much strength I've lost. I always did both high and low reps.

Anybody ever go through anything similar at a similar age?

[T-REX007]

I am 49, had something similar happen to me at age 46...... I was able to come back pretty quickly, strength took a few months to get back where I was before the layoff- I really believe muscle memory kicks in, especially if you have done it consistently and natural for many years....  My lifts have stayed pretty stable the last few years and size is still there- can still hit a 405 paused bench any day of the week at 212 lbs     

[Donny]

I think best to start again with Full Body or split your routine in two and go from there. Train one half and take 1/2 days off and hit the other half.

[2Thick]

A 405 lb paused bench press at 49 (or any age!) is awesome, particularly if you're natural!

I eased back into it recently - on the first day back I did quads on a Saturday, took a couple of days off. Did chest the following Tuesday, back Thursday (including several sets of rack deads), hammies the following Sunday, shoulders the next Tuesday, arms the next Thursday.

Warmed up thoroughly, pyramided up over a number of sets in small increments, didn't push TOO hard at first. Strength was down some 15-20%, and cardio and especially muscular endurance were also down a bit as I had predicted. Shoulders, triceps, and also biceps and forearms somewhat were quick to fatigue and burn and cramp a bit.

As for quads - the squats, machine squats, leg presses, and hacks have never been a picnic, and were hell to get back into.

I'm no stranger to soreness, but it's worse when you're older and have been off many months. I'm just glad I can train at my home gym and not have to go to the public gym if I don't want to.

[jpm101]

I agree about full body workouts.  But 2thick has jumped into the deep end of the pool, so whatever.

A full body workout, of 3X10-12, three times a week of 3 to 4 weeks duration. just to get the body readjusted to the stress it will be getting. Also remember, the more we age, he more recovery time between workouts of any type.

And the more we age, might find that less is more in regards to what we need for progress in strength and size. Less exercises and less sets per body parts, etc. All based on recovery, of course.


Good Luck.

[falco]

Back or chest, use only underhand grips on everything. On shoulder presses keep your palms facing inwards.

[Dr Dutch]

Resist the urge to go too fast or go to failure......you'll progress enormously even if you take it relatively easily.

Says Dr Dutch