Not quitting now, but trying to downsize and refine more than train heavy to grow.
I am 38, but been doing this about 23 yrs now and hitting gear half my life. I have several friends who are in their 50's and 60's and they've been a great example for me of how to adjust training and gear as I get further along. I'm not old, but it's what I would call "gym old", where little aches and pains are a regular thing.
What I've found with just TRT and usually just a low to moderate dose of 1 other compound added in, is that size is easily kept. Even when I'm starving I can jump on the scale and weigh 230, fairly lean at 5'9.
So the goal is to slowly drop weight and overall mass and try to be closer to the 200lb mark, which seems impossible at this point unless I stopped lifting altogether and only did cardio. That isn't gonna happen.
So gear wise? Not much needed at all, but I still like that edge! I have changes my training a lot this past year or so, i do things I never would have done in the past such as HIT rounds of cardio before each set of weights, battle ropes, kettlebell swings, jumping rope, all of these for "rounds of 1-2 minites and THEN hit the set of weights.
I have to earn each set by performing the HIT cardio round first. It forces me to do cardio and often abs since I count 1 min of steady ab work as HIT cardio also. I go back and forth with different HIT cardio techniques and then a weight set.
That feeling of "i didn't do enough in the gym" goes away quick when combining HIT cardio rounds with each set. I can still get relatively heavy even after the HIT cardio rounds.
Figured after a few weeks of this that scale would show a weight shift. Nope!!! Still 230 as of today. So at this point it's going to be all abt lowering cals gradually into something I can practice and live with over time. Yoga, swimming, all of that is not to be excluded during my new goal of being a leaner and more downsized version of myself.
Honestly I could probably hold plenty of size with just TRT alone. It's made me to back to placing more emphasis on my training and diet than worrying abt how the training proceeds the gear. I've reversed that thought process.
Bottom line is overall health at this point. Most early demises of bodybuilders are from the guys that never downsized beyond abt 40-50yrs of age and we have seen countless examples of old school dudes still banging weights while others suffered health issues.
I believe 100% it's overall size as we age that's the culprit that takes ppl out. Joints, tendons, all of the connective tissues and cardio need to be #1.
No more cycles over 2 compounds at a time and training has gradually gone to more volune, shorts rest periods, and weights I can more easily control. I'm starting this now, not when I'm 50+ yrs old. There is more to life and I'm involved in more than just gym
I've enjoyed hiking a lot, mountain biking, pretty much the modern day Dorian Yates approach minus getting stoned
. In the beginning its like being sunburned every morning for the first hour .
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