When an old git meets a new gym

I think I've died and gone to heaven - look what the nice people at Robert Gordon University have provided for the people of Aberdeen

My problem is that now I've found a decent free weights gym, I want to get stronger ASAP without overtraining and/or injury. I haven't done any weight training for about 5 years and I'm still sore from my er warm up session on Thursday which consisted of;

3Sx10R bench 40 kg
3x10 squat 40 kg
3x10 military press 20kg
Plus a few dips, chin-ups, pull-ups, crunches and hyperextensions to test the kit but no proper sets.

My question is, how do I get to a level when I can calculate a meaningful 1 rep max? Eventually I want to figure out a program for explosive & speed strength making sure my lower back strength gets improved (it's currently really pants ).

Is there a generally agreed approach for a pre-training phase prior to getting into a structured weights program?

BTW, in the distant past I could bench 80kg for 2-3 reps and squat ~110-120kg for 3-5 reps. Will 'muscle memory' kick in (if it exists) or will I have to train like I've never been able to lift that much?

 

As far as i know, if you still have the muscle from five years ago (which if you've been sedentary, I highly doubt you will) you would just have to do strength training again until you could get back up to where you were before. But if you've atrophied (lost muscle) then you're going to probably have to hypertrophy (grow muscle), along with strength training to get yourself back there. I'd do a couple of months of strength/hypertrophy training before you get back into your one rep maxes, but other people will probably tell you different things.

As far as getting back into it goes, just soften the blow to your body, I wouldn't start as though you're a beginner, but not far off. Come into it like you have already and each time you go to the gym, just increase the weight, I'd do this until you find your level.

 

Bit of atrophying has gone on I have to say :cry: but not really bad.

I'll try the slow but steady increase in weights for a few months before trying any programs that involve 1RM's or high percentages of it.

Cheers.

 

Lol if its from 5 years befre, and you havent lifted weights, then yes itll take you quite a few months to get back upto your original level

 

I feared as much but the main thing for me is to start at a realistic level that's not too heavy too soon and not too wussy with 1kg pink dumb-bells for a month

 

My advice would be to just get back into it, no matter what the first week you will hurt anyway, so goto your maximums when you first go back, just rmemeber to rest

 

You don't have to do 1RMs, triples or doubles are very good indicators of max singles without the risk of injury.

My advice is to do a full-body routine 2-3x a week for a month or so, with the big compound movements, and then think about giving muscle groups their own day and work up to the low rep heavy sets.

 

Thanks. I wasn't necessarily aiming to do a 1RM but I wanted to be able to sensibly calculate it so I could assess all these programs that use some percentage of the 1RM.

Based on what I've read here + rest of t'internet I think I'll do squats, benches, pull-ups, chins and dips in varying proportions in 2 sessions a week for a month or so. I would do dead lifts as well but I'll need to find someone who knows what they're doing to correct my form before I try anything other than a naked olympic bar.

Given that core strength is a key issue for me, I'll also do some crunches and hyperextensions. Because my back is weaker than my abs I'll try and even them up a little.

 

I think deadlifts hit your lower back so they would be a good addition for you as you say your back is currently quite "pants" but like you say you'll need someone experienced to show you the form as you dont want to hurt it.

Like others have said take it easy going back into it and you'll get to where you were before.

 

If you need someone to go over your form with deadlift, how are you with squats, they're pretty much part of the same action, are you doing your squats correctly? When you say you're going to do squats, benches, pull-ups, chins and dips, you don't mean all in one workout do you? It's just that that'd be a bit too much. Squats does lower back, so I don't think you'll need to worry about hyperextensions, but if you're trying to balance it up, and it's an issue for you, then I see nothing wrong with adding them.

 

Thats not very smart. DOMS is inevitable when you havent trained for a while but to go back to your maximums is asking for injury and will likely cause soreness for upto a week.

Do a full body workout with light weights to help your body get re-accustomed. After a couple of workouts you can start to up the weight. It's important to listen to your body.

 

My problem is that I don't really know what my maximum is anymore and I'm trying to figure out a sensible way of inching toward it without damaging mself. I guess the definition of light weights would cover the weights I was using in my first session so I'll stick with those for a while in 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps.

Well, I assume my squatting technique is OK as I haven't injured myself doing squats in the past (bog standard parallel upper leg ones) and a few power lifters have said my technique was OK. However, it's not easy to tell unless someone knowledgeable is standing next to you. I'll see if there is a free weights guru in the sports centre. I've shied away from asking the staff too much as previous experience has shown me that a lot of them in most sports centres don't know anything about free weights. However, given the quality of the kit in this gym, someone there must know something about free weights.

I don't plan on doing all those techniques in one session, that was just what I was doing for a few reps in the first one to get a feel for it again. I'm just away off there now so I'll stick with squats, benches and maybe some crunches and a few hypers. All after a warm up of course.

 

i obviously didnt mean go back to 80kg, becuase he wont be able to do it, im saying just work to his maximum of what he is now, cos hell hurt no matter what, dont bench 20kg if he can bench 50, itll just take longer to get back into it

 

oh ok, fair enough

 

Aye well, I'm getting there. 1 set of 10 with 50kg on squats and bench today plus a few more sets of 10 with 40kg.

I've also booked a slot for a personalised free weights induction this week.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

Unless you are in a very-open minded gym, don't take everything they say to be 100% truth. Often instructors will tell you to do stuff like quarter squats rather than full squats because it is "bad for the knees" which is utter garbage. If you have any queries, bring them here

 

This will be the first place I'll come to

Even I realise that quarter squats are no use. I've been doing full squats with lighter weights in the last couple of sessions.

BTW, regarding squats, one guy in there warmed up on 20KG then did some sets on 60KG then some sets on 100KG. 40KG seems like a pretty big jump to me seeing as it probably wasn't far off being half his body weight.

 

Right on Adam. I went to a "social" gym the other day as my parents had some free passes so I thought I would have a look in. I was doing full deep squats (20 reps program) and this sunbedded gym instrcutor (I use the term instructor loosely) came over looking very concerned. He said that if I was going to squats wrong I should come to one of his inductions. We argued for about 20 mins me saying deep squats strengthening the knees him claiming it damaged them. I do squats purely for functional strength so decided to leave when he said I am better off lifting more and doing half squats as it will make my thighs look bigger.

 

If I hear the words 'tone', 'don't do full squats' or 'why don't you try the machines, they're so much better' I'll do a runner.

 

Tell them to either stick to the sunbeds or do some research in the appropriate literature. You could tell them to watch the O-lifting next time an event comes down, tell them not to squat deep!