Less training, more life?

HowardHoward EuropeSilver Member Posts: 618
After almost 24 months when I was doing sports at first almost daily, then about 3x weekly, the last few months I've been doing sports often just once weekly: either a short gym workout (with about 15 mins HIT rowing & 30 mins or so bodyweight training or free weights) or a couple of hours on the water, whitewater kayaking (which is pretty aerobic and huge fun).

I make sure to sleep plenty when I can: 9 hours is great, 7 generally a minimum; and I sometimes nap for 20 minutes when I feel like it.

Mostly good (but not strict) eating habits, Intermittent fasting (no breakfast) sometimes, carb back loading occasionally (no carbs until evening), lots of natural supplements which support hormones: Pine Pollen is great, but I take too many herbs/vitamins/minerals to list, based on a lot of research. I think those make a difference. I'm 61 BTW.

Here's the thing: my muscles are still growing with less training...! and my body shape has changed: lately I see a pleasing broad-shouldered male "V shape" when I look in the mirror. And this has become more noticeable lately, even with LESS training.

Now I want to say there are changes afoot in my professional life & with my family-including my marriage- which feel pretty good, coming from the MAP and I would say just a general effort to raise my consciousness, do more of what I love and be closer to those I love. My wife likes me better ;-)

Probably many of you have experienced this already: the MAP starts out as a wish to get more sex, then morphs into developing health and positive habits....and ultimately finding out what a better version of yourself/your life can be. I guess your soul leads and your chemistry and body take the form.

I'm grateful to MMSL/the Forum for all of this. Thanks. May the road continue.


"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
"Do more of what you love."
BeatriceRorschachJen_KayShepardTenneeamblrgirlstillasamountainMrsJonLennyshibariIrishGypsy

Comments

  • CrashaxeCrashaxe Partytown, which is wherever I am.Gold Men Posts: 1,243
    edited December 6
    I have read that rest becomes more important to muscle development the older you get.

    This is a copy/paste from a post I made in a different thread:

    ...There is also an identified gene that leads to susceptibility to soft tissue injury. I most likely have it, as I have always battled a huge tendency to suffer tendinitis, tendinosis, etc, especially planter fasciitis and tennis elbow.. If there is a tendon, muscle or ligament that can be injured, I have probably injured it. 

    Perhaps somehow related to this genetic issue, I always grew muscle while avoiding injury much better by having incredibly long rest periods. 

    I started out going to the gym and working a body part 2-3 times a week for 2 years in high school and was the hardest of hard gainers. I could not gain muscle at all.

    When I ended up too busy in college the first semester of my Freshman year, I was only able to hit the gym once a week. As a result, I switched to working a muscle every week or 10 days with lots of active rest, and my muscles EXPLODED.. I left for college at 6'00" and 155 pounds. When I came home after that semester, I had gained 30 pounds of muscle, weighing in at 185 pounds. My family was convinced that I had started using anabolic steroids. Not the case. For me, of the three legs of the muscle building stool, lifting, nutrition, and rest, rest is the most important for my muscle development. I got huge because I used lots of rest as a strategic tactic to achieve my goals...

    “I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.” General James Mattis, USMC

    stillasamountainshibariPurpleHoward
  • stillasamountainstillasamountain CT, USASilver Member Posts: 521
    edited December 6
    I also did best on an extremely short / infrequent protocol. Tried it the way the muscle magazines recommended and just got burned out with slow to no progress. Cut way back on all the variables (frequency, reps, sets, exercises per bodypart, etc.) and like @Crashaxe experienced, the size and strength gains were crazy.

    Once or twice a week (at most) I would do a whole body workout with basic compound exercises that consisted of a couple "pushes", a couple "pulls", squatting and a couple isolation like calf raises and curls. 1 light warmup set then 1-2 working sets to utter failure. That was it. Maybe 20... 30 minutes tops.

    After a few months of the truncated protocol, I was 5'8", 170 pounds, benching and rowing 200+ pounds, with over 16" arms and gaining size fast enough to get stretch marks. And that was with a shitty diet and a drinking problem.

    Maybe it's purely a genetic / phenotype thing and it will only work for a certain subset of the population but... my suspicion is that a lot of people way overtrain. For me, whatever the reason, I needed the rest time to recharge both physically and mentally. It's worth investigating because, if it works for you, it saves a ton of time and effort. Maybe some wear and tear on the joints, too.

    “She was 3/4 perfection and 1/4 broken glass.”

    CrashaxeshibariPurpleHoward
  • CrashaxeCrashaxe Partytown, which is wherever I am.Gold Men Posts: 1,243
    edited December 6
    My workouts were no more than 20 minutes total time for two body parts, usually a 1 minute rest between sets. 

    I too developed stretch marks from rapid growth when I started lifting infrequently.

    When I got back into lifting after my first neck surgery at age 39 after a break of 2 years, nobody else could believe how I just exploded in 2 months without chemical augmentation, but I knew that I had dormant myosites just begging to be recruited.

    I gained 2 inches on my arms in 2 months when I got back into it..

    “I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.” General James Mattis, USMC

  • RorschachRorschach "Just ask the axis ..."Silver Member Posts: 1,458
    edited December 6
    Well, it depends where you're at, what you're trying to achieve. Not going to work for me. If it works for you, awesome.

    ETA: Training is life, so less training, less life.
    shibari
  • HowlAtTheMoonHowlAtTheMoon Silver Member Posts: 1,183
    Never underestimate the power of play. A kayaking excursion, a quick game of basketball with your buds, a game of beach volleyball. None of these are technically training, but it is activity. And more importantly, it is fun recreation that releases some happy hormones. Happy hormones promote a happy body and a happy body is more likely to naturall shift toward more optimal physicality.
    PurpleAngelineHoward
  • stillasamountainstillasamountain CT, USASilver Member Posts: 521
    Rorschach said:

    Training is life, so less training, less life.
    I'm more in the Life is life school.

    Regardless, I'm very glad that @Howard has found a balance point that seems to work well for him. 

    “She was 3/4 perfection and 1/4 broken glass.”

    Howard
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