So I am now 58+. Took a little off time from the gym due to life, c0vid, work, etc. It really wasn’t long. 4 months, but wow, how my default strength levels have dropped.
So would you, as a guy around my age, focus on re-establishing strength, just letting the hypertrophy secondary effects happen, or focus on hypertrophy, taking sets reasonably close to failure, and just enjoy the reestablishment of strength gains that come with that?
I used a lighter weight, which felt heavier than I thought it would be, after a few warmup sets. My personal choice is taking to failure and beyond, ending with partials and stretch position holds.
I really don’t want to do a blended routine as those, to me, are super boring and very hard to work into my work schedule.
Somewhat related, and I think I saw an article here, prob from Thibs, saying that of the trinity of hypertrophy, is “muscle damage” the least important? I mean, with a high level of fatigue and tension, how do you not have damage?
My preference, were it me, would be to go strength-first, as that will feed into anything else I might want to do later
I have focused on strength. The muscle has come along. I was starting from scratch. My base strength had diminished quite a bit. Goals as simple as getting off the couch without using my hands, or getting out of my car without it being a life and death struggle, were vogue. I use a “traditional” full body, three times a week approach. Without training for “functional” strength, my “functional” or overall strength has come along just fine. The mirror test has revealed I am building muscle where it should be, and losing fat where I wish it wasn’t. The Corona kicked my arse, but I am slowly making a comeback. I hope your training goes well.
I’m only a spry 44, but this all depends on what you mean by “strength focus” and what you’re trying to do with your weight training.
I still do a bit of both at times, by most definitions of the term, but I don’t really think of my lifting in strength/size terms anymore. I move well first, and then hit the gas when it feels good.
I know if I’m hitting the gas because I pursued strength as a goal in my 30’s. I know what a hard set is for me and isn’t, and I’m okay with shutting things down if anything feels off at this point.
Lately it’s been kettlebells outside in the near-perfect weather we’ve had for the last couple of months. The heaviest I have are double 70’s, and there’ve been days where I’ve swung those around pretty hard. It sure seemed like strength training to me and my ass felt like I did some sort of bodybuilding or something.
I’m sure I’ll be fine when I deadlift again. Squatting under the bar is hopefully in my near future as well. KB squats are starting to feel good after some unpleasant right knee drama.
In other words, I say let it rip if it feels good, can’t go wrong with a strength program or bodybuilding. You tend to get one with the other. I suppose you could say that my default is now more “bodybuilding”, insomuch as I’m not particularly concerned with the weight on any given day and instead focus on movement and firing certain muscles.