I am a bit over 30. Throughout HS, College, and a few years afterwards, I lifted weight religiously…going so far as to compete in local (AAU, etc.) powerlifting events. Those days are long gone.
Once my career started up, I stopped lifting and training on a regular basis. My physique and health have suffered.
I started back lifting hard about three months ago and have really gotten back into the groove. Those stories I read about muscle memory seem to be true as I have been able to quickly get back to where I was, and in some cases, exceed plateaus that I have written down from yrs ago. I am a meso/endo morph and gain weight and fat very easily.
With this as a background I have noticed an issue over the last few months…something that I did not have happen before. I think I know the case, but I want to post it here for advice.
My support muscles, primarily in my upper arms, seem to be the limiting factor in compound movements. For example, after doing heavy seated shoulder presses, my triceps get more sore than my delts. When I do heavy seat/incline back rows, my biceps also get smoked. My natural thought is that they muscles are underdeveloped compared to the main focus muscle group. This could very well be so, but it has continued for several months…even after focusing on direct growth of these muscles.
What I find so bizarre is that this rarely if ever happened during my 8+yrs of training in the past. What I also find bizarre is that, other than my DLs, my compound pressing and pulling lifts are stronger now, after a 6+ yr layoff, than when I was in my early 20s. This is only after several hard weeks of training.
Could this soreness be an age thing or is it as simple as my supporting upper arm muscles are the weakest-link-in-the-chain? Also, is it normal to retain most, if not all of your muscle memory after a long layoff, and to come back stronger?