GeorgiAg said:
I'm mid 50s and had a routine at the gym where I would stretch a good bit every time I went. I built a home gym and I have not been doing it as much. That wasn't that great of a routine, and I've gotten really stiff since I don't really do that.
In my 40s I dated a chick that was really into yoga and did that a good bit. In hindsight, I felt great. I moved away and have not done yoga since. I'd feel kind of weird doing that now - it's mostly women where I've been. I would have felt weird going without her, especially in the beginning. I/they got used to me being there, but I'd be very weird just showing up to some place now. Plus I way too stiff to do anywhere close to what I did before. I also don't want to commit that much time to it.
Any recommendations to limber up for a dude in his mid-50s? I know I can google but I'm looking for something you find useful.
Everything hurts. Mid-back, some low back pain but not as bad as mid-back, shoulders, hammies,
Honestly, lifting weight/resistance training is technically stretch under load. Basically, IF you're using full range of motion in your lifts with proper form, you should be able to get as much mobility and "stretching" as with yoga. And the studies back that up.
Now, NOTHING wrong with adding yoga to be more mobile. And if you like it, do it. But you don't "need" it to have more mobility. I used to do yoga. But I found a reasonable hypertrophy or strength program, with emphasis on full ROM and the stretch especially with great technique has made me MUCH more mobile where it counts. Ass to grass squats, making sure your pull ups allow for complete stretch at the bottom with controlling the concentric, adding lengthened partials even, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Be VERY deliberate with your form. Not saying to do 8 second eccentrics or anything but a controlled eccentric and concentric and a focus on form and technique over weight actually lifted is the key. So, yes, you'll HAVE to drop weights to lighter levels at first, but you'll see the pain will start to go away, the gains will come faster and better and your mobility likely will be the best you e ever had. And you never have to do yoga. Period. Also, consider recovery from in your training. A lot of folks develop issues while training b/c they don't also consider recovery strategies like deloading when the time is right, actually taking days off or even a full week a few times a year. While I get that consistency is the issue for most people when it comes to adding work outs to their life, after you e reached a certain level, consider taking a few days off when pain starts to arise and try to be on top of it. For us folks that are more advanced, it's this that can help get rid of a lot of joint and connective tissue issues and stiffness. Finally, add some mobility to your pre workout routine. Now, not suggesting doing 30 minutes of "pre-hab" BS, I saying 5-10 min tops of exercises to open your hips, shoulder and back etc. or just warm up properly with the bar and work your way up in the actual exercise you are doing can be enough to mobilize. I bench with the bar first, no other mobilitizing, and work up to the target weight. I'm always completely warmed up by then and I was able to skip all the band work. But, I know my body really well. If I need shoulder mobility added, I can tell the signals and grab a band and spend 5 minutes mobilizing and I'm good to go. Again, it's not bad to do as long as it's short and sweet (obviously this is in consideration of certain contraindications where one probably should do more mobility work. Say, prior serious injuries etc)
Follow Mike Isrealtel, Jared Feather, Eric Janicki, Eric Helms if you want to see what I mean.
