Getting older - and fed up with getting injured!

[MrCarrot]

As per the title, 6 months ago I injured my shoulder doing weighted dips, it's never been right since but I can work around it.

5 weeks ago I got tendinitis in my knee, and even after resting it for weeks it feels the same.

Then on Tuesday this week I've strained a muscle around or inbetween my ribs - everything feels not too bad until I come to lie down and at that point it's excruciating! Been to the doctors and they have confirmed it's just a strain and should be better in 1-2 weeks. I did it doing weighted crunches and the ironic thing is at the time I lowered the weight by 20% and concentrated on my form!

10 years ago when I used to workout, injuries were something that just happened to other people. When someone would tell me about all their different injuries I used to think, "You must be doing something wrong if you keep getting injured." Now I have become that person and it's starting to p*** me off. If I lifted ridicilously heavy, or threw weights around I can understand, but I'm not particularly strong and I always lift with good form. In fact, none of my injuries actually hurt at the time, they appear a day or two later which often means I don't even know exactly what caused them. Furthermore my diet is good (300 calories above maintenance, I eat 90% wholesome foods, loads of fruit and vegetables, lots of protein, adequate fat and also take a multi vitamin and fish oil every day), and typically I sleep for 7 hours a night.

It's getting my down now though as just as I'm making really good progress something else comes along to set me back, and it feels like I'm gradually working my way around injuring each body part, and it leaves me wondering what's coming next. I guess getting older sucks, but I'm 39 years old and I'm sure there are people here older than me that aren't getting hurt all the time.

Anyway I am going on vacation soon so as from today I'm having 10 days off from the gym. I had hoped to get in a couple of decent workouts before I depart but that's not going to happen now.

[grubman]

Don’t get to discouraged...get healthy and back at it.

What are your rep schemes like, and what have they been in the past? I can only speak for myself, but I’ve always been primarily a 10 rep guy (even in the days of my youth), and my injuries have been minor and few and far in between.

As I mentioned in my “birthday post”, my reps have been getting even higher, with lots of exercises in the 12 range, several in the 15, and even up to 20 with lateral raises. I’m still lifting “heavy” for those rep ranges...but that kind of “heavy” is much different.

Knock on wood, but I haven’t felt any of the aches and pains I started to feel a few years back when I continued to lift at slightly higher weights. I know it’s a common recommendation, but IMHO there is a lot of sense there.

I also don’t push the progress as much as I used to. I still strive for progressive resistance, but I’m more patient these days. Sometimes I’ll use the same weight for months before feeling ready and confident about adding a 1/2 pound fractional weight...and then I’ll use that weight for months, or I’ll switch exercises, or rep schemes, for new stimulation and progress.

I know I’m not talking to an amateur , just throwing out peer conversation, and personal experience.

[shaneinga]

Simple answer, if you are going to play or partake in a sport, you can not expect to stay injury free. At least lifting weights is one of the lower risk for injury sports or activities that you can do.

Increase your time spent warming up and make sure you are doing mobility work. Also, listen to your body. It's only real way of letting you know something is wrong is pain. Ignore at your own peril.

[MrCarrot]

Simple answer, if you are going to play or partake in a sport, you can not expect to stay injury free. At least lifting weights is one of the lower risk for injury sports or activities that you can do.

Yes I never actually thought if it like that, but you're right.

Don’t get to discouraged...get healthy and back at it.

What are your rep schemes like, and what have they been in the past? I can only speak for myself, but I’ve always been primarily a 10 rep guy (even in the days of my youth), and my injuries have been minor and few and far in between.

As I mentioned in my “birthday post”, my reps have been getting even higher, with lots of exercises in the 12 range, several in the 15, and even up to 20 with lateral raises. I’m still lifting “heavy” for those rep ranges...but that kind of “heavy” is much different.

Knock on wood, but I haven’t felt any of the aches and pains I started to feel a few years back when I continued to lift at slightly higher weights. I know it’s a common recommendation, but IMHO there is a lot of sense there.

I also don’t push the progress as much as I used to. I still strive for progressive resistance, but I’m more patient these days. Sometimes I’ll use the same weight for months before feeling ready and confident about adding a 1/2 pound fractional weight...and then I’ll use that weight for months, or I’ll switch exercises, or rep schemes, for new stimulation and progress.

I know I’m not talking to an amateur , just throwing out peer conversation, and personal experience.

Thanks for the reply Grubman. I'm typically aiming for 8-10 reps and like you I have been going higher recently (14-16 reps). Two exercises where I generally do a set of 4-5 reps are incline bench press and weighted pull ups as I'm really trying to increase my strength on those excerises.

I always do a thorough warm up with really light weights, high reps and some stretching.

I think my shoulder injury occured from doing weighted dips and going too low. Perhaps I could still do them but with less ROM, but I've ditched them from my routine altogether since. I think the tendonitis in my knee happened because I got lazy doing dumbbell shrugs (having to manouvre and pick up heavy dumbbells from the floor), and instead loaded up a barbell on the rack. I'm guessing the end result was a barbell that wasn't difficult to lift a few inches off the rack, but was perhaps too heavy for my knees.

My recent ab/rib injury was from weighted crunches on the machine. As I mentioned I lowered the weight to what I normally use and really focused on my form and squeezing my abs - it felt great at the time and the injury didn't become apparent until 24 hours later. I have no idea how or why when you consider I've been doing this excercise with heavier weight, every week for over 6 months!

I'm hoping that 10 days off perhaps gives everything a bit of time to recover.

[andy0w]

It's just the age.

Focus on nutrition. If you don't replace what your body uses up things get thinner and thinner until they rupture or break.

[mckajdos]

......

I injured my shoulder doing weighted dips, it's never been right since but I can work around it.

....

Dealing with pretty much this exact situation myself. Very frustrating. I'm only 35 but can't help but feel age has a little to do with the relatively slow recovery.

All one can do really is be patient and allow the injury to properly heal. I'm not a patient person, though, so this is personally challenging...

[MrCarrot]

Dealing with pretty much this exact situation myself. Very frustrating. I'm only 35 but can't help but feel age has a little to do with the relatively slow recovery.

All one can do really is be patient and allow the injury to properly heal. I'm not a patient person, though, so this is personally challenging...

Yeah, with my latest rib thing I have no choice but to rest because you use your core in just about every exercise.

With my shoulder I didn't rest and just did excerises that didn't hurt/aggravate it. In a way it's made my bench press even more strict as I'm concious not to let my shoulders do any of the work. Bizzarely I can do OHP with a barbell fine but feel a little discomfort when using dumbbells. At the time I did wonder whether I should have rested it for several weeks, and I now wonder whether it would have made a 100% recovery if I had of done. With that said, if I took several weeks off doing upper body I would probably just end up not going back to the gym altogether. Furthermore, I rested my knee for almost 5 weeks and at the end of it, it felt exactly the same, not any worse but certainly not any better.

[Cantplankwell]

As per the title, 6 months ago I injured my shoulder doing weighted dips, it's never been right since but I can work around it.

5 weeks ago I got tendinitis in my knee, and even after resting it for weeks it feels the same.

Then on Tuesday this week I've strained a muscle around or inbetween my ribs - everything feels not too bad until I come to lie down and at that point it's excruciating! Been to the doctors and they have confirmed it's just a strain and should be better in 1-2 weeks. I did it doing weighted crunches and the ironic thing is at the time I lowered the weight by 20% and concentrated on my form!

10 years ago when I used to workout, injuries were something that just happened to other people. When someone would tell me about all their different injuries I used to think, "You must be doing something wrong if you keep getting injured." Now I have become that person and it's starting to p*** me off. If I lifted ridicilously heavy, or threw weights around I can understand, but I'm not particularly strong and I always lift with good form. In fact, none of my injuries actually hurt at the time, they appear a day or two later which often means I don't even know exactly what caused them. Furthermore my diet is good (300 calories above maintenance, I eat 90% wholesome foods, loads of fruit and vegetables, lots of protein, adequate fat and also take a multi vitamin and fish oil every day), and typically I sleep for 7 hours a night.

It's getting my down now though as just as I'm making really good progress something else comes along to set me back, and it feels like I'm gradually working my way around injuring each body part, and it leaves me wondering what's coming next. I guess getting older sucks, but I'm 39 years old and I'm sure there are people here older than me that aren't getting hurt all the time.

Anyway I am going on vacation soon so as from today I'm having 10 days off from the gym. I had hoped to get in a couple of decent workouts before I depart but that's not going to happen now.

Well I have developed some issues right now myself, which remain un-diagnosed ATM. So I am looking at a lengthy bit of a layoff from the gym for until it can be figured it out, I can still do other light cardio stuff, just no squats, snatches, cleans etc I can also manage my diet. Just how it is right now. its just as well because I have a lot of other stuff going on that is a lot more important than getting a new snatch PR. Give yourself a big break for awhile. Unless someone is paying you big bucks to look a certain way or you are a pro athlete killing yourself is not worth it.

[ElrondHubbard]

I was discussing this with my wife earlier, kind of curious that to this point I’ve managed to stay pretty much injury free. I get occasional mild elbow tendinitis, but nothing more serious than that. Is it because I’m still relatively “new” as a lifter (less than 2 years into my “comeback”, and the weights are still correspondingly light), is it the 3-day schedule giving me more recovery time?

She suggested that maybe it’s due to the fact I work out at home, with the same equipment each time, without the annoyance of having to deal with other people and their adjustments. My workouts end up more consistent, more leisurely, more relaxed, and less stressful than they’d be at a commercial gym.

I have no idea whether she’s on to something here, but it’s an interesting idea.

[mckajdos]

.....

Bizzarely I can do OHP with a barbell fine but feel a little discomfort when using dumbbells. At the time I did wonder whether I should have rested it for several weeks, and I now wonder whether it would have made a 100% recovery if I had of done.

.....

Same here. For me, mild discomfort on regular bench and no discomfort on OHP. Incline press though? Ouch!

I've been resting my shoulder (though not completely staying off it) for a couple weeks, and it does feel better, but it's not 100%.

Can't really imagine protracted absences from the gym. Honestly, I think I'd go nuts...

[OldFartTom]

Don't know how relevant (or irrelevant ) this is but... people who push themselves really really hard for a long time in sports can get weird pains, like one day they are limping on left leg next day pain is in shoulder, odd pain that moves about the body, and also picking up "silly" injuries.

Less usual in bodybuilding but par for the course in some endurance sports. The way they manage this is dropping the occasional training session, just not doing it. If and when to drop sessions to have a net benefit, well that's where experience and good judgment are needed.

Maybe you were overdue a couple of dropped sessions, maybe just take a week off?

To be clear this isn't the same as "take it easy", it's still about pushing hard, just hopefully well managed rest now and again before you get injuries. If this is relevant it's not your age, it's more related to training condition, the better shape you're in the more likely the problem

Also again questionable relevance, but I read (Dan John) that many injuries seem to happen the session following a PR (or sometimes a really good session, no PR). Not necessarily in the same thing as the PR, just injuries happen the following session unless someone backs off a little.

[Garage Rat]

Vacation should help relieve some of those aches and pains.
Being older you have to be really aware of your body and how it feels.
Just be smart and do what you can without having an issue.
This means you need to know what alternatives you have when or if something comes up.
Most older guys will have an issue now and then.
Good luck.

[kimm4]

It's just the age.

I'm not so sure I agree with this. I've been in the gym for over 34 yrs (competitive bb) mixing up between power/strength and hypertrophy programs. I'll be 51 in Jan no gym injuries, aches/pains, joint/tendon issues, etc...

OP how many days a week do train? Do you run scheduled deloads?

[Hulkfan1]

I do not think the issue is the age as much as it is not training correctly. By training I mean the balanced combination of nutrition, strength conditioning, aerobic conditioning, REST, and proper form.
I have only had a few fractures but those two were do to accidents and not in the gym.

I'm not so sure I agree with this. I've been in the gym for over 34 yrs (competitive bb) mixing up between power/strength and hypertrophy programs. I'll be 51 in Jan no gym injuries, aches/pains, joint/tendon issues, etc...

OP how many days a week do train? Do you run scheduled deloads?

[MrCarrot]

I was discussing this with my wife earlier, kind of curious that to this point I’ve managed to stay pretty much injury free. I get occasional mild elbow tendinitis, but nothing more serious than that. Is it because I’m still relatively “new” as a lifter (less than 2 years into my “comeback”, and the weights are still correspondingly light), is it the 3-day schedule giving me more recovery time?

She suggested that maybe it’s due to the fact I work out at home, with the same equipment each time, without the annoyance of having to deal with other people and their adjustments. My workouts end up more consistent, more leisurely, more relaxed, and less stressful than they’d be at a commercial gym.

I have no idea whether she’s on to something here, but it’s an interesting idea.

Perhaps 3 days is giving you more recovery time. Currently I'm doing 5 days a week. Regarding equipment, machines in particular, I always keep notes with regards to seat position (height, incline, etc) so I can ensure it's consistent each workout. 10 years ago I used to do a stupid bro split, lift a lot heaver than I am now and never once got injured. Perhaps that's just because I was younger, or luckier, or both.

Don't know how relevant (or irrelevant ) this is but... people who push themselves really really hard for a long time in sports can get weird pains, like one day they are limping on left leg next day pain is in shoulder, odd pain that moves about the body, and also picking up "silly" injuries.

Maybe you were overdue a couple of dropped sessions, maybe just take a week off?

You could be right, my sessions have been very intense recently. In fact, not only intense but probably too much volume. I've made an effort the last couple of weeks to keep the intensity but decrease the volume, but perhaps it's time for a week off, which I was going to do anyway as I'm going on vacation. It's frustrating that this happened just prior though.

Vacation should help relieve some of those aches and pains.
Being older you have to be really aware of your body and how it feels.
Just be smart and do what you can without having an issue.
This means you need to know what alternatives you have when or if something comes up.
Most older guys will have an issue now and then.
Good luck.

Thanks

OP how many days a week do train? Do you run scheduled deloads?

5 days a week. I tend to deload when my lifts stall for 2 consecutive weeks. By deload I mean drop weight though, not take time off.

*Edit*

On the plus side, I've just tried lying down, and whilst there is still some discomfort it's no way near as painful as yesterday, so maybe I was being a big baby!

[weiss1967]

high reps is the answer. 20-rep on all exercises. Doesn't mean you have to go light. I now bench 225 for 20, and I got there by doing high rep routines. This is what I do exclusively in last 7 years, high reps is an ultimate cure to lifting injuries. High reps doesn't mean you will not build strength, I don't know where this idea of "heavy-for-strength" coming from. First couple months it will feel weird and more painful than what you used to do, you have to be ready for this.

As for recovery, again, most misunderstood topic. Longer recovery means you will be recovering less effectively and actually fall out of shape between loading the same muscle groups. Anywhere between 48hrs and 72 hrs, preferably closer to 48. Before you ask, I am 52 years old, so stop blaming age, too early.

[MajorTendonitis]

The first thing that comes to mind was your not warming up enough ? (I see it was already mentioned) .
I have no choice and take Aleve (naproxen) almost daily for inflammation. Didn’t till my late 40’s though .
All I can suggest is try not to do explosive movements

[kimm4]

5 days a week. I tend to deload when my lifts stall for 2 consecutive weeks. By deload I mean drop weight though, not take time off.

*Edit*

On the plus side, I've just tried lying down, and whilst there is still some discomfort it's no way near as painful as yesterday, so maybe I was being a big baby!

No I do deloads the same way...still train and drop my weights down to 50%. Maybe 5 days is too much for you if you're going higher volume. I can't speak for everyone else but I normally train 5 days higher volume when I'm prepping for shows...off season or photo shoots 4 days with a bit less volume.

Hope you feel better good luck.

[tblodg15]

It’s definitely not just do to age.

I would think scheduled deloads every 4 to 6 weeks might be a good idea instead of only when lifts stall. At least it works for me at 51. I saw higher reps mentioned several times but what about reps in reserve? Do you usually leave reps in reserve or do you go close to failure?

I also do a “heavy” day, then a “light” day, then a “medium” day each week. The light day is just higher reps and choosing exercises that are less stressful. For example squats on heavy day are normal barbell back squats 6-8 reps, light day is Bulgarian split squats 10-15 reps, and medium day is paused safety bar squats 8-10 reps. All leaving 1-4 reps in reserve depending on where I am at in my mesocycle and going closer to failure before the scheduled deload. There are many ways to program but I am feeling great with my current method.

Good luck and enjoy the vacay!

[supramax]

It’s definitely not just do to age.

I would think scheduled deloads every 4 to 6 weeks might be a good idea instead of only when lifts stall. At least it works for me at 51. I saw higher reps mentioned several times but what about reps in reserve? Do you usually leave reps in reserve or do you go close to failure?

That was going to be my question to the chap that posted the 20 reps recommendation.

I also do a “heavy” day, then a “light” day, then a “medium” day each week. The light day is just higher reps and choosing exercises that are less stressful. For example squats on heavy day are normal barbell back squats 6-8 reps, light day is Bulgarian split squats 10-15 reps, and medium day is paused safety bar squats 8-10 reps.

I've used the DUP set/rep scheme that way and find that it doesn't work as well as using the same exercises for all three rep ranges.

[ezjax]

When I hit 30 I lowered my rep ranges and lifted for power.. I still play sports and the high rep moderate weight lifting for body comp thing was taking too much of a toll.. your joints are like any other joint on a structure. They wear out..

Some people are more durable than others.. gotta find a sweet spot where you can look good and feel good

Young trainers have no concept of this. It's a harsh reality that injuries are a big part of the game

[gipper53]

I'm just coming off a similar situation, but with a single injury. Did my workout on a Tuesday, everything was fine. Thursday morning I wake up at 3am with my right shoulder/arm in excruciating pain. Doc says just a muscle strain. Did a lot of stretching and icing. Took about two weeks to get back to normal. No clue what caused it directly, but my right arm was almost useless for a week. Hurt like hell just to raise it up on a desk to type on a keyboard. That was my first injury in my almost 2 years of training.

Just now getting back into my workouts after about 2 1/2 weeks off. Did a full body workout at about 75% of my normal weights and everything was good. The injury did give me a good excuse to buy a Safety Squat Bar, as BB squats have always given me a bit of shoulder discomfort. Hoping this helps.

[paulinkansas]

I'm 52 and have been lifting for 13 months after a 20 year lay off. Tried doing the same sort of sets and reps that I did when I was in my early 30's. 6-10 reps of heavy weight, all my joints were hurting. So I lowered the weight and all my sets are between 12-20 reps now. My joints stopped hurting.

[weiss1967]

That was going to be my question to the chap that posted the 20 reps recommendation.

I call it 20 but frankly, it is often 18-17 due to a complete failure. Sometimes I do 20 and feel something left in reserve, only find that next set it is getting harder, and third set I can't complete the full 20 reps. I call it "exhaustion pyramid", I mentioned this before, some folks may remember. The thing is, with higher reps, the failure is kind of smeared over two or three reps, where it is a failure but with a bit of cheating you can complete one or two more reps. So, no reserve, nothing left, deeper exhaustion than heavy with low reps. Basically, this is why I liked it in first place, high reps done right are more painful.

There is another peculiar quality about high reps. You may be getting painful intolerable lactic burn getting close to 20 reps with, say, 50% of your 1RM. But then, next set you bring the weight up to, say 80%, and all of a sudden you can complete 19 reps, and get no lactic burn whatsoever. You kind of have to stay above lactic burn level. You will see what I mean as soon as you try.

[supramax]

I call it 20 but frankly, it is often 18-17 due to a complete failure. Sometimes I do 20 and feel something left in reserve, only find that next set it is getting harder, and third set I can't complete the full 20 reps. I call it "exhaustion pyramid", I mentioned this before, some folks may remember. The thing is, with higher reps, the failure is kind of smeared over two or three reps, where it is a failure but with a bit of cheating you can complete one or two more reps. So, no reserve, nothing left, deeper exhaustion than heavy with low reps. Basically, this is why I liked it in first place, high reps done right are more painful.

There is another peculiar quality about high reps. You may be getting painful intolerable lactic burn getting close to 20 reps with, say, 50% of your 1RM. But then, next set you bring the weight up to, say 80%, and all of a sudden you can complete 19 reps, and get no lactic burn whatsoever. You kind of have to stay above lactic burn level. You will see what I mean as soon as you try.

Comprehensive answer. Thank you. When the smear starts, I think most people stop and call it 'leaving one or two reps in the bank'. The 50% to 80% phenomenon is interesting. I find when training to failure, which I always try to do, that the first set is the hardest set. So, that first set likely was the real warm up set.

[Rickck48]

One thing I have learned is to make sure of the control of my weights used. It also takes a lot longer with age to get over an injury. Time and patience.

[MrCarrot]

Well I am back from vacation and just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. Strangely, the rib strain disappeared around 3 days later. It was very much like DOMS; took 24 hours to surface and then vanished as mysteriously as it appeared. However it was certainly a lot more painful than DOMS.

In any case, I've had 10 days off, mostly sticking to my nutrition but no working out other than a bit of swimming. I've come back somewhat weak but I'm easing into things gradually and expect to be back to full strength in a week or so. Hopfully by then I won't be making a thread regarding another injury...