Q: I’m 45 years old, 20 years your junior. I was blown away by the Old Man, Young Muscle ebook and workout. It all makes so much sense. But I’m wondering if my younger age means that I should add sets to the workouts you recommend?
A: First, I’m 63, so you’re only 18 years younger. It’s the gray beard, isn’t it? Seriously, your question is tough to answer because recovery ability is so specific to the individual.
There are also lifestyle factors involved, such as how much time you have to train, do you want longer workouts, and do you eat a fairly healthy diet with enough protein, get seven to eight hours of sleep each night, etc.
Those all affect how you recover from more volume, even if you’re younger—not as much if you’re in your 20s, but after 40 absolutely…
Also consider that it’s not just about recovery but supercompensation. You want to recover and then leave enough time and energy to grow after you repair. That’s the ideal time to train again. Otherwise, you just spin your wheels…
You also didn’t mention if you’re a rank beginner or you have some years of lifting under your belt.
Legendary trainer Vince “Iron Guru” Gironda would have beginners train full-body workouts five days in a row for a few weeks. That built coordination, neuromuscular efficiency, and consistency.
Gironda’s theory was that beginners aren’t capable of doing much damage because of lack of those first two—coordination and neuromuscular efficiency on basic exercises. Full recovery would happen in less than 24 hours—at least for the first few weeks. But I digress…
When it comes to volume, I can tell you that experimentation is a good idea no matter what your age. I’ve mentioned that when I got my cable machine, I upped my volume because I was so motivated. My workouts were lasting 50 minutes to an hour each…
After a month, I had lost muscle. My aging body was telling me that was too much. Once I pulled back to my original OMYM workout volume, I regained muscle quickly. I also reintroduced Speed Sets, but that’s another story (maybe in the next training newsletter).
Here’s how I looked after a couple of months with my new cable unit vs. now…
I probably kept my shirt on because I was only weighing about 180 after many weeks of longer workouts. The shirtless photo was taken two weeks ago; I weigh 192 and that’s with less volume: 35-to-40-minute workouts three times a week.
So if you’ve got the time and desire, you can add volume—just be cautious…
I suggest you start with the OMYM workout as is. Use it as it’s listed for a month or so, then go from there. You don’t want to quickly dig yourself into an overtraining rut. It can become a deep hole, and if you get too stringy, some gravediggers may try to bury you in it.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For more mass-building tips like the above plus complete workouts that include the ideal exercise for each muscle and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
Mass-Building Lessons From the Iron Guru
Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).
Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…
You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.
Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE