Core Commit to Health & Fitness 2017, 2nd Round: March-May

[littleman]

>And in those two brief phrases, you've summed up the entire problem

Yeah.  Does that come across as hypocritical?  What I was getting at with the above statement is that there needs to be a balance between maintaining strength and pushing your body too far.  Where that is is really different for each person.  You had the sense to stop at 205lbs. instead of pushing further.

It's sarcopenia vs. injury as you get older, so there are risks in not doing any resistance training too.

>real trick

You could never really go back to regular eating habits.

[rcjordan]

>regular eating habits

Especially as I age. It takes only minuscule portions to sustain my weight now if I eat a normal diet. That's one reason I stay on the edge of low carb even when I am at a good weight --BIG portions of meat and I feel full.  That said, I've noticed that meals are becoming less & less a 'main event' of my day.  I'm also naturally gravitating to smaller portions.   

[ergophobe]

Does that come across as hypocritical?

Not really. I don't want to get hurt, but there are also things that I would really enjoy doing that require, yes, not being hurt, but also being fit. I see it as more a tug and pull between two good things, than hypocrisy per se (telling me that I'm stupid for doing X and then using it as your secret weapon to prep for our upcoming competition).

[littleman]

I was really talking about my own foolishness in the gym.  Two years ago I was benching heavy and developed a shoulder ache, I am still dealing with some pain and stiffness.  A few months back I pulled something in my abdomen going heavy with deadlifts.  Both times my muscles were capable, but some other bit of me said "you shouldn't have done that".  The rub is that I know what is sensible, but in the moment I push it.

[ergophobe]

As you said, the flip side is going too easy and losing strength as you age. It's not hypocritical so much as having two things in tension and trying to find the right midpoint. When we undershoot, we don't know how much we're hurting ourselves until a decade later and we've lost so much muscle (my mistake this last decade). When we overshoot, we know it in the moment or the next day and think we should have gone easier. We won't be on-target every day.

[Rupert]

and lets face it we lose 2% per year over 50 on average I understand. does not seem like much until you start putting it together.