I think I'm done lifting heavy(75%1rm) heart issues..

[carverelli]

SiSome of you know I've had OHS for a defective aortic valve in Aug2012. My surgeon has been monitoring an enlarged aorta through CT scans. Normal size is <4cm. mine has grown to 4.7 cm. My surgeon said intervention should be seriously considered at 5.5cm.

Last night I read of a case from a guy(weightlifter) from Iran that went to the ER after his workout complaining of stabbing chest pain. After diagnosing a ruptured aorta they performed emergency surgery. he died the next day after slipping into a deep coma.


High blood pressure plays a part, but moreso its the extremely high yet momentary pressure exerted as the intra abdominal pressure is exerted on heavy lifts such as a squat or deadlift.

After reading that case about the Iranian lifter, I've pretty much decided I'm as big as i need to be and any size increases from here on out will be done with lighter weights. I've been reading about time under tension routines and rest-pause lift etc.

I'm on self administered trt of 120mg test C e5d and most likely stay with that for the time being. Any 'blast' would be short ester short duration with my BP being very closely monitored.

Thoughts?

 

[49ER]

Smart move youll last a whole lot longer now

 

[SoCalSwole]

You don't need to lift super heavy to get big. Higher reps. longer sets. It's a proven fact. For me I find it much more rewarding to be able to bench 225 for like 30 reps then 500 for 1 rep. Quality of the muscle greatly increases as well. You look like your on Mast and winny all the time. Size comes from Hypertrophy, engorging the muscle with blood. The only way to do that is from TUT and a shit ton of reps.

 

[Mprtz]

Hey carverelli, I assume you have type 12mg should be 120mg every 5 days? I would absolutely do the same in your situation Tougher for the powerlifting crowd (I remember there was a guy on here who was struggling with giving up lifting heavy after a heart diagnosis - haven't seen him around for a while).

Best of luck to you!

 

[carverelli]

Hey carverelli, I assume you have type 12mg should be 120mg every 5 days? I would absolutely do the same in your situation Tougher for the powerlifting crowd (I remember there was a guy on here who was struggling with giving up lifting heavy after a heart diagnosis - haven't seen him around for a while).

Best of luck to you!

Yur right -it shouldve been 120 mg

and thank you. For 245 lbs, I'm not that strong. I've had to work on it to get where I'm at. It's just little disheartening lol to give up on hefting heavy weights, although it's most likely an ego thing.

Like was mentioned from another poster, tut and other methods are going to be my mainstay. Hell it might even make me bigger and more detailed. We shall see. I need to do more research on new lifting routines( methods) then maybe start a log detailing my efforts. I guess I'm just old school but now forced to adopt other ways.

 

[carverelli]

You don't need to lift super heavy to get big. Higher reps. longer sets. It's a proven fact. For me I find it much more rewarding to be able to bench 225 for like 30 reps then 500 for 1 rep. Quality of the muscle greatly increases as well. You look like your on Mast and winny all the time. Size comes from Hypertrophy, engorging the muscle with blood. The only way to do that is from TUT and a shit ton of reps.

I hope your right friend AND it works for me. I love the iron, and it would really suck to find a new hobby at darn near 50 years young

Thanks for your comments

 

[SoCalSwole]

Yur right -it shouldve been 120 mg

and thank you. For 245 lbs, I'm not that strong. I've had to work on it to get where I'm at. It's just little disheartening lol to give up on hefting heavy weights, although it's most likely an ego thing.

Like was mentioned from another poster, tut and other methods are going to be my mainstay. Hell it might even make me bigger and more detailed. We shall see. I need to do more research on new lifting routines( methods) then maybe start a log detailing my efforts. I guess I'm just old school but now forced to adopt other ways.

Turn a new leaf Bro! I'll bet anything that once you bring your endurance up with those long sets You will grow. The difference in the high rep sets is not so much grunting it out with the strength its more how much can you push your pain threshold when the lactic acid builds up and the blood starts stretching things and it gets painful. That's where the size is in this type of training. Why some can't succeed in it. They stop when it starts to hurt. Working through the pain is the key to growth here. I am not talking about bad pain I think at this point everyone has an idea what I am talking about.

 

[carverelli]

Smart move youll last a whole lot longer now

Thanks, that's my thinking as well. My wife of 27 years told me she would rather have a smaller live husband than a big dead one. Hopefully, I can give her a big live one for another 30 years. She kind of has a thing for my pythons lol

 

[tury694]

Yeah man keep yourself safe. Health matters more than anything. Stay safe and I'll be wishing you the best man.

 

[anzel]

Yeah I had a good run going heavy but all of it and my age and my job started to break me down. I was getting injured more and my joints were killing me. My typical sets are 15,12,10,8 now instead of 10,8,6,4 and I still love doing 5x5 sessions for squats but I dropped the weight and now do 2 burner stets of high reps at the end. Its great ! After the 5 x 5 I reduce the weight and it feels like a feather and I do 20-30 reps.

Also my rear shoulder been hurting a tad lately , mostly when I do pull ups or pull downs. I used to pop advil and go hard regardless.... no more of that. I just went light with high rep and used perfect form with a nice hard squeeze and theres no pain and my back feel good sore the next day and no pain either!
So yes you are gonna do fine !

 

[carverelli]

Tonight is leg(squat) day. I'm thinking about pre exhaust workout using high rep leg presses first to wear out my quads. Then back squats... maybe 275 will feel like 335. Then on to lunges

 

[Dreaded Pirate Roberts]

lower the blood pressure. Why lift heavy lift light and slow.

 

[carverelli]

lower the blood pressure. Why lift heavy lift light and slow.

BP is controlled. I lift heavy cuz I always have, call it old school thinking if you like. Seldom under 5 reps mind you but working sets are rarely over 15 reps unless it's a warm up.

Like I said in an earlier post, maybe it's just ego? I just have always heard size comes from 5-10 reps , strength range is 1-5 reps. Gonna have to adjust my thinking as well as my training. And hopefully still look like a decent sized bb with cuts

 

[Roush]

I used to like lifting heavy and luved hearing and feeling full stacks slam down after failure.. After waking up one night feeling like I'm in the middle of a heavy leg day, and ending up at doctors getting an EKG done.. I'm done lifting heavy.
I lift with my wife, I'll lift whatever she lifts, instead of the whole stack and she throws on 70 lbs, I'll do that (no ego), I'll just squeeze and contract the whole time under tension (like a flexing routine, but during your workout). Don't wanna be back at the doc with those issues,, I will lift like a girl during my next cycle and prob feel better healthier and make plenty of gains with less risk.

I advise everyone to get a sexy female lifting partner to preserve your health.. Ego lifting big weights to impress other guys in the gym is fuckin gay as can be

 

[Buzzbait]

Lighter workouts makes sense, ESPECIALLY for older cats like us. But damn brother, y'all admit, those three to five reps that's heavy as hell, (with good form) is a feeling that I can't get with 8-12 reps. BUT longevity does not run in my family at all. So fuck it, I'm going to kill it before it kills me. Good luck brother. Just kill it, with one rep or 30 reps...

 

[SoCalSwole]

I hope your right friend AND it works for me. I love the iron, and it would really suck to find a new hobby at darn near 50 years young

Thanks for your comments

I can only speak from experience and what I have seen. Look at all the pro's they are all doing sets of 20 or better reps. Sure they do some heavy lifting once in a while. But you don't see any of them doing reps below 12-15. Jay cutler is the exception but he is a genetic freak, and he does about 10 sets a muscle group so he might not do a lot of reps per set but the total rep count is up there.

Look at all those huge swoll prison dudes they are all about reps and drop sets. 100 rep sets is nothing for those guys and the quality they can build with limited resources is pretty amazing. Look at the legs on Sprinters. Fucking huge same deal lots of reps low weight.

 

[Buzzbait]

I can only speak from experience and what I have seen. Look at all the pro's they are all doing sets of 20 or better reps. Sure they do some heavy lifting once in a while. But you don't see any of them doing reps below 12-15. Jay cutler is the exception but he is a genetic freak, and he does about 10 sets a muscle group so he might not do a lot of reps per set but the total rep count is up there.

Look at all those huge swoll prison dudes they are all about reps and drop sets. 100 rep sets is nothing for those guys and the quality they can build with limited resources is pretty amazing. Look at the legs on Sprinters. Fucking huge same deal lots of reps low weight.

Ronnie Colman was a huge advocate of heavy weight. And he in my opinion has been the largest monster to bust fucking concrete when he walked

 

[SoCalSwole]

Ronnie Colman was a huge advocate of heavy weight. And he in my opinion has been the largest monster to bust fucking concrete when he walked

Always exceptions, Ronnie is not human. And he paid for all that heavy work dearly. "everybody wanna be a bodybuilder but ain't no body wanna lift no heavy ass weight

 

[Havasu]

Look into Blood Flow Restriction Training as well. You can achieve a lot of work to the muscle with much lighter weight, having a similar effect as training heavy on hypertrophy. It's not just used during rehabilitation. It can be very useful for regular training.

 

[carverelli]

Look into Blood Flow Restriction Training as well. You can achieve a lot of work to the muscle with much lighter weight, having a similar effect as training heavy on hypertrophy. It's not just used during rehabilitation. It can be very useful for regular training.

Will do, thanx. I was mostly concerned with movements that I know I was holding my breath on such as squats and dumbell pullovers. Maybe working on my breathing technique would help as well.

Invariably, I do the major heavy movements first when my muscles are fresh and strong. Then finish with other assisting muscles exercises. For instance, bench presses, incline followed by tricep work. Last night, I started legs off with 15-20 rep sets of leg presses to prexhaust my quads with 4 sets then went to squats. Only worked up to 225 because I was having back issues but I did some pauses on the bottom of the rep for added difficulty with less weight, concentrating on breathing out all the way to the top.
My legs are 27 and 28 inches, so size has become less important than quality and refinement anyway

This next month I'll be changing my routine up as I research alternatives to just hefting heavier weight