bruce19

I'm faced with a conundrum. But first a little background.....I am 68, down to 5'9" from 5'10 1/2" and up until about a couple weeks ago weighed around 180 lbs. Several months ago I got back into the gym to lift since it's too cold to ride around here. I have one of those bodies that responds quickly to lifting. I seem to get cut fast. I've never really been into lifting until about 10 yrs. ago and even then it's only in the winter. So, this winter I decided to lift with more reps rather than progressing to higher weights. For example, instead of doing curls with high weights (per arm) I do 25 reps with a 20 lb dumbbell for each arm. I'm keeping my leg lifts to 3 sets of 10 with 130 lbs. (machine weight) and I do a couple other things like machine flys, etc. with moderate weight. Result? I am now up to 190 lbs! Same 36-37" waist and my jeans (34s) fit ever so slightly more snug. I want to be strong but I don't want to lug an extra 10 lbs around. Is this typical when lifting? Can I keep lifting moderately and get back down to 180? Just looking for wisdom from those who actually know this stuff. TIA

leob1

Muscle weights more than fat. So as you add muscle mass, you add weight.

bruce19

I know but isn't 10 lbs a lot for only a couple months of lifting moderately? (At least I think it's moderate) And, do I have to stop lifting to lose weight?

John E

I have the opposite problem, in the sense that I am not able to build much muscle strength or bulk. For me, any gains are modest and a long time coming.

Blanchje

No way you gained 10 lbs of muscle in 2 months. I'm sure your bf% has increased a bit as well. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Losing weight and gaining muscle at the same time is very difficult. That's why body builders bulk and then cut. Building muscle takes food. I lift year round but strength training is a bigger focus in the winter. I can generally plan on gaining 5-10 lbs. Some is muscle but certainly not all. In the warmer months I lean out. It's a tricky balance. I firmly believe that as we get older strength training is hugely important. Many of what are considered the normal infirmities of ageing are really a loss of lean muscle. Keep lifting, tweak your diet, and go by what you see in the mirror instead of what you see on the scale.

bruce19

I should have been more precise. It's been 3 months of lifting with regularity. I spoke to one of the trainers at the gym this morning and she thinks it's all about the muscle gain. She seemed to think my routine was reasonable and suggested doing more cardio. And, actually I had started doing that last week. Doing 45-60 min. a day on one of those video spin bikes. Might cut back from 3 days/wk to 2 days/wk for weights just to see what happens.

curdog

Weight isn't necessarily a bad thing. I could only imagine that if weight is muscle mass, your power might be significantly higher than before. Also think 2 weeks might be to short a trial to already make adjustments. A lot of things could affect your weight. Don't make the assumption that the weights are the culprits.

mrwonderful

Hi Bruce, I will share a few resources that you will find useful. First, bodybuilding.com has wonderful articles and forums. Next on youtube Athlean X channel is the best I have found. I'm 56 myself and super fit so I know about the challenges of adding muscle and cycling as an older chap. Anyway, I will give you a short answer to your question but I strongly suggest reading a lot about this subject and for God's sake don't listen to that female at your gym (not being sexist, I have found that there is no way she has any idea about older males). So, the answer is that your diet is almost certainly the issue here. Lifting lighter weights with more reps is a reasonable thing to do as you get older just because the joints are fragile. My suggestion would be to increase weight up to the point when you feel uncomfortable. That will get you results and still be relatively safe. Cardio is fine, but it is #4 on the list. #1 Diet, #2 Lifting #3 proper stretching #4 Cardio. I'm not a fanatic about counting and weighing my food but lots of people benefit from it. I have found that folks eat poorly and have no idea about total calories they take in or how much protein and good fats they need.

fixiejunkie

If I can give you piece of advice avoid machine. Specially for lower body. You will never get as much stamina and strength as with free weights.
Squats with a bar on your back (or front squat) are very complex but best body exercice you can have. So avoid machines.

OldsCOOL

Get rid of the fat and stack on the muscle in the legs. That is a good combination. You are doing well by the sounds of it. Gotta love it when waistlines feel loose and legs feel snug. That's good stuff. keep up the good work.


I'm right back into my powerlifting routine after a 4yr layoff. Like you mentioned, my body responds quickly and now with a good 6wks back the poundages are rising nicely. Bodyweight is holding steady, arms and legs getting big once again.

OldsCOOL

I agree with the freeweights vs machines. Squats when performed low enough begin to engage what will seem to be an entirely different set of muscles. I set up a milk crate with two weight plates on top (2 25lb olympic size) and only touch them with the hind end, no sitting or bouncing, just use for a depth guage.

TCR Rider

There was a time when I did a lot of weight lifting, mostly free weights and dumbells at that. At that time about 7 years ago I was 5'11 180. Over time I had a few orthopedic issues so out of necessity I had to change up my workouts. Now at age 62 I focus more on bodyweight and light dumbells that focuses of strength and flexibility with compound movements emphasizing functional strength. I do a kettle bell circuit twice a week and some yoga. So these days I'm 5'10 and weigh in at 165 with, according to the Tanita, 5% body fat which does me more good on the bike than the added weight.

rumrunn6

got a picture?

Dolanarc1

I tend to agree with MrWonderful, I'm 59 and been do'in the whole package for over 40+ now.
I used to pack on muscle real easy as well, but now I feel that my metabolism has slowed and the lifting ( great benefits) don't burn off the calories it used to.
But it does stimulate my appetite. If I stop focusing on hours of exercise at one session. I build it around the waistline.
I find that hockey does the same thing. Great cardio. But when you look at an hour of pick up hockey. Which is actually 50min after they clean the ice. You'll only play 20-25 minutes with enough substitutes. And out of that you only really skate ball to the wall 4-5 times. So, 4-5 6-8 second intervals.
Makes me real hungry after , but not a lot of work. "Plus the beers after don't help either "

Carbonfiberboy 

You're just eating too much. Cut back on the food. Smaller meals, more frequently. As you get used to it, much smaller meals. Ride a lot more. 8 hours riding and 2 hours lifting per week is a good proportional allocation for winter. Eat by the scale.

I don't get what you're using for leg weights. I weigh 152 and am doing 3 sets of 12, one-legged, on the horizontal press machine with 110. I should be up to ~140 in a few weeks. My legs are 21" right now. If you're using the leg sled, 2-legged, you should be using at least 500#.

You could cut back to 4 sets of 4 if you think you have enough size and want to focus on strength. I'm still working size for a few weeks and then will start going heavy and try to drop a few more pounds.

The debate about machine vs. free weights is silly. For some things free weights are better, for other things, machines. Your bicycle is a machine.

bruce19

I use the max of 400 lbs. on the sled/machine. I usually do one set of 10 at 300 lbs. Then one set at 350 lbs and finally one set of 20-30 reps at the max. I also do 3X10 with 130 lbs. for leg (quads) raises/extensions and 3x10 of hamstring curls with 70 lbs. I have a very old college football injury (torn hamstring) that rears it's ugly head so I don't push it. I have no idea if any of this is good for my age. I just sort of made this up as I went along.

qcpmsame 

Bruce, when you need something like the deletion hit the "report post" icon and ask a moderator for their help. I asked for them to help you on this one, hope this helps you out.

Bill

StanSeven

Do you know your body fat? You may need to your cut back your food intake especially fats and probably carbos. It's easy to gain weight over get winter and the increase in lifting combined with less aerobic stuff likely hurts at the same time.

TCR Rider

If you insist.

bruce19

thanks.

bruce19

Before I gained the weight I was running at 21%for the past year. Haven't been able to check it lately though.

avidone1

ditto for me....I know this isn't the case but at first it sounded to me like the op was bragging

OldsCOOL

Genetics.

nuke_diver

Lots of reps with lighter weights shouldn't give you bulk, that's more for toning so I would be a bit surprised if you gain a lot of muscle that way (unless you have very little muscle to begin with).

Unless you know what you are doing with free weights for squats I'd stick with the machines. Some lifters distain machines but generally they are built so that you are unlikely to hurt your back etc by using them. Free weights OTOH can do a lot of harm. You might not get as great a workout on machines as free weights but it wouldn't be completely useless either and is likely safer unless you have good technique

Null66

10lbs of MUSCLE is a rather decent gain, for a year. If you are "ahem", augmented.

You may want to read up on lifting.
Focus on what is actually supported by double blind studies not "Bro-science"...

25 rep schemes, that's cardio...