Want to train harder, but hitting the wall

[OhHannah]

Basic summary. I'm 40, female and still in recovery from a nasty accident that has left me with scarred/thickened tendons in my right arm. Range of motion in one wrist is limited, so I have to bench with a cambered bar and can do only hammer curl motions for biceps. The wrist won't bend very far either forward or backward, and my grip with that hand is still slightly weak, so I can only hold 50 lb dumbells or 135 on Romanian deadlifts. ACL issues in my right knee flare up often enough that I generally wrap the right knee for squats, and I can't do lunges. So basically I'm always working around a lot of little injury crap issues here and there.

I am currently bulking, just started Deca-Durabolin @50mgs, and am doing my best to both eat and train like a beast. I'm getting between 2300 and 2800 calories a day, about 95% clean (brown rice, oats, chicken breast, fish, venison and grass fed beef, egg whites, fruit, lowfat dairy, whey, etc). Getting plenty of fat from nuts, avocado and fish. I supplement with glutamine, BCAA's, fish oil, assorted vitamins and powdered greens. I pay strict attention to pre and postworkout nutrition. I use some energy drinks judiciously, generally about half of one before a workout. So it's not like I'm totally doing this wrong.

What I *try* to do is to work out 5-6 days a week, with one super heavy day, one lighter day and the rest moderate to heavy. Current split is back and bis, chest and tris, lower body, and shoulders. Abs and lower back work usually gets thrown in with lower body, or sometimes with back and bis if that was my light workout, but sometimes I'll do just abs and lower back as an additional workout. Workouts are 45 to 60 minutes, and I generally do five sets per exercise, 12 reps to warm up and 6-10 reps for the work sets. Sometimes I do fun and crazy shit like pyramiding or running the rack on a heavy day.

So this is where the fuckup comes in. I started happily beating the crap out of myself for several days running, and my body said not just no but fuck no. I know what overtraining feels like, and it starts with all kinds of little symptoms. For me it's usually elevated temperature, slightly runny nose and a lack of energy and appetite. Also instead of just being sore when I move, I'm sore to the touch. I can work through pain and feeling crappy if there's a point to it, but I've learned that forcing through workouts under those circumstances is not only unproductive, it generally lays my ass out sick for days. Goddamn it.

Yeah, I know it will get better when the Deca has some time to kick in, but I am an angry camper because my chest and tris workout today was a total lose and fail. I quit after a few sets of flat and incline presses because it just wasn't going to be productive to continue. I HATE doing that. Yesterday was heavy leg day with lots of squats and deadlifts, and that was productive, but today was the suck. I couldn't lift for shit and I was totally exhausted by just the warmup sets.

Is there anything ELSE I can do to make my &^%$#@! body recover faster so that I can work out harder and more often? It sucks being female and 40.

[Quazi]

Well, my advice is pretty much the opposite of what you are looking for but.....
One thing I'd look at is, considering all the injuries/issues etc..., cutting back to weights 3x ew.
Chest, shoulders, tri
Back, bi
Legs
Full day off in between/cardio if you want.
Go hard everytime, then rest.

IMO working out harder AND more often, dont necessarily mesh well.
So you should work to figure out which one provides you the best route to your goals.

[YoungNJacked]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

Basic summary. I'm 40, female and still in recovery from a nasty accident that has left me with scarred/thickened tendons in my right arm. Range of motion in one wrist is limited, so I have to bench with a cambered bar and can do only hammer curl motions for biceps. The wrist won't bend very far either forward or backward, and my grip with that hand is still slightly weak, so I can only hold 50 lb dumbells or 135 on Romanian deadlifts. ACL issues in my right knee flare up often enough that I generally wrap the right knee for squats, and I can't do lunges. So basically I'm always working around a lot of little injury crap issues here and there.

I am currently bulking, just started Deca-Durabolin @50mgs, and am doing my best to both eat and train like a beast. I'm getting between 2300 and 2800 calories a day, about 95% clean (brown rice, oats, chicken breast, fish, venison and grass fed beef, egg whites, fruit, lowfat dairy, whey, etc). Getting plenty of fat from nuts, avocado and fish. I supplement with glutamine, BCAA's, fish oil, assorted vitamins and powdered greens. I pay strict attention to pre and postworkout nutrition. I use some energy drinks judiciously, generally about half of one before a workout. So it's not like I'm totally doing this wrong.

What I *try* to do is to work out 5-6 days a week, with one super heavy day, one lighter day and the rest moderate to heavy. Current split is back and bis, chest and tris, lower body, and shoulders. Abs and lower back work usually gets thrown in with lower body, or sometimes with back and bis if that was my light workout, but sometimes I'll do just abs and lower back as an additional workout. Workouts are 45 to 60 minutes, and I generally do five sets per exercise, 12 reps to warm up and 6-10 reps for the work sets. Sometimes I do fun and crazy shit like pyramiding or running the rack on a heavy day.

So this is where the fuckup comes in. I started happily beating the crap out of myself for several days running, and my body said not just no but fuck no. I know what overtraining feels like, and it starts with all kinds of little symptoms. For me it's usually elevated temperature, slightly runny nose and a lack of energy and appetite. Also instead of just being sore when I move, I'm sore to the touch. I can work through pain and feeling crappy if there's a point to it, but I've learned that forcing through workouts under those circumstances is not only unproductive, it generally lays my ass out sick for days. Goddamn it.

Yeah, I know it will get better when the Deca has some time to kick in, but I am an angry camper because my chest and tris workout today was a total lose and fail. I quit after a few sets of flat and incline presses because it just wasn't going to be productive to continue. I HATE doing that. Yesterday was heavy leg day with lots of squats and deadlifts, and that was productive, but today was the suck. I couldn't lift for shit and I was totally exhausted by just the warmup sets.

Is there anything ELSE I can do to make my &^%$#@! body recover faster so that I can work out harder and more often? It sucks being female and 40.

it sounds like ur putting all ur emphasis into "lifting", which is the problem with many people later on in life. i see it at the gym and esp customers who come to me for advice at work. personally i would say scale back on lifting to 3-4 days a week of light weight. i would also encourage u to increase cardio if u havent to 1 hour 6-7 days a week on a treadmill or go light on the elliptical. it could be ur not getting enough warmup and circulation before workouts. DONT ever go into a workout without warming up for atleast 20-30 minutes at ur age. esp when deca kicks in, u have to learn how to adapt to ur age and performance. u arent 20 years old anymore, so u cant bust ass every workout. if i were u i would focus all my attention to diet and cardio, and keep weight training as desert.

[OhHannah]

Originally Posted by YoungNJacked

it sounds like ur putting all ur emphasis into "lifting", which is the problem with many people later on in life. i see it at the gym and esp customers who come to me for advice at work. personally i would say scale back on lifting to 3-4 days a week of light weight. i would also encourage u to increase cardio if u havent to 1 hour 6-7 days a week on a treadmill or go light on the elliptical. it could be ur not getting enough warmup and circulation before workouts. DONT ever go into a workout without warming up for atleast 20-30 minutes at ur age. esp when deca kicks in, u have to learn how to adapt to ur age and performance. u arent 20 years old anymore, so u cant bust ass every workout. if i were u i would focus all my attention to diet and cardio, and keep weight training as desert.

Uh....for bulking and trying to put on some solid weight and muscle? Warmup isn't my problem, total exhaustion the day after a hard workout is, so that it's hard to work without taking more rest days in a week than I want to.

Quazi: I hear what you're saying, but the idea here is with some chemical help from my little buddy in a vial, I was hoping to increase my recovery ability so that I could work out harder/longer/more often with better results. I'll jack up the level of chemical help if I have to in order to reach my goals.

Thanks for taking the time to put in your .02 (.01 in today's economy).

[YoungNJacked]

yes, cardio, no matter when u are bulking or cutting. i think anyone who doesnt do cardio is lazy, no matter what time of year. look up Gavin Kane and Dante, some of the best minds in bodybuilding. they state that all their athletes, no matter what season, do cardio for atleast 45 minutes on a treadmill on a incline everyday.

also increasse ur protein to 2g per pound of bodyweight, that maybe the issue, not enough protein for optimal recovery. from all ur previous posts it seems like u dont like cardio AT ALL. so it make take you some time to realize u need to do cardio to achieve ur bodybuilding goals.

[Quazi]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

Quazi: I hear what you're saying, but the idea here is with some chemical help from my little buddy in a vial, I was hoping to increase my recovery ability so that I could work out harder/longer/more often with better results. I'll jack up the level of chemical help if I have to in order to reach my goals.

Thanks for taking the time to put in your .02 (.01 in today's economy).

Unfortunately, IMO even chemical help isnt gonna cut it.
While it will make what you do more efficient its no cure-all.
In fact, personally I find chemicals to be rather taxing to my CNS, so while I may physically recover faster, I still need adequate recovery time between workouts.
My honest opinion is to cut back on the frequency to eod, use whatever chems work for you, and watch it play out over the next 12 weeks.
I think you'll be surprised, especially if the norm for you is 5-6 workouts a week.

[YoungNJacked]

Originally Posted by Quazi

Unfortunately, IMO even chemical help isnt gonna cut it.
While it will make what you do more efficient its no cure-all.
In fact, personally I find chemicals to be rather taxing to my CNS, so while I may physically recover faster, I still need adequate recovery time between workouts.
My honest opinion is to cut back on the frequency to eod, use whatever chems work for you, and watch it play out over the next 12 weeks.
I think you'll be surprised, especially if the norm for you is 5-6 workouts a week.

damn quazi, im trying to encourage her a more healthy route, u are not helping!!!!! lol!

oh hannah, no matter what drugs or chems u take, u still got put in work, meaning cardio. because from what i remember u were fairly overweight. the combo of AAS and a high bodyfat percentage can cause a shitload of coronary problems for u down the road. it can also make u diabetic. at ur age it isnt about AAS, its about eating properly and getting ENOUGH cardio on a daily basis.

is it u just dont wanna work hard or is it ur interpretation that weight training is enough? just curious ur reasoning.

and a FYI, when D-1 athletes ask a strength coach whats the best way to add muscle in the offseason.............his reply.............." eat more protein and do 1 hour of cardio everyday". the reasoning behind it, is u create a larger metabolism(more calories burned) thus creating a larger surplus of calories u can use on protein needs. same can be said with any athlete above the amateur ranks............

[OhHannah]

Originally Posted by YoungNJacked

yes, cardio, no matter when u are bulking or cutting. i think anyone who doesnt do cardio is lazy, no matter what time of year. look up Gavin Kane and Dante, some of the best minds in bodybuilding. they state that all their athletes, no matter what season, do cardio for atleast 45 minutes on a treadmill on a incline everyday.

I don't like cardio, but I do it even when bulking. However if I did 45-60 minutes of cardio daily, I'd hit "the wall" even harder and faster and run out of energy for my workouts, run into overtraining, illness, lethargy, etc. I'm guessing that when the Deca kicks in, I will be able to do more cardio as well as more lifting.

also increasse ur protein to 2g per pound of bodyweight, that maybe the issue, not enough protein for optimal recovery. from all ur previous posts it seems like u dont like cardio AT ALL. so it make take you some time to realize u need to do cardio to achieve ur bodybuilding goals.

Already getting pretty close to 2g X bodyweight protein. I fucking hate cardio, but I plug in my headphones and do it anyway. I just run into the same problem with cardio as I do with weights, just flat out running out of energy/ability to work when I push myself too hard and don't take rest days. That's what I'm hoping Deca will help me with.

[OhHannah]

Originally Posted by YoungNJacked

from what i remember u were fairly overweight. the combo of AAS and a high bodyfat percentage can cause a shitload of coronary problems for u down the road. it can also make u diabetic.

I started that way six years ago. Currently, not so much.

is it u just dont wanna work hard or is it ur interpretation that weight training is enough? just curious ur reasoning.

I do cardio, but when I am allocating the energy I know I will have in a given week to physically work out, most of that goes to lifting rather than cardio. If I bust my ass on a cardio workout, my weight workout is going to suck that day. So I tend to keep cardio to 20-30 minutes of run/walk/jog on a hill program no more than 3X a week when bulking, a lot more often and in the morning before breakfast when cutting.

I should add that my goals are NOT typical female goals. I am seriously interested in putting on muscle, not "toning up", so light weights are not the way I want to go. I lift as hard and heavy as my body permits with the aim of getting bigger and stronger.

[Quazi]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

I do cardio, but when I am allocating the energy I know I will have in a given week to physically work out, most of that goes to lifting rather than cardio. If I bust my ass on a cardio workout, my weight workout is going to suck that day. So I tend to keep cardio to 20-30 minutes of run/walk/jog on a hill program no more than 3X a week when bulking, a lot more often and in the morning before breakfast when cutting.

I should add that my goals are NOT typical female goals. I am seriously interested in putting on muscle, not "toning up", so light weights are not the way I want to go. I lift as hard and heavy as my body permits with the aim of getting bigger and stronger.

Everything you are saying further supports (in my mind) why you should cut back on the frequency. Mass = compound movements + food + rest.....
1 day a week is not enough rest.