Yeah, I’ve been working out for almost a year now. Been fighting injury though, mostly in my left shoulder. I messed it up in my late teens, but it healed and I didn’t have any more problems with it… until I got older. Now every time I start getting up to around 225lb/100kg range on bench, I’ll hurt my shoulder. And since I’ve done it 3 times now, I’m now scared of the weight (so, yay for that). Fortunately, I’m recovering rather quickly from these incidents. So, I’m thankful for that, at least.
One way I’ve been progressing is by dropping the time between my sets. I started with 2 mins between sets, then went to 1:30, then to a min. I’m still doing 1 min for most exercises, but I’m now doing 30s between sets on bench, and have moved it to my last exercise. Not sure where I’ll go from here, but I still have a ways to go before I get back up to the 225lb range. So, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
Sigh… I love doing low reps heavy weight, but I’m afraid of injury. Aside from my shoulder, I’ve had other joint pain. And while it hasn’t been severe enough to stop me from working out, it has encouraged me to stick to higher reps/shorter rest times/lower weight. So, I’ve been cycling through sets of 12, 10, and 8. I’d love to do some sets of 5 and 3, and then to max out. But, I don’t think it’s worth injuring myself. Makes me sad though. I mean, who doesn’t love lifting heavy.
Anyway, I’m not trying to insult your intelligence, but we’re no longer spring chickens. Thus, I recommend stretching and warming up before you workout. And, of course, be sure your eating and sleeping right, and laying off of booze/tobacco/whatnot.
