Really depends on how you define high-intensity.
To build muscle, you need to push yourself to a limit. You can reduce the weight and increase the repetitions. This approach is just as effective and lowers the risk of injury.
To build muscle, you need to push yourself to a limit. You can reduce the weight and increase the repetitions. This approach is just as effective and lowers the risk of injury.
Lowered the load, increased repetitions and basically nothing for a decade. I can still go almost to the failure, I don't even want to reach it since I don't care about that extra bit. Squats or deadlifts are hard even when not at limits, one feels used body parts for a day or two.
I still add cardio on top of that, its just basic logic of moving around a lot is very good for the body, even if effects are not immediately obvious.
That’s just regular ‘ol DOMS and not a problem.
Tendons tend to respond well to both heavy load or high reps, albeit adaptation in either case is very slow.
These days its more about 15 reps, still 3 sets (plus one just 20kg barbel warmup). When I feel like I could do more, i add 3 or 5 reps, and/or do things slower, especially the lowering part. Weight wise its cca 60kg deadlifts, 50kg squats. I feel like I could do more, but with worse form and thats not a good idea.
There are similar numbers for bench presses, dumbbell curls and few other exercises I sometimes add to mix.
I was never bodybuilder and never looked accordingly but I didn't care, any strong-enough body is attractive to females, good confidence is present and connection to one's body is very good. It was always just training for actual stuff - long hikes, climbing, ski touring etc. Now with kids and after quite brutal paragliding accident that left me wheelchair-bound for few weeks, walked after 6 months and have some permanent changes in calcaneus, I am happy with anything and above is good enough for me, just need to sustain it.
Over 60 you cannot build muscles anymore?
If I can make a recommendation, compound movements are amazing, but be careful with deadlift. There are many more practical exercises that don’t have so much injury risk. Volume and consistency win over heroic or ego lifts :)
I do have a hard requirement of minimizing time while maximizing gain, so I do 1 hour weight lifting 3 times per week and two days of heavy cardio (I call it hiit, pushing my heart to 175-180 at times, but I suspect it's just very vigorous) 2 times per week. Minimum effort for maximum gains.
I cannot stand "slow, long cardio". I do enjoy tracking and pushing my bpm
For strength training, I think it comes down to what I captured in my blog post. For a given muscle, if you are challenging it and truly reaching 1 or 2 reps in reserve there isn't much else to do per set. Hit your desired training volumes and you are the happy place for time+gains. If the intensity is there and you are targeting your entire body at the right volume level every week it will come down to nutrition and other factors vs. what you are doing in the gym.
It's not that unusual for people to pick up e.g. powerlifting past 50 and still get to levels well beyond what most younger adults can lift.
I'm 51, and recently back into powerlifting after many years out of it, and I certainly expect to build back muscle and improving week over week for many years before I can't stem the decline any more, as long as avoid injury or health issues that takes me out of the gym - avoiding time off exercise is the biggest challenge with getting older.
But more than a week and you'll typically need to deload to avoid DOMS. More than a few weeks and it will start taking significant time to work back up, and a lot of injuries happens because people try to rush that recovery and add even more time to that.
If you regularly lose weeks at higher age, it quickly becomes tricky to avoid tipping over into lasting decline.
With that said I think doing some kind of workout even on vacation is important.