SB Nation User Blog: HalJ

Overtraining and the Older Gym Rat

HalJ — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:22:47 -0000

It seems that it shouldn't be complicated, but as a 52 year-old relative newbie to free weight training, I'm still not sure I have a handle on how to avoid overtraining. Sometimes it seems that what feels good in the gym ain't necessarily what's best for making progress. I get it that older folks who work out need to be doubly conscious of recovery time, but I just seem to have trouble realizing when I'm overtraining until it bites me on the ass. Any thoughts from the over-40 crowd?

Soy linked to lower sperm count?

HalJ — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:22:03 -0000

Soy linked to lower sperm count?

I thought that the idea that soy could threaten a guy's masculinity had been put to bed. Apparently, not according to this study.

School's Out

HalJ — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:58:00 -0000

I was really looking forward to having my six going-on-seven year-old son home with me every day once the school year ended a couple of weeks ago. The end of the school year coincided with me having an extended break from my job, so we've spent lots of time together.

It's been great, but two weeks have passed now, and I realize that I haven't done one lifting workout since school ended. My wife is self-employed, and things at her office have been especially hectic, so I just haven't made the twenty-minute drive to the gym.

It's funny how for some people--including me, it appears--a break in in one routine can disrupt others. I tend to fall into an "all or nothing" trap. I don't have workout stuff at home, and I'm on the NROL program, so I haven't been doing anything. It's time for me to steal time for some sort of workout, with bodyweight exercises, stretch bands, or whatever.

I'm noticing that my little guy is really getting strong lately, especially when we wrestle. That's more incentive to keep up the lifting.