What a time for me to hear/read this Andres! I'm sitting here contemplating going to the gym today and now I guess I have to! You've inspired me. I've been back at the gym about three times a week since late March. Prior to that I hadn't been to one in several years and got most of my exercise from hiking and biking. Now, at 62, my glucose levels are rising as is my A1C. (There's a lot of diabetes in my family.) Every couple of weeks I get a new pain (pulled muscle, tendonitis, or, right now an ankle issue, probably from all the work I do in my garden!) I'm not sure what to do/not do when those issues occur! Then there's the guys at the gym... there are so many! It's not that they're not pleasant to look at but they're SO young! I'm often the oldest guy there by about 35 years! Still, I go with the added enjoyment of creating playlists of my favorite "upbeat" songs to listen to while I'm there. I'll never have (and never did!) have a six-pack like you but I like to think I'm doing okay at my age. Any recommendations you have would be welcome! (Perhaps consider doing a separate "lane" of working out tips for the rest of us.)
I'm so glad I could bring some inspiration! Regular tendonitis, pulled muscles and related injuries typically stem from either not warming up enough, poor technique, too much weight/impact, an irregular schedule (i.e. skipping the gym for 2-3 weeks and then going frantically trying to make up for lost time) or a combination of all four. If you don't have a coach, you can always check resources online (there's a lot of good advice out there, including on Insta - vshred, tim_flackpt and alexdickcleland come to mind). There are also recovery exercises you can do to help heal, but typically these ailments need rest.
Three times a week is a good place to start and you can do 1 upper body, 1 lower body, and 1 cardio (swimming is best especially as it's a full body workout and gentle on your joints). Make sure you allow at least 1 day of rest in-between sessions especially if you're going through injuries. Try to avoid running especially with tendonitis/ankle issues. The days you do weights, start with compound exercises (i.e. those that target big muscle groups, like chest press/pull ups for upper, or squats/deadlift for lower) and finish with smaller muscles (shoulders and arms for upper, and hamstrings and quads for lower). Small and progressive increments in weight and number of reps each week will do wonders to your progress whilst keeping injuries at bay (you can read up on progressive overload, which is the method I swear by).
Regarding the gym atmosphere, I get it. But if it's any consolation, everyone who is in there (YES, everyone) feels self-conscious... else they wouldn't be at a gym trying to improve their fitness in the first place! Everyone, to a certain extent, feels like they could do or look better... yes, including (sometimes even especially) the young guys with abs you see on a regular basis. Trust me, in most cases, most people are too obsessed or focused on themselves to even take notice of the guy to their left or to their right in the changing room. The best and only competition worth focusing on, ultimately, is the competition with yourself. I hope you've found this helpful, and please don't ever hesitate to reach out if I can help with more tips or advice! You've got this 💪
Thanks Andres! This is very helpful. Question: when you say do 1 upper body, 1 lower body, and one 1 cardio do you mean per workout day? For instance, just working on chest, legs, and cardio? I tend to do full body each time I go. Maybe you mean doing multiple chest exercises in one day and then returning to that a week later? I'm also not a swimmer but I do like biking and walking.
Glad it helps! If you go 3 times a week, say Monday you do upper body (chest, back, shoulders and arms), Wednesday you do legs and core (hamstrings, quads, glutes and abs) and Friday you do cardio.
Doing full body every time is in my opinion less efficient because you’re stressing everything at the same time which means no part of your body can fully recover. Once your technique gets stronger and you get into a rhythm/routine you can spice things up but if you’re having recurring/persistent injuries there’s either poor technique or not enough recovery time there holding you back.
I’d avoid running especially with tendonitis and/or ankle issues. Swimming is really the best but, if you absolutely don’t like it, perhaps rowing, ski machine if available, or to some extent cycling tend to be kinder on those joints.
I’d do intense cardio for 20-30 min or chilled for 1 hour. There are benefits to both so perhaps alternating (one Friday chilled, the next intense and so on). After 8 weeks you can tweak the programme so as to keep shocking your body.
The days you do weights you can start light and build from there (weight and reps, small increments each session).
So, I guess I've been doing too much - hence the injuries! Yesterday I did 20 minutes of a relatively fast walk on a tread mill followed by 40 minutes of full-body weights (chest, arms, legs, etc.) Thanks for the advice!
Saving the best for last. I’ve been traveling the past few days and was catching up on my Substack reading. Your posts are always a pleasure, Andy, so well written. And the advice? Spot on—not just for life in general, but especially when it comes to fitness and vinyl collecting.
I think food is also key here, and there isn't enough importance placed on food education. "You are what you eat" holds a lot of truth. What one eats directly impacts our health. Food is fuel for our bodies, and it provides the essential vitamins and nutrients for our well-being. That is, if one eats healthy, but we all know how much junk there is in the standard American and British diet.
And all of the above is relevant to music, as well. It helps our mental health, reduces stress, positively affects our mood and emotions, brings joy, and encourages us to think and reflect more deeply.
Great advice! When I first dug out my record collection 2 years ago, I went to all 3 of the local record stores just to browse - to see what they had and check prices. More often than not, these days I go with something in mind or something I’ve seen at one of them before and have finally talked myself into 😂
Thank you, Kristin! That's always such a good idea. Browse browse browse browse. I feel that the more I browse, the wiser I get, and the quicker I am at deciding what to buy, where and when. Plus, even if I'm not planning on buying anything in particular, just browsing can be a lot of fun. I could spend hours and hours at record stores!
What a time for me to hear/read this Andres! I'm sitting here contemplating going to the gym today and now I guess I have to! You've inspired me. I've been back at the gym about three times a week since late March. Prior to that I hadn't been to one in several years and got most of my exercise from hiking and biking. Now, at 62, my glucose levels are rising as is my A1C. (There's a lot of diabetes in my family.) Every couple of weeks I get a new pain (pulled muscle, tendonitis, or, right now an ankle issue, probably from all the work I do in my garden!) I'm not sure what to do/not do when those issues occur! Then there's the guys at the gym... there are so many! It's not that they're not pleasant to look at but they're SO young! I'm often the oldest guy there by about 35 years! Still, I go with the added enjoyment of creating playlists of my favorite "upbeat" songs to listen to while I'm there. I'll never have (and never did!) have a six-pack like you but I like to think I'm doing okay at my age. Any recommendations you have would be welcome! (Perhaps consider doing a separate "lane" of working out tips for the rest of us.)
I'm so glad I could bring some inspiration! Regular tendonitis, pulled muscles and related injuries typically stem from either not warming up enough, poor technique, too much weight/impact, an irregular schedule (i.e. skipping the gym for 2-3 weeks and then going frantically trying to make up for lost time) or a combination of all four. If you don't have a coach, you can always check resources online (there's a lot of good advice out there, including on Insta - vshred, tim_flackpt and alexdickcleland come to mind). There are also recovery exercises you can do to help heal, but typically these ailments need rest.
Three times a week is a good place to start and you can do 1 upper body, 1 lower body, and 1 cardio (swimming is best especially as it's a full body workout and gentle on your joints). Make sure you allow at least 1 day of rest in-between sessions especially if you're going through injuries. Try to avoid running especially with tendonitis/ankle issues. The days you do weights, start with compound exercises (i.e. those that target big muscle groups, like chest press/pull ups for upper, or squats/deadlift for lower) and finish with smaller muscles (shoulders and arms for upper, and hamstrings and quads for lower). Small and progressive increments in weight and number of reps each week will do wonders to your progress whilst keeping injuries at bay (you can read up on progressive overload, which is the method I swear by).
Regarding the gym atmosphere, I get it. But if it's any consolation, everyone who is in there (YES, everyone) feels self-conscious... else they wouldn't be at a gym trying to improve their fitness in the first place! Everyone, to a certain extent, feels like they could do or look better... yes, including (sometimes even especially) the young guys with abs you see on a regular basis. Trust me, in most cases, most people are too obsessed or focused on themselves to even take notice of the guy to their left or to their right in the changing room. The best and only competition worth focusing on, ultimately, is the competition with yourself. I hope you've found this helpful, and please don't ever hesitate to reach out if I can help with more tips or advice! You've got this 💪
Thanks Andres! This is very helpful. Question: when you say do 1 upper body, 1 lower body, and one 1 cardio do you mean per workout day? For instance, just working on chest, legs, and cardio? I tend to do full body each time I go. Maybe you mean doing multiple chest exercises in one day and then returning to that a week later? I'm also not a swimmer but I do like biking and walking.
Glad it helps! If you go 3 times a week, say Monday you do upper body (chest, back, shoulders and arms), Wednesday you do legs and core (hamstrings, quads, glutes and abs) and Friday you do cardio.
Doing full body every time is in my opinion less efficient because you’re stressing everything at the same time which means no part of your body can fully recover. Once your technique gets stronger and you get into a rhythm/routine you can spice things up but if you’re having recurring/persistent injuries there’s either poor technique or not enough recovery time there holding you back.
I’d avoid running especially with tendonitis and/or ankle issues. Swimming is really the best but, if you absolutely don’t like it, perhaps rowing, ski machine if available, or to some extent cycling tend to be kinder on those joints.
Let me know how it goes!
Thanks! Last questions for now: How much cardio do you do on, let's say, a Friday? 30 minutes? 1 hour? Do you do any cardio on off days?
I’d do intense cardio for 20-30 min or chilled for 1 hour. There are benefits to both so perhaps alternating (one Friday chilled, the next intense and so on). After 8 weeks you can tweak the programme so as to keep shocking your body.
The days you do weights you can start light and build from there (weight and reps, small increments each session).
Any issues don’t hesitate to ask!
So, I guess I've been doing too much - hence the injuries! Yesterday I did 20 minutes of a relatively fast walk on a tread mill followed by 40 minutes of full-body weights (chest, arms, legs, etc.) Thanks for the advice!
By “chilled” I mean moderate! Not a walk in the park 😁
Saving the best for last. I’ve been traveling the past few days and was catching up on my Substack reading. Your posts are always a pleasure, Andy, so well written. And the advice? Spot on—not just for life in general, but especially when it comes to fitness and vinyl collecting.
Thank you, Pe! I am really glad you found it helpful. Thank you so much for your very kind words. They mean a lot especially coming from you.
I hope you’re having a great trip!
I think food is also key here, and there isn't enough importance placed on food education. "You are what you eat" holds a lot of truth. What one eats directly impacts our health. Food is fuel for our bodies, and it provides the essential vitamins and nutrients for our well-being. That is, if one eats healthy, but we all know how much junk there is in the standard American and British diet.
And all of the above is relevant to music, as well. It helps our mental health, reduces stress, positively affects our mood and emotions, brings joy, and encourages us to think and reflect more deeply.
Music is 100% an essential nutrient in my life.
Absolutely. Health-wise, of course, but also fitness-wise. "Abs are made in the kitchen", as the old adage goes.
I like the analogy you make with our "music diet". We are what we listen to, so to speak, and that's beautiful.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Great advice! When I first dug out my record collection 2 years ago, I went to all 3 of the local record stores just to browse - to see what they had and check prices. More often than not, these days I go with something in mind or something I’ve seen at one of them before and have finally talked myself into 😂
Thank you, Kristin! That's always such a good idea. Browse browse browse browse. I feel that the more I browse, the wiser I get, and the quicker I am at deciding what to buy, where and when. Plus, even if I'm not planning on buying anything in particular, just browsing can be a lot of fun. I could spend hours and hours at record stores!
Thanks for reading and commenting 😊