Fitting sports around weightlifting schedule and work
I'm not too sure how or why but I find myself in a position where i'm slowly obtaining more injuries year-by-year.
In college I could go to the gym 4/5 times a week, play football (soccer) or basketball on the same day.
Whilst I wasn't lifting as heavy back then as I am now (progression yay!), i'm doing much less exercise but feeling more pain, and more tired.
In College/University:
Monday: Chest + Legs (morning), Basketball (2 hours of scrimmage/training)
Tuesday: Back (morning), Basketball Game 40 mins max (evening)
Wednesday: Arms + Intense Core (morning), Football 2pm til dusk depending on numbers (afternoon/evening)
Thursday: Shoulders + Legs (morning, light legs), Football match 40 minutes max (evening)
Friday: Basketball (1hr 30 scrimmage)
Saturday: Nothing
Sunday: Once every 2 weeks, Basketball Training (Scrimmage, shooting drills, resistance)
Now working:
Sunday: Chest + Leg
Monday:Rest, maybe light core workout at home, jump rope
Tuesday: Shoulders OR Back (depends on how busy gym is)
Wednesday: Football OR Gym (Arms and Core if I go)
Thursday: Back OR Shoulders (whichever I did not do on Tuesday)
Friday: Basketball (2 hours)
Saturday: Rest or depending on how I feel, I pick up whatever I feel wasn't done well during the week (Chest, Leg, Shoulders, Back, Arms whichever).
I am 2 years removed from College, and I never injured my body apart from the occasional ankle sprain.
I'm worried i'm not getting enough rest, but my body could take a larger beating beforehand, so i'm scared something is seriously wrong.
Can anyone recommend or make adjustments in my workout schedule or shed light on their experiences?
tl;dr
How do you balance your working life, sports, and lifting in the gym.
(1)1 Comments
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You are right, you can't recover as well as you could when you were in college. Such is the nature of the human body. However, you can do a few things to give your body the best chance at recovering:
Eat enough. If you want to progress and work at 70-90% RM in your gym workouts then you need to eat enough to help your body recover. Work out your TDEE and use that as a guide.
Sleep enough. 8 hours is what you should aim for. Best amount varies from person-to-person so try some different numbers.
Practice form with perfect form its near impossible to give yourself a injury (except maybe dropping the bar on yourself). You have been working out for a while which means you are nearing the end of a cycle (working out usually at 90% often failing last rep). Consider restarting with a de-load to practice form. Throw in mobility exercises to help with this.
Set your priorities straight Set yourself some goals and design your day around meeting them. I would love to be able to fit a cooked breakfast, 9.5hr work day, 3 hours gaming, 2 hours gymming, a nice cooked dinner, 1 hour playing with my cats and 8.5 hours sleep but there are not enough hours in the day. If you want progress in the gym you need to make time for GYM, FOOD, AND SLEEP
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