Morning, until 4 months ago I used to train at least three times a week. Running (9 km) and HITT.
I’m 50, and I began to feel a lack of motivation toward both running and training. Then I’ve injured my shoulder, there’s an hole on my tendon, thus I should use the elastic fitness band, but I don’t.
I became ~~flaccid ~~and I don’t like my body, I’m still skinny, but I’ve lost all my muscles, I have to start from zero again (sore muscles, lactic acidosis and all that). And here comes the reason why I am posting here. I need a sponosr or someone who gives me some motivation and advice to begain all over again.
Right now I feel sadly at ease (depressed but I don’t kind of care, but I care at the same time, difficult to explain) with my body loosing shape, strength and agility. I also note that in the last month I’ve catched on of the most virulent bronchitis ever; I tend to think this is one of the fallout of my interrupting physical activity.
Does someone want to help and old man with advice and motivation?
(I’m Italian, thus forgive me English)
Until you’re through with bronchitis, you should rest and focus on getting better. After that, I suggest reevaluating whether you’re still into running and HIIT. Those are great exercises but you sound bored with them. Plus they’re really hard on the joints, and as you get older, you might want to switch to lower impact exercise anyway.
Dealing with depression is tough because it’s a huge demotivator and even the smallest things can seem daunting. It might be worth talking to your doctor about the depression, and getting your bloodwork checked because sometimes nutrient deficiencies can be a contributing factor. But with your current mindset, it seems like just getting up and moving around would be a good start for you. So while your shoulder heals (and I agree with the other poster, are you going to physical therapy?), you can work on cardio with walking. Maybe find somewhere out in nature to go for a walk, and don’t focus on it as exercise, think of it as medicine for your mind and body.
As for rebuilding muscle tone, have you considered starting weightlifting? If you’re already thin, you’ll start to see your gains pretty quickly, which is a good motivator to keep going!
Good luck to you 🤜🏻
Also your English is pretty good, but just FYI most people only use “flaccid” to refer to a limp penis. :)
Ouch! flaccid, in Italian we use it also for a limp penis, but isn’t the first thing that comes in mind, :). Could you give me a synonim? toneless, maybe? Could you suggest a program for beginners, or link maybe a video or something like that? thanks a lot for the answer!
Haha! Sometimes people use the term “skinny fat” to describe being skinny but out-of-shape.
You might want to look at this for a beginner-level weightlifting program. I’ve never tried this myself (I have a personal trainer who comes up with my training regimen) but it looks like a good start.
Sounds like you need some recovery work. It’s annoying and tedious I know, but if you need it you need it.
Sounds like you need to find something that you enjoy that moves you through a range of motion. There’s a reason why people say so what you enjoy. Buy I will say, I think that much running can be tough on your body. If you really need to scratch that itch, maybe try sprints. But definitely try sometime else too.
If you are recovering from an injury, wouldn’t physical therapy be the next step?
Yes, I Went to the physiotherapist who told me to exercise with the elastic band.
As someone a little older than you, who’s dealt with chronic pain for 30+ years and despises the gym, I’m giving you some “tough love”: you’re just gonna have to do it. The trick I’ve found is to focus on what tomorrow will look like because of what I’m doing right now (those tedious physiotherapy exercises).
But, ease up on your self-criticism, you’re clearly not able to do much right now, again, having “been there” for 30+ years, you simply can’t force it, you must be patient and wait until you’re recovered enough from the current thing.
A couple other things that have provided tremendous improvement:
Massage from a therapist that approaches it like physiotherapy. I’ve had a few therapists where it was challenging to get through a session (because it’s painful, just like working out or physical therapy), but each visit I’d reach a new level of flexibility/mobility and reduced pain. Which I can then maintain with my own exercise.
Yoga. Because yoga provides both flexibility and strength training simultaneously, it can be very effective. You use one set of muscles to stabilize, while stretching their complement. It has an isometric element using your own bodyweight. This guy’s story has been my inspritation for years now.. As bad off as I am, he started off way worse. He gives me hope. DDP’s own story of coming to yoga is also inspirational, and most of his stuff is on YouTube.
Just remember that so much in life is about doing a little bit, repeatedly and regularly, not doing a lot at once. It’s better to do 15 minutes of yoga once a day than going to the gym sporadically.
You got this, you can do it.
Edit: forgot to mention a Theragun. They may seem gimmicky, but I’ve seen first hand how effective they can be. Be careful of the knockoffs, some really suck so much it would make you think the whole idea is bunk. There are other brands that work, I just don’t know which ones. You can get the Theragun mini on sale for about $100, it’s at least a known quantity. If anyone knows a good knockoff, I’m all for spending less. Just the ones I’ve tried have sucked (though one massage therapist has a knockoff and it works fine).
Thanks a lot for your extensive message, good insight and kind words. I appreciate your advice. I’ve gave a look to theragun, but it’s rather expansive, at least here in Europe. I’ll check out also the channel.
Like in said, I’m all for a cheaper brand if you can find one that works well. They exist, I just don’t know off hand which ones are good. I bought a knockoff, and it was so bad you would think the idea was bullshit.
At least the Theragun Mini (when in sale) is close to the same price as the good knock-off brands, and I’d say it’s about 90% as good as the full size Theragun. Had I bought it first, I’d never bought the full size one.
A book I just discovered looks very promising: Back Mechanic by Stuart McGill, PhD. Lots of physical issues can be traced to our back issues, which are most often a result of other issues (weakness, injury, compensating, etc).
I know this is all a bit overwhelming and frustrating…boy do I get it - every morning I get it. But when you find the right thing for you, real improvement can happen, it’s just damn hard keeping your head up and “going at it” every morning. As Barry Sears would say - you don’t have to be perfect, just doing the right thing more often than not is key. Reward yourself whenever you do the right thing, forgive yourself when you miss-step.
I often tell this to people that are struggling with motivation, motivation is overrated. Discipline is the key. Unlike motivation, discipline is a skill, and skills can be learned through practice. The more you practice discipline, the more ingrained in you discipline becomes, until the urge to exercise is no different than the urge to eat, drink, or breathe. Not many people are motivated to wash the dishes, clean their surroundings, or go to work. Through force of will we do these things, until discipline takes over and they become a part of our life’s routine.
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