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Athletes and lifters

Two years in and my lifts are back

Started 5 May 2025 · 15 replies · 153 hearts · read 1.8k times

RonanBelfast, NI · 5 May 2025
about a year ago

A question rather than an update: Two years in and my lifts are back

Practical question, and possibly a silly one.

I have a specific situation coming up and I would like to plan for it properly rather than improvising on the day, which is what I did last time.

The arrangements are the hard bit for me. Nothing medical has been difficult; the organising has been relentless.

Two years is the honest figure, taken from the two-line diary I keep rather than from memory, and memory had it lower.

No hurry. I have a fortnight before I need to decide anything.

51

BramGhent, BE
#1

What I would say is get the protein sorted before anything else. Everything I read agreed and I ignored it for a season.

13

HarriSwansea, UK
#2

My sessions are shorter and heavier now and that has worked better than the volume I used to do.

8

RenFacilitatorBristol, UK
#3

Thank you for asking the practical question. This circle is at its best on exactly this and the answers are already better than any guide I could write.

9

BodilÅlesund, NO
#4

Gently disagreeing with Ren, or rather adding the other half of it.

The recovery side was where I noticed it most. Same session, slower recovery, for about two months.

11me too 2

InêsPorto, PT
#5

Reading Bodil, I recognised more of that than I expected to.

My honest report is that my strength has been maintained across two years, and it was not automatic, and lifting was the reason.

13

PamSouthport, UK
#6

I found the early weeks difficult for training because of the tiredness, and going lighter for a month was the sensible call.

9

ClemmieNorwich, UK
#7

The endurance side was different again. Long sessions needed planning that short sessions did not, and I got that wrong twice.

9me too 7

BoWhitby, UK
#8

What helped was working with a coach who took the appetite change seriously rather than treating it as a discipline problem.

10

RinManchester, UK
#9

Picking up Bo’s point rather than starting a new one.

Somebody in this circle said that grip strength is the most honest measure and I have tracked mine ever since.

12

TressaSt Austell, UK
#10

The thing I underestimated was hydration. My requirements changed and I noticed it in the gym before anywhere else.

8me too 3

BaySt Ives, UK
#11

Reading Tressa, I recognised more of that than I expected to.

My coach and my prescriber have never spoken and I have relayed everything, and I would do that differently if I started again.

5

BronLincoln, UK
#12

The advice I got that helped most was to prioritise consistency over intensity for the first three months, and it was correct.

10me too 4

MaritGroningen, NL
#13

Something practical: I have a shake ready for after training because on a low-appetite day I will not eat and I will drink.

4

RenFacilitatorBristol, UK
#14

Adding a marker so it does not get lost: the most practical sentence in a thread like this is almost never the first one, and somebody arriving late will scroll straight past it.

22

PolaGdańsk, PL
#15

My rest days matter more than they used to and I have stopped treating them as optional.

10