Question about general training.

[Obamanaut]

When I was younger, in my 50s, I was benching 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps at 250 lbs., with body weight of 210. Now, I'm no longer in my 50s, and I use 130 - 150 lbs on the bench with 6 - 8 sets of 10 reps. All the other exercises I do have correspondingly lower weights with more sets. I make an effort to use good form on each rep, and have been enjoying what I'm doing now. I can keep my heart rate up around 130 for the whole workout, so it seems to be a good cardio plan as well. I get tired, but nothing hurts. All weight work is upper body, and I use bicycle for leg work.

The question is, does this seem like a good plan to maintain what I have? I don't need to bulk up at this stage of my life, and my Dr suggested I not go below 190 lbs body weight, because with my build anything less than that I will begin to look emaciated.

What say you?

[seemunkee]

1. Decide what kind of muscle growth you want to stimulate.

I'll past my stock answer:
There are two types of muscle growth myofibrillar hypertrophy and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. If you want size gains then you want to stimulate sarcoplasmic growth. This is what bodybuilders do when they do reps of 8-12 and go to failure. It means a buildup of sarcoplasm, fluid in the muscles that does not contribute to strength gains, but can help with endurance.
If you want denser muscles then do lower reps in the 1-5 range. It increases filaments in the muscle and contributes to contractile strength.
Imagine your muscles as a bunch of straws. Do you want a handful of coffee stirs or a bunch of McDonald shake straws? In the long run, doing one set of heavy lifts will promote one kind of growth, doing one set of high reps will promote another. Take your pick.

Being able to keep good form is probably a good gauge no matter which route you go. And good on you for maintaining muscle mass at your age.

[Obamanaut]

2. Thanks for the response, and I don't know how to answer, but

I'll give it a shot.

With diet change and weight work, I'm removing about 1/2 lb/week, weighing on the same day of the week. Goal is 200 lb, currently 208. With the increased sets/reps at lower weight I'm maintaining size in upper body, including arms, which is fine. The bicycle has lowered my resting heart rate to low 50s, checked immediately upon awakening, and is putting muscle mainly on upper legs with a little improvement in calves. I don't plan on entering any competition of any sort, so I don't need to have strength or size increases, but want to keep everything I have. I'm happy with my arms, chest, and shoulder size, and am not gross looking in a sleeveless T shirt (could lose some mid-section size).

So, I think I need to answer "handful of coffee stirs".

I do high sets/reps, but never to failure because of the lower weight I'm using. Also, immediately upon feeling a twinge anywhere I quit for the day. I've damaged the right rotator three times, and each time it took longer to heal. My daughter is ex-ray tech for orthopedic surgeon, and they want to fix me, but I'm doing nicely this-a-way.

Appreciate your feedback.