So my story...
50 year old male. Type 2 diabetic. Weighing in in the 230’s at 5’11”. Former football player in HS. Diagnosed as diabetic one year ago. I’ve lost about 40 lbs. and the visual transformation is pretty striking to everyone who knows me. I’ve done this by getting back in the gym and going pretty hardcore keto. I’m now down to the minimum doses of lisinopril for blood pressure and metformin for blood sugar as far as my medications. My PCP is thrilled with the progress and took me off all other meds except these maintenance doses.
The issue I’m having is that I don’t seem to be adding visual muscle mass. My strength has gone up in terms of weight on the rack, but I’m sorta plateauing. Because of my body fat loss, I can see the muscle that there, particularly when I’m pumped while lifting, but I can’t really discern any mass gains.
I tend to follow a 5 set routine when lifting. 2 sets at light weight for high reps for a warmup (40 and 30 reps, for example) then a set at about 15 reps and then 2 sets at 7-8 reps. I set the weight heavy enough to reach failure on sets 3-5.
I’m sure that part of it is age. But having let myself go for decades, quite literally, I’d think I still have more potential in my 50 year old frame than what I am doing now. I’m not really worried about numbers on the plates as far as achievement goes, but I do watch them to see progress.
My primary worry is heart rate. I do anything strenuous and my heart rate jumps up into the 120’s almost immediately. My peak HR during cardio sessions will get as high as the 150’s, but I try to keep it in the 140’s. But once my heart rate gets up in the 120’s, it usually stays up there during my lifting.
One thing I’ve read about is the link between heart rate and cortisol. I know my cardio routine isn’t exactly ideal to mass gain, but it’s pretty necessary to help control my blood glucose levels.
I’ve recently decided to bifurcate my workouts by doing cardio (30-45 minutes) at lunch and then lift after work with only a 10 minute cardio warmup. But I’m still seeing that elevated heart rate in the 120’s even after the warm-up.
So is my heart rate getting in the way or are the 120’s not really that high even at 50?
Maybe this just still boils down to too few calories in my diet to add mass? But it seems to me that if intermittent fasting is a thing and I still have body fat to burn, the energy should be there.
Or is there any chance the early light weight/ high rep sets are counteracting my heavier lifts to failure?
Maybe I just need to pick a lane as far as weight loss versus mass gain?
Any input with anyone who has insight into the geriatric phase of lifting is appreciated. :)