Is There A Way To Lift Weight Without Stress Response?

[Uselis]

Or is it goes hand in hand because growing involves somewhat intense nervous system stimulation?

I have physical job which makes me feel quite good and on rest days I go on 9-12 mile walks. Walking I found by far best exercise for me.

However once in awhile a thread pops out with somebody improving their health significantly with diet/weightlifting and I am hooked again lol. I then try to do very minimal routine to get myself starting but always end up feeling sluggish, contracted and generally in energy conserving mode. Sleep takes a toll, caffeine tolerance gets poor as well.

Is this just some sort of adaptation period? Is weightlifting neccessary for better health at all or is it more like supplement meaning when all your foundation is strong it can add a bit of vitality?

Thank you

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Y'all are a bit too much afraid of stress.

 

[milkboi]

It's probably not necessary for good health. As long as you are taking your recovery serious enough, the stress from a workout shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Maljam]

If you have a physical job and walk a lot, doing extra weightlifting might be too much. It seems to benefit people that aren't otherwise active. If you are feeling bad you have probably either overdone it or not eaten enough.

 

[Uselis]

Thank you guys!

I've found that overall activity (walking, cycling, some labour) has expansive effect on me. Increased creativity, curiosity, urge to socialize, etc etc while lifting weights targets "feeling good" aspect strongly but otherwise contracts me - I prefer reading/watching movies over engaging, some lethargy and diminished spontanuity. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Spartan300]

Y'all are a bit too much afraid of stress.

For most of my adult life I have lifted weights, enjoyed it, looked forward to it and responded reasonably well to it.
However after a decade of significant external stress I can no longer tolerate it. I can still do it but cannot recover. It takes a toll on my sleep, libido and energy. I long for the days when my legs felt strong and powerful. Now I just feel weak.

The OP is not wrong. You have to be in good health to reap rewards from it.
Maybe it's just a question of finding the right level but for me at the moment it's depressingly low....

Not necessarily easy to understand unless you've been there.

 

[foodandtheworld]

Switching to lower weights and higher reps greatly reduced the stress/lingering fatigue for me. I'm not training to be an athlete so it was fine for me. I found higher weights induced the most stress (noticed I would have a lot of trouble sleeping after using weights in the 5 max reps range). Going to a weight where I could do around 15-20 reps, and doing multiple sets with that, still gave me results without the feeling of being burnt out. Also being more relaxed about taking a week or two off if I felt tired. Search "Surge Nubret" or 'high volume training' for example workouts (e.g., Serge Nubret Pump Training: No Need To Lift Heavy To Gain Muscle - focuses more on men's particular body composition issues but I found it was a good introduction to the style).

For supplements, I found B1 (thiamine hcl) good to reduce the hyperventilation that might follow after a tough workout. Typically 300mg with some OJ would work.

 

[Spartan300]

Hi @foodandtheworld I like this idea but it may not be hugely popular here because Ray Peat believes that lactic acid (pump) is bad.

I've seen much more in terms of recommendations here for heavy/low rep training.

My view is that heavy weight/low rep is way more demanding on the central nervous system.
Can't say with regard to higher rep stuff because I've not given it a meaningful try.
Perhaps I will as I'm resting more than I want to and that hasn't got me anywhere...

 

[David90]

@Uselis

Some General Tips for Weight Lifting without Stress-Response:​

• Have a Good Sleep the Night before.
• Have A Good Daily Calroic Intake (Stay at around Maintenance or Slight Surplus/Slight Deficit, No bigger or extreme Surpluses/Deficits)
  
• Have a Good Daily Macronutrient Intake (Protein 0,8-1g per Pound of Bodyweight, 0.4g of Fat per Pound of Bodyweight, Rest with Carbs)
  
• Eliminate Most of your Micronutrient and Mineral Deficiencies via Diet and good Food Choices
• Hold your Cortisol low (KSM-66 Ashwagandha CAN help with this, as it's an Adaptogen).
• Hold your Stress in Work and Personal Life low.
  
• 3 Days per Week is the Best in Terms of ''Training and Enough Rest'' in my Opinion. Also you can still progress good with Training Three Days per Week. Best Forms of Training 3 Days per Week would be ''Full Body Workouts'',''Alternating Upper/Lower Split'' or a ''Upper, Lower, Full Body Split''.
  
• 4-6 Exercises per Workout are the Sweet Spot (Enough to Stimulate Muscle Growth but not too much Stress Response)
• Do your Compound Exercises with Heavy Weight and Low Reps (You should at least get 5 Reps with it)
• Do Your Isolation Exercises with Lighter Weight and Medium/Higher Reps (at least 8-20/30 Reps, depending strongly on the Exercise)
• Rest 3-4 Minutes for Compound Exercises and 1-2 Minutes for Isolation Exercises.
• Don't go to Failure on Compound Exercises. Leave 1 or 2 Reps in the Tank (at most).