I never want to go through inguinal hernia surgery again.
The pain, the six-week “do nothing” sentence, the fear that I’d lose everything I’d built over two decades in the gym… it sucked.
But here’s the weird part: those six weeks of forced rest turned out to be the best thing that’s happened to my body in years.
I couldn’t squat, deadlift, bench, or pull. All I could do was walk, eat perfectly, stretch, and sleep like a depressed house cat.
Result? I dropped visible body fat, kept almost all my muscle, fixed a dozen nagging aches, and came back stronger and healthier than I’ve felt since my late 30s.
So I made a decision: starting this year, every November is now an official deload/recomp month.
No heavy barbell work. No ego. No “just one more set.”
Just five things:
- 10–15k steps a day
- 1 g protein per pound of bodyweight (minimum)
- Mobility and soft-tissue work every single day
- 8.5–9.5 hours of sleep
- Zero stress about the scale or the barbell
That’s it.
The Hard Truth Most Guys Over 35 Refuse to Accept
In your 20s, the body rewards stupidity.
You can train 6–7 days a week, eat like garbage half the time, sleep five hours, and still make progress. Recovery is on rookie mode.
In your late 40s? Recovery is on expert mode, and the difficulty setting only goes up from here.
You don’t get extra points for grinding 12 months a year anymore.
You get injuries. You get burnout. You get diminishing returns. And eventually, you get forced time off—usually at the worst possible moment.
I learned that the hard way with a surgeon’s scalpel.
The guys who are still jacked, strong, and mobile at 60, 70, even 80? They aren’t the ones who never took a break. They’re the ones who learned when to take their foot off the gas on purpose.
Strategic retreat isn’t weakness. It’s how you win the long war.
“But won’t I lose all my gains?”
That’s the #1 fear I hear from every 40+ guy when I suggest a full month away from heavy lifting.
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: If you keep protein high, keep moving, and don’t fall face-first into a bucket of donuts, you’ll lose almost zero muscle in four weeks. Research on detraining shows trained individuals retain muscle for 4–8 weeks even with complete rest—longer if they stay active.
What you will lose: inflammation, joint pain, cortisol, and that tight, beat-up feeling you’ve been calling “normal.”
What you’ll gain: a body that’s primed to grow again when December rolls around.
My New Rule Starting at Age 49
Every November from now until I’m in the ground:
- No squats, no deadlifts, no bench press PRs
- No training max calculators
- No “I’ll just do some light sets” copium
Just walking, eating, recovering, and letting my body rebuild the parts that 25 years of heavy iron quietly broke.
If a surprise hernia gave me the best recomp of my adult life, imagine what doing it on purpose will do.
Your Move
If you’re over 35 and still training like you’re chasing a college football scholarship, you’re not tough.
You’re on borrowed time.
Pick one month a year. Any month. Call it your deload/recomp season.
Tell your training partners, tell your coach, put it on the calendar in red letters.
Take the foot off the gas on purpose—before life takes the wheel and slams on the brakes for you.
Do it now, and thank me when you’re still squatting heavy at 60.
– A 49-year-old who finally got smart
