Stiff, Sore, Statins and CoQ10?

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Docs. I’m 63, 5’8, 190. Squat 285, DL 325. I’ve been training for 1/2 a decade or so. I’m lifting twice a week now, Andy Baker and Sullivans program for the elderly but not quite dead. DL 1x5 once a week and a 2x5 light squat, Heavy Squat once a week for a set of 5. I sleep well and eat well. Fine while lifting, a little stiff the next day, and by day 2, really stiff and sore for a day.

I was on vacation at a place with a hotel gym. I did several crossfit-like 10-15 minute HIIT workouts (high reps, low weights) and low and no soreness or stiffness. I don’t quite get why this soreness is such a constant with lifting heavy but not high rep work.

I’m a little less than a year from an MI, so I’m taking a statin, blood thinner and beta-blocker.

It was suggested that the statin might be affecting the soreness, and CoQ10 might help with that. I was on atorvastatin for awhile but I was having some significant memory issues that got better with rosuvastatin. I don’t recall if I was having the soreness with the atorvastatin.

Two questions. Any concerns about the CoQ10? Any reason that the statin/lifting vs HIIT would make such a difference?

Thank you for any input and for this great forum.

2

I don’t have any concerns about using CoQ10.

I think it’s a bit less likely that the statin is causing this sort of “selective” soreness across different activities; rather, it’s quite common for very high-intensity activities to cause some soreness, particularly if you aren’t being regularly exposed to that activity (e.g., doing a heavy squat only once per week).

I pulled a PR double last Friday and was more sore than usual for 2-3 days afterwards, whereas I wouldn’t have felt anything after pulling multiple sets at 70-80% of that intensity. This is something that you may adapt to over time, to an extent, but is primarily a matter of managing your training loads intelligently and ensuring regular enough exposure to the activity that you build up some resistance via the Repeat Bout Effect.

3

I thought I would check in with a follow up. It has been a month now, and my workouts are consistent, ie heavy squat and deadlift once a week, light squat once a week, regularly moving up. Nothing else has changed, but the difference in terms of soreness is dramatic after starting the CoQ10. I would typically be extremely sore two days after lifting, now almost nothing. FWIW.