Origin story;
2 years ago I watched the movie Bronson and, having a shaved head already, decided it would be a good idea to troll my wife by growing a mustache like Tom Hardy.
Sadly, I realized with the weight I had gained over the years I looked decidedly less like this:
Than this:
I used to work out in my 20s a lot, had active jobs and was pretty fit back then. I still thought of myself that way, just on a an extended break from my fit self, but it had been well over a decade and counting since I did any real training.There was the occasional flash in the pan in my 30s like using the C25K app, a few runs of circuit training using my bowflex dumbbell set up that only went up to 52.5lbs, or fitbit challenges, but nothing that made me feel athletic at all.
I went through my 30s assuming I would get back to the gym and get fit one more time before I got too old, but it was time to realize that the window was closing rapidly and soon I would be looking at just trying to not be overweight as my challenge. I was also beginning to feel my age, engineering how to get up off the ground when playing with the baby etc, and having more trouble lifting my 3 y/o off the ground. I had to get my **** together or I would get too out of shape to play with them as they grew.
So I joined a gym with a couple of buddies, one who had gastric bypass and dropped from around 400lbs to 250lbs rapidly recently and was at the point of being able to exercise, and another who had been going to the gym casually but regularly with no real program, mostly to keep his beer belly at bay. I had the most lifting experience of the three of us by far and took the lead of the group. Using my grossly outdated knowledge from the Men's Health and Men's fitness magazines I poured over in the late 90s early 2000s we eased into a 4 day bro-split. My expectations were low, and I anticipated being one of the older gents just tryna keep spry with no real gainz.
I don't have a good before pic, but the stats were:
Age: 40
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 170
Waist: 33"
Job:sedentary
Activity: Some walking with the family and a little fitbit competition averaging 12k steps a day.
The form cues I knew from back in the day were terrible and contrary to all conventional wisdom now. On bench, for example, I kept my back flat, feet up in the air, elbows flared, and got a deep "stretch" at the bottom of the movement with my shoulders compromised as **** under load. After three months of this ****, a cuff issue flared. It didn't get better on it's own after taking a few weeks off, so I Binged some rehab exercises and during my research discovered all the new bro-science that debunking the bro-science of my day.
Boom. Mobility drill warm ups, no plates under heels when squatting, tucked elbows, scapular retraction, and the diet stuff.....fat doesn't make you fat???? I started taking creatine and other than that just protein for sups.
Anyway, my shoulder got better and my results came fast with the tweaks and I soon surpassed what I expected to reach for body comp and strength. After just over year of pretty consistent workouts with a few injuries.
After one year in my old pants:
Age: 41
Height: Still manlet obv
Weight: 148
Waist: 29"
Job:sedentary
Activity: intense lifting 4-5 days a week...no cardio really but some heavy prowler sled on leg days
Bench: 265 max, 225x7
dl 355x3
squat: 275x5 with some in the tank...I never went higher than this or to failure before I effed my hip up
I liked working out with my friends for the social aspect, but they were slow and I was clearly the most motivated, dragging them along a lot. One of them moved further out from me, and the other lost interest in going hard for gainz, if he ever had it. The last year was fairly good, but had a few challenges. I got sick a few times, moved in autumn and fell out of my rhythm, but never off completely. I stopped taking creatine in October. I also ended up injuring my hip squatting deeper under load than I had earned the right to right around year one and that injury plagued me for almost a full year and still keeps me from squats.
I started to do deads with no coaching, working my way up to 355x3, and becasue of this forum I decided to record myself to post my form for critique. I never did post it because I was shocked and appalled at the bend in my back that had felt 100% flat to me. It scared me enough that I just decided to stop until i could get some coaching or find someone knowledgeable work out with, my buddies not being that. I have not done them since.
I have been consistent 4 days a week for the last three months I'd say. To avoid injury and just for kicks, I changed my rep range up to go lighter and longer with true 4 second negatives, 10 rep range and higher volume of sets on some lifts than I had been. I also went off my diet a bit and tried to semi-dirty bulk with no real cohesive plan other than eating more and being less strict. Really, too much of the dirty came in the form of bourbon. My wife cooks for us every night almost and pretty clean. I don't eat red meat and really have lost my sweet tooth for the most part. I gained some weight, some fat and some muscle I am certain, but the muscle feels less dense to me. That may be the lack of creatine or the lighter weight, or my test naturally dropping as I age, but I still am fine with it.
Current:
Age: 42
Height: Still manlet obv
Weight: 154
Waist: 29-30"
Job:sedentary
Activity: intense lifting 4- days a week, 45 second rest between sets
Bench: most recently 225x6
dl na
squat: na
Since I am going to be traveling next week I'm taking it as a deload week. I will be trying crossfit with a coworker one of the days, and may get some light workouts in the hotel gym depending on the facility and if I can deal with the time change. The following week I am going to get serious again, stay on the 4 day split with an occasional 5th, and get back on the diet and creatine. I'm going to be 43 this summer, and my goal is to be the dilfiest I can be before my T levels dive. I'm not going to track macros really, though I will sup protein, and I am not likely to max out again as longevity is more important to me now. That may change tho, as the desire to go heavy has snuck up on me when I got within striking distance of PRs. My bench PR in my 20s was 275 weighing 150, and I never thought I'd sniff it again. I tried it twice last year but didn't make it.
Anyway, I have been meaning to start this for a while. I have lurked in a few other's threads here an enjoyed it. Maybe having a thread all about me will help keep me from tryna make the other threads I participate in all about me, but I doubt it.
Last edited by Johnny Truant; 04-07-2017 at 03:09 AM.