Fitness motivation and goals!

hats off to your fitness journey man. it resonated with me so i appreciate you sharing.

 

Most of it (80-90%?) is diet. Don't go "on" a diet. You are setting yourself up to fail.

Find healthy foods that you enjoy eating and stick to it....most of the time....build in regular cheat meals...go for walks...

 

Same! Part of my problem was nicotine pouches. My ears were ringing and I had a constant lightheaded/headache. I just didn’t feel like myself for over a year. I couldn’t think straight, I lost motivation and creativity. Even my favorite things I no longer wanted to do. I was dragging ass everywhere. I’ve always had an elevated BP but it was always dismissed because they said it’s probably just white coat syndrome. But the final straw was when I was some thing like 217/90. Then it shot up 30 minutes later during a retest to 223/85! I feel so much better now.

I’ve got a ways to go, and plan on making this my lifestyle for the rest of my life. Eating better and exercise. Also every time I tell myself I don’t feel like doing something, I force myself to just go do it. Then I’m back in the zone. I was known as a machine at work, I could just go and go. And now I’m really close to that place again. This is also helped my mental stability and depression. Healthy mind, healthy body.

 

I’m glad! Please take care of yourself, I’m trying Very hard. I told myself that I have to do this for the rest of my life. There is no other option.

 

This is what I’ve been really trying hard to do. I love food man! I cut carbs for quite a while, but now I am eating them again. That has slowed my weight loss but I strangely feel better as long as I don’t overdo it. And I don’t deprive myself of a good old cheat day. But then I try to make up for it with a walk like you said. And sometimes I will intermittent fast to prep myself for a cheat day. Then I don’t feel as guilty

 

Here is something that is pretty easy except for those hooked an alcohol.

Aside from skim milk, stop drinking calories. And I mean stop. No alcohol, no sweet tea, no protein shakes, no energy drinks. Nothing with any calories..not even that 70 calorie beer. You would be amazed how quickly the fat/pounds will disappear. Inside of 6 weeks you will be buying smaller pants, knees will feel better, BP will drop. You will think it is some miracle diet.

 

This is absolutely true. As an example, if you ate enough calories to meet your caloric demand for a give day, the average person would have to run a marathon that same day to lose a touch over one pound. Average person burns 150 calories per mile. 26 mile marathon would give you 3900 calorie burn. 3500 is needed to lose one pound.

So much easier to not eat that double cheeseburger than run 6 miles just to break even.

 

I spent a good amount of my younger years bodybuilding (natural), and managed to hit 240 at 6'1" (34" waist at that) in my mid 20s. That was the 90s. I'm 51 now, and while I've continued to train all these years and have maintained a decent physique, I'm finding now at this age my body doesn't recover as quickly. Although I'm not using the same weight these days, I still train heavy for my age and maintain the same intensity. It isn't necessarily a new year's resolution, but I'm trying to "teach" myself to drop the poundage. So I've been experimenting with different methods to keep the intensity high while not training too heavy. Very slow negatives with moderately heavy weights have been most effective for me, but the problem is, once I get my hands wrapped around the bar I can't help but increase the poundage and go for that heavy burn. But my joints don't always agree with it.

So yeah, that's my current goal right now, to continue the same level of intensity without over-training, and just accept that my body won't be able to build muscle like it used to, so I have to train smarter.

In addition to the slow negatives, one of the most effective changes I've made is switching to a land mine. I swear by them! They've been very effective in multiple exercises, and I can squat now without putting too much stress on the knees. I have new equipment (rack, bench, pulley system) waiting to be assembled that I bought myself for Christmas, but unfortunately I caught covid and haven't gotten around to putting it all together. I'm hoping to get it all setup this weekend so that I can get back into it. I HATE MISSING WORKOUTS lol

 

I had Covid through the holiday as well. I missed two weeks at the gym. Didn’t really gain any weight but I don’t look as good in the mirror. At least that’s how I feel about it. This is my first full week back. I went last Thursday for the first time and spent four hours there just hitting everything LOL then I ran 4 miles. Wanted to get my sweat on,And also to help clear out the lungs. And I did feel better afterwards.

 

Yep. People thought I was nuts back in the 90s for buying a rack, bench, leg press, hex dumbell set + rack, and olympic weights for home. I paid about $110 for a starter 270 lb set with a 45 lb olympic bar in the 90s. I still have that set, but I've added more plates and bar over the years. Fast forward to mid 2020, and a basic olympic weight set was over $1k.

 

That's cool and hilarious. Missed working out so you just went all out lol. Glad to hear you're feeling better. I thought I was over it a couple of days ago, then yesterday I woke up with a scratchy throat, and now I have runny nose all over again. I'm pretty sure it's Omicron as my symptoms match, but fortunately it has stayed in my sinuses for the most part. I got a booster on Dec. 21st so I'm sure that's helping. I haven't noticed any weight gain either, but I have to watch it since I'm older. But I hate that noodly feeling in the muscles when I miss workouts lol, so I totally get what you mean that you can tell in the mirror.

 

I’ve been going pretty hard this week. I want that soreness. Tomorrow is leg day! I hate leg day, but never skip leg day.

I do have a lingering runny nose in the morning. But slightly. I just lie to myself and say it’s allergies

 

Totally! I love feeling the soreness/tightness, especially walking the next day after a good leg workout. That's one reason why I change things up to keep the muscles guessing. But I'm the opposite, I love leg day! I hate not being able to work my legs.

 

Tell me if you think this is a decent workout plan.

I hit the weights every other day. A pull day a push day and a leg day. But, on a push day I will make sure to incorporate 1 to 2 pull exercises as well as 1 to 2 leg exercises. What I choose varies. And then I do the same thing on a pull day as well as leg day. That way my muscles have time to rest but also get an overall pump.

i’m trying to come up with what’s right for me. I have some of my favorites that I always do, but I do try to switch it up and always try something different to keep my muscles guessing. I try to focus on form and muscle isolation. I backed off of the overly heavy weights as it was bothering my joints. So now I’m medium/light weight and try to rep out to failure on my target muscle group for the day.

 

I took a desk jockey job last May and have since packed on 20lbs. I hate that shit. I've finally settled on kettlebells and I'm really enjoying it, especially because I can do it in my work apartment in the evenings when it's -30 outside. Simple and Sinister is a great program so far.

I'll be 33 in Feb. I'd love to hit my early 20's weight, so I'm aiming to drop 40 pounds. I'm cutting out 95% of my junk food habit and I already don't really drink beer or soda. I drink my coffee black, so that helps too.

The only supplement stuff I'm doing is my daily regular Vit D, zinc, multi-vit and fish oil.

 

I adopted this years ago. Just drink water aside from one beer on a Saturday night or special occasion. My wife drinks enough pop for both of us.

 

I think those are the most important words in your post. While the push/pull/legs is a common and sound approach, as long as you are tracking your development and whatever you do is working, that's what matters. If it doesn't, move on to something else. But don't neglect a technique or movement entirely. Sometimes, revisiting something that didn't work initially will actually work better as it offers a change to the routine.

So my advice is to do exactly what you're doing and try different methods/techniques and figure out what works best for you, what actually yields results. And it definitely helps to mix things up, the ol' "muscle confusion principle" that Joe Weider coined has been a staple in my training. While you can't escape your genetics, it's difficult to ascertain where that limit is. Thus, I've always felt that fitness and bodybuilding is a "personal science". You have to figure it out. I've seen people grow like weeds off light to moderate weight, while others lift heavy for gains. I've seen others apply some logic to that and mix in both methods and get great results.

Lastly, don't neglect the negative parts of a movement. Steady/slow negative reps will help increase intensity and strength, and also prevent momentum, which is worthless for development.

 

I watch people fly through their sets. and I wonder if that’s as effective for them in a different way.

I personally like to go slow on both the contraction and expanded contraction with a pause at peak contraction, especially at the end of a set. It burns LOL

 

Yeah I've seen that throughout the years as well. That has never worked for me, but I've seen some people with great physiques who train like that, although that's far less common from people I've seen train like that.

That's a great technique, and the pause in the middle really does help get that burn. I would also include fast/explosive positives, too, on the moderate/heavier sets. Slow on the way down, pause, then explode up. You're essentially applying more force to the weight which in theory hits the target muscle group more thoroughly, and hit those "fast-twitch" muscle fibers as they're called.

 

OK! I like that. Thinking about it, I can see that in my sets as I get tired, more of a jerk to get it up, but always try to go slow on the way back down.

I will say, this thread has got me motivated to go to the gym again tomorrow. It’s exciting to feel that way again.

 

Same here! But I gotta wait till I'm over the 'rona first.. sigh

But on a positive note, man am I gonna be sore once I get back in there!

 

I was sore from the gym this week and didn't feel like going.

Instead I walked the gym (my lady still went) It's only a mile away so I walked away then looped back to the gym.

The struggle was real, it's 25 degrees, snot running, headphones stop working at one point from the cold. Got home and feeling cold in my bones after 3.5 miles, my dog looked at me ready to go, said fuck it, and took the dog for a mile walk. She had fun, the warm poop bags kept me going got it done

 

Lol, anyway you can do it, do it. Nike was on to something when they said, "Just Do It!" Those have been words to live by for years for me. Anytime I feel like not exercising, I say that to myself and I'm good to go.

 

I appreciate everyone sharing their stories. Sounds silly, but it resonates with me for a very personal reason.

So while my Dad was in the hospital in early 2019, I understandably had headaches and the like. I knew my BP was up a bit (I mean, whose wouldn't be when their dad was in the hospital?). Then one day a month or so later, my son asked me "Dad....do you have high blood pressure?" I told him "Yeah, I probably do."

His next question was "Well....doesn't high blood pressure cause strokes?"

I almost lost it right then and there. My son was essentially telling me he was worried about me dying of a stroke "like grandpa" due to high blood pressure. At that moment I said "OK, I'm done f***ing around with my health."

Went and got put on a very low dose of BP medication; also discovered that I was prediabetic (now diabetic, just barely), so I was put on metformin; am now on (oh, oh, oh) Ozempic. Now? my BP is routinely around 120/75 or so; blood sugar is NEVER above 105; cholesterol is excellent; and I've lost 20#, with about 40# to come off (which will only help my diabetes and high BP).

I don't 'like' being on meds. *BUT* you know what I do like? Being around to watch my son grow up, get married, have children; and to grow old one day with my wife. Not gonna be so hardheaded that I kill myself out of pride.

 

I'm wanting to go from dad bod , to kind of ok lol I weighed 254lbs prior to the Xmas break and I'm down to 243 lbs now. Trying to get back to about 210. I don't really even care about being ripped or muscle tone or crap like that , just want to feel like I'm not a fat ass. Lol

 

I know you’re right about this, but dammit I love beer.

 

That's really cool to hear, and those numbers are back to and below normal! Such a great story, very inspiring and glad to hear you've made positive changes!

That has been my long-time training goal for years. For as long as I've been training, as I've gotten older I only want to maintain muscle mass and a low(er) bodyfat percentage. Plus I still want to snack on the weekends lol.

 

You and me both! After my first surgery my son was crying in the backseat and I asked him why. He said “I don’t want you to go back to the hospital, dadas; what if you don’t come back”. I had to pull over because I couldn’t see through the tears. I’ve been trying to make appointments left and right to get ahold of things but it’s tough with Covid and appointments being booked months out. Just get put on the waitlist for everything and call back weekly

 

Yup, largest portion is diet but genetics and other factors (stress, blunt force trauma, hydration*diet*) go into it. Max I ever hit weight-wise was 215 which isn’t much for a 6’ guy, but something is still up! Some people say having kids during covid is good because you can spend more time with them etc etc, but man is it stressful. Stress kills!

 

I'm a grandfather. My wife and I help out and babysit regularly. It's fun, but a lot of work. Sure is nice to go home to our quiet home afterwards!