G22 51 Years Old Timer

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
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Its been a VERY long time since I did a journal.

I am an “old” timer, 51. I have trained since I was 21, on a Marcy Home gym. Through my 20s I was fortunate, or unfortunate, to train with some monsters. 2 of which went pro.

At my largest I was 245lbs, with two rows of abs. Yes, for sure I was deep into “supplements”. Honestly though we never did the dosages that I see online today. An oral, Dbol usually, and 400mgs of test a week was typical.

We did not know fuck all as our information came from a tattered underground handbook.

I did not compete. I had planned on a show but tore the ligaments in my right ankle. Dont ask, the story is extremely lame.

Life got very busy in my 30s with getting a “real job”, married, and two kids. I never got too sloppy but was definitely unhappy with my appearance.

I love lifting weights. It is like some people’s scotch after a hard day…It is my refuge and I cannot wait to lift everyday.

Name a training method, I have likely done it. Cybergenics? Yup. Power Factor Training? Yup. DC when he first posted on line? Yup. Anyhow, you get the idea.

Stats as of today:
Weight 202
Height 5’11"
BF 8-9% I suspect. 7point caliper puts me 6-7%, but I know that is bullshit from experience. Pic is as of the morning of July 4th. I carb up on Sundays.

Diet. Same as training. Name a diet plan? Done it. Anabolic Diet ordered from the back of Muscle Mag? Yup etc etc

Current Diet:
Bodybuilder Keto/CKD - Calories are set at 90% of my measured TDEE Monday through Saturday. I track my calories, estimated activity and weight to get a more accurate picture of my TDEE. I base the TDEE on a rolling two week average (I am an accountant)

Monday through Friday:

Calories are 90% TDEE. I set my protein at 240-250g, carbs at around 30-40g, and fats make up the rest. Right now this is 250p, 183f, 30g carbs. This is what I put in my app.

Saturday:

Calories are set at 100%. 250p, 215f, 30c

Sunday:

120% of TDEE. 275p, 87f, 450g carbs. This is my carb day. I have found that I need this over the years. If I am sustaining energy well I will drop this to be 120% of TDEE with similar macros to Monday through Saturday.

Training plan:

I have two “cycles” on a 4 on 1 off schedule.
PPLA - The L is quad dominant. Only leg curls this week
PPPA - The P being posterior chain, and ham/lower back dominant

Why not just do PPL? Why the arm day? Because I love arm day.

I do not sling heavy ass weight any longer. Injuries, a botched shoulder surgery, have led me to re-evaluate. I focus on the muscle, feeling it stretch/squeeze etc. Rep ranges are typically above 8, sometimes in the 15-20 range. There are exceptions.

Nice to be here. Hopefully I get some feedback, learn new things, and get some additional “kicks in the ass”.

July 4th

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Nice to have you! Your pic speaks for itself, as you are extraordinarily lean.
May I ask if you do any bloodwork? I’m really curious how your lipid panel looks with fats that high. I’m trying to improve my own and beginning to wonder if I’d do better to go very low carb vs lower fat.

And plus 10 for enjoying an arm day!

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Aw jeeez… not another one :roll_eyes:

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Welcome aboard! Looks like you are doing things right. Carry on!

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We’re everywhere!

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Thanks for the welcome fellow iron heads!

Regarding lipids. I have scheduled bloods in the beginning of August. I just recently went back to higher fat/protein/low carbs. When doing this in the past lipids were good.

IF my lipids are shit, I will pivot. @ 51 balancing this lifestyle and health is sometimes difficult.

A few more notes:

I bought my first power rack just before 9/11 in 2001 and have trained mainly at home since that time.

Home gym is pretty stacked now as I have zero guilt about spending money on weights/fitness equipment.

July 8th arm day (leaving out weights/reps as those are in my log book in the basement)

3 groups of exercises. I super set between tris/bis. ALL are taking to 1RIR or complete failure. All 3 sets

Preworkout (45-60 mins prior) is 10g dextrose and a pre-workout drink (Total War right now as that was on sale)

  1. Rope push downs/Ez curl bar (narrow grip)
  2. 1 arm rev push downs (palms up)/Preacher curls
  3. EZ bar extensions(french press)/reverse curls

2 min rest between the supersets where I walk on the TM at 3mph/5 degrees.

Love training arms on their own! Super enjoyable workout

Pumps are still great even though this was day 5 of carbs <30-35g per day. I do liberally salt my foods and I will use NoSalt on one meal per day.

Woke up today at 203. I am not bulking/cutting at the moment. Just dialing in my baseline/maintenance. In September I am going to start increasing calories.

Diet yesterday:
Protein 250.4 Fats 141 Carbs 35. Messed up calories and came in at around 2534 compared to a goal of 2787.

  • Boursin cheese + Guacamole + beef (drained) in a low carb wrap is amazing

Today is a rest day and calories increase to 3,075. Will likely get in 60-90 mins of LISS (riding a bike, walking the dogs etc)

Tidbit of the day - Do not ever take a workout for granted. They are limited and are a privilege. One day, maybe tomorrow, it could end. Legs burning? Think of people who cant walk and wish their legs were burning. Each workout is a blessing. Go fucking grind.

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Doing terrible at logging already. I work a pretty demanding job in finance.

July 10 - Pull day:

Heading over to my woman’s house to train. She has a smith, power rack and a very well outfitted home gym. I was granted the smith machine. It has been forever since I have used one, so it was a nice change.

Smith machine shrugs / Meadows rear delts. Done super set style. 3 sets to failure on both. The meadows rear delt exercise is very high rep (30+), focusing on keeping the shoulders loose and only using the rear delts.

Smith bent rows / Straight arm pull downs. SS style, 3 sets to failure. Then one backoff set for bent rows and a drop set for Straight arm pull downs

Did some other random shit, forearms and some abs/core

Diet today was my higher carb day and it was glorious. Clean carbs except for 50g of swedish berries that I stole from my son

July 11th Push day:

Football bar flat bench. Without a doubt this is easier on my shoulders AND I feel it more in my chest. 3 sets to failure reps ranging from 13 down to 8.

Flat flyes. I do these pretty light, 40lbs, focusing on stretch/squeeze. I keep the tension on the pecs.

Side Laterals - The only real shoulder exercise I can do with my pooched right shoulder. Lighter and focused on keeping the shoulder girdle DOWN so only hitting the medial delts. 3 sets to when form breaks. Last set is down with a drop set

Ladder push ups (dont know what to call these). I take the football bar and put it on the lowest pins of my rack. Rep out slow methodical pushups until failure, move pins up one, do again. 3 sets

Very light triceps to get some blood flow as I have a an issue brewing in my left elbow

Diet today was back to a bodybuilder keto type diet. Carbs < 30-35g and high protein fats. 90% of my calculated TDEE.

Weight yesterday was 204.5

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Yesterday was leg day:
Leg ex / Leg curls 3 sets reps between 20-30
Bench squats 3 sets of 3
Wide stance squats / Monster walks 3 sets of 15 for squats, Monster walks around 100 steps each set
Rear elevated bulgarians 3 sets of 12-15
Leg extensions. One set with a triple drop.

Legs already tender.

Diet was spot on 2600 calories, protein 278g, fat 144g carbs 32.6.

Weight 205

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…most posts will be for the prior day.

Arm day! :slight_smile:

Done straight sets except for noted.

Palms down tri-push downs. 3x8-15
Rev Ez Curl 3x7-14

Single arm high pulley cross body cable thingys (Wycked) 3x15-20 stretch and squeeze
Single arm preacher curls 3x8-15

Lying single arm db extensions (DB to opposite shoulder) 3x8-20 / Narrow grip ez curls 3x9-15 (super sets)

Total 9 sets per muscle group. I really try and hit the triceps with differing hand/humerus positions. I cannot put my humerus above my head on the right, otherwise I would have something like that in my program. I truly believe hands/humerus dictate what areas you hit on the tri. Similar thoughts on biceps.

Pm workout - house was boiling so escaped to bsmt and did some calves.

Seated 2x20-25 / Standing db single leg 2x20-30 Supersets

Diet was challenging. Forced some calories end of day. 2652cals, p256g (bit light), fat 159 (bit heavy), carbs 27.5g

Cardio was LISS in the am for around 20 mins (walked dog). Then at night for another 20mins when I did calves

Weight 203.4. Water coming off due to the low carbs. I suspect I expect to dip slightly below 200 before next carb up.

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Pic from this morning. Not really dieting, but man I want that back fat GONE!

You can see the symmetry is off on the right side. This is from my botched shoulder surgery.

Why the fuck don’t surgeons, and dentists, have to give some sort of warranty for their work. They are like weathermen, fuck up within reason and no repercussions.

Back
Back1920×2334 257 KB

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Don’t we all? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
Looking good man.

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Thank you CL for the comment.

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July 15th - Today was pull

Rack rows (you know reverse pushups). I put a bar in the rack and feet on the bench. 4 sets of rest pause. Really focus on keeping elbows in to body and not flaring them. Reps were 20 down to 5. RP is done like DC (8 deep breaths and go again)

Straight arm pull downs 3x12-19. Flare the lats at the top, squeeze down hard at the bottom.

Lat pull downs 3x10-15. Elbows in using a v bar. My right shoulder limits how far up I can go, but I do my best.

Shrugs - Done with a barbell but I do the movement more like a ‘monkey upright row’, old school thing I guess. I lean forward slightly at the waist and squeeze the top. 4x10-12

Meadows rear delts/Face pulls

I dont know what else to call these. Saw JM doing these somewhere. You set a bench at an incline, face the bench and put all your weight on the pad. I end up with my knees on the bench. Then let the arms hang, no tension on rhomboids, traps etc. Then its a slight spreading movement…I cant explain this shit, just google it if interested.

The JM rear delts are super setted with face pulls (bit modified for my shoulder) from a high pulley using a triceps rope thinga-ma-jig

Then did some calf super sets (seated/standing) while watching The Terminal list

Diet:

Not done yet. Same shit as yesterday. Targets are 2600ish Cals, Pro 275, Fat 152, Carbs < 35

This is my new favorite meal. Egg Stuffed Meatloaf

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Just finished episode 2 of the Terminal List. Hope it starts to pick up a bit…lol The reviews for the book were less than stellar.
Meatloaf looks good.

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It does get better for sure and the story gets more complex.

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Gauge, I’ll trade backs with you. I have a little something called scoliosis, where the spine twists all over the place. You’ll be begging for mercy.

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Sorry to hear that. Yeah, of course I wouldnt want to trade.

However I would like to trade with someone who can wash their left armpit without a stick/louffa (how the fuck do you spell louffa??).

You know, ages ago I read/or was told that “When you are suffering on leg day, think of people who wish they could work legs close to the point of throwing up. Think about those who wish they could feel that lactic acid burn”. This has really stuck with me.

Every workout a blessing and a privilege. It can be ripped away in a heartbeat.

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Two day update.

July 17th Push day

Started with shoulders.

Single arm Side Laterals on a low pulley. 3 sets 20-30. More a squeeze/feel/warmup exercise as my right should is fucked.

DB Side laterals 4x12-20. Did these to form failure

Been loving Mike Wycks videos and caught a tid bit on doing side laterals differently. Think about scrapping your knuckles on the floor. IE: keep the shoulder girdle dis-engaged.

Football bar bench (palms inwards). 4x8-15

The palms inwards started to find something that did not irritate my shoulder as much. It worked and turns out my chest has improved?? WHY OH WHY did I not learn this 25-30 years ago.

Flat flyes 3x12-20. Very light, only 40lbs. Not going fully to the top

Palms down triceps. 3x 15-20

Yes, I am doing PPLA/PPPA but I throw in 1 exercise 3 sets of bis (pull) or tris (push) days…cause I enjoy it.

Diet was 120% of TDEE. Cals 3648, P288, F64, C432. Chronometer, which I use does not have the standard 4/9/4 cals per g. It differs slightly in case anyone was wondering. BTW best app for tracking cals/macros.
Weight 200.95

July 17th Posterior Chain

Sumo deads 3x3. I keep deads low on reps as high reps I tend to lose track of form and fuck myself up

GHRs. 3 sets max. Last set I add a band to get at least 6-7 reps

Leg curls 3 sets 15-25.

Leg Ext 3 sets 15-25

Did some butt stuff, ha…ha.

Banded kneeling hip thrusts/monster walks/seated abductors 3 cycles of these.

Reverse hypers. 3x20-25. I use momentum on these as it just feels right on the lower back compared to squeezing at the top.

Seated calves 3x15-20

Diet was 100% of TDEE. Took this down a bit given the rolling 30 day TDEE calculations I have.

Cals 3047 P265, F63, C319. Sunday is more of a feel day for macros, just ensuring the fat does not creep up.

Tomorrow is back to ‘ketoish’ with carbs 30-35.

Overall I seem slightly leaner. Wednesdays the lady takes a 7point caliper so will be interesting to compare. It has been 3 weeks since the last one, June 29th which is below:
(all mm)
Chest 2
Ab 4
Thigh 7
Tri 2
Midax 2
Subscap 6
Illiac/hip 3

The results are BULLSHIT as the BF% calculators kick out are to low. But the measurements gives a baseline for which direction I am heading. The goal is to remain fairly consistent…seeking a maintenance level for calories.

Some food prep today consisted of:

Egg stuffed meatloaf from my previous post. Changes is I put a layer of chopped up egg instead of the whole eggs and this is 50/50 Xlean beef/pork. I did put a few pieces of bacon in it

IP Deconstructed cabbage rolls Slight changes to the recipe 50/50 Xlean beef/pork, no tomato sauce and I use Chachere’s Creaole seasoning.

Looking forward to more fats. I just seem to enjoy it more, get less cravings. Pre-workout I do ingest 15g dextrose with a PWO drink.

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July 18

Arms day! :slight_smile:

Single arm Cross body high pulley tri ext (Name??) 3x15-25

Ez curls narrow grip (better for r shoulder) 3x8-15

Single arm DB laying extensions. DB goes to opposite shoulder 3x8-15, drop weight for 1 more set 22 reps

Preacher curls 3x8-12, drop weight for 1 more set 14 reps

Single arm reverse pushdowns (palm to ceiling) 3x8-15

Rev EZ Curls 3x8-15

Wrist roller 3 sets reps? I stand on a bench and wind that fucker up and down till failure.

Diet:
I weighed in today at 202.83. Last Monday was 205.8. The goal is to not drop weight. Therefore I added some calories, 200. Also adjusted protein up and fats down.

Today was 2812cals, 295p, 34c 155f.

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