Hi
I want to thank the contributors and commenters on this site and to encourage any readers my age thinking about picking heavy things up and putting them down.
I got my three lift total to 1000 pounds today, for me this is big.
I started lifting in May of last year after finding some barbells and weights in a scrap metal pile. I had hurt my back a couple of years before and had begun doing bodyweight exercises. That worked but I had found TNation researching exercise for my back and became intrigued by the possibility of getting stronger rather than just allowing my body crumble with age. I was ready when those weights showed up.
I have been consistent and focused on slowly increasing my weights and have seen my lifts more than double in just over a year.
I am 180 pounds and 5’10’ maybe 10 pounds heavier than when I started but my body has changed more than I believed possible.
I know that to people thinking about starting out this all seems overwhelming. It isn’t. Work consistently at any reasonable program, eat big but clean, prioritize sleep. That’s it even for old farts like us.
I am 51 now and my lifting goals are, get a 405 deadlift just to see the wheels stack up, to get a 280 bench press because I misloaded the bar to 280 a while back and was crushed so I am looking for little payback, and a body weight strict overhead press (I am at 150).
The squat that got me my new total was a double at 355. That was all the weight I could load on my bar given the wooden frankenstein squat rack that I made out of 2x6. So one of my goals is to break down and buy ( I am really cheap so that part is traumatic) some more weight and maybe have a new squat rack made up out of metal. I have to do my lifting in a very low attic and a standard rack would never fit. On the bright side having no overhead room means I have to do farmer’s walks up and down the stairs in order to do my military presses.
My programming plan right now is to finish up this strength plan in about a week ( should get at least a 155 military press, wish me luck) and then switch over again to a 6 week hypertrophy program. That is my medium range programming 6 weeks hypertrophy followed by 4 weeks strength, then repeat.
And hey Twojars, dt, thanks for the kind words. I only have one friend who lifts and we only see each other maybe once a year, so this is kind of a lonely climb for me. The single most common comment people make after asking about what I am doing is to give a somewhat horrified “don’t hurt yourself”. And yeah that pumps me up about as much as you would expect.
[quote]Ketchrig wrote:
And hey Twojars, dt, thanks for the kind words. I only have one friend who lifts and we only see each other maybe once a year, so this is kind of a lonely climb for me. The single most common comment people make after asking about what I am doing is to give a somewhat horrified “don’t hurt yourself”. And yeah that pumps me up about as much as you would expect.[/quote]
I understand completely. I’ve only got one friend who is into lifting, and I don’t see him very often anymore. I get a surprising amount of negativity from friends and family. It is often faux-concern that I believe has less to do with what I am doing and more to do with what they are not doing.
I stopped caring what other people thought about my lifting a long time ago. I just don’t bring the subject up and I just smile and nod at whatever BS opinions people who do not lift have about my lifting.
Just keep lifting and enjoying the benefits you are earning.
[quote]Ketchrig wrote:
So one of my goals is to break down and buy ( I am really cheap so that part is traumatic) some more weight and maybe have a new squat rack made up out of metal.[/quote]
Great progress so far, man. Congrats. And if it helps, look at investing in some equipment as one part investment in future progress and one part reward for how far you’ve come.
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
I’ve only got one friend who is into lifting, and I don’t see him very often anymore.[/quote]
Was that your neighbor dude? If so, sorry to hear. If not, um, sorry to hear.
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
I’ve only got one friend who is into lifting, and I don’t see him very often anymore.[/quote]
Was that your neighbor dude? If so, sorry to hear. If not, um, sorry to hear.[/quote]
Yeah that’s him. He’s still lifting, just working crazy hours and up his woman’s ass on the weekends. He’s not shaving until he can squat 315 and bench 225. He had a DL goal tied to it as well, but I forget what it was.
[quote]Ketchrig wrote:
The single most common comment people make after asking about what I am doing is to give a somewhat horrified “don’t hurt yourself”. And yeah that pumps me up about as much as you would expect.[/quote]
Lol.
Keep us update on your progress. Hope this inspires some the beginners less than half your age that believe they have been dealt a bad hand in genetics and shows them this kind of stuff is not impossible when you truly want it!
I truly enjoy this. I have friends that are 25 - 35 that bitch and cry about being old and shit. It honestly makes me reconsider being their friend. But you, my good sir, I want to be your friend. Please? Age is only a state of mind, and people like you prove that.
