Every year I go through a cycle of gaining and losing weight. I lose it all in the summer when I am busy with outdoor activities and then I gain it back (muscle) in the winter/spring when I have more time for the gym. I have a pretty high metabolism so it is tough to gain weight and easy to lose it. The most I have ever weighed was about 200, but I really didn't look all that great. It was before I joined Imminst and learned a lot more about health, nutrition, and muscle development. This time I plan to eclipse that mark with lean ripped muscle. Yeehaa! Don't know what weight I will be able to reach on free weights since my joints are showing the wear and tear and soreness of my age. Any tips would be welcome. I hope to get some bloodwork done to see how my aging bio-markers change (or not). All this to promote Imminst and its great knowledge base.
My wife took pictures of my skinny self. I am amazed at how ripped, yet super thin I am. I hope to have some "after" pictures around April or so. Wish me luck.
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Here is a picture of the shoulder injury I sustained (described in the comment section). 8 days later and you can still see the bruise ring. It is still sore but it hasn't prevented me from lifting. Maybe because I am stubborn. Maybe because i have a high pain tolerance. I just hope it isn't a long term disability. At my age things don't heal up too fast.shoulder1.jpg
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shepard — 2007-12-18 00:06:53 UTC
Mind,
Are you hoping to be above 200 by April?
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Mind — 2007-12-18 07:59:05 UTC
I guess I was thinking April-ish, probably late April or early May.
--------------------shepard wrote:Mind,
Are you hoping to be above 200 by April?
MoodyBlue — 2007-12-19 01:04:31 UTC
Back in 1993 I got into some serious weightlifting for about a year. I was stuck at a level of development in strength and muscle growth for a long time. Then I read a book I found at the local library called "Lick the Sugar Habit" by Nancy Appleton, who had a Ph.D. in nutrition. She described the chronic health problems she had as a youth and adolescent before she became knowledgeable about the adverse effects of sugar and blood sugar increasing substances like caffeine. She did point out also how artificial sweeteners have a similar adverse effect on metabolism. Also, she said not to drink more than 2 ounces of fruit juice at one time, because the absence of fiber allows for quick absorption of the sugar resulting in spiked levels of blood sugar. Better to eat whole fruit instead. So, I decided to give it a shot and see how much a strict diet eliminating sugar and caffeine would affect my work out results. The results could be described as nothing less than unbelievable. Before I began that diet, I was bench pressing 190 lbs. 6 reps. max.. After 90 days without caffeine or anything with sugar added to it for sweetening, I could bench press 290 lbs. 3 sets, 5 reps. each. Increasing 100 lbs. like that in 3 months is unheard of. (Sorry about the dangling preposition). I'm not sure of how many pounds I gained, but the increased muscle mass was phenomenal. I do have to admit that I have the natural genetics for putting on muscle. A way you can tell if you do is to flex your calf muscle and if the length of the muscle is more than half the distance from the bottom of your knee to the protruding point on your inner ankle, then you will build muscle mass more easily.
Not only did my strength increase greatly, but my endurance did as well. I could work out longer, and my recovery periods between workouts were less tiring.
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Mind — 2007-12-19 16:51:17 UTC
Thanks for the advice moodyblue
--------------------moodyblue wrote:Back in 1993 I got into some serious weightlifting for about a year......................
..................Not only did my strength increase greatly, but my endurance did as well. I could work out longer, and my recovery periods between workouts were less tiring.
Mind — 2007-12-21 21:32:09 UTC
Well, I didn't help myself with my endeavor today. While playing basketball I bit on a pump fake and the guy went under me. I did a 180 flip over his back and I landed on my head and left shoulder. The force on my shoulder was great enough to break the skin. It doesn't feel like anything is torn or broken but it sure is sore. I am thinking the injury might limit my arm-work for a week or two. Will have to focus on legs and torso a little more.
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Bruce Klein — 2007-12-25 09:18:29 UTC
Ouch!
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Mind — 2008-01-02 00:21:07 UTC
Caught a cold on December 30th. This will slow me down for a couple days. I always wondered if it was better to just take 2 or 3 days off from working out while you have a cold, or should you try to work out even while a little ill.
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Mind — 2008-01-12 14:03:58 UTC
Well, the shoulder injury is not going away too fast. I think I have a minor tear in the middle tendon (or middle area) of my upper delt where it sort of connects to the clavicle (my layman's description). It only affects me in a few areas of motion on my left arm. I can max out on most lifts without feeling much pain. Surprisingly, it feels the worst when I sleep because most of the positions I sleep in flexes the exact position where the injury is.
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Mind — 2008-01-14 22:20:00 UTC
Ok it has been 1 month and I have gained 10 pounds.
Bench is up to 190 and squat is up to 285 (estimated, I don't have my workout sheet in front of me). Also, I think I made an error in the first post. My max bench should have been 165 at the beginning.
Feeling ok and looking ok, unfortunately I know that the first gains are the easiest. It is along way to 200, especially if you want it to be all muscle.
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Benedictus — 2008-02-09 07:17:33 UTC
My take on that is usually, if I ever have a cold (which is quite rare), to eat as little as possible, and drink as much as possible, not work out or even waste energy on movement at all. I usually stay indoors, do very little to nothing, mostly work on PC and writing and such, watch and listen a lot of stuff, maybe clean up a little, but other than that, chill it out. Cures it faster for me, is my impression.Mind wrote:I always wondered if it was better to just take 2 or 3 days off from working out while you have a cold, or should you try to work out even while a little ill.
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LBGSHI — 2012-12-11 21:53:36 UTC
A horrible blog post bump, but I thought I'd mention that I'm in essentially the same boat: I'm 5'10", in quite good shape, but it's very easy for me to lose muscle mass if I don't work out, while it takes some time to put it back on. A few years ago, I read three different books concerning 'hard gainers' and putting on muscle (though, curiously, I don't remember any of their titles anymore - perhaps I should've started my nootropic supplementation earlier
), and the general consensus, other than getting proper sleep and food, was to use heavy weights and few reps, and cut down or completely eliminate cardio while you're working on gaining. Although, I assume you already know this.When I was in the Army, I was an 18E (Special Forces, Communications Sergeant), but when I first began Airborne-Oriented Infantry training (having just spent four years in high school doing pretty intense calisthenics in ROTC), and threw on that huge rucksack, kevlar helmet, etc, next to all the giants around me, some of whom would also go on to become Green Berets...I could barely even stand up, heh. I tossed my equipment on while crouching, then tried to stand, failed, and literally fell back onto my rucksack, stuck on my back like a flipped turtle. It took me a few seconds to roll over, execute basically a pushup, get back to crouching, then finally stand up with all my might. When we stopped half-way through the road march, and everyone else did as instructed and 'took a knee', I remained standing, because I knew if I took a knee I wouldn't be able to get back up. My neck felt like it was being crushed under a rock, with that kevlar helmet on. I knew that I needed to bulk up quickly, so I ate as much as I could possibly hold down at every meal, and any time I had the opportunity, I did squats and weighted pushups with whatever weight was available. Coupled with the standard activities already included in training, this allowed me to put on 30 pounds of muscle (from 150 to 180) in three months.
Unfortunately, I lost most of it after I got out of the Army, partly because chemical burns in my lungs reduced my ability to work out for a couple of years, and partly because I took full advantage of being free to relax and kick back, in the civilian world
What's more, it's not really a good idea to over-eat, and as a result, it's probably to blame for the mild acid reflux I experience from time to time...nothing like wearing out the ol' pyloric sphincter
At the moment, I'm on the upswing, at 165lbs, working toward 180 again, if possible. I find that it's quite hard to be Batman (active both physically and intellectually) - whenever I focus on reading and learning en mass, exercise is neglected; whenever I focus on working out, getting proper sleep, eating well, etc...I don't get around to reading or learning very much. It's a difficult balance.
Update: Hah, that's what I get for not reading the subsequent blog post you made after completing this 'project': you addressed a few of the things I said here, and even gained about 30 pounds yourself. Anyway, well done. Out of curiosity - did you retain it, or re-enter the standard cycle of loss/gain?