Thread: Good Evening Everyone!

I'm a 52 year old male. I've been lifting weights in one venue or another since I was 15 years old. I was a member of Texas A&M's Powerlifting Team from 1979 to 1983. We won the NCAA National Powerlifitng Championship in 1983. Along with weight training, I began martial arts training in 1979. I have been studying Korean Tae Kwon Do under numerous instructors for the last 34 years.

I don't classify weight training or martial arts as hobbies; I would wither and die if I could not train with weights and martial arts. I also am a bona fide gun nut and hunter. I don't consider the building, care and shooting of my guns as a hobby either. It's a part of my inner being; I shoot because I have to. It's a Zen-like exercise for me; I can lose hours at a time tinkering with a gun in my gun room, or reloading ammunition for one of my guns. If I were told I had to give up either weight training, martial arts, or my guns, the inner conflict would be so great I would not be able to answer.

Now, hunting is a hobby. I could take it or leave it. I enjoy the camaraderie that is endemic to a group of men and women who love hunting and sometimes firearms, or firearms and sometimes hunting or who love both.

My goal is to return to the shape I was in when I was 40. I was on a Keton diet M-F, trying to keep my carb consumption under 25 mg a day, eating 400 mg of protein, and more fat than protein so my body would utilize the fat for energy rather than the protein. Then, on the weekend, I would carb-load, drop the protein down and continue through Sunday night. Monday mornings I looked like Superman.

More importantly to me now, is that I get my BF% back below 15%. I would estimate it at 25% now. I injured my right knee doing squats on 04-02-2010, and literally laid flat on my back 20 out of every 24 hours until I had a partial knee replacement done on 08-05-2011. Sixteen months; I started at 250 when I tore my medial and lateral meniscus, and checked into the hospital weighing 298.

Now, 4 months after a partial knee replacement, I walked briskly, with 5 lb leg weights for 2 hours. I've been walking before the surgery and after as much as I could tolerate, but I still had shocking atrophy of my right quadriceps. My weight is back down to 260, but I haven't gotten back into the weight room. Monday begins a 14 week weight training cycle. I haven't decided if I want to bulk or cut. I will continue the aerobic workouts, eventually increasing the time to 3 hours, which will be approximately 11 miles. I walk at a 16.5 minutes/mile pace. I am also going to incorporate 5 lb hand weights to activate the upper body and increase the aerobic load.

Well, that's my life in a nutshell, emphasis on the NUT.

welcome.