Something about me...
I'll be 47 next month, and have been lifting for about 10 years. I used to be a runner too, having done the Marine Corps Marathon in 1998. It was my one and only marathon. I had a great time training for it and running it. I call myself Minotaur because my goal is to become half man and half bull. I'm 5'5" and currently 218lbs with about 18-19% bodyfat. My goal is 195-200 with about 12% bodyfat, and losing 3-4" from my waist. I had sleep apnea and thyroid, testosterone and growth hormone deficiencies (all corrected now) that made it difficult to do cardio and lose fat. I just packed it on.
When I was about 36-37 years old, I lost a lot of weight, from about 165 down to 137. Before that I had only brief flirtations with exercise. I lost the 30lbs through dieting and aerobic exercise. Only later did I add weights. But even at 137 (and a 31-32" waist) I was still 'fat' and flabby. People told me I lost too much weight and was too skinny, but I thought I looked all that.
Then I joined a health club and started lifting weights. I got some muscle. After a few years I joined the Y, learned to deadlift and squat, and bench (at my first gym my best bench was 95 lbs and I pinned myself... twice
). At the Y I got more muscle. Two years ago I joined another gym (more equipment, more serious weightlifters and bodybuilders) and am getting more muscle.
Though my bench still sucks @ 185. My goal is just 225. Anything after that is gravy. My best deads and squats are 315 for a few reps. But at 47, it takes me a little longer to recover than the young studs, and a few more joints snap, crackle and pop, so I don't push for any records. Still, better than most 47 year olds, no!?
Right now, despite exercise and having what I though was a good diet, I'm fighting to get my blood test numbers into shape. My fasting glucose is 5 points over the scale, I may be insulin resistant and prediabetic (my father was Type II), my triglycerides are through the roof, my LDL is high and my HDL is low, but my total cholesterol is tolerable, my liver test comes out a little funky.
Even if I get back down to a 36 waist (I'll never see 32-34" and still keep the muscle mass), I will always look 'fat', unless I wear a wet T shirt and a jockstrap. I'll probably still need to wear size 38 or 40 pants for the legs and butt, but have the waist taken in. I wear XL shirts (shoulders are 52", chest is 46-47"), so of course the body is wide and makes me look wide. My hips and butt and legs have grown from squatting and dl'ing. My chiropractors and MDs even said I have short thick bones and short thick muscles. People don't understand that short and thick does not = fat! But you know what? I LIKE myself being a short thick musclebear.
I'm currently doing a ckd to get the fat down (currently 18-19%); people have said it's scary watching me eat. Ever watch Star Trek TNG and watch the Klingons eat?
Sorry to be so bit longwinded, but that's me.
I'll be 47 next month, and have been lifting for about 10 years. I used to be a runner too, having done the Marine Corps Marathon in 1998. It was my one and only marathon. I had a great time training for it and running it. I call myself Minotaur because my goal is to become half man and half bull. I'm 5'5" and currently 218lbs with about 18-19% bodyfat. My goal is 195-200 with about 12% bodyfat, and losing 3-4" from my waist. I had sleep apnea and thyroid, testosterone and growth hormone deficiencies (all corrected now) that made it difficult to do cardio and lose fat. I just packed it on.
When I was about 36-37 years old, I lost a lot of weight, from about 165 down to 137. Before that I had only brief flirtations with exercise. I lost the 30lbs through dieting and aerobic exercise. Only later did I add weights. But even at 137 (and a 31-32" waist) I was still 'fat' and flabby. People told me I lost too much weight and was too skinny, but I thought I looked all that.
Then I joined a health club and started lifting weights. I got some muscle. After a few years I joined the Y, learned to deadlift and squat, and bench (at my first gym my best bench was 95 lbs and I pinned myself... twice
Right now, despite exercise and having what I though was a good diet, I'm fighting to get my blood test numbers into shape. My fasting glucose is 5 points over the scale, I may be insulin resistant and prediabetic (my father was Type II), my triglycerides are through the roof, my LDL is high and my HDL is low, but my total cholesterol is tolerable, my liver test comes out a little funky.
Even if I get back down to a 36 waist (I'll never see 32-34" and still keep the muscle mass), I will always look 'fat', unless I wear a wet T shirt and a jockstrap. I'll probably still need to wear size 38 or 40 pants for the legs and butt, but have the waist taken in. I wear XL shirts (shoulders are 52", chest is 46-47"), so of course the body is wide and makes me look wide. My hips and butt and legs have grown from squatting and dl'ing. My chiropractors and MDs even said I have short thick bones and short thick muscles. People don't understand that short and thick does not = fat! But you know what? I LIKE myself being a short thick musclebear.
I'm currently doing a ckd to get the fat down (currently 18-19%); people have said it's scary watching me eat. Ever watch Star Trek TNG and watch the Klingons eat?
Sorry to be so bit longwinded, but that's me.
When I posted in the past I had something of a chip on my shoulder, more like a rock... I was very uptight, angry with everyone and everything, and depressed. But time has a way of wearing those things away and mellowing and smoothing a person out. Sort of like water over rocks.
