introduction

[loggerboots]

Hi Folks,

I've been reading this forum for a few weeks, figured it was time to introduce myself.

I'm 48 years old and got serious about my health over this past winter. I was over 210 pounds at the time ( at 5'8" ) and pretty unhappy with my appearance and the way I felt about myself. I work a sedentary job and have a fairly stressful domestic situation (working on resolving that, too!), and over the years, my weight has gone up from about 165 to about 210+ ( was as high as 218 at one point ). I was in great shape as a young man (through my twenties), so accustomed to exercise and being fit, and I missed those things and felt like I was slipping into old age and perhaps low level depression. So, I decided to muster one last battle and see if I could get back into shape. Mid-life crisis, perhaps.

In about March, I finally was able to muster the willpower to enact a plan to get myself back into shape and stick with it. I've been going strong ever since, and closing in on my initial goal of getting back to a reasonable weight ( 170 pounds was the original goal).

Currently, I'm 176 pounds and feeling great, physically. Feel much the same as I remember feeling as a young guy, and in some demonstrable ways, I'm actually more fit than I was then. The picture I've attached shows that I'm beginning to see my abs (cool), though admittedly they're a bit flexed in that pic.

I achieved the weight loss in the traditional way - started counting calories and tried to eat a certain amount every day, and weighed myself daily to ensure I was losing. Started off at 1800 calories, which I maintained for several months, but that started to get difficult as I started getting leaner, so I upped it to 2000, and then ( just this week ), up to 2200. I still seem to be at a deficit at 2200, but it's a little early to tell. Pretty boring stuff, but effective. I take a few supplements - creatine, fish oil and whey protein.

As far as exercise, I'm a little less traditional. When I was young, I used to do a ton of pushups and felt I was pretty ripped back then, so I initially started up a calisthenics routine, which included handstand pushups (against the wall - I could only do 2 when I started), pullups ( could only do about 3 ) and pushups ( could do about 30-40, as I had muscle memory from when I was young. That routine has evolved to what it is today, which is basically a bodyweight split routine, consisting of pullups (can now do 16 strict, dead hang pullups), handstand pushups against the wall (up to 20 if I go fast and just touch the top of my head, about 15 if I slow down and touch my nose), regular pushups, which I do at a decline (feet on chair) to try to bring out my "upper" chest a little more. I recently added single leg squatting as well as bridges and some light ab work (hanging leg raises). Bodyweight stuff takes some creative thinking, but I don't want to change over to weight training until done shedding the last of the weight.

For cardio, I do all out sprinting for 30 minutes, twice a week ( sprint about 40 yards, walk back, repeat), sometimes on a hill, sometimes on the flats. I actually feel that this is my most effective workout and has done more for my body recomposition than anything else. Highly recommend sprinting.

In any case, attached is a current pic. Anyone care to guess my bodyfat %? I know there's a dedicated thread somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

I hope to get down to about 10-12% bodyfat or so - basically get low enough that the love handles and little pooch of fat at the front are gone and I have some more leg definition. Also because I want to see if the small amount of loose skin I have on the front of my stomach tightens up (anyone else have a little loose skin that DID tighten up at our age??). I also plan to then re-evaluate my workout strategy, as I realize a body weight split isn't optimum for building muscle (though I swear I have built some size, especially in my shoulders and triceps, despite being in a deficit for so long). I've definitely gained relative strength, though a good bit of that is because of the weight reduction and the fact I only do bodyweight stuff, I reckon.

I think I'll join a gym or buy a power cage and start proper weight training once I hit my goal weight, and also start eating at a surplus to see what happens.

I can't wait to be done cutting this weight, though! It's tedious tracking calories for so long, and I feel that my mood, sleep, and sex drive have all suffered a bit.

Anyway, that's my intro - looking forward to participating in the forum.

[Bando]

Wow, great job!

Welcome aboard.

[russellmcg]

Nice work man!! Really impressive work. Welcome to the forums.

[grubman]

Holy crap!

How many months are we talking? Post us a before pic.

Very impressed.

[loggerboots]

Thanks everyone! Glad to be here. Hopefully I can contribute - at least maybe answer some bodyweight training questions, haha.

Holy crap!

How many months are we talking? Post us a before pic.

Very impressed.

I think I got real serious about it back in March, though I had been futzing around trying to figure out something for at least a couple months prior to that. I'd say about six months I've been at it, now. Keep in mind I was a bodyweight training/pushup animal in my twenties and it's all come back to me now, even at double the age I was then. Muscle memory is a real thing, I guess.

Sadly, I don't have a 'before' pic - I've had so many false starts that I guess it didn't seem like any reason to think this time would be any different, so I didn't think to capture the moment. BTW - I really empathize with some of the stuff you say in your 'cutting' thread - been reading it!

PS - anyone care to take a ballpark guess on my BF % from the pic?

Thanks!
.

[dazlittle]

wow, fantastic results

[Cantplankwell]

Dont worry about the % BF, cause you look great, I wish I could look that good.

Big fan of sprinting myself. Do some hill sprints on squat day, and some intervals on another day. I don't do normal steady state jogging for the time being.

[loggerboots]

Dont worry about the % BF, cause you look great, I wish I could look that good.

Big fan of sprinting myself. Do some hill sprints on squat day, and some intervals on another day. I don't do normal steady state jogging for the time being.

Thanks! The bodyfat % thing is more about seeing if I can tighten up the loose skin left where my spare tire used to be. I still have a small fat deposit on my belly, and I read a Mike Mathews article that said, basically, you need to get really lean (e.g. 10% or less) to really know if you're dealing with loose skin or if it's just some jiggly body fat left over from a past life. It's a minor irritant, but I figure I'm close enough, may as well see if I can get 10% or less, hold it, and see if that skin tightens back up over time. FWIW, I think it's loose skin, at least a small amount - it hangs down a little when I'm doing pushups and looks unsupported by underlying fat. Minor irritant, I know... thanks for the compliment!

I also don't do any steady state. I think the sprinting accomplishes much the same, with the added benefit of being done wtih quicker! My resting heart rate is about 48, which is way down from what it used to be (I take my blood pressure at home as it was high when I was overweight, so I can track these things...). I also can really feel it in my core, quads, hams, glutes, even shoulders the next day so I consider it a full body strength workout

@grubman - I posted a couple "before" pics in my profile. Nothing shirtless back then, hated having my picture taken, but you can get an idea from where I came from.

[Cantplankwell]

Thanks! The bodyfat % thing is more about seeing if I can tighten up the loose skin left where my spare tire used to be. I still have a small fat deposit on my belly, and I read a Mike Mathews article that said, basically, you need to get really lean (e.g. 10% or less) to really know if you're dealing with loose skin or if it's just some jiggly body fat left over from a past life. It's a minor irritant, but I figure I'm close enough, may as well see if I can get 10% or less, hold it, and see if that skin tightens back up over time. FWIW, I think it's loose skin, at least a small amount - it hangs down a little when I'm doing pushups and looks unsupported by underlying fat. Minor irritant, I know... thanks for the compliment!

I also don't do any steady state. I think the sprinting accomplishes much the same, with the added benefit of being done wtih quicker! My resting heart rate is about 48, which is way down from what it used to be (I take my blood pressure at home as it was high when I was overweight, so I can track these things...). I also can really feel it in my core, quads, hams, glutes, even shoulders the next day so I consider it a full body strength workout

@grubman - I posted a couple "before" pics in my profile. Nothing shirtless back then, hated having my picture taken, but you can get an idea from where I came from.

You must have had a fair bit of musculature underneath from a genetic standpoint, which is a gift. Right now If I cut down to say 15% (I am guessing I am around 22-25) there would be nothing left of me. At 5'11" and 180lbs, I still have a 37" waist and some love handles even some moobs I think I would look awful, skinny ,emaciated with loose skin, scrawny muscles LOL. For the time being I am eating on average slightly more than maintenance and lifting as hard as my energy level will allow....I have a very long road ahead. Its funny but I think I may have an easier time cutting than bulking, today I am wracking my brains to come up with a clean way to get to 200g of protein and 2800 calories while eating clean, its easier to just not eat somedays. Anyway nice to see examples to look up to in may age group.

[CommitmentRulz]

Amazing results. Nice work.