51 year old, Rebuild, Redesign

[Squiddy70]

Quick Bio

Was into general strength training and powerlifting until an aortic dissection put an end to my training in 2008. I made bad choices for years afterwards. By 2018 I was 285 and developed T2 Diabetes. In March 2021 I had a heart attack. I knew it was time to do something about my sugar addiction and declining health or I would be dead by 55. Especially with a fatty liver and an A1c I let stay elevated

Started back weight training in June of 2021. Between the Metformin causing a tiny weight loss and cutting back on sugar I got my weight down to 258 the day I started weight training again. At that point I got serious with my diet and quit sugar cold turkey. In October I was able to come off of depression meds with no major side effects. Haven't had a single depressive episode since I came off.

A1C:
2018- 8.3
February 2021- 6.8
August 2021- 5.8
February 2021- 4.9 (doc took me of Metformin)

Blood Pressure:
2018 doc visit: 158/92
Feb 2022 visit: 114/76

Bodyweight:
2018: 286
April 6th, 2022: 215
goal: eventually around 200

Was running pretty regularly and entered six 5Ks in the last seven months. Torn Meniscus makes running a tad painful so now I just limit it to a mile to mile and a half a couple times a week mixed in with walking and elliptical.

Aneurysm from dissection has been pretty stable since 2014

Workout: General training. Chest I recently started the less popular decline bench over the flat bench. Several months of flat benching has produced NO results. Everything on me has grown exceptionally well and the muscle memory returned. My chest looked bad back in the day and still does today so decline will be my option for the next 4-6 months to see if I see any results. Because of the aneurysm I keep my reps in the 12-15 range, stop one rep short of failure and breath through every movement. No Valsalva, no grunting or straining, no holding my breath. And yes, believe it or not, I've experienced strength gains and growth doing this.