[Rmtt]

So to bump this back up....my gym is opening back up next Tuesday. Still waiting to see how that goes...but I live in an area that isn't densely populated.

Wife has a compromised immune system...so I don't want to take any chances right now.

I'm still doing some workouts at home, but struggling to put food down. I'm down almost 20lbs I think although I haven't been on the scales in awhile.

No doubt I am smaller than I have been in a long time, but fortunately I'm lean. Since I am carrying less muscle, I have been using the opportunity to work on my flexibility.

Oddly enough...wife likes the look I'm at now and wants me to stay like this. But I can't fathom that as once I can get going again....the gym is like my Stress relief medicine.

And when I am there, it's all or nothing!

[Oldgixxer]

Hey all,haven't posted in awhile. I'm in Covid 19 central here in NYS but am lucky enough to have a set of keys to my gym and the owner lets me train whenever,by myself.
So I started pushing the weights again 2wks ago after not training since end of Sept and then having my shoulder replacement in Nov 2019. 1hr cardio everyday as well. Have a long road ahead of me but I enjoy a tough challenge.

Guess you could say Im on a clean-bulk so we'll see where I am in a month but I'd like the ab's to be back by June. Currently 215lbs.

Stay safe everyone!!

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

Hey all,haven't posted in awhile. I'm in Covid 19 central here in NYS but am lucky enough to have a set of keys to my gym and the owner lets me train whenever,by myself.
So I started pushing the weights again 2wks ago after not training since end of Sept and then having my shoulder replacement in Nov 2019. 1hr cardio everyday as well. Have a long road ahead of me but I enjoy a tough challenge.

Guess you could say Im on a clean-bulk so we'll see where I am in a month but I'd like the ab's to be back by June. Currently 215lbs.

Stay safe everyone!!

Looking good man!

Hope everything goes well with the shoulder. Stay safe and I hope to be back at it soon myself!

[Oldgixxer]

Thanks man. Just using very light weight and mostly machines just to ease very slowly back into things and get the old rickety body used to the increased ROM. I don't expect to see much gain muscle-wise but do expect to lean out quite a bit and tone up and that's my goal.

Sure beats sitting on the couch watching tv all day

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

Hey all,haven't posted in awhile. I'm in Covid 19 central here in NYS but am lucky enough to have a set of keys to my gym and the owner lets me train whenever,by myself.
So I started pushing the weights again 2wks ago after not training since end of Sept and then having my shoulder replacement in Nov 2019. 1hr cardio everyday as well. Have a long road ahead of me but I enjoy a tough challenge.

Guess you could say Im on a clean-bulk so we'll see where I am in a month but I'd like the ab's to be back by June. Currently 215lbs.

Stay safe everyone!!

People like you and RMTT make me sick....LOL. I have to literally kill myself both in the gym and stuffing my face constantly to get to the same build you guys have. If I stop a few days, it seems I lose all of the gains I've worked for over the past few months. Sigh.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

People like you and RMTT make me sick....LOL. I have to literally kill myself both in the gym and stuffing my face constantly to get to the same build you guys have. If I stop a few days, it seems I lose all of the gains I've worked for over the past few months. Sigh.

Just a question.....I may have missed it. But how old are you? I literally couldn't keep weight on until my mid 30's because of my metabolism.

I actually hated eating because I had to take in so much food. It basically consumed most of my day.

The biggest impact I believe is to treat it in steps. Gain a few pounds, then try and hold it for awhile until your body adjusts to its new setpoint. Then you do it again.

That's what sucks about the body....it doesn't like change and will fight you at every step!

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

Just a question.....I may have missed it. But how old are you? I literally couldn't keep weight on until my mid 30's because of my metabolism.

I actually hated eating because I had to take in so much food. It basically consumed most of my day.

The biggest impact I believe is to treat it in steps. Gain a few pounds, then try and hold it for awhile until your body adjusts to its new setpoint. Then you do it again.

That's what sucks about the body....it doesn't like change and will fight you at every step!

I'm 49 going on 50. People say I'm blessed to still have the metabolism I do now. In some ways, yes I'm blessed. In some ways no, I'm cursed. I think it's slowed from when I was in my 20's some. But not drastically.

It's funny seeing how I operate when I go out to eat or go grocery shopping for various things. I purposely pick the items with the highest calorie counts. I can sympathize with what you're saying about hating to eat because it was just work. I'm not doing what was doing when I was in my 20's. But I'm doing some of those things I did back then.

Granted in the past year or so, I did work my way up where I packed back on about 25 lbs from 170. That was the lightest I've been since college when I started to weight train. I dropped so much weight due to issues with my marriage/divorce. I've plateaued at around 195 now. Trying to get to 215. Heaviest I've ever been was 212 and the best I've looked. And for additional perspective I'm 6'4"/5". So I can stand to put on the weight to look proportional/right.

I get compliments for how I look now. That's great coupled with me still looking as if I'm in my 30s. But it's so much work for me to maintain what I have now and not fall off the cliff. With my physique where I can rip down easy, if I'm at 215, I'd be a freaking monster. That was what I was when I was in my late 20's weighing in at 212.

[1MOREMOD]

I keep thinking the next bump up in weight will make me look huge. Never happens I've went from 170ish to 225 over the years and being over 6 foot feel like need to be 240 now.

[Rmtt]

When guys are as tall as you guys.....it's hard to see just a few pounds added.

I still feel a bug part is illusion like I was trying to demonstrate in my pics a few pages back.

Remember Arnold was 240lbs at his heaviest, and compteted most of his career around 210 - 220 lbs. And he looked like a monster. These days....a guy at his height would be on stage in the 260-270 lb range.... Although I hate the current physiques. I like that they opened up the Classic Olympia class.

Then you have Frank Zane....some who believed he had the perfect build.....and he competed close to 180 lbs although he was shorter than Arnold.

[1MOREMOD]

If I diet down will come in at 120

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

When guys are as tall as you guys.....it's hard to see just a few pounds added.

I still feel a bug part is illusion like I was trying to demonstrate in my pics a few pages back.

Remember Arnold was 240lbs at his heaviest, and compteted most of his career around 210 - 220 lbs. And he looked like a monster. These days....a guy at his height would be on stage in the 260-270 lb range.... Although I hate the current physiques. I like that they opened up the Classic Olympia class.

Then you have Frank Zane....some who believed he had the perfect build.....and he competed close to 180 lbs although he was shorter than Arnold.

I didn't know that about Arnold. Puts things in perspective. While I looked really good at 212, I wasn't any where near Arnold's physique. Not sure what it is about my biology that makes things so hard.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I didn't know that about Arnold. Puts things in perspective. While I looked really good at 212, I wasn't any where near Arnold's physique. Not sure what it is about my biology that makes things so hard.

Well A lot has to do with genetics. How your metabolism works, how your body stores fat, protein synthesis, etc.

Arnold obviously has the perfect Biceps and even Chest genes.

I wish my biceps were as "peaked" as his.

But those guys you see back in the 70's had some awesome builds.....and most never weighed above 225lbs at contest.

Another interesting thing is that most of them "grew" into shows. These days...everyone "bulks" in the off-season and then diets to get in shape.

Back then, those guys shrunk down and stayed lean....and then when it was time to get ready, they gained weight.

[Oldgixxer]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

When guys are as tall as you guys.....it's hard to see just a few pounds added.

I still feel a bug part is illusion like I was trying to demonstrate in my pics a few pages back.

Remember Arnold was 240lbs at his heaviest, and compteted most of his career around 210 - 220 lbs. And he looked like a monster. These days....a guy at his height would be on stage in the 260-270 lb range.... Although I hate the current physiques. I like that they opened up the Classic Olympia class.

Then you have Frank Zane....some who believed he had the perfect build.....and he competed close to 180 lbs although he was shorter than Arnold.

The side by side pics of Arnold and Franco(who was at least 1.5' shorter lol)always blew my mind when I was a 120lb kid who just started training. I remember Franco Columbo stating in an old magazine article that it was easier for him to pack on thickness compared to Arnold since his muscle belly's were a lot shorter(IE-biceps) in comparison. IMO he was thicker than Arnold lb for lb especially his front lat spread.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

The side by side pics of Arnold and Franco(who was at least 1.5' shorter lol)always blew my mind when I was a 120lb kid who just started training. I remember Franco Columbo stating in an old magazine article that it was easier for him to pack on thickness compared to Arnold since his muscle belly's were a lot shorter(IE-biceps) in comparison. IMO he was thicker than Arnold lb for lb especially his front lat spread.

Yeah...I always compared myself to Franco. He came from a power-lifting background, so he put in the work to get that thick and dense.

I even have the same Mid-Pec striation that he does when I get my bf levels down low enough!

IIRC he was about 5'5" and Arnold was 6'2".

[Mingwan]

Originally Posted by Now_Rudi

Calisthenics. My workouts are kicking my ass....but then again, I'm half the size as you guys. I'm actually seeing more results in the last month working out from home. I base this solely on the fact that I'm doing no cardio whatsoever and calories are being used for building mass rather being burned off on a machine. I guess I'll continue to eat more and continue to push my way through this. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I really hope I can get back in the gym sometime in June.

I’m doing calisthenics as well. I figured this is a good time to switch up my workout routine. Thought it was going to be easy since that’s all I used to do in my rotc days, but having transitioned to strictly weight lifting for years from calisthenic training, and now back to calisthenics I forgot how hard it can be. It’s certainly kicking my ass, but I love it. It’s made me realize how much athleticism and agility I’ve lost.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

So to bump this back up....my gym is opening back up next Tuesday. Still waiting to see how that goes...but I live in an area that isn't densely populated.

Mine opened its doors today at 8am. My plan is to wear an N95 mask, sanitize equipment before and after use, wash my hands when I'm done using a particular set of weights or machine. I'm also planning on going at night for a while to avoid as much crowding as possible. Honestly its no different from how I've always used the gym save the wearing of a mask.

I've been using resistance bands and doing online cardio classes, but not having my daily dose of the gym has arguably been the most difficult part in all of this for me.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by Mingwan

I’m doing calisthenics as well. I figured this is a good time to switch up my workout routine. Thought it was going to be easy since that’s all I used to do in my rotc days, but having transitioned to strictly weight lifting for years from calisthenic training, and now back to calisthenics I forgot how hard it can be. It’s certainly kicking my ass, but I love it. It’s made me realize how much athleticism and agility I’ve lost.

This is my first go around with calisthenics. It is absolutely kicking my ass. I'm still figuring things out. I have noticed my recovery time is a little longer than when lifting weights. I did chest, back and shoulders yesterday and feel like I've been ran over this morning.

I remember telling the girlfriend, the last time I went to the gym, that I felt like I was doing something wrong. My shoulders and arms never really got sore no matter how hard I worked them at the gym. After using gymnast rings and parallettes for the past month, that has definitely changed.

I've finally progressed on the parallettes to where I can do a hand stand on them. Now I just have to work on balance so I can hold it. Once I get that down, hopefully by the end of the week, I'll start working my shoulders by doing inverted shoulder presses.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Mine opened its doors today at 8am. My plan is to wear an N95 mask, sanitize equipment before and after use, wash my hands when I'm done using a particular set of weights or machine. I'm also planning on going at night for a while to avoid as much crowding as possible. Honestly its no different from how I've always used the gym save the wearing of a mask.

I've been using resistance bands and doing online cardio classes, but not having my daily dose of the gym has arguably been the most difficult part in all of this for me.

Same here. I'm usually there by 4:00am each morning....most times even earlier. So I don't usually have to come in contact with anyone.

[JP10]

I'm dying, need my gym to open up. Been just doing HIIT training on my back padio. Live in a neighborhood with a big circle so I run in-between sets of abs/pushups/dips to keep the HR up. Not near as fulfilling as going to the gym though. Too cold in the mornings to break a sweat so I've been working out after work. Motivation just isnt there unfortuantely, don't get me wrong I've been doing it regardless, but have to force myself rather then the joy I felt going to the gym each morning.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by JP10

I'm dying, need my gym to open up. Been just doing HIIT training on my back padio. Live in a neighborhood with a big circle so I run in-between sets of abs/pushups/dips to keep the HR up. Not near as fulfilling as going to the gym though. Too cold in the mornings to break a sweat so I've been working out after work. Motivation just isnt there unfortuantely, don't get me wrong I've been doing it regardless, but have to force myself rather then the joy I felt going to the gym each morning.

Same here. I can make myself workout at home....but something about making the trip to the gym just makes it that more satisfying.

I used to have a pretty big home gym, but still found myself going to the other one. I have been there since 1990 or so.

[Oldgixxer]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

Same here. I'm usually there by 4:00am each morning....most times even earlier. So I don't usually have to come in contact with anyone.

Exactly,thats the same time I'd train everyday at PF...maybe 3-4ppl in the entire gym so once that Planet Shitness opens back up in town I'll be there 3:30-4am and see how that goes. Prolly not happening any earlier than mid June from what Ive heard.

In the meantime I'll continue to enjoy my old gym all by myself

[Rmtt]

Well my gym opened back up today....sadly I wasn't there.

As I mentioned before....the wife has a compromised immune system. And right now she is having a delayed allergic reaction to the Botox treatment she got a couple of weeks ago for her Chronic Migraines.

The Dr's are trying everything, but she said she is done. The first round of Botox went fine, the 2nd round and now this.

So back on 30 days or so of Prednisone.

Over the last few years we have tried almost everything...one resulting in a severe reaction that almost killed her. She had to take early retirement because of them.

I have to be very careful about what I bring home.