Intro - Possible Log

Training Over 35 Lifter
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Hey all

I’ve been on T-Nation for a few years now and decided to finally create a profile

In no way am I any kind of expert but I’ve learned a lot over the last 3 or 4 years from reading T-Nation articles and posts in various forums. If I had to credit any one particular coach I’d prob say I have come to enjoy Chad Waterburys theories the most. For now anyways

Here’s a little bit about myself. I started lifting in my basement around 16yrs old weighing in around 110lbs I think. With 3yrs of lifting and reading Flex religiously I grew to a whopping 142lbs, lol. Of course I grew a few inches and this growth took place during puberty so my gains were next to nothing, lol

Following some very bad advise I did a 6 week cycle and packed on a whopping 6lbs which I lost very rapidly after coming off. Flame away! It was stupid beyond stupid. I’m pretty sure that messed up my natural testosterone levels

Fast forward to becoming an adult I stood 5’ 10" and 142lbs. Never fluctuating a single pound. Now I always worked out my whole life but it was more on / off than anything else

That’s me at 25yrs old. 142lbs

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Impressive, right?

Anyways, about 5yrs ago something in me changed. For the 1st time I actually gained some weight. I put on roughly 25lbs in less than 6months. It might’ve been the 2 cases of beer each week but I can’t be sure :thinking:

I stayed pretty much around 170ish pounds semi lean (surprisingly considering) until 3yrs ago

I dropped alcohol (not entirely but not excessive at all. At one point I would go months without touching a drop)

I always knew my T levels were messed up. Slight depression, mood swings, low libido…

I decided I was going to get my hormones in check. I started TRT and fixed my crappy Thyroid. I felt like a completely different person. My confidence jumped, I was (and still am) NEVER moody, sex is better (it’d be even better if I had someone to have sex with but one thing at a time, lol)…

From here I decided I wanted to make changes and to start hitting the gym again. Thank god I didn’t grab any trash Flex magazines while out grocery shopping and found T-Nation; seriously!

The last few years I made crappy gains. Pathetic, I know but I was actually still learning. It didn’t help that I quite the gym for an entire 10 months straight. No excuses guys, my brother killed himself and I was fired from a good paying job. I’m a single dad with 2 girls and a mortgage to pay. Gym was the last thing on my mind

NOT looking for sympathy, lol. Just part of my journey

Anyways, I got all my shit in order. I’m in the early stages of building a business but I am able to get my meals in and I make my workouts a priority

Starting back in January I’ve done really good. I’ve added 14lbs of scale weight

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I’m most proud of my legs. I’ve added 1-1/4"

This is where you guys come in. I estimate my BF to be in the 25% range. I’m not happy with that at all but not sure I have enough mass to do a cut

I’ve always typically done a low carb / high protein diet (chicken, steak, eggs and milk). I decided I was going to slowly add carbs to my diet as my calories were below my estimated maintenance. Somehow slow went from adding 150grams of carbs to see how I respond to 400grams because I started to feel amazing

Hey, I’m really just learning. Lol

I am a little conflicted on what to do. I could cut carbs to as little as 150grams and consume those mostly around my workouts and follow the rest of my day higher protein and healthy fats OR stay around 400grams of carbs for another few weeks to see how I keep gaining

I am legit concerned I am gaining too much fat to muscle but on the flip side happy to be making gains.

All opinons welcome. I’m sure I can’t follow everyone’s advise but I will listen to each and everyone

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This is in the wrong section of this site if this is going to be a planned log…you need to post it in the Log section or if your 35 and over in the over 35 group if you like.

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I guess I should add:

Currently I’m at 180grams of protein, 400grams of carbs and 80grams of fat. That put me at 3,000 calories. That’s all I eat. I couldn’t believe that I could grow on that little based on what others say

MIGHT change to 150grams carbs, 270grams protein? 120-140grams of fat???

Currently using a Push / Pull split 6 days a week
I vary my intensity throughout the week. Most intensity is my 10 sets of 3 reps on RDL’s, SuperSquats (it’s a machine; I blew some disks in my spine when I was 19. Will NOT do back squats) I won’t even get into a debate about that. I spent months and months slowly building my back squat up from just the bar and moving ridiculously slow. As soon as I would get up to only one plate a painful crushing feeling in my spine that would keep me out of the gym for months… I’ve tried over and over. I’m not afraid of hard work. I just said “f*** it”! I can front squat, SuperSquats and any form of deadlift without issue so I build my workouts off of that

Sorry about the rant but I can guarantee someone will prob try to convince me I need to back squat. I WON’T!!!

Some lifts:

RDL’s 315 X 10 X 3 and moving FAST
Front Squats 185 X 15 (continuous tension)
OHDP 65lbs X 5 X 5 (I’m embarrassed, lol)

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I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. I think I’d like to run a log. It would be nice to get some help along the way

35? I’ll be 43 soon, lol

Are you a mod? I think I’ve seen people move posts for others. I can post in whatever forum you think is best. Not sure how to move it other than copy / paste repost?

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Surprisingly, I don’t think so. @Yogi1 has talked many times about high-rep front squats as the best thing for his leg development. The T Nation crowd seems to be reasonably understanding that everyone needs to adapt their training for anatomical reasons, including an injury history. Most people that get criticized for not-back-squatting are pretty nakedly doing it because they’re just avoiding legs, period. If you acknowledge that back squats are an issue for you but you’ve found a way to stimulate growth via other means (which you have) I expect most people will get that.

Anyways, nice progress. I don’t think your BF is as high as you think it is, but I think most people should worry less about the number and more about their appearance/feel anyway.

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That’s encouraging to hear that I might not get lambasted for not back squatting, lol

I’m not overly concerned about a BF number as much but eventually I do want to get much more visibly leaner.

Do you have any personal suggestions wether I should slow my gaining a bit or just get bigger and cut later?

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Nope not a Mod…Just giving friendly advice. And if your 43 …a friendly invite for you to join the rest of us Old folks in the Over 35 since we are always looking for new blood.:slight_smile:

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Before I forget …
WELCOME aboard!!

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I figured out how to move my post over to the old fart forum, lol. I’m not that tech savvy but it turns out it was pretty easy when I just tried

Thanks for the invite. Always interested in what others do and what they have experienced. Hopefully I can squeeze some good knowledge from others on here

I’ve never participate in a forum before but I’ve read countless posts the last few years. Even in my time away from the gym I kept coming on here to read up

If I turn this in to a log I may move it again. We’ll see

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No actually your Good most of the people on here in the Over35 post are Logs in here myself included. This is sorta the old folks support group…:laughing:

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@bulldog9899 Old? Speak for yourself! :laughing:

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Update:

Looks like I miscounted my diet. I sat down and put together a diet and push pull routine for my ex wife tn using my excel spreadsheets and realized I had my sums all messed up for my diet

Good thing I caught this. I’ve been consuming more protein and total calories than I originally thought

My diet is very basic
So far it seems to be working but I will gladly take advice and criticism

Pre-Workout
210 grams of fruit
150 grams oatmeal
1 scoop whey protein isolate

Intra-Workout
15grams BCAA with 1 to 1-1/2L’s water

Post-Workout Shake
Banana
Two Eggs
1 scoop whey protein isolate
30grams pure dextrose (I read it feeds glycogen to the muscle and helps with recovery)

6-8oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (I rotate between 6 and 8 oz. I’ll add 2 eggs to my meal when I take 2 oz of chicken out)
3/4 cup white rice (measured before cooking)
6 almonds

6-8oz Steak
220grams of sweet potato

Before bed
250grams of cottage cheese

270grams of protein
370grams of carbs
80 grams of fat
3,240 total calories

Goals are to add lean body mass with as little fat as possible. I’d like to get to at least 195lbs before focusing on worrying too much about being leaner

I think I’d look good at 185lbs and between 12-15% BF. That’s an estimated increase of 18-24lbs of muscle (if I’m 25% BF now)

Long term I may consider blasting and cruising but I’m not ready to even consider that for awhile.

I’m not opposed to cycling for any specific reason. I already have two beautiful daughters and had my vasectomy. Im just worried that if I cycle too soon I won’t know what I’m doing and I’ll make amazing gains on cycle followed by losing them, cycle again… and never really get anywhere. F*** that!!!

I’m making progress now and don’t want to mess with that. I might be putting on too much fat but if I work hard enough I can dial my diet in better

I suppose I could cycle when I decide to cut to hopefully preserve muscle while in a calorie deficit but even then I think I should at least try a few cuts naturally. Currently I do zero cardio or conditioning so I’m assuming adding that at some point might help

Again, I’m not there yet

I will post my workout template another day as I’m extremely excited about my program and how it’s been going. There’s a few things I do that I’m sure people will disagree with but I’m okay with posting and having criticism

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I can see my hamstrings starting to pop a little. Calves are even starting to grow a little

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Having a win @scrawny_to_fat_skinny?