[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
you’re older, ever thought about trt? but anyways i don’t think your goal should be to become 20% bf it’s not good for your estradiol.
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Grazia Paulie.
Yep. When I started lifting in january I went to a doctor and got my T level checked which clocked in at about 350 ng/dl. He wanted to give me a series of shots, but I went with a natural mix of maca and tribulus. This helped over the next three months to bump my T level up to 650 ng/dl, which for my age is quite acceptable.
I really don’t know how much of that is from the tabs I take, but I do see improvements in other aspects of my life. After a while I felt so much better, that I bought a lifetime supply of the things:)
I had to look up estradiol, and to tell you the truth if I have to worry about that too, I’m going to retire to doing chair exercises, yoga or Tai-Chi.
[quote]gregron wrote:
OP, you just started lifting weights at the age of 53 (possibly 52) and weighed in at 135.
If you are a natty you are NOT going to end up looking like any of the people you posted. Sorry to burst your bubble.[/quote]
Thanks Gregron for your input, and on this board you’ve proved yourself to be honest, open minded and almost always correct. By holding the reality card in front of my nose you’re not telling me anything I don’t know, and I’m not at all delusional.
For sure I won’t reach perfection, but if I can achieve 80% of my goal it may be more than I ever hoped to get, and it’s a great ride in the process. FWIW this is the third lifting phase of my life.
Ad astra per aspera or Per Ardua Ad Astra if you’re from the Commonwealth…[/quote]
All true. Your potential may be limited, but let the reality bite you later. You’ll get closer to your goals for having made the effort.
I don’t have any good advice here, but I will say that I sometimes wonder about the “what ifs”. I wasn’t particularly athletic when I was young, and never took gymnastics. I wish I had. Many of the women who do really well have a gymnastics background and I’ve often wondered if that might have made a big difference in my ability to make the mind-muscle connection. Activation of the right muscles is sometimes really difficult for me, and sometimes I feel like I just don’t have the right connections. Maybe I missed that window when I was younger, since I didn’t start lifting until I was nearly 41. Add to that the fact that most physique change in women comes from Growth Hormone, not T. Of course, a woman in her 40’s doesn’t have a lot of either.
All of this sounds pretty grim, right? Oh well. I’m going to do it anyway. I think that’s the take-home message. Do it anyway.
[quote]chobbs wrote:
You gained 25 lbs in 4 months which is 6 and 1/4 pounds per month , a little over 1 per week. I thought that was pretty close to the perfect bulk [/quote]
Hi Chobbs, hows it hangin’?
CT says in his article “The truth about bulking” that under ideal circumstances you could gain about 1.5 lbs of lean muscle a month, and thats the problem. If I’ve gained over 6 lbs a month (it’s actually somewhat less than that) then the rest of my monthly weight gains are something else than muscle.
I’m just trying to optimize my diet and workout to get a better lean muscle to fat gain ratio, or else later I’m going to regret it. Lots of people here operate within that “sweet spot” so it should be possible for me to get it right too.
[quote]Powerpuff wrote: …I sometimes wonder about the “what ifs”. I wasn’t particularly athletic when I was young, and never took gymnastics. I wish I had…
Maybe I missed that window when I was younger…
All of this sounds pretty grim, right? Oh well. I’m going to do it anyway. I think that’s the take-home message. Do it anyway.
[/quote]
If you keep beating yourself with the “what if’s” and “maybe I should haves” over the head, sooner or later they’ll get into your head. I am speaking from my personal experience, not from reading out of some text book.
I think a human first reaches the age of reason when they stop listening to people telling them what they can’t do. A decision reached leads to an action, which leads to either success or failure. Accept your failures, revel in your successes, and learn from both.
I have made the decision, have formulated a primitive plan and am striving for my goals. Other people here have been, and are doing nothing more (or less) than what we both want to do.
[quote]chobbs wrote:
You gained 25 lbs in 4 months which is 6 and 1/4 pounds per month , a little over 1 per week. I thought that was pretty close to the perfect bulk [/quote]
Hi Chobbs, hows it hangin’?
CT says in his article “The truth about bulking” that under ideal circumstances you could gain about 1.5 lbs of lean muscle a month, and thats the problem. If I’ve gained over 6 lbs a month (it’s actually somewhat less than that) then the rest of my monthly weight gains are something else than muscle.
I’m just trying to optimize my diet and workout to get a better lean muscle to fat gain ratio, or else later I’m going to regret it. Lots of people here operate within that “sweet spot” so it should be possible for me to get it right too.[/quote]
True, good luck on your goals