Hey all, hoping someone can chime in here. Ime closing in on my mid 50s, and have fallen far out of shape. The past decade has been a loss (physically) and covid made it worse. Post covid i have discovered that ive lost all willpower/discipline when it comes to dieting. I’ve lost considerable amounts of weight twice in my life, and both times slagged off and put it all back on for various reasons/excuses. My recent efforts have just all fallen flat.
Ongoing depression finally forced my hand, to do a couple of things I was previously very resistant to… I got my testosterone checked, and it was low, so I have gotten testopel treatment… and that has made a definite difference in several ways. I always said I would not supplement testosterone… But I feel better today than I have in years. It hasn’t been a cure all, but in general, it has made me feel better. The second thing, was finally getting on the standard GLP1. Again, something I never thought I would do, but again, desperate times…
For more background, I am a generally large framed man with a comfortably fit weight of around 260-280. Less than that I start to look sickly. However, I am well above that, and around 340, though I am losing. I am going to the gym and since I am doing solo workouts, mostly using machines, and still trying to figure out the weight ranges to use on them. It has been a slow process. I have always worked out with free weights, but I feel safer now on the machines, since I don’t have a spotter. Right now I am just doing a push day, a pull day and a leg day. As I proceed I plan on adding reps to duplicate muscle groups in each of these… but right now, I am just doing 3 sets of each exercise.
My primary focus is currently to keep moving and keep at it in the gym. I do not expect to get ripped, but I do want to build muscle… I hope that getting some power back is possible. Anyhow, I felt like that was all a lot of background for my main question… Is a whey powder like Gold Standard something I should be taking to supplement my exercising? I used it when I was very regularly in the gym before, but I was also younger and much more fit. I didn’t know if that owuld be considered flushing money down the toilet or not. I have already ordered some Creatine HCL, on the recommendation of a trainer at the gym. I have done some reading on it, and realize there is some debate on if it is better than Creatine monohydrate, worse, or generally undecided… But I figured something was better than nothing, and I didn’t want to deal with possible side effects from the monohydrate.
At any rate, I appreciate any input that anyone more learned on the topic can offer.
Thanks!
Thanks for your response. I appreciate the advice. I realize that you and others might see a goal weight if 280 as insane… and it is frustrating to try to make people realize i know its not ideal, and if i reach that weight i may very well carry on. But it is a goal, and if i ever manage to reach it, I will frankly be amazed, AND it will represent a huge chunk of weight. When i went to the doc in December, i was 370. So 280 might seem crazy, but that is my current long-term goal, and one I would expect is over a year off.
I think it is totally reasonable to set a goal weight that seems sustainable to you. Keeping the weight off is always the hardest part, so if you can get to that range and keep it off for 5 years, you are doing better than most people.
I was more commenting on the fact that you said you look “sickly” below that range - which is more indicative of some kind of body dysmorphia.
Thanks, it maybe, I just didnt like the way i looked at that weight. When I said I had a large frame, I wasnt referring to my fat. I was referring, I guess, my bone structure. When I was at 245, my face looked sunken, and i just didnt like it. When I was down to 280 and doing a LOT of heavier exercises, I was on a good path, and had a very solid muscle structure. I am pretty certain I wold have continued to slim down as I built muscle, however I did something to (I assume) my rhomboid while doing a new kettle bell exercise. It put me well out of commission in regards to exercise for months… without the gym, my diet went to absolute shit, and I never got back on it, and just turned back into a sedentary eating machine.
Again, appreciate your input!
Oof, yeah, injuries can be tough.
I’d recommend finding both a good physio and a good personal trainer. In both cases, the guiding philosophy of both should be that injury should not end training, only modify it.
The physio should be able to give you a program to heal your injury and, importantly, a timeline for injury recovery, and program modifications if you aren’t steadily progressing back to full health at the expected rate. If you don’t feel yourself making progress each week, and your physio seems unconcerned, you need to tell them to eat a dick and find a different one. My physio works with professional athletes, and understands that training and competition cannot stop due to injury, and so all of my recovery programs start with “don’t stop training, but here are things to limit or avoid”.
Similarly with a personal trainer, they should know how to work around injuries to keep you on track to reach your goals. Remember that the main benefit of a personal trainer is simply being another person who can keep you accountable. Most good trainers are open to doing single sessions, where you can explain what you want - eg, program modifications to keep you on track to your goals, which will work around your injury. Then they can write up a modified program for you and send you on your way. A lot of people will say “I could figure that out myself, it’s a waste of money.” But like you experienced, it isn’t just about the knowledge, but the emotional component. When you suffer from an injury, a big part of the role of the personal trainer is to share the emotional load of believing that there is still some way to keep training while you recover.