Non-bodybuilding workout ideas?

[nothuman]

I agree....genetics will have one of the biggest impact.

I think you should look at how much are you willing to trade for one side to the other.

I'm only 5'7" and used to weigh about 210 constantly. I would have people comment the usual stuff..... you look in great shape, your built like a tank....blah...blah...etc.

When I got injured and lost all the weight....after I resumed training and focused more on being "fit" especially since I'm getting older. A lot more cardio based stuff, went back to boxing (I boxed for years when younger) started running more, even started doing these obstacle training courses with friends who are SWAT team members...etc.

But my mobility was just leaps and bounds above where I used to be. More flexible, nimble and light on my feet, etc.

Since being back in the gym regularly, I'm almost at the same strength levels as when I was heavier, but I now only weigh about 180lbs and very much leaner than before.

The point of this long post is that even almost 30lbs lighter, I still get the same comments as I did before.

People will tell me that I look great, must spend all my time exercising, etc. But I can go run/bike with friends if I want, and recently did a 7 mile hike with a group where the elevation changed almost 4,000 ft from start to end....and I stayed with the front of the group when I would have usually been bringing up the rear just a little time ago.

I generally always have pretty good blood work, but being lighter made that improve for me as well.

Being a short guy, I was always afraid to lose weight. But seeing where I'm at now, I've gotten over that size is everything stage. In my eyes, I'm sure that I had some body dysmorphia going on and that is a hard thing to overcome.

I think even if you traded 10-20 lbs of weight to follow different goals, you will still stand out more than 90% of the general population....(in my area especially as I rarely see people who look in great shape...even in my own gym).

Being lighter.....most people guess my bodyweight 15+ pounds heavier than what I really am because I'm much leaner. Yeah it's an illusion, but still the same impact.

As many have mentioned on here, there are plenty of ways to get where you want to be at. You just have to find an approach that keeps you interested and motivated. I box, still do Aikido (although not as hard as before because I'm more aware of my joints) and will pretty much try anything once. Haven't tried Cross Fit, but I have friends that do that and look great.

I've got one friend who is into gymnastics. He doesn't even lift for size, but in a t-shirt he looks like he would spend a lot of time in a gym doing stuff we would do. He's invited me to train with him some, and I am thinking about taking him up on his offer. Just another tool in the arsenal.

Sorry for rambling....but I applaud you for looking into this now at your age vs. someone like me who waited later in life to try some of this stuff.

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Man, this was just what I needed to hear. Is your conditioning still as good on gear?

 

[Girth]

Man, this was just what I needed to hear. Is your conditioning still as good on gear?

I'm not saying it won't be as good. What I am saying is that it won't be as good if you run too much or the wrong kind. So basically what I'm saying is that in most cases you'll be restricted to 300-500mg/wk of T only or some kind of T/Mast - T/Mast/NPP - T/EQ/Mast - T/Var combo that still totals out to the amount/wk mentioned previously. You're only goal is to hasten recovery and retain muscle. How much that will take is probably MUCH less than you would think.

Guys at the skill positions in football and MANY MMA guys will run 300mg/wk of T Prop and MAYBE some VAR and a healing dose of GH. That's it!

Another thing you mentioned was the b-ball. Hate to break it to you, but you WILL eat the muscle away with that. Don't fret, but I just bring this up because it has to do with the running and HARD surface which you can't change. Every step you take and impact against the ground is amongst the most detrimental forces your body will incur. Thus it will fight you tooth and nail to get rid of anything that makes that force less. Why do you think sprinters/other athletes do their cardio conditioning/tempo runs ON GRASS......? Less impact force allows for mitochondria building in a SPECIFIC way with as little detriment via impact force as possible.

Not trying to rain on your parade......just be prepared and know what to expect with the activities you pursue.

 

[mikennrg]

n sorry maybe i miss something but softball/baseball??? how does one get gassed? im not even sure those count as athletic activities.. lol kinda sounds like golf.

In a softball tournament you can play over a dozen games over two to three days. In softball every ball is put into play so you are a lot more active than golf or baseball. The guys I brought up and myself all played the outfield which is the most strenuous positions in softball. Go do about 300 full speed sprints and make 100 plus full effort throws over two days and tell me it's like golf lol. Also I live in the Midwest so it's usually 95 and humid during these tournaments.

 

[nothuman]

I'm not saying it won't be as good. What I am saying is that it won't be as good if you run too much or the wrong kind. So basically what I'm saying is that in most cases you'll be restricted to 300-500mg/wk of T only or some kind of T/Mast - T/Mast/NPP - T/EQ/Mast - T/Var combo that still totals out to the amount/wk mentioned previously. You're only goal is to hasten recovery and retain muscle. How much that will take is probably MUCH less than you would think.



Guys at the skill positions in football and MANY MMA guys will run 300mg/wk of T Prop and MAYBE some VAR and a healing dose of GH. That's it!



Another thing you mentioned was the b-ball. Hate to break it to you, but you WILL eat the muscle away with that. Don't fret, but I just bring this up because it has to do with the running and HARD surface which you can't change. Every step you take and impact against the ground is amongst the most detrimental forces your body will incur. Thus it will fight you tooth and nail to get rid of anything that makes that force less. Why do you think sprinters/other athletes do their cardio conditioning/tempo runs ON GRASS......? Less impact force allows for mitochondria building in a SPECIFIC way with as little detriment via impact force as possible.



Not trying to rain on your parade......just be prepared and know what to expect with the activities you pursue.

Perhaps my posts have led you to misunderstand me. I’m not new to this. I can easily maintain my muscle on just a TRT dose. In fact, the doses you describe are more than what is necessary for me to maintain. I have gone through periods where I’ve played plenty of basketball when my stamina was good. It doesn’t eat up muscle because I’m still weight training on top of it. However when I get heavier or start using slightly higher doses of xxx gear and add 2.5iu+ gh, my cardio goes to shit. I hate that I HAVE to be on a low dose test or else I can barely breathe. A big part of it is diet too. If I’m eating normally, my cardio never improves. If I’m in a caloric deficit, it’s far better...but that’s not a fun way to live.

 

[rmtt]

Man, this was just what I needed to hear. Is your conditioning still as good on gear?

I think it is......it's leaps and bounds better than before.

Like girth said, it will depend on the compounds used. In currently running less than 125mg a week of test (TRT)....but before that I ran test p and npp at around 200mg each weekly...maybe slightly less. But I gained back 10-12 pounds of my lost weight and think I stayed as lean as when I started. Muscle memory. But my endurance didn't suffer any....if anything it made it better as I was regaining lost strength and staying at a lower body weight. Just made everything I did seem easier really.

Point being is that you've maintained your size long enough to have a new set point....so I honestly believe you can keep most of it on much lower doses than you think.

Just pick the compounds that most agree with your body. I won't ever use tren again.....and going forward will only use TRT to keep my levels in the upper ranges, and when I do "blast" it will be only on short acting compounds for 8 weeks or so....and no more than 400mg or so a week of what most consider milder compounds. And I only plan to do that maybe 2 times a year. Other than that, its an average of 100mg weekly of test, and maybe 2-3 iu's of gh daily. And the the gh is just because of my age.

But I don't want to fit into just one mold. I want my body to be able to perform well no matter what the task may be.

In all honesty, just not carrying the extra weight is everything. Like I said before, lets say you do drop 15 lbs. But if a majority of it is fat, you will still look very impressive to pretty much anyone.

But imagine how it feels to take off a vest that weighed that amount and doing the things you do now. It's a huge difference. Almost any movement is easier.

Your strength may take a hit at first, but I guarantee it will come back pretty close to where you currently are. Your body was already there once, it just takes a little longer to adapt and you see progression again. My strength is within 10% of where I was before...at 25 lbs less body weight.

It will be slower....no doubt. But progress is progress no matter how slow it is.


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[old timer]

I'd like to but crossfit gyms here are insanely priced and I'd have to quit my current gym and travel halfway across the city. I wish it were more simple. I do like crossfit despite all the shit people talk about it here

There's crossfit done for the sake of being crossfit-competitive (kipping chins, exercises that require good form but done quickly and done AMRAP, etc), and there's crossfit done to improve fitness and improve/maintain strength. And there's plenty of crossfit workouts posted on the internet that you could do even at your regular or home gym. I had even considered earlier this summer to start a thread here to see if anyone wanted to join me in doing a "Cindy" workout and post their results online.

 

[rmtt]

Perhaps my posts have led you to misunderstand me. I’m not new to this. I can easily maintain my muscle on just a TRT dose. In fact, the doses you describe are more than what is necessary for me to maintain. I have gone through periods where I’ve played plenty of basketball when my stamina was good. It doesn’t eat up muscle because I’m still weight training on top of it. However when I get heavier or start using slightly higher doses of xxx gear and add 2.5iu+ gh, my cardio goes to shit. I hate that I HAVE to be on a low dose test or else I can barely breathe. A big part of it is diet too. If I’m eating normally, my cardio never improves. If I’m in a caloric deficit, it’s far better...but that’s not a fun way to live.

Just seen this as I was typing the other post.

I will sum it up...and this is just my opinion and the way my body responded.

At a lower body weight, my cardio and endurance is tons better even when using more than TRT doses.

It just doesn't affect it as much.

So that meant to me that I need to find that point of equilibrium. At what body weight can I still function with my endurance like it is, but still look muscular enough that it sets me apart from most people.

At my height, I think I'm almost at that point. I plan to go to about 190-195....then loose slowly and try to reduce my body fat even further.

I'm thinking if that puts me in the low-mid 180's......that's a point I can live with.

Still 20+ lbs lighter than before, but all around in much better shape.

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[nothuman]

Just seen this as I was typing the other post.

I will sum it up...and this is just my opinion and the way my body responded.

At a lower body weight, my cardio and endurance is tons better even when using more than TRT doses.

It just doesn't affect it as much.

So that meant to me that I need to find that point of equilibrium. At what body weight can I still function with my endurance like it is, but still look muscular enough that it sets me apart from most people.

At my height, I think I'm almost at that point. I plan to go to about 190-195....then loose slowly and try to reduce my body fat even further.

I'm thinking if that puts me in the low-mid 180's......that's a point I can live with.

Still 20+ lbs lighter than before, but all around in much better shape.

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Yea when I was smaller and on my quest to gain muscle, my cardio was fine on high doses of gear. It got worse as I got bigger. So I agree I think it’s mostly a size issue. However like a couple others have said, AAS still makes my cardio worse, and I do really low doses when I’m not on TRT now. I mean, I put on like 40lbs of muscle since i joined the dark side. That’s a hell of a lot. Btw, your story is inspiring me.

 

[rmtt]

As others have mentioned.....your heart just sees extra body weight as what it is .....whether it's muscle or fat. Your heart has to work more to sustain that.

One other thing I wanted too mention.....being this much lighter has also done wonders for my sleep. I don't sleep a lot to begin with, but its no longer broken. And I get up when I first wake up. Before I would be tired and want to hit the snooze button, but would fight my way out of bed. Now weirdly I typically awaken naturally about 10 minutes or so before my alarm.

And I'm right up as I'm well rested, and ready to get the day started.

My wife says I don't snore anymore either. When I was heavier, I snored a lot.

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[rmtt]

Yea when I was smaller and on my quest to gain muscle, my cardio was fine on high doses of gear. It got worse as I got bigger. So I agree I think it’s mostly a size issue. However like a couple others have said, AAS still makes my cardio worse, and I do really low doses when I’m not on TRT now. I mean, I put on like 40lbs of muscle since i joined the dark side. That’s a hell of a lot. Btw, your story is inspiring me.

You did it the right way....you went as far as you could naturally before adding "help". I bet even natural at that point, you looked pretty damn good enough to draw attention.

I know loosing weight/size is a mind game. It took others to point it out to me before I came to that realization.

But I promise you dropping 15lbs and getting more defined won't change what others think......if anything like my experience you will only get more compliments.

Here's a crazy story....so today was chest day in the gym. I'm supersetting bench and bent rows. It was cold out today, so I had a light hoodie on.

My last set of my bench program had me doing 3 plates for as many reps as possible. Now that's not a lot of weight compared to what some guys on here are using. But as I load the bar and sit down, I have a guy walking by and asks me if I need a spot while I'm pulling my hoodie off.

Like I said I'm a small framed guy and I guess he figured I would have my hands full.

When I stand up to put my hoodie into the corner, he goes oh.....I'm sure you don't need me. I thank him and say I wouldn't mind an eye on me in case I bury myself...just making polite conversation.

I then lay down and do 7 very slow controlled reps and then rack the weight. He then says that's pretty good...how much you weigh. I tell him around 180, and he says no way...you look 200 lbs easy.

Another plus if your into that kind of thing.....I'm a naturally vascular person. But now the vascularity is just crazy. It's like walking around looking like you just left the gym.

Diet is important for sure, but you can easily maintain 10% bf without giving up your social life.



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