There is no true reciprocity in weight lifting.
Have I found my sweet spot?
Yes. But like things in life it is a bit amorphic,
it changes. Anything and everything works
to some degree. Just depends what my goals
are.
At my age, just being healthy and free of
injuries make me very happy. I am very
fortunate I can eat anything and everything,
and still be fairly lean . . . but not as much
as I would like, am not willing to change
my lifestyle (which is what it would take) to
get another row of abs.
No more chasing numbers or size. Been there,
done that. And having been there, the rewards
were never in proportion to the effort extended.
Having spent no small amount of time, money
and energy into achieving many goals, oddly
enough, when I achieved them there was always
a certain amount of emptiness when I got ‘there’,
never quite felt like I thought would feel.
I’m rambling again. Sorry.
Don’t overthink all this stuff. Experiment and
find what works for you and be consistent.
Always enjoy your posts. Ive given up the size game at 41. I went at it one last time with higher doses, more food, higher intensity training, and i just can't do it anymore. Ive accepted the fact that I'm just not willing to have sleep apnea, be out of breath and run higher doses just to be bigger yet more miserable. At 230 pounds I was the biggest I'd ever been, but felt like death. Now, I don't adhere to any one particular training method, I do what feels good and doesn't hurt that day, more cardio, more heavy bag work with the martial arts i was so passionate about in my youth, and just stay lean and fit. I still look better than most at 5'8" with abs at 190, and will probably downsize a tad more as time goes on. Now, I think that i enjoy volume training more than anything. Easier on the joints, im not going into the gym trying to beat the log book, getting injured, and all that bullshit like its a job. Now its about enjoying a good pump, getting the muscle stimulated, and just continuing to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. I started following more of a warrior diet style, mostly just eat small amounts of protein foods like an egg, beef jerky, Greek yogurt, tuna packet, minimal calories to kill my appetite, maybe an apple for preworkout carbs with glutamine and some baking soda for sodium,
then have a mostly carnivore type dinner steak and eggs, or maybe nothing at times, and maybe occasionally some shit food, but stay lean and maintain muscle. Protein shakes are shit to me, most ive grown allergic to and see no benefit anyway. Just do what you enjoy, don't obsess too much about this bodybuilding shit, take the supps you need to be healthy if you are taking hormones, and don't stay too heavy, it will kill you. But the workouts vary these days depending on recovery anywhere from 12 to 20ish sets, get a good pump. The elite have the genetics to be freaks, but even Paul Dillet gave it up, and he trained like a lazy ass but had the genetics to be a mass monster. He was another one that said fuck the rules, and he did what he wanted. Either you'll figure out you can get there, or you'll figure out you weren't meant to man. The secret is, either you have the genetics or you don't. Once you add gear, you'll know pretty soon which one you are. The training matters, but the genetic elite will get there with the fucking shake weight and some damn jumping jacks.lol.