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Been a while. Getting skinny again and posing a little....

5.0

5.0

VIP Member
Nov 3, 2012
5,246
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Mid 40's? Damn! Looking great brother, veins everywhere and those calves have me most jealous.
 
macgyver

macgyver

TID Board Of Directors
Nov 24, 2011
1,996
1,672
Looking great

Thanks man!

Mac if you wanna keep feeling strong and chase PR try using triples or 5rm as your PR but @8 or @9 rather than a full on max effort. Progress is progress and if your old @10 for a triple becomes @8-9 you know you have a huge single in the tank.

Regardless you're looking jacked as hell still.

Was hoping to see the hamstrings. Always was impressed by yours and it's something I use as a litmus test for who is REALLY training legs hard.

I don't think the front delts are over developed at all. Traps in comparison to them in the rear double bi look undersized though.

Thanks for the update. Good to hear from you. Enjoy the summer Mac!

Thanks man. Appreciate your feedback. I hate to admit it, but I passed into an area of leanness where I just feel "fragile" now. Hard to describe. When I am carbed up and carrying more fat, I feel like I can destroy anything in the gym. Now I almost feel like my joints are glass. Only thing I still feel comfortable going heavy is squatting. I went almost a year without going over 405. I was feeling good one day and went up to a legit 545 single. Heck I was super happy.

My should has been hurting so much I have not gone over 135 benching. I have been doing everything reverse grip and then switching over to heavier dumbells.

And...as much as I like deadlifting......the thought of stopping short of 700, I all but hung it up. I have not pulled in almost 1.5 years. It was a hard mental switch I made and it has fuked with my head some. This has been kinda hard on me. I do like the way I look more than I ever have. But it is so hard not to want to bend some bars. I feel like a pu$$y sometimes with the weights I am moving. But I had to reel in my competitive side as I would have not stopped till I probably hurt something. As of right now, I have never suffered a major muscle tear...etc and the only injuries I deal with are pre-existing things like my shoulder which has always been fragile. Amazed I ever got it healthy enough to bench 420!

Life is good for real. Family is great, kids are awesome.....I almost feel like I am giving up a little just trying to "look pretty". It is not who I am deep down inside. I am fiercely competitive.....even the most with myself. But I think I am doing the right thing in the big picture. My body likes carrying less weight and it is nice not to be so obsessed with "progress". All I ever know, is no PR ever made me happy for more than 15min. It was then that I was plotting what it was going to take to break it!

Mid 40's? Damn! Looking great brother, veins everywhere and those calves have me most jealous.

Thanks man. 40+ is not so bad. It would be even better if I did not let myself go for a decade. 6 years back now and still trying to make up for lost time!
 
5.0

5.0

VIP Member
Nov 3, 2012
5,246
1,696
Well you look fanfukntastic brother even for a 20 yr old! You seem to be in a great spot in life and learning to enjoy it, rock that shit!
 
ajdonutz

ajdonutz

VIP Member
May 23, 2012
814
147
You look awesome mac!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk
 
macgyver

macgyver

TID Board Of Directors
Nov 24, 2011
1,996
1,672
Small bump. I managed to make it through summer and still kept leaning sloooooowly. Albeit...not linear by any means.

I am still progressing slow towards looking like I want which is a lean and muscular physique. Kind of that older "classic" look.

Not doing any carido nor any food tracking (besides rough track of daily protein and weighing a few portions here and there)

I was getting ready to hit the gym and came across some great light so I snapped a few pic. My phone had an "HDR" filter which gave them a cool look.

Front relaxed pic illustrates why I dont consider myself a "bodybuilder". My waist is so blocky and wide. Only thing that gives me a "V" is my back(which you cant see from the front). If I had a narrow waist, I would look a lot more "aesthetical" ;)

Well it is what it is...., I dont ever do "ab work". I think. Years of LOT of heavy deadlifting took care of developing my core which you can see from the side...(but probably did not help with the blocky-ness.) Going to continue the slow leaning out process. My midsection is still needs to drop to match the rest of my body.

Finding that balance of being able to stay lean year round....while not being born a lean person. It is not hard at all. It has just taken a lifestyle change. If I can do it, I think anyone can. That being said, I have not been pursuing strength increases this past year, and just happy "training". It has actually been kind of fun not bumping up against overuse injuries all the time.


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2e2df125-86ed-4422-a72d-18f947a71530_zps8oddlbsz.jpg
 
OldManStrength

OldManStrength

VIP Member
Apr 8, 2015
1,282
508
Im 42 and would love it if I looked like you did..... seriously....
 
macgyver

macgyver

TID Board Of Directors
Nov 24, 2011
1,996
1,672
Im 42 and would love it if I looked like you did..... seriously....

Thanks man. Yea....no young pup here. Approaching mid 40's myself! Hate all the gray hairs, but my body looks better than when I was in my 20's.

Funny....I spent about a decade out of the gym letting myself go while "life" took over. I was a guy who said "I used to be in shape". I looked at my 20's as my peak and never for a moment thought when I came back that I would be able to do anything close to my younger self. It is really cool and nice to be a place where working out does not dominate my life, but it just fits in somewhere between all the kids activities. It works without having to be dominated by it.

Dont get me wrong....the first few years back, I was as focused as can be. But learning the power of just eating for a purpose and letting time do it's thing, I am not nearly so "life or death" about anything. I appreciate all the help and perspective that others have lent me along the way. I hope my journey lends some help to others.
 
OldManStrength

OldManStrength

VIP Member
Apr 8, 2015
1,282
508
Thanks man. Yea....no young pup here. Approaching mid 40's myself! Hate all the gray hairs, but my body looks better than when I was in my 20's.

Funny....I spent about a decade out of the gym letting myself go while "life" took over. I was a guy who said "I used to be in shape". I looked at my 20's as my peak and never for a moment thought when I came back that I would be able to do anything close to my younger self. It is really cool and nice to be a place where working out does not dominate my life, but it just fits in somewhere between all the kids activities. It works without having to be dominated by it.

Dont get me wrong....the first few years back, I was as focused as can be. But learning the power of just eating for a purpose and letting time do it's thing, I am not nearly so "life or death" about anything. I appreciate all the help and perspective that others have lent me along the way. I hope my journey lends some help to others.

My story is very similar to yours, I lifted hard in my 20s, got married had kids, then let life fuck with me for 10 years, got divorced, started working out again 5 years ago. Got serious and got down to 235 2 years ago, and was set to do a local bodybuilding show, and blew my right shoulder apart. I had surgery to fix it, and year later I was back to 100% but way out of shape. last 6 months I just stopped all together, and have been back for 2 months betting my shit in order.

So now Im still pretty big under all this fat, and will start getting bigger again, then next spring work on getting rid of the fat. Its hard to get up and look in the mirror and realize how you use to look compared to how you look now, think of all the time and work that got wasted. Now its come back time..
 
Mini Forklift Ⓥ

Mini Forklift Ⓥ

The Veganator
Dec 23, 2012
4,313
730
You look great man, I'm really just echoing what everyone else has said but I'm sure you could look at stepping on a stage at some point if that motivates you. Nice work and all the best for your future training... sometimes a change up of things is exactly what's needed.
 
macgyver

macgyver

TID Board Of Directors
Nov 24, 2011
1,996
1,672
You look great man, I'm really just echoing what everyone else has said but I'm sure you could look at stepping on a stage at some point if that motivates you. Nice work and all the best for your future training... sometimes a change up of things is exactly what's needed.


Thanks for the support. The stage may be something but not for me right now. I would not embarrass myself, I know that. I just know I dont have an "ideal" bodybuilders physique. I accept that I can only change certain things, and I am happy just to be the best "me".

I am thankful for the gifts I do have. I dont see too many "smaller" guys my size with the strength I am lucky enough to have. I even dont see a lot of "big" guys with it.

Powerlifting really would be my natural calling, but I found I pushed myself too hard and in my mid-40's, the idea of hurting myself for no good reason, started to weigh on me. I am lucky to be in a healthy body without much limitation or injury. As my numbers went higher, overuse injuries started to creep in and it became a wake up that a larger, more catastrophic injury could happen without much warning. So I just choose to look good.

I might not be training for strength. I went 8 months without squatting and after 3 sessions a few weeks back to check my strength, I still was able to do a legit 540 at under 200lbs. At some point I can see going back to lifting heavy....maybe. I always wanted a 700lb pull at under 200. (that was really my biggest goal) I stopped at 650 and could pull 585x7 full stop. I just could never zero in my form to get any heavier past the first 2 ".

Anyway....I am comfortable with what I have been able to do in the gym and happy to be finding a good balance of lifting and life. When I first joined here, there were a few older guys who gave me some great advice about seeing things in the long term. It took a while because I was so focused on making up for lost time. But now I can see what they meant and I am believing it. You cant go 100% all the time. But, pretty amazing what time and consistency will do. That is what I am finding most.
 
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