The Post-Long COVID Lifting Journey of a Middle-Aged Man. LOL

IronSoul

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Thanks, man. I'm new, so I never knew you were gone! LOL.
I'm 5' 10 1/2" and between 180 and 183 on any given day.
Honestly, right now my goal is to just keep making forward progress after COVID. But eventually, I need to cut again and get more of this weight off.
I need to post a picture, but unlike a lot of you guys in here, I'm a SOFT 180. After being a top weight of 315 to 320 pounds, 180 feels pretty damn good, but I'm about to dial in hard and down to at least 170, ideally.
My laughing reaction was for the comment about you not knowing I was gone. Made me chuckle. Wow bro, that is a huge difference. Way to fucking put in the work my man. I think you have good goals in mind, keep working towards that. Plenty of us here that can help with a lot of different things as well. Especially once you get to a place that you feel you are lean enough at and want to add some lean tissue. Keep getting after it bro, you're doing great. What got you started when you were around 315-320?
 
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My laughing reaction was for the comment about you not knowing I was gone. Made me chuckle. Wow bro, that is a huge difference. Way to fucking put in the work my man. I think you have good goals in mind, keep working towards that. Plenty of us here that can help with a lot of different things as well. Especially once you get to a place that you feel you are lean enough at and want to add some lean tissue. Keep getting after it bro, you're doing great. What got you started when you were around 315-320?
My GF's daughter had a son when she was 16, and I was 18. The father was useless, so I ended up being the dad. Keeping up with a kid is fucking hard when you're that enormous. So I decided to get rid of the weight. Everyone always says, "PUT DOWN THE FORK", but that's actually what I did.
So he was the inspiration for me losing the weight initially. Years, later he started lifting, and the was my inspiration to try to get some muscle on me. I can actually SEE muscles now which is cool, but I definitely need to lean out more.
Cutting fucking sucks because I HATE being hungry. Food is a literal addiction for me, which sucks. Can you imagine being an alcoholic but needing booze to live? It's the worst. I've got the drive though.
 

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My GF's daughter had a son when she was 16, and I was 18. The father was useless, so I ended up being the dad. Keeping up with a kid is fucking hard when you're that enormous. So I decided to get rid of the weight. Everyone always says, "PUT DOWN THE FORK", but that's actually what I did.
So he was the inspiration for me losing the weight initially. Years, later he started lifting, and the was my inspiration to try to get some muscle on me. I can actually SEE muscles now which is cool, but I definitely need to lean out more.
Cutting fucking sucks because I HATE being hungry. Food is a literal addiction for me, which sucks. Can you imagine being an alcoholic but needing booze to live? It's the worst. I've got the drive though.
First off, way to be a man and take on someone's child like that. I hope the two of you have a great relationship, it sounds like you probably do. And huge congrats on actually taking action and making change. Most people sit around and feel sorry for themselves and just make fucking excuses. So again, way to be man. Cutting does suck, I hate it as well. I never really had a problem with food being a source of dopamine for me and having eating issues, until I was older, a lot of trauma, kids, etc. It's very hard, but you are doing great man. There are a lot of little tips and tricks that you can use while cutting and still enjoy some food you like here and there.
 
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First off, way to be a man and take on someone's child like that. I hope the two of you have a great relationship, it sounds like you probably do. And huge congrats on actually taking action and making change. Most people sit around and feel sorry for themselves and just make fucking excuses. So again, way to be man. Cutting does suck, I hate it as well. I never really had a problem with food being a source of dopamine for me and having eating issues, until I was older, a lot of trauma, kids, etc. It's very hard, but you are doing great man. There are a lot of little tips and tricks that you can use while cutting and still enjoy some food you like here and there.
Well, I will say this. If there was anything good about long COVID, it's that it killed my appetite for so long, my stomach shrank. I naturally eat less than I ever did before. I don't recommend going the route, but it did work! LOL.
We have a great relationship. That kid is amazing. He's a fucking BEAST! He kills it in the gym, and he got promoted to Sergeant (Sargeant?) in the army through waivers. Which means, he didn't need to go the traditional route. Basically, his superiors recognized his awesomeness and just kept promoting him.
He was also the youngest person at Fort Sill to get the Expert Soldier Badge.
Okay, I've bragged on him enough. LOL.
I appreciate you, man. Good to meet you, and thanks for the words of encouragement.
 

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Well, I will say this. If there was anything good about long COVID, it's that it killed my appetite for so long, my stomach shrank. I naturally eat less than I ever did before. I don't recommend going the route, but it did work! LOL.
We have a great relationship. That kid is amazing. He's a fucking BEAST! He kills it in the gym, and he got promoted to Sergeant (Sargeant?) in the army through waivers. Which means, he didn't need to go the traditional route. Basically, his superiors recognized his awesomeness and just kept promoting him.
He was also the youngest person at Fort Sill to get the Expert Soldier Badge.
Okay, I've bragged on him enough. LOL.
I appreciate you, man. Good to meet you, and thanks for the words of encouragement.
Haha that can definitely be a plus. There is always a positive, I am a big advocate of that! Man that is awesome to hear. You had it spelled right the first time, Sergeant. I was at Fort Sill for a bit. Is he Field Artillery? I'm on a Commandant's list out there somewhere at the schoolhouse lol. They probably waved his time and grade requirement to get E-5 or promoted him before going to BLC. Either way, that is really awesome for him. No problem, great meeting you as well. Looking forward to following along.
 
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Haha that can definitely be a plus. There is always a positive, I am a big advocate of that! Man that is awesome to hear. You had it spelled right the first time, Sergeant. I was at Fort Sill for a bit. Is he Field Artillery? I'm on a Commandant's list out there somewhere at the schoolhouse lol. They probably waved his time and grade requirement to get E-5 or promoted him before going to BLC. Either way, that is really awesome for him. No problem, great meeting you as well. Looking forward to following along.
He wasn't field artillery. He went into missile defense. He really wanted to be a ranger, but he's color blind, and he has capsule syndrome in both calves. Pretty cool you were stationed there, though. It's great big small world.
 

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He wasn't field artillery. He went into missile defense. He really wanted to be a ranger, but he's color blind, and he has capsule syndrome in both calves. Pretty cool you were stationed there, though. It's great big small world.
Damn that is a bummer. So, he is probably ADA. He had a damn good recruiter to get him in with the capsule syndrome. I am glad he was able to.
 

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Damn that is a bummer. So, he is probably ADA. He had a damn good recruiter to get him in with the capsule syndrome. I am glad he was able to.
He actually didn't know until he was already recruited. You were in the Army, so you probably know the last thing they have to do for ESB is the full ruck in a certain time limit. He did it, but his calves and shins were so swollen that he couldn't walk. That's when he found out he had capsule syndrome.
Honestly, I'm selfishly glad. Everything he wanted to do was SO FUCKING DANGEROUS!
 

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Man
He actually didn't know until he was already recruited. You were in the Army, so you probably know the last thing they have to do for ESB is the full ruck in a certain time limit. He did it, but his calves and shins were so swollen that he couldn't walk. That's when he found out he had capsule syndrome.
Honestly, I'm selfishly glad. Everything he wanted to do was SO FUCKING DANGEROUS!
Man, I actually got out before the ESB stuff was actually in place. They were setting it all up when I got out. But damn I’m sure that was painful. That sucks for him. I’m glad he’s able to stay in, though. I completely understand the selfish piece of that. Going to Ranger bat is a whole different world.
 
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Today was a good day. I wasn't able to up the weight on my squats, but I did get a few extra reps in and got a good pump. I'm hopeful I'll be able to slowly get that weight to come up soon. I'm tired of squatting the bar! LOL.
I usually do RDLs for hams, but when I look in the mirror, my hams are outpacing my quads. Also, whatever kind of stabilizing work the hams do during my quad workouts, it seems to work for them because my hams were pumped just from the quad work. So I skipped them today. I see a lot of 5x5 routines out there that focus on squats with no direct ham work, and I figure there must be a reason for that.

10/11/24. Legs.
Squats: 10,8,8,7 @ 45
DB Walking Lunges: 16, 12,10,10 @ 17.5
Step Ups: 18,16,14 @ bodyweight
 

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Don't want you thinking I forgot about you or are ignoring what we last talked about. I've been busy and also my vision has taken a nose dive; it's hard for me to make out words right now. I have been semi - inactive this week because of it.

I see the optometrist tomorrow, hopefully they'll give me a prescription and some contacts I can take home with me. If so then I'll be able to go back and address our earlier conversation from earlier.

FYI, I don't hate the bro split... It's just not what I would do. What's most important is that you have a program that you are able to push yourself as hard as possible with, and one that allows you to remain consistent.
 
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Don't want you thinking I forgot about you or are ignoring what we last talked about. I've been busy and also my vision has taken a nose dive; it's hard for me to make out words right now. I have been semi - inactive this week because of it.

I see the optometrist tomorrow, hopefully they'll give me a prescription and some contacts I can take home with me. If so then I'll be able to go back and address our earlier conversation from earlier.

FYI, I don't hate the bro split... It's just not what I would do. What's most important is that you have a program that you are able to push yourself as hard as possible with, and one that allows you to remain consistent.
Shit, man. That sucks. Get your vision on track and all that. I'm just some random posting workout sets. LOL. Feel better, man!
 

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Saturday was supposed to be core, but I had too much house maintenance shit to catch up on that I've been putting off for weeks. I try not to ever let core slide, but hey, sometimes, that's the way it goes.

10/14/24. Chest
BB Press: 11,10,9,8 @ 130
DB Press: 11,10,9,7 @ 35
Incline Press: 10,10,8,8 @ 95
DB Fly: 15,13,11,10 @ 15
 

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I have ran routines often where I complete two leg days a week. One where I have quad focused lifts and one with ham and glute focused lifts. I hit calves on both days, but try to focus on different heads of the calves on each day. That may be something you could consider. My legs grow like crazy doing this.
 
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I have ran routines often where I complete two leg days a week. One where I have quad focused lifts and one with ham and glute focused lifts. I hit calves on both days, but try to focus on different heads of the calves on each day. That may be something you could consider. My legs grow like crazy doing this.
Yeah, I might try that after this cycle. Right now I'm doing a bro split, and it's been pretty great EXCEPT for my legs. I used to train everything twice a week, and those things still didn't want to grow.
 

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Yeah, I might try that after this cycle. Right now I'm doing a bro split, and it's been pretty great EXCEPT for my legs. I used to train everything twice a week, and those things still didn't want to grow.
May have to look into how your training is laid out for legs if they are being stubborn. I am a big advocate of intensity over volume. May just need to alter the intensity techniques a bit.
 

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May have to look into how your training is laid out for legs if they are being stubborn. I am a big advocate of intensity over volume. May just need to alter the intensity techniques a bit.
I'm hoping it's going to resolve itself. Sounds like wishful thinking, I know, but for some reason since I've been back at lifting after dealing with the long COVID thing, I've been growing much more readily. I'm hoping I can whip these legs into shape. The numbers are slowly rising.
Definitely going to look into what I can do with my limited setup at home, though.
 

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I'm hoping it's going to resolve itself. Sounds like wishful thinking, I know, but for some reason since I've been back at lifting after dealing with the long COVID thing, I've been growing much more readily. I'm hoping I can whip these legs into shape. The numbers are slowly rising.
Definitely going to look into what I can do with my limited setup at home, though.
Sounds like a plan. Consistency is the most important. Having a limited setup can definitely hinder growth. But there is a lot that you can do with a little. Walking lunges, Bulgarian split squats, Goblet squats, etc.
 
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Sounds like a plan. Consistency is the most important. Having a limited setup can definitely hinder growth. But there is a lot that you can do with a little. Walking lunges, Bulgarian split squats, Goblet squats, etc.
Yeah, for sure. Right now I do squats, walking lunges, and step ups. I'll have to look up those other things. I gotta do something, though, man. LOL
 

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Back day today. I can feel that I'm hitting my ceiling for this cycle. I'll be reloading next week and then trying a 6 day split the next time around. I feel like if I can hammer out all of the volume I've been doing on this bro split, I can probably handle a 6 day split. We shall see what happens.
Although this log is only about 2 or 3 weeks old. I'm actually 9 weeks into this lifting cycle, do the deload isn't premature.

10/15/24. Back
BB Row: 11,10,10,9 @ 100
WG Row: 4x10 @ 90
CB Row: 10,9,9 @ 90
DB Row: 14,12,10,8 @ 40

I dropped the DB pullover. I think there's something brewing with my left shoulder, and that movement highlights it. Better safe than sorry.
 
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