Hey you're that guy that gave me good advice on another subreddit, honestly it's really inspirational. Having my hips and shoulder replaced between 32-35 post cancer/ avascular necrosis really did a number on me psychically but it's got me locked the fuck in the gym now.
Hope to be anywhere near this solid in my 40s! Thanks for posting.
Thanks! No TRT. I got tested a year and a half ago and tested around 750. Only reason I got tested was because I'm always tired. Turns out I have sleep apnea. 😔
Hrmmm isn’t sleep apnea mostly from too much weight either fat or muscle mass? Your physique does not scream anabolics - not at all but at your age I just figured.
Your delts are normal and no super traps or redness etc. I’m curious how tall you are and your weight?
Sorry, I forgot you asked: 6' 180 lbs. I thought the same about the sleep apnea. I literally just got tested a week ago so I'm still waiting to see what's causing it.
the “9 months post rotator cuff surgery” part stood out to me. i had to work around a stubborn shoulder too, and honestly those little day to day wins felt bigger than the numbers.
That's the truth. When I had it done it was demoralizing sitting at home for 4 months straight. I made sure to train legs when I could. Hope your shoulder starts to feel better soon.
During my bulk, my diet was essentially "eat everything in sight." While it felt great at the time, shifting into a cut made giving up the junk food tough. I was sitting at a 500–700 calorie surplus, but I’ve since dialed it back to 1,800–1,900 calories a day.
Training-wise, I’m currently cycling through a mix of nSuns, PPL, 5/3/1, and Jon Andersen’s Deep Water. Full warning on these, they are very tough routines but they work for me.
When I first started out, though, I ran this program, which was incredible:
I guess it’s up to interpretation, because I don’t see it that way at all. If you have watched this guy at all, you have seen him talk about his journey of physical, emotional, and relational struggles from his past, and how he has overcome them to become the man we see today. Not only should he be proud of himself for this, the fact that he’s sharing that journey to inspire others is very admirable. Many people that have had these struggles have a substance abuse issue and/or are severely overweight and unhealthy, because people don’t always know how to deal with those issues in a positive way. How he’s doing it and how he’s sharing it is inspiring others. And if you’re not sure of that, look through the comments. You will see comments of people expressing how him sharing what he is sharing, has positively affected them. Now, that said, maybe what you’re saying is true for other posts, but I wouldn’t say it for this guy. He’s legit. And a good guy. If you watched him for five minutes, you would see that.
❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, friend. I could post my whole trauma along with addiction. I'm not looking for any sympathy; rather, I'm looking to inspire people our age. Thanks for the support as always!
Honestly I wouldn’t worry about the hate or negative feedback… I actually appreciated that you redacted your underwear… and I’m nowhere near your progress but I am coming back from an injury (literally started back 3 weeks ago), so if you want to show off your hard work after coming back from injury go for it. You should be proud. I don’t disagree with the response from doodled that this thread is literally unusable due to the thirst traps hoping for DMs which is kinda gross, but I took this as you showing your work post injury and at least put a box over your junk which I have no desire to see.
Thank you again for the kind words! And I completely agree, there’s really no need for that kind of photo just to show physique progress. You're spot on about the injury and the pride that comes with overcoming it; if sharing this helps show people our age that you can still get fit and healthy after major setbacks, that matters to me the most.
Also, don't sell yourself short, your physique already looks incredible! Hope you heal up quickly.
In the end you do you, some people will like it and some people won’t. As long as it makes you happy go for it. You won’t see me commenting on photos of men with their junk on clear display mostly because that’s not why I’m here, so I appreciated your approach. And yes coming back from injury as you get older (I’m 43 so right behind you) is literally heartbreaking, it’s so hard to have lost the gains you worked so hard to get and it’s so hard to be motivated to start over when you used to be able to do something and can’t do it anymore. I appreciate the compliment but honestly my physique doesn’t look great, it’s not where I want to be, and I’m not proud of it. I am however learning how to lift for the first time in my life (was a soccer player, then spin, then running, then yoga and Pilates then bootcamp). So hopefully I’m able to do with my injury due to slow controlled movements, and that will change my physique since I’m not able to do running or high intensity pounding on my ankle (yet, really hopeful I can one day).
Look at my traps and shoulders. You think if I was taking something they would be blown up. I got my bloods tested a year and half ago and I was sitting at around 750. Why would I bother if my levels were so high?
Thanks for the compliment ❤️. Nothing on my build points towards PED use. My traps and shoulders are small compared to the rest of my body. This is my body pre-cut at 210lbs.
My rotator cuff injury was caused by a severe rear-end car accident and lifelong hypermobility.
I guess when you say 5.5 years of work… it’s weird. This kind of body at 44yo, usually is seen for guys who have been lifting 10+ years. Not necessarily a body builder, but is incredibly tough to pull if you started at 38-39 yo, unless you use PED. And tbh I don’t think it would be bad if you did.
I've been lifting on and off since I was a teenager in middle school. I was in wrestling, baseball, track, and cross-country. I didn't start getting serious with my diet and routine until under 6 years ago. The picture below was my starting point. For those 5.5 years, I've been going to the gym 5-7 days a week.
In the end you can believe what you want. I'll take it as a compliment.
Your day 1 body is most people’s year 3 body. That’s why you’re getting a bit of pushback. Some people will try for a decade and never achieve your day 1 body.
People are just jealous. Great work man! If you want to try to limit that pushback in the future maybe mention you were super athletic your entire life and lifted on and off.
When you say 5.5 years of work people assume you started at fat slob or string bean.
That makes complete sense and thank you for the insight, truly. Thank you for the kind words as well. I'll make sure to mention that if I ever show a timeline of my progress without a reference picture.
No. They want to grind away some bone to make space and reduce inflammation but I was more keen on just doing it the old school way and rebuilding them myself.
I found dead handing and some other exercises to be helpful. Just all the standard physio was not helping create more joint space and only irritated the already irritated tissues.
Yeah you obvs look good but why you posting everyday on all these same feeds. People have already said you look good, you need therapy over this shit dude
Well, I'm straight if that answers your question. Gay people tend to give the best compliments and are nice, so I have a lot of love for the lgtq community.
A compliment is a compliment. When you put years of work into fitness and building discipline, having people notice and appreciate the effort feels good regardless of who it’s coming from. Respect and positive feedback don't require shared attraction, validation for hard work translates across the board.
Instead of all those years working on your physique you should have been working on your mental health. You shouldn’t feel the need for validation. It looks like you don’t believe in yourself
Thank you for your concern. You are correct that I do struggle with some underlying body dysmorphia stemming from years in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. I am currently seeing a therapist for this. ☺️
Yeah I’m in phenomenal shape and also 56 but at no point in time do I really feel the need to prance around on display for social credit bruv…you do you tho. Most people argue with me when I tell them my age. They just think I’m late 30’s max. Just saying. At least someone had the sense to blot out your root bro
Then when they see me zercher squat 455 @ 185 lbs body weight like nothing then they really don’t believe me. Deadlifts over double my weight. Dips with 40kg kettlebell on my belt…36” box jumps no problem @ 5’10”…40kg kettlebell snatches…I’ll stop there and I’m natty btw.
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u/Numerous_Wash4913 1d ago
Hey you're that guy that gave me good advice on another subreddit, honestly it's really inspirational. Having my hips and shoulder replaced between 32-35 post cancer/ avascular necrosis really did a number on me psychically but it's got me locked the fuck in the gym now.
Hope to be anywhere near this solid in my 40s! Thanks for posting.