Rex's daily fitness journal - warning: out of shape shirtless dude pics

Options
FunkmasterRex
FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Started exercise and food tracking yesterday on 5/27/2022. Will attempt to do daily picture updates to track as it goes. Hopefully I get to my goals.

Initial weight: 217.8 lbs
Goal: 160 lbs @ 5' 9"
Will try to do 1 hour of jogging and 1 upper body strength exercise per day 6 days a week.
«134567

Replies

  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Day 1
    4ehaaeotoa1l.jpg
    e0b82c7lq2gb.jpg

  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Day 2
    84uqyoq35nd6.jpg
    npdne8rlx70i.jpg

  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    This was me on July 4 weekend in 2012 10 years ago when I was 42. Hopefully I can get back to close to where I was. Here we go. :)
    hjsk0g0re12k.jpg
    t8ks3ss5ud1f.jpg
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,471 Member
    Options
    Why are you only doing upper body exercises?
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    I will be running for an hour 6 days a week. If I don't do any upper body exercises, it will wither away and be unbalanced. This volume of running takes care of the legs and core in my past experience. The upper body needs attention. Not sure if at 52 my body will react the same way, so I'll have to adjust the regimen as I go.
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Thanks, I'll have to adjust if I am just trying to delude myself into reliving my glory days. I jogged 3.2 miles yesterday and 3.2 miles today both in an hour. That isn't much faster than how fast some people walk - I am really out of shape. I haven't done any exercise in at least 5 years. So far so good.

    At my peak in 2012 I was running about 7 miles in 1 hour 6 days a week - that was 42 miles per week about 50 weeks per year. I'll see if I can do 18 miles this week. If I'm exhausted I'll dial it back. I am thinking that it will take 6 to 9 months to get to running about 6 miles per day or 36 miles per week. I've never been 52 before so it will be touch and go. Life never turns out the way you plan anyway but we have to have a plan. :)
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    One thing that has really helped me in running is that I learned to relax into a comfortable pace and push slowly only at the margins. I don't go all out and try to destroy my body. That's the benefit of being old. I try to listen to my body and don't always try to drive through pain. But I like to hang out near my limit and cross over slightly from time to time. I trust time plus volume of training and let the results unfold naturally. That is in contrast to many, including my younger self, who obsess about every natural variance each day. Embrace the you that you are is what I like to think. Ironic that I would say that as a start a daily picture journal but I like tracking. It's worked for me in the past.
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Day 3 morning weigh in: 215.4 lbs.
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Day 3: Jogged 3.25 miles in 62 minutes. Lat pulldowns 1x8@100lbs, 1x7@120lbs, 4x6@120lbs.
    ijlp8tvlwwvh.jpg
    zom3q8jqb627.jpg
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Pinning these for motivation to get back to somewhere near my old self. According to the image data these are from 2/28/2012. Wish I had taken sharper pictures back then.
    nd58hx04dmj3.jpg
    36267kz4lbj7.jpg
    9323a1dm1zx5.jpg

  • Kiwi2mfp
    Kiwi2mfp Posts: 166 Member
    Options
    Keep going! Oddly enough, I started at 217 pounds on April 8th or 9th and my goal is around 164 pounds by October. I have stalled out this week. Been doing a lot of work helping a neighbor move (3-4 hrs a day). It involves a lot of heavy lifting and moving none stop. We're practically packing a man's homestead to move two states away. So I think water weight has me stalled for now and my muscles get used to this work. Anyway, keep it up! You will be at your goal in no time!
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    Thanks for your kind comment @Kiwi2mfp. I think muscles benefit from a jolt now and then if you don't tax them to death and allow adequate recovery. If you can help a friend, what does it matter if your workouts stall a little? You've made a contribution to the wellness of the world and made someone's life better by helping a friend who needed you. Btw, where are you on the road to your goals? Leave a link to the thread where you are documenting your trip to a happier and healthier you if you have one so that I can follow you. Look forward to joining you at the finish line of our goals whenever I get there. :)
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,454 Member
    edited May 2022
    Options
    FunkmasterRex wrote: »
    I will be running for an hour 6 days a week. If I don't do any upper body exercises, it will wither away and be unbalanced. This volume of running takes care of the legs and core in my past experience. The upper body needs attention. Not sure if at 52 my body will react the same way, so I'll have to adjust the regimen as I go.

    If you want to build muscle long slow distance running is not the way to do it.

    https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/does-running-build-muscle#runnings-effects
    https://www.livescience.com/does-running-build-muscle

    Long slow running is fine, but you need to supplement with some resistance work. To be honest, given the speed at which you're jogging you would probably get as much benefit walking (less joint pounding).

    Good luck.
  • Kiwi2mfp
    Kiwi2mfp Posts: 166 Member
    Options
    FunkmasterRex wrote: »
    Thanks for your kind comment @Kiwi2mfp. I think muscles benefit from a jolt now and then if you don't tax them to death and allow adequate recovery. If you can help a friend, what does it matter if your workouts stall a little? You've made a contribution to the wellness of the world and made someone's life better by helping a friend who needed you. Btw, where are you on the road to your goals? Leave a link to the thread where you are documenting your trip to a happier and healthier you if you have one so that I can follow you. Look forward to joining you at the finish line of our goals whenever I get there. :)

    Thank you! I don't think I have any links. I'm sorry. Mostly just been keeping my food journal and commenting on my page. I am at 198.2 on day 52. I am happy with my progress so far. I have some medical issues that I go in for blood work in October for. I am hoping a healthy diet and normal BMI will help correct these things. That is why I have a time line goal and am going at this more aggressively. I have about 34 more pounds to go.

    I do believe the same about helping a friend. His family is at his new house and he is trying to go at this massive move on his own! He'd be here away from his family for MONTHS if he took this on by himself. That's just not cool. He keeps saying how over whelmed he feels. I can only imagine.

    You are welcome to friend me. I don't have any pictures though so my feed is likely boring but I'm still taking one step at a time.
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    @Kiwi2mfp thank you for sharing your details. Look fwd to seeing you reach your goals.
    @Theoldguy1 I'm running long and slow b/c I just started 3 days ago and am out of shape. Hopefully I can ramp up to 6 miles per day in 1 hour over the next year. Baby steps. :)
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    I also think that my goal is not to pack a bunch of vanity muscle by doing HIIT or other types of high intensity training. I'm not trying out for the NFL or the NBA. My goal is to pack functional muscle in order to support a high volume of running. I currently run slow because it is at this speed that I'm at 70% of my heart rate reserve, optimizing the cardiovascular benefit. In simpler terms, I am exercising my heart muscle to work more efficiently. There are a lot of critics of cardio, mostly proponents of resistance/strength training who tend to ignore the benefits of improving your cardiovascular health. Strength/resistance training has cardiovascular benefits, but not to the same extent as running does. Look at all the professional wrestlers dropping dead of cardiac failure at a young age.
    For inexperienced people, the large muscles that are visible to everyone seem flashy and the goal to pursue, but avoiding heart issues by strengthening the cardiovascular system will save you from many ailments as you age, including heart attacks, hypertension and other conditions that aren't flashy but become important as you age.
    Also, running at large volume over time will definitely develop functional leg and core muscles. It will not do that for your upper body, so I incorporate some upper body resistance exercises that engage major muscle groups. Strength/resistance is great but it has to have a purpose. Adding 20lbs of muscle mass so that I can look like I'm bulging out of my shirt, that's not one of my goals. Mainstream and social media will try hard to sell you that dream. I would like my muscle mass to have more functional and health benefits. I'm not trying to be a bodybuilder or a sport-specific athlete. I just want to be healthier. :)
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,601 Member
    Options
    FunkmasterRex wrote: »
    I also think that my goal is not to pack a bunch of vanity muscle by doing HIIT or other types of high intensity training. I'm not trying out for the NFL or the NBA. My goal is to pack functional muscle in order to support a high volume of running. I currently run slow because it is at this speed that I'm at 70% of my heart rate reserve, optimizing the cardiovascular benefit. In simpler terms, I am exercising my heart muscle to work more efficiently. There are a lot of critics of cardio, mostly proponents of resistance/strength training who tend to ignore the benefits of improving your cardiovascular health. Strength/resistance training has cardiovascular benefits, but not to the same extent as running does. Look at all the professional wrestlers dropping dead of cardiac failure at a young age.
    For inexperienced people, the large muscles that are visible to everyone seem flashy and the goal to pursue, but avoiding heart issues by strengthening the cardiovascular system will save you from many ailments as you age, including heart attacks, hypertension and other conditions that aren't flashy but become important as you age.
    Also, running at large volume over time will definitely develop functional leg and core muscles. It will not do that for your upper body, so I incorporate some upper body resistance exercises that engage major muscle groups. Strength/resistance is great but it has to have a purpose. Adding 20lbs of muscle mass so that I can look like I'm bulging out of my shirt, that's not one of my goals. Mainstream and social media will try hard to sell you that dream. I would like my muscle mass to have more functional and health benefits. I'm not trying to be a bodybuilder or a sport-specific athlete. I just want to be healthier. :)

    I absolutely agree, running will build strength in your lower body, and cardiovascular exercise is definitely important for cardiovascular health. I will add, though, 2 more things: the professional wrestlers dropping dead are frequently more related to steroid use and its associated cardiovascular damage. Also, yes, cardiovascular exercise will by its nature decrease your ability to build muscle (though you can absolutely build muscle and do cardio), which is why powerlifters generally don't do cardiovascular exercise (though bodybuilders generally do)
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    This is a picture of my legs when I was running at high volume. Never had any problem building muscle in my legs doing running/cardio. The musculature was a natural development over time as I ran. And I generally had abdominal/core musculature. Didn't need to target specific muscle groups like weightlifters nor do resistance training, I just ran. :)
    83okimtz8b5b.jpg
    01ca6lp8zfeg.jpg
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    However your shoulders will become imbalanced if you just run and don't do resistance training. Everyone's mileage will vary.

Categories