The experts say it takes a year of training for a middle-aged person to wake the body up and get into half-decent Beginner's shape, and two years to be "fit for life" for your age and build (ie "fit" for a regular person, not for a serious athlete, lifter, or body-builder).
By training, that means two hours/week of steadily increasing weights, one hour of heavy calisthenics, and 1 to 2 hours of interval cardio/endurance with some calisthenics. Plus fat loss if needed via a food plan. That's not maintenance, it's training.
It is a mental and physical adventure. At my one year point, I understand what the experts mean by two years. Functionally, and looking in the mirror like Narcissus, I know exactly what they are talking about. At first, I lost almost 15 lbs of blubber that I did not know I had. After 6 months, I began adding a bit of that back in muscle and sinew so my old cadaver has a different shape. Started at 172, now 162.
Thus, at one year out, I am now prepped to begin to work my hardest. Mysteriously, slowly, my brain and will have engaged my musculature and my physical determination, discovering resources I did not know that I had. A cool experience to fully engage with, and conquer, Mr. Fatigue and Mr. Give Up.
More details below the fold -
Result: My belly is now cut, my shoulders are stretching my old blazers, my waist lost almost 2 inches even though I had no need to, I can lift heavy stuff effortlessly, my daily vigor is much improved, posture is better, and Mrs. BD says she has a new, improved, and exciting (?) husband with triceps and a manly but not ostentatious chest. I believe that my ability to survive my first heart attack is much increased too, but time will tell...
Hollywood has not phoned yet, but for farm/yard work my strength and power have changed dramatically. I will find out soon about my tennis game but I imagine that I can crush the damn ball despite being a mediocre player.
Good things have happened with Mrs. BD too, who is now deadlifting 120 lbs and working on her clean and jerk, lost x lbs., and looks and feels 10 years younger. Some might think that we are just older people being absurd, but you have no authority to speak until giving it all a try. It's a fun thing to do as a couple. It is torture for sure, and if you forced prisoners at Gitmo to do it, you would be in trouble with the UN, Andrew Sullivan, and Amnesty Intl. On the other hand, these are things jailbirds do for recreational fun so they can look scary when they get released from the joint.
Examples:
Last Wednesday's weight effort:
After 3 min elliptical warm-up and calf stretch,
- 5 sets of increasing-wt deadlifts, first one being a "non-working" 100 lb warm-up and aiming for 200 lbs. reps - and that will probably be enough for me given my build and age.
- 5 set circuit of machine leg curls, leg extensions (both for leg strengthening to improve my squats on Monday), and complex, unstable planks. I hope to abandon that machine stuff soon, and just do squats and deads for leg strength.
- 4 sets of inclined dumbell press, dumbell rows, and dumbell pullovers, pushing the weights to max as always
Might not sound like much, but it is for me. The heavy weight exercises (barbell squats, deads, bench. leg press) take time because of recovery between sets. I hurt all over after that for 12 hours but all of my real pains and injuries of the first 6 months have gone away. Weights conquer injuries, mostly but not always. There are things I can never do, like military press with barbell.
Friday's Mostly Calisthenics:
After 3-min elliptical warm-up and calf stretch:
5 sets increasing weight leg press
5 set rotation of ladder agility drills, straight-arm push-downs, squat-and-pulls, heavy ropes, and mixed jump rope
2 sets of heavy ball wall slams from all angles
My boss says I am his only client who says "Make it harder", but I think it's flattery. Good stuff for a guy with a lithe runner's build which went to pot who never could have, and does not aspire to have, a ripped physique. Optimizing functioning is the goal. I do not wear guinea-Ts, only beach it on Cape Cod, and very few people get to admire my naked bod anyway. Just my doc, my wife... and my Maggie's Farm groupies.
