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Yeah, well I think I might have overdid it. My Achilles tendon is sore as heck, and not sure if this soreness is a good thing. I hope I didn't tear or damage something. What happened was, I ran on the treadmill on an incline for 10 mins last Friday and then went for a 8 miles walk on Saturday. And Sunday morning, I woke up with pain on my Achilles tendon and now I'm walking with a limp because it hurts whenever the tendon gets stretched.
This is frustrating. Seems like my older age and my lack of exercise over the past several years has really made my body very weak. I swear I didn't have this much pain and soreness when I started going to the gym back in 2017. It was about 1 week of soreness and that was it! Now's, it's over two weeks and still in so much pain!
There are other options that are lower impact like the elliptical.
3 times a week, one hour at the gym each day. I did progressively overload in the beginning and they eventually plateaued. And I think I may have gotten but too heavy to the point where my form was bad. That plus poor diet might have contributed to it.
Also, back then, my metabolism was crazy high. I could eat 2,000 calories per day or 4,000 calories... my weight was always the same no matter what. So I wonder if my metabolism was just burning the calories rather than utilizing it for muscle growth. And this is where good genetics come in and I think that is what I lack, unfortunately.
You self described yourself as "skinny fat" earlier, this would indicate you are in a mild calorie surplus, and certainly enough calories to build muscle. You might not have stuck with the program long enough or were not training properly. If you were always sore, that could be the reason. If you plateaued, you needed to change your program so you could see progress again.
You should start with the least amount of volume needed to see progress and only increase volume if your progress evaporates and you're not sore for your next session.
Right. Work out in a way that you enjoy, and eat nutritious food with the occasional splurges. That's a good place to start and is something you can stick with. You don't have to make it complicated.
Looks like the bolded part might be harder than I thought. I've literally been very good these past few weeks with food, making sure I fill up on nutritious foods instead of junk food. Haven't had fast food for the past few weeks and no junk food either. When I'm hungry, I eat fruits, yogurt and unsalted peanuts for snack.
Well yesterday was my uncle's birthday and we had some Carvel cake. Had one big slice and felt like complete crap afterwards. My stomach felt bloated and stuffed and even today, I'm still feeling it.
Looks like when the body starts adjusting to clean food, it no longer likes junk food anymore.
When you eat clean consistently, it is normal to feel like crap after a “cheat”. I ate out last night with a group. Later, much more food, and much worse food than normal. I felt like crap all day today.
When you eat clean consistently, it is normal to feel like crap after a “cheat”. I ate out last night with a group. Later, much more food, and much worse food than normal. I felt like crap all day today.
The way I look at it, we always feel like crap when we eat like crap, but we get used to it if we eat crap everyday. Then, we eat healthy for a while, feel great, then get used to that. And then when we cheat and eat like crap, feel terrible.
I no longer can eat most sweets. Not only do I no longer like the taste, but I feel incredibly wired after.
The way I look at it, we always feel like crap when we eat like crap, but we get used to it if we eat crap everyday. Then, we eat healthy for a while, feel great, then get used to that. And then when we cheat and eat like crap, feel terrible.
I no longer can eat most sweets. Not only do I no longer like the taste, but I feel incredibly wired after.
Yeah, still feeling the horrible bloated feeling. It’s taking forever to pass. Never again am I having cake. If I must have some, I’ll request for a thin, pancake slice next time.
Not at his age. If he was in his 20s, sure. But not to nitpick over this detail, because even then your numbers don't add up. 20lbs of muscles just doubles my estimates to 60 calories per day.
Not to be a jerk about it, but you're making a whole lot of claims that go against the mainstream without giving any supporting evidence of it. Rest assured, OP will easily gain more than 5-10 lbs of muscle with proper training and nutrition.
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All your nutritional advice will get him is more fat.
Outside of very limited and temporary circumstances, you're not going to gain muscle without accepting some fat gain. The laws of thermodynamics are real.
3 times a week, one hour at the gym each day. I did progressively overload in the beginning and they eventually plateaued. And I think I may have gotten but too heavy to the point where my form was bad. That plus poor diet might have contributed to it.
Also, back then, my metabolism was crazy high. I could eat 2,000 calories per day or 4,000 calories... my weight was always the same no matter what. So I wonder if my metabolism was just burning the calories rather than utilizing it for muscle growth. And this is where good genetics come in and I think that is what I lack, unfortunately.
Not to be a jerk about it, but you're making a whole lot of claims that go against the mainstream without giving any supporting evidence of it. Rest assured, OP will easily gain more than 5-10 lbs of muscle with proper training and nutrition.
Everything I said is mainstream. Everything you're saying is outside of the mainstream.
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How much muscle can a 40 year old man gain?
That depends more on your training history and genetics than it does your age. A 40-year newbie (i.e. someone who hasn’t lifted weights before) with good genetics can expect to gain upwards of 20 pounds of muscle mass after several years of hard, consistent training.
Using 40 as that's closer to the OP (37) than someone whose 30 hormonally.
So upwards of 20lbs (<20) over SEVERAL years. So my estimate of 10-15 in 1 year is in fact, very generous. Unless you want the OP to get on steroids, that is.
Do you even realize how much 20lbs of muscle is? Think of a 16 oz steak, and now imagine attaching 20 of those around your body. Have you ever gained that amount of muscle in a year? Because if you did, most likely you were in your teens or on steroids.
Now, all of this is pointless, because whether the OP gains 10lbs or 20lbs muscle, the calorie calculation goes from 30 calories to 60 calories per day. On your recommended diet, he would pack on more fat than muscle EVEN if he did add 20lbs of muscle.
Did you do the arithmetic to figure this out?
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Outside of very limited and temporary circumstances, you're not going to gain muscle without accepting some fat gain. The laws of thermodynamics are real.
You don't understand thermodynamics.
Let me help you. Thermodynamics is about energy conservation. Mass = energy. But fat is not the only source of energy. You can be in a calorie/energy surplus and not gain any fat at all, if you gained mass elsewhere (i.e growing taller, or just packed on muscle).
You can be in a calorie deficit, and still add on muscle provided you lost mass elsewhere (fat).
Thermodynamics doesn't help us differentiate these things, just if you will gain mass or lose mass. Mass is made up of fat, muscle, skeletal tissue, organ tissue, as well as other things.
What determines your body's switching from fat to muscle has everything to do with the hormones/genetics/lifestyle of the given individual. As well as your nutrition too, you cannot build muscle without certain EAAs, but the protein specifications you recommended the OP are well above what he needs to gain muscle, that protein his body will just burn off as energy or store as fat.
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