What age did you give up that gym life?

[CalvinH]

I haven't...still get to the gym mostly 5xs a week.

[Dokey111]

going on 58, I just like training and don't feel good/right if i miss a workout.  although the workouts are not ball busters by any stretch.  You either like it or you don't.

[dan18]

I haven't...still get to the gym mostly 5xs a week.

Yes but do you go inside

[Dave D]

I've only recently returned to training after a 5-6 year layoff, when even back then I probably wasn't training all that much. Nowadays, I'm just after a little improvement here and there. Nothing spectacular - just to fill out my shirts a bit more and to get a nice ripped physique. Gone are the days of wanting to compete or trying to look like a bodybuilder. I don't want to keep increasing the weight until infinity. I still train very hard but when I reach my goal it will be about maintenance and not trying to always get bigger or stronger. Bruce Lee or a little bigger is pretty much what I'm hoping to achieve and I feel I can do that. Anything more would be too much.

John, hasn't the plight of Ronnie Coleman made you think that it would be better to ease up with the extreme balls-to-the-wall training? Look at all of the surgeries and hip/shoulder/etc replacements he's had. All of this training can be good physically but if you don't do it right it can be pretty bad.

This is an interesting thought but the reality is I know multiple people who've had knees, shoulders, hips, ankles replaced or back issues despite never lifting, let alone heavy. The body breaks down with age no matter how well you take care of it.

Ronnie was an anomaly as a bodybuilder and he is one today with his injuries. To think you'd end up like him because you train heavy is akin to thinking you'd build the same physique because you do the same exercises....

[XFACTOR]

We are too busy in the offseason flying out in a Lear jet making business deals in Dubai, India

While we are making  millions and having different girls each day you can keep lifting and get admiration with schmoes

I do all it all.  Make money, travel the workd with my wife and daughter and train like an animal.  That is true "balance".

[Dave D]

I think it's very different. Most people when they reach adulthood know they won't look like Ronnie, at least natural bodybuilders won't. It's just something you learn after training for a few years and looking at actual natural bodybuilders. Even on steroids there is no guarantee you'll look like Ronnie but those on steroids do have a better shot.

With injuries, it's not necessarily something you can say won't happen just because you're Joe Schmoe. Like you said, even people who don't weight train can have back problems, etc. But weight training generally does require a lot of lower back, shoulder, etc, work and done week-in week-out that can add up to eventual injuries.

Well your comparison was ending up like Ronnie because of training. How many  bodybuilders end up like him, can you name another one with the same type or similar injuries? Do you think Ronnie would have trained in such a way if he was natural? Do you think his injuries ate strictly based on how he trained in his prime or are they a result of pushing his injured body past it limits?  Drugs would be a factor here then,  naturals don't have the same issues.

  If you read my reply you'd realise I already said people end up with issues regardless of weight training. Again Ronnie current condition is as much of an anomaly as his bodybuilding career was. You're making comparisons based on all things being equal, but as we've discussed they are not.

[TheGrinch]

I understand where u are coming from, and I'm impressed with your dedication, but I do find it sad when you sAy "it's who I am". To me that's placing way too much value on a hobby we call weight lifting. When you are on your death bed, you may regret dedicating your life to spending so much time in a gym and worrying day in and day about about macros, lifts, etc. I kind of came to that conclusion a couple years ago, I spent 15 yrs worried about all of that trivial stuff. Now, I kind of had an awakening of sorts I guess. In my 20s having people call me "Steven the buff guy" or "dude you look huge", was cool right. But in your 30s with kids and a career, that shit isn't cool anymore, people look at you like your odd or there's something wrong with you. It's just not the same in your 30s. I don't know, just feel like it's time to move on kind of and be a better person inside and out, and leave the trivial crap like having cannon ball delts behind. Learning an instrument, or a new language seems way more interesting to me now, and I wish I didn't fall down the rabbit hole of this twisted and fake sub culture for as long as I did

Bingo... ultimately in the end.... its about doing all the stuff that fills your spirit... not being ripped for self-esteem, vanity or useless comments from others.

Go through history and think about people who really mattered in this world.

Were they counting macros or counting stars?

Searching for a bigger lat spread or more knowledge on the universe?

Did anyone care that Einstein couldn't squat 405 for reps?

Think Bruce Lee cared he was a "twink" by GetBig's definition on the skinny factor.


Wish I gave up the gym "life" years ago.... and worked out my brain and spirit instead

[polychronopolous]

This is an interesting thought but the reality is I know multiple people who've had knees, shoulders, hips, ankles replaced or back issues despite never lifting, let alone heavy. The body breaks down with age no matter how well you take care of it.

Ronnie was an anomaly as a bodybuilder and he is one today with his injuries. To think you'd end up like him because you train heavy is akin to thinking you'd build the same physique because you do the same exercises....

Mark Rippetoe sums it up best “You are going to get aches and pains with age regardless, you might as well be strong”

[Natural_O]

I've only recently returned to training after a 5-6 year layoff, when even back then I probably wasn't training all that much. Nowadays, I'm just after a little improvement here and there. Nothing spectacular - just to fill out my shirts a bit more and to get a nice ripped physique. Gone are the days of wanting to compete or trying to look like a bodybuilder. I don't want to keep increasing the weight until infinity. I still train very hard but when I reach my goal it will be about maintenance and not trying to always get bigger or stronger. Bruce Lee or a little bigger is pretty much what I'm hoping to achieve and I feel I can do that. Anything more would be too much.

John, hasn't the plight of Ronnie Coleman made you think that it would be better to ease up with the extreme balls-to-the-wall training? Especially with the very heavy weights people like yourself can throw around. Look at all of the surgeries and hip/shoulder/etc replacements he's had. All of this training can be good physically but if you don't do it right it can be pretty bad.

Yes, I try to be careful, only using weights I think I can handle. What I've been doing the last few years is cycling my workouts, slowly going up for 3 weeks and then going light for a week to recuperate and then repeating the process. But you're right, we have to change as we get older. I'll probably start doing more high intensity workouts also where I don't have to go heavier (drop sets, supersets, etc).

[Pray_4_War]

[ilalin]

37, when the L5/S1 disc leaked out and the two vertebrae started grinding...fun times that follow me into my 44th year of life.

[be back]

37, when the L5/S1 disc leaked out and the two vertebrae started grinding...fun times that follow me into my 44th year of life.

I have L4 L5 bulging discs, doesnt stop me training, in fact when I didnt train it was worse...

[Dave D]

Something I learned from Dexter Jackson is to take a break every now and then. After the Olympia season, Dexter takes a whole month to six weeks off. Lets his body heal completely before easing his way back into training. I think doing this on a more regular basis is a great idea and worth trying out. I'll be doing something similar once I've been training for a while. Starting with two weeks on, one week off.

[/b]

Gold

[ilalin]

I have L4 L5 bulging discs, doesnt stop me training, in fact when I didnt train it was worse...

for myself, training does help, but I have to be careful. One-legged dumbbell squats are a way to go. Also, yoga helps tremendously...

[Dave D]

I've been around the gym lifestyle for a very long time. Just simply never stuck with a program for long enough to have any real gains. Now, though, I am and I will. Not fooled by wanting to train until infinity. There is no infinity. Once I reach my goal physique, I'll keep the weights where they are and have regular breaks. That's the secret that you don't seem to want to hear.

Spoken like a true troll.

At first I thought you were a legitimate poster with limited understanding/simple. I was wrong you, got me. Good work.

[Dave D]

Nope, I am a legitimate poster. The words I write aren't trolling.

You may think I have limited understanding but it is I who think you are the one with a very one-sided view of what weight training should be. I won't encourage you to think outside the box because I don't give a shit. All I can say is what I'm going to be doing. It's working well for Dexter and I think it would benefit more people to try it. You're welcome to train day-in, day-out, every week of the year but eventually the injuries will probably catch up.

LOL. Okay train like Dexter.... Ronnie also routinely took a month off after the Grand Prix.

Where did I say my training methodology?

You're welcome to train however you want but you will be injured no matter what you do.

Good luck!

[Dave D]

... and you won't be?

You already said I will be injured based on my training troll.


Use Dexter Jacksons methods to get that Bruce Lee build going,  you're running out of time.

[be back]

for myself, training does help, but I have to be careful. One-legged dumbbell squats are a way to go. Also, yoga helps tremendously...

Been considering that myself...

[WiseGuy]

I stopped at 45(im 47) as I got too busy with a second job, but I know now I would not go back even if I gave up my extra weekend job. I do home workouts that are very short like HIT, using a versa climber, some yoga and calisthenics and I walk a lot. Of course my diet is very strict I eat no junk and have no cheat meals and get plenty of sleep. I feel I have wasted enough time in the gym looking at myself in the mirror. On to other things.

[OlympiaGym]

Working out for 5-6 hours a week, following a relatively good diet, & pinning some test every Monday morning isn't that hard. I don't see any reason to quit. The "gym life" was never necessary in the first place.

[fredrollon]

Been considering that myself...

Yeah, leaving aside the spiritual mumbo-jumbo surrounding yoga, flexibility and balance should be seen as important as or-at the very least-complementary to strength.

These are things a lot of male trainers neglect.

[Earl1972]

Is you saying this?  I have a question for you. How would you look one year completely off drugs?

i would look the same since i never used at all

have you?  i have asked you this at least a dozen times and you never answer

E

[chuckles]

I stopped at 45(im 47) as I got too busy with a second job, but I know now I would not go back even if I gave up my extra weekend job. I do home workouts that are very short like HIT, using a versa climber, some yoga and calisthenics and I walk a lot. Of course my diet is very strict I eat no junk and have no cheat meals and get plenty of sleep. I feel I have wasted enough time in the gym looking at myself in the mirror. On to other things.

guess you wised up bro..LOL

[be back]

I stopped at 45(im 47) as I got too busy with a second job, but I know now I would not go back even if I gave up my extra weekend job. I do home workouts that are very short like HIT, using a versa climber, some yoga and calisthenics and I walk a lot. Of course my diet is very strict I eat no junk and have no cheat meals and get plenty of sleep. I feel I have wasted enough time in the gym looking at myself in the mirror. On to other things.

Posting on Getbig....

[TonyAlva]

You don't stop going to the gym because you get old, you get old because you stops going to the gym