Any Fitness Guys?

[ThatZX14Fella]

Right now, I'm trying to gain some mass. The (hopefully) comes getting off the bottle and smoking. After that, I'd like to start gaining some muscle mass and cardio. I'm hoping to end up around 180 and fairly toned. I'm 6' and 144.2, as of this morning. All of my weight is in my belly. The only issue I have with working out is that my left arm has a vein that goes over a tendon that I'm fairly certain had a blood clot until the other night. It's been hurting since. Nonetheless, I'm worried that that vein will blow out fairly easily. It hurts like hell if it barely gets grazed, so not something I'm looking forward to. Any tips on how to gain mass and get it to go to the correct areas? Obviously it's hard to build muscle mass in areas that have no fat to build off of.

[MN Fisher]

@A-Jay - you're up again...

2 minutes ago, Slipknot_Fan666 said:

Right now, I'm trying to gain some mass. The (hopefully) comes getting off the bottle and smoking. After that, I'd like to start gaining some muscle mass and cardio. I'm hoping to end up around 180 and fairly toned. I'm 6' and 144.2, as of this morning. All of my weight is in my belly. The only issue I have with working out is that my left arm has a vein that goes over a tendon that I'm fairly certain had a blood clot until the other night. It's been hurting since. Nonetheless, I'm worried that that vein will blow out fairly easily. It hurts like hell if it barely gets grazed, so not something I'm looking forward to. Any tips on how to gain mass and get it to go to the correct areas? Obviously it's hard to build muscle mass in areas that have no fat to build off of.

Question - how old are you. I went into the Air Force at a couple months shy of 21 (did 2 years college before that) at 6'1" and 142#. Came out 4 years later at 165, married 6 years after that weighing 180...now at 61 years old I'm 195. I never worked out a ton, but I do enough to keep fairly toned.

 

Sometimes you won't get to your 'ideal' weight until you're older.

[Jeffrey Walker]

8 minutes ago, Slipknot_Fan666 said:

Right now, I'm trying to gain some mass. The (hopefully) comes getting off the bottle and smoking. After that, I'd like to start gaining some muscle mass and cardio. I'm hoping to end up around 180 and fairly toned. I'm 6' and 144.2, as of this morning. All of my weight is in my belly. The only issue I have with working out is that my left arm has a vein that goes over a tendon that I'm fairly certain had a blood clot until the other night. It's been hurting since. Nonetheless, I'm worried that that vein will blow out fairly easily. It hurts like hell if it barely gets grazed, so not something I'm looking forward to. Any tips on how to gain mass and get it to go to the correct areas? Obviously it's hard to build muscle mass in areas that have no fat to build off of.

1) Get started! I recommend a full body workout 3xs a week for now + Cardio. Just get started.

2) Learn about TDEE.  It's Simple - eat less than you burn to lose fat, eat more to gain muscle. 

3) record and track everything so you can measure progress and adjust

4) PM me if you need more info. 

[A-Jay]

 

31 minutes ago, Slipknot_Fan666 said:

Right now, I'm trying to gain some mass. The (hopefully) comes getting off the bottle and smoking. After that, I'd like to start gaining some muscle mass and cardio. I'm hoping to end up around 180 and fairly toned. I'm 6' and 144.2, as of this morning. All of my weight is in my belly. The only issue I have with working out is that my left arm has a vein that goes over a tendon that I'm fairly certain had a blood clot until the other night. It's been hurting since. Nonetheless, I'm worried that that vein will blow out fairly easily. It hurts like hell if it barely gets grazed, so not something I'm looking forward to. Any tips on how to gain mass and get it to go to the correct areas? Obviously it's hard to build muscle mass in areas that have no fat to build off of.

 

Perhaps consider making living a healthy life style your Main Priority.

Forever.

Your entire being, including your muscles are a reflection of it.

Just as importantly, please consider having your arm checked out by a medical professional as soon as possible and certainly in advance of any resistance training.

Start with that and then check back and let us know how it's going. 

There's a lot to learn about your diet and the important role it plays in your very existence including supporting your desire to get in better shape. 

Being ready physically as well as mentally will go a long way towards helping you achieve your goals.  

Good Luck

A-Jay                         

[roadwarrior]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

...please consider having your arm checked out by a medical professional

as soon as possible and certainly in advance of any resistance training.

A-Jay                         

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Just as importantly, please consider having your arm checked out by a medical professional as soon as possible and certainly in advance of any resistance training.

Missed this part.

 

Blood clots in the limbs that break loose and travel the blood-stream can cause a heart attack - the clot reaches the heart and it goes 'URK'. Happened to my dad...he survived, but has been on blood-thinners for the past 30 years to prevent this happening again.

 

Go see a doc...STAT.

[ThatZX14Fella]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

 

Perhaps consider making living a healthy life style your Main Priority.

Forever.

Your entire being, including your muscles are a reflection of it.

Just as importantly, please consider having your arm checked out by a medical professional as soon as possible and certainly in advance of any resistance training.

Start with that and then check back and let us know how it's going. 

There's a lot to learn about your diet and the important role it plays in your very existence including supporting your desire to get in better shape. 

Being ready physically as well as mentally will go a long way towards helping you achieve your goals.  

Good Luck

A-Jay                         

 

I smoked Delta 8 the other night in hopes of helping my anxiety, and it only made it worse. I had multiple anxiety attacks to the point of throwing up. Heart problems run in the family, as well as cancer, alcoholism, and other things. I figure, as hard as my heart was pumping, it probably passed that clot, if there was one. I currently don't have health insurance, so that's not much of an option. I have a lot of other health issues that I need to resolve, as well. I figure that, if I can get into shape, I should be slightly less likely to have continuous health problems. That's why I'm trying to quit my drinking and smoking.

[A-Jay]

5 minutes ago, Slipknot_Fan666 said:

 

I smoked Delta 8 the other night in hopes of helping my anxiety, and it only made it worse. I had multiple anxiety attacks to the point of throwing up. Heart problems run in the family, as well as cancer, alcoholism, and other things. I figure, as hard as my heart was pumping, it probably passed that clot, if there was one. I currently don't have health insurance, so that's not much of an option. I have a lot of other health issues that I need to resolve, as well. I figure that, if I can get into shape, I should be slightly less likely to have continuous health problems. That's why I'm trying to quit my drinking and smoking.

Self medicating might not be the answer.

The deliberate inhalation of smoke, regardless of it's 'name' will always be considered detrimental to human lung tissue. 

As stated, being ready physically as well as mentally will go a long way towards helping you achieve your goals.  

You get one chance at this, but you don't have to go it alone - there's help available.

If you really want it - you can find it. 

Doesn't mean it's easy but it's there.

Hope you can take control sooner rather than later.

Excuses are lies we tell ourselves so that it doesn’t have to be our fault.

You'll have to believe it to see.

A-Jay

 

[813basstard]

Go see a Dr ASAP or emergency room about the blood clot. Don’t play around with that.

If you want to gain mass you have to do 2 things:

Eat alot

Move heavy weight

 

Something like 6,6,4,2 

Limit your workouts to 35-40 minutes. If you can’t get it in within those times your doing something wrong. Your either distracted or your doing to much which ultimately results in not being able to sustain that past a couple weeks which leads right back to where you are.

The best workout program is one that’s sustainable. 

[Jigfishn10]

Really can’t say more than what’s already been stated. Follow a logical sustainable path and that all starts with fixing physical problems first, in your case that would be thru a physician.

Why compromise what your trying to fix?

The only other advice is to respect the process. It takes time.

Good luck and I hope you make the right decisions.

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

Eat.

 

Definitely make sure your healthy enough before starting, then SQUAT and then squat some more!

 

No other lift will put mass on you faster than squating. Want big arms? Squat!  Then deadlift, heavy rows, OHP, then bench.

 

Save the look at me lifts for after you reach your body weight goals.

 

Look up Jim Wendler.

 

 

[VolFan]

So a couple things -

Clean yourself up first. Lay off the booze and smoking. Veins arent going to burst if they're not compromised, and for that matter, veins dont hurt. Something is hitting or has hit a nerve around it. Work through that first. Start with walking or working to get moving and develop some cardio. See how that feels. When you want to start wanting to get serious about toning and adding mass:

1. Diet is everything. Protein builds muscle. Arnold recommended 1 gram of protein per lb of target weight per day. Too much food builds the wrong mass.

2. You need someone to hold you accountable. For some people that is themselves. For most people they need a partner/buddy/nag/message board thread.

3. Set manageable goals initially. Challenging youself is good, injuring yourself is counterproductive. Body weight exercises are going to be just as effective for you as weights for at least 6 months. Body weight is also cheaper.

4. Do not watch AJ's videos. That guy is a BEAST and just makes us mortals feel inadequate.  

5. Some days will be good. Some days will be a sweaty, bloody grind. But you never quit. NEVER GIVE UP. 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

51 minutes ago, VolFan said:

4. Do not watch AJ's videos. That guy is a BEAST and just makes us mortals feel inadequate.  

 

Well, that could be a goal, but no where to start.

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, VolFan said:

4. Do not watch AJ's videos. That guy is a BEAST and just makes us mortals feel inadequate.  

Makes me sick sometimes - he's only 2-months older than I am and he's in better shape than I was at my best back when I was 30.

[bulldog1935]

Had a good work and weather window to bicycle 25 miles today.  Only way I know to burn 1000 calories and have fun doing it.  

A couple of years made 100 mi/wk for the year.  And when I can't get on the road or greenways, I'm on the stationary for a half-hour 3 times/wk.  

 

My '57 Raleigh Lenton is the same age as me (it's not alone, have a few others, and all steel frames).  Have a neck injury that was supposed to need surgery decades ago - I attribute not having neck surgery to having good  circulation.  Most of my fishing and kayaking buddies are also cycling buddies.  If you're doing them right, both pedaling and paddling begin in your core muscles (though they use a slightly different mix).  

Always fun to win a Sunday morning sprint on this old club racer against younger guys on alloy and carbon - between us, we're 126-y-o. 

[N Florida Mike]

I run to the refrigerator every now and then...?

 

But Im still in fair shape. I walk a lot at work and it keeps me from getting too overweight.

[MN Fisher]

23 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

I run to the refrigerator every now and then...?

 

But Im still in fair shape. I walk a lot at work and it keeps me from getting too overweight.

May main exercise is going up-and-down the back stairs every time I want a cigarette...wife is a non-smoker so rain or shine, warm or cold, I step out the back door when I want a smoke...and the back door is at the walk-out basement level.

[throttleplate]

go to your local gym and get on a treadmill,  this was my gym in the philippines and the new treadmills worked great.

 

 

[FishTank]

I worked out for years, mostly powerlifting.  As I have gotten older, a healthy lifestyle is what is most important.  

 

This could be a book, short version.... Change your lifestyle permanently > So first thing, see a doctor about the arm and not just any doctor, one that specializes in sports medicine and have him clear you for exercise.  Next eat like you can't stop and fill your body like you would fill a shrine.  No food that comes in a box or made in a factory, no fast food, no pop or alcohol.  Only natural foods that you can track where they came from, also no hamburger and don't go near a Wal-Mart or gas station for food.   Eat 1.5 times your body weight in grams of protein (150lb=225g of protein) and drink water not sugar.  Once cleared to exercise, learn to lift to recover not to look like a bodybuilder.  Workout in 8 week cycles.  On the eight week, go light and switch your routine.  And finally sleep 8 hours and nap once a day.  Bonus ideas, always work to reduce the stress in your life outside of the gym (cortisol is no fun) and be the consistent, focused example at the gym.