Hey all, hoping someone can chime in here. Ime closing in on my mid 50s, and have fallen far out of shape. The past decade has been a loss (physically) and covid made it worse. Post covid i have discovered that ive lost all willpower/discipline when it comes to dieting. I’ve lost considerable amounts of weight twice in my life, and both times slagged off and put it all back on for various reasons/excuses. My recent efforts have just all fallen flat.

Ongoing depression finally forced my hand, to do a couple of things I was previously very resistant to… I got my testosterone checked, and it was low, so I have gotten testopel treatment… and that has made a definite difference in several ways. I always said I would not supplement testosterone… But I feel better today than I have in years. It hasn’t been a cure all, but in general, it has made me feel better. The second thing, was finally getting on the standard GLP1. Again, something I never thought I would do, but again, desperate times…

For more background, I am a generally large framed man with a comfortably fit weight of around 260-280. Less than that I start to look sickly. However, I am well above that, and around 340, though I am losing. I am going to the gym and since I am doing solo workouts, mostly using machines, and still trying to figure out the weight ranges to use on them. It has been a slow process. I have always worked out with free weights, but I feel safer now on the machines, since I don’t have a spotter. Right now I am just doing a push day, a pull day and a leg day. As I proceed I plan on adding reps to duplicate muscle groups in each of these… but right now, I am just doing 3 sets of each exercise.

My primary focus is currently to keep moving and keep at it in the gym. I do not expect to get ripped, but I do want to build muscle… I hope that getting some power back is possible. Anyhow, I felt like that was all a lot of background for my main question… Is a whey powder like Gold Standard something I should be taking to supplement my exercising? I used it when I was very regularly in the gym before, but I was also younger and much more fit. I didn’t know if that owuld be considered flushing money down the toilet or not. I have already ordered some Creatine HCL, on the recommendation of a trainer at the gym. I have done some reading on it, and realize there is some debate on if it is better than Creatine monohydrate, worse, or generally undecided… But I figured something was better than nothing, and I didn’t want to deal with possible side effects from the monohydrate.

At any rate, I appreciate any input that anyone more learned on the topic can offer.

Thanks!

  • reabsorbthelight@lemmy.world
    2·
    11 days ago

    Protein supplement can be helpful, but maybe not necessary.

    1. Are you vegetarian/vegan? If not, I would just get your protein from animal sources.
    2. I would strongly suggest learning free weights. Particularly squat, deadlift and bench. Machines isolate your movement, so you don’t get the same physiological stimulus. Bench is the only one you need a spotter for, but pushups are a viable substitute. I’ve heard anecdotal claims that free weights can improve testosterone levels.
    3. 3 full body days will help you more in beginner stages. Splits are more advanced. I’ve been exercising fairly intensely for years and still don’t do splits.

    I would consider protein supplement a kind of premature optimization. You’ll do better to

    • howler@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      10 days ago

      Thanks, i agree, I felt like it was premature as well, however i wasnt sure if at my age my body would benefit from taking some. I also agree with the free weights for those particular exercises… So I will likely try to move to those as i build a better base to work from. The only one that concerns me is squats… Which funny enough is the primary free weight exercise I want to do, sinply because loading and unloading the isolated squat machine with hundred of pounds of weight is a pain in the ass. Lol

      • reabsorbthelight@lemmy.world
        1·
        10 days ago

        Squats in a squat rack are very safe imo. What are you particularly scared of?

        If you are scared of getting stuck, set the safety bars to the right height and practice bailing out with a lowish weight.

        To bail out, drop the weight behind you and move forward. Maybe watch some videos, but imagine someone pushed your lower back forward from behind while in the bottom of the squat. If you do it well, it’s very safe. I’ve even bailed safely without the safety bars (don’t do that. I was dumb).