Get It Together, Doug
Hello Health and Fitness,
I was pretty fit and pretty active on here ~10 years ago, and I think those things were correlated. Now I'm 39, somewhat unfit, and would like to get back on a good trajectory before I turn 40 in November.
Specific goals by October:
- Bodyweight Under 160 (currently 175, @ 5'7)
- Bench 1.5x, Squat 2x, DL 2.5x (untested currently, but at my goal weight these are ~85% of prior PRs)
- Sub 25 minute 5K (untested currently)
- Good CBC, CMP, Lipid panels (untested currently)
- Average >7 hrs sleep per night (not good currently)
- Average <7 drinks per week (lots more currently)
I have the benefits of working remotely, home gym, very active wife, disposable income, and no kids, but also have some nagging thoracic spine and knee issues that are unlikely to ever completely go away.
Goals for this week:
- Lift 3x, test strength standards
- 3 hours zone 2 cardio
- Sign up for blood panels
- <2K daily calories, >200 grams protein every day
9 Replies
Welcome back! Looking forward to another old man log.
wb
Thanks Monetcore and NotThremp.
Loco:
That's an interesting recollection of my history. Most of it is wrong, but in retrospect I do think that I would've benefitted from having A) a singular priority, and B) a coach focused on supporting that priority. At the time I think I underestimated how competing my various priorities were, and also overestimated my ability to autoregulate and program.
Since you brought up the topics of GLP1s, I am definitely open to trying out peptides if there's anything clearly aligned with these goals. Tirzepatide is one I am curious about for this initial weight loss phase, if you have any thoughts.
1/14/2026
Cardio - 30 mins peloton, moderate intensity, probably upper zone 3
Bench - up to 185x5
Hanging Leg Raises - 3 sets
I've been traveling back to the east coast for the last couple of days for a funeral, so sleep and diet weren't great. Bench was RPE 9. I will probably dial back to 175x5x3 to start LP next week. I should be able to get in 60 mins of zone 2 peloton Thursday and Friday, and will go for a jog over the weekend. Still need to sign up for blood panels.
Maybe ask Evoken, wasn't he on tirzepatide to help.with hunger as he was cutting to 8%?
Also heard about microdosing GLP1s.
But i know nothing about this. 5'7" 175 pounds on tirzepatide? I mean its so damn hard to get back into the game that it might be a shortcut to get back into the health and fitness game. I was 171 last year and it was not easy to get back to 160. So if its hard for me, it must be a nightmare for you since you been out of the game so long. I think megadosing protein helps but not sure that jives with cardio. I probably only get 120g of protein these days and I can still bench two wheels at 160 and still look damn good even though i am pushing 50. But I been raging on clomid for 4 years now so that helps me keep testosterone at 600ng/dl.
I haven't been entirely out of the game, just not taking it seriously and having zero accountability. But I probably average 90 minutes of cardio and 2-3 days of bro lifting per week currently.
Any recommendations on labs? I'm looking at Goodlabs but am pretty clueless on which ones are actually meaningful for general health.
Whoa, DF is back?!?
GL on the goals. With no kids, home gym, and the fact that you have been doing something, this should be easy for you if you've got even half of the old DFII wim (even accounting for the fact that it's harder when you're older as loco correctly points out). You don't need GLP-1s. Would they get you there faster? Maybe a bit.
Curious to see how your peloton cardio transfers to running. I don't even peloton, but everyone tells me it doesn't transfer as well as they were expecting.
Go go go!!
Thanks guys - good to see some familiar faces.
I wound up having to travel a couple times unexpectedly in the last couple of weeks so I'm a bit behind on some of the goals I had set a couple weeks ago, but generally here's where I'm at:
Cardio - when I'm not traveling, four 1-hour peloton sessions per week at a set intensity such that my heartrate maxes at ~145 (80% of estimated max) is what I've been doing. Seems like this is at the upper end of zone 3, and hasn't left me feeling completely drained. 20 minute hot tub after.
Bench (1x weekly) - Warmup to a single at 10% over working sets, then 175x5x3. I will repeat this one more time and move up to 180 in a week.
Squat (1x weekly) - Warmup to a somewhat heavy single, then 185x5x3. Given all the peloton work I'm fine taking things very slow here.
Deadlift (1x weekly) - I tested my training maxes and pulled 345x1 and then 305x5. I'm starting LP at 315x1 then 275x5.
Other Bro Lifting (3x weekly)
Diet - Probably falling a bit short of the protein target. I try to be strict with lunch and an afternoon protein shake and then have more flexibility around dinner. Not really counting calories but trying to be mindful of macro quality and portion sizes. The big leak here is certainly alcohol (mostly wine) at ~10 drinks per week.
Bodyweight - ~172-174 seems to be the normal range.
