Need to find some optimism

[Mike Carlton]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I'm a bit embarrassed to have posted such a lame thread but here's my summary and plan.

Drop Crossfit for the next 3-4 months. I enjoy the workouts (usually) but it's exercise, not training. Cut back on my regular cycling. A lot of my calories are burned on the road, which partly accounts for my being so skinny.
Eat more good food. I find it hard to take on more than 3000 kcal daily but will be more disciplined and use a calorie counting app to help keep track
Stop feeling negative about myself. After all, I'm making an effort to change for the better. Read 'Ironman' as well as studying Rip's words of wisdom.
Accept that I'm older and progress will be slower.
Expect it to be difficult. Nothing worth having ever came easy.

Cheers,
Mike

[Budgie Smuggler]

At your weight if you knock the WODs and cycling on the head for a while you’ll likely start to gain some weight.

A high calorie protein shake for breakfast would probably help you get closer to 4000 cals though, there are a couple of threads on the forum regarding this.

Good luck!

[misterponytail]

I don't know about the programming in this book, but the first few chapters helped me out:
Dan John Mass Made Simple $20, $10 on Kindle...

[Cheesepuff]

Is there a secret way to gain mental strength that I've been missing all of my life?

1. Quit over training, at your age you can "over train" on any one of these programs. (SSLP/cycling/crossfit) Do all three and it is a given. Note your current symptoms and watch out for them.
2. Great advice above
3. Trust Rip's program for 6 months and do it religiously
4. Eat red meat like it is your job
5. Ear plugs to sleep better
6. Take naps

No secrets. Just a solid rational training program. You get stronger when you recover, you are not recovering.

[carson]

Is there a secret way to gain mental strength that I've been missing all of my life?

1. Quit over training, at your age you can "over train" on any one of these programs. (SSLP/cycling/crossfit) Do all three and it is a given. Note your current symptoms and watch out for them.
2. Great advice above
3. Trust Rip's program for 6 months and do it religiously
4. Eat red meat like it is your job
5. Ear plugs to sleep better
6. Take naps

No secrets. Just a solid rational training program. You get stronger when you recover, you are not recovering.

This is very sound advice.

[Nockian]

Looks like you are doing OK to me. You have managed as much in 6 weeks as I have in 6 months. I was also 147, a year younger and 5'8" when I started.

As Rip said in one podcast "if you started at 58, then you fucked up". That's the bare truth I reckon, so we just have to work with what we have right now, unless we are freaks, then our chances of becoming lifting machines disappeared back 18 years at least. Go enjoy it, get the benefits anyway, it's only a race of one.

[Ken_L]

1. Mental fortitude will come with time under the bar. Get mad at it, it is the enemy.........go to war!

2. Eat good clean whole foods. Example for breakfast I love eggs, bacon, and a glass of milk. It has what the growing body needs. Growing is exactly what you are asking your body to do right now.

3. You need to be in a caloric surplus of a couple hundred calories. You don't need to gain weight fast especially at 58. The last thing you want is to be a fatso. But you do need to gain weight!

4. It sounds like you are doing to many other activities that are competing for recovery. The older we get the less recovery we have. If you do other activities they will have to be planned around your training to minimize interference. I am 50 and know this all to well. I think that this is the single biggest change that I notice from my youth.

5. Determine to just do it! At 58 this may be your last shot at getting really strong. The older you get the slower the progress, so the longer you wait.......well you get the point!

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hello Mike,

I find it hard to take on more than 3000 kcal daily but will be more disciplined and use a calorie counting app to help keep track

If I may add to the excellent advice have been already given, start using olive oil everywhere; in your morning shake, on your salads, inside your minestrone. Use proper Extra Virgin olive oil, and use it liberally; it's extremely caloric, and rich of good fats. Truly, it's an gift from the gods.

Re: your puny arms and the Press. The Press is a fickle mistress. Or, in layman terms, an absolute bitch of a lift. It goes up with the speed of an Antarctic glacier and requires the patience of a monk. Personally, I also found it responds better to tons of volume, but that's for when you will have finished your LP.
Stick with the program, and with lifting weights in general, it's absolutely worth it.

All the best with your training.

IPB

[Tiburon]

I don't know about the programming in this book, but the first few chapters helped me out:
Dan John Mass Made Simple $20, $10 on Kindle...

Good call. Dan John's "Before You Go" and "Never Let Go" are also great

[Mike Carlton]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I've just had a week's holiday, bit of R&R and some trail cycling, and plan to restart the program today, focusing only on the program. I also worked out that over the last 2 years I've spent 800 hours riding my bike. At an estimated 500 kCal per hour that's 400,000 kCals burned up on the road. Since adding in CrossFit for the last few months it's easy to see where my weight has gone.
Time to get off my bike and under the bar.

Mike