@TheWalkingCuban -

Hey man, at least you're strong.

5'5" 140 w/an MMA physique but TBH...all show, no go.

@TheWalkingCuban - as I got older my body really changed and I had to learn all new habits and I had to physically change my body type.

The most important thing I learned, and please only take this as a suggestion, was to first find the right philosophy around fitness and health. I didn't follow the latest fads, I just tried to understand what was really good for me. I started by just adopting sweat. I'd look for every opportunity I could to sweat. Then I started body weight. Pull ups, push ups... starting really basic - I could barely do one pull up. I also learned from an MMA trainer that most people exercise wrong. He said the trick is to never go 100%. Never work to the point you are sore the next day. Because the trick was to exercise every day, and if you are sore your exercise the next day won't be as good.

In the end I just layered on things that worked best for me. Things that I could do without dreading it. If you find a philosophy that works for you, everything changes. No one ever talks about that.

@Itwasme - I just wrote a really long thing and there was a server error and it’s gone. I need to quit making excuses and do my daily HIIT. 2 miles on elliptical, usually 18-19 minutes but the other day got it down to 14m38s

It’s about health, not excuses

@TheWalkingCuban - I think that's great. It really changed my health when I accepted I didn't have to work out like crazy for an hour to make a difference. 10 min a day was doable and easy. then every other exercise on top of that was extra. So I'd get home from work and ask myself "how do you feel about doing a 15 minute kickboxing workout?" Knowing it was extra credit really helped me. I was also able to let go of the pressure that "I had to go 100%" for it be worthwhile. I just had to do stuff every day. And the best part was I could see progress whereas the big, massive workouts I couldn't as much.

This is the dude that helped me mentally get around it all. Well worth a listen. Plus its 20 min, you can do your elliptical while checking it out! Perfect timing.

@Itwasme - haha I hear ya, I’m neither for nor against Rogan so you ain’t gotta worry bout me

@TheWalkingCuban - This is really a message for everyone on this thread, but I have a legit question for y'all who clearly know WAY more than I do about exercising: I had pretty serious shoulder surgery back at the end of October. It was rotator cuff squared. Meaning that due to an old water-skiing injury (don't ask) from 2008 and a recent accident, of the 4 muscles that make up your rotator cuff, 2 of mine were completely severed and one was half-torn. But I found a great doctor who was able to do a fairly experimental procedure where he took a part of my lower trapezius (basically the muscle on your shoulder blade if you're not familiar) and stretched it up to my rotator cuff (had to add donor tissue to fill the gap, so technically I now have 2 people's DNA in my body :/) along with 3 other procedures. The results have been nothing short of amazing and aside from now having a scar on my back big enough to insert a CD into, functionally I'm back to where I should be, more or less (as a reference, before the surgery I couldn't even take a gallon of milk out of the fridge with one hand). Okay so we're good there.

So now I'm in physical therapy and I've made tremendous progress, so much so that my trainer has run out of things to do so I'm on my own. And while the strength in my arm is coming back, the whole arm, shoulder on down, is still very atrophied. Right after the surgery I had to wear this big metal contraption that looked like something out of a "Saw" movie 24/7 that completely immobilized my (right) arm for 6 weeks, so everything was atrophied. Not to mention being extremely right handed I had to teach myself how to do everything with my left hand. So now I have a fairly muscular left arm and a gimpy looking right arm (basically it just looks like - well I think you know where I'm going there). So I'm exercising pretty much everyday but I'm not seeing my right arm get any bigger to match my left arm. Here's my regimen:

- Every other day I do resistance training using those stretchy bands. I'm on the highest (green) level and do the 7 different exercises that I used to do when I was with my trainer, basically just stretching the band in different directions

- Every other day I do strength training using various weights of dumbbells (curls, tricep extensions, etc.) along with push ups and sit ups (I'm up to 2 sets of 20 reps each).

Is there anything else that you guys would recommend that I do at this point? I don't want to go to an actual gym due to COVID (I have an unvaccinated 2 year old) so I'm working out at home, and I don't want to start taking any supplements (I don't even drink caffeine, just good old beer), but ever since I cut y trainer loose I'm just winging it. And while the rest of my body is starting to get fairly toned, that arm just doesn't seem to get any bigger. FWIW, when I do the resistance training it's mainly just with that arm.

Sorry for the long post but you guys seem to know what you're doing better than I do so I figured if I give you the context you might be able to give me some pointers. Thanks

@StSteven - haha thanks

@TheWalkingCuban - I appreciate the suggestions. Actually after reading you comments I went ahead and ordered one of those pull-up bars that goes in your door frame because I think that that would help a lot. Yeah, it's like I'm trying to get my right arm caught up with my left arm, so I'm trying to only do stuff that focuses on my right arm every other day while doing overall exercising every other day. I know that it's just a matter of time and eventually everything will catch up.

Regarding the protein, first off I hate those drinks (:)), second, I'm not really trying to bulk up, just look good at the beach (whenever it's finally safe to fly to one). As I mentioned, the only part of my body that I would really want to bulk up is my gimpy right arm, but as I don't really know of any way to direct the protein straight to my arm I'll probably just have to stick with the long slow route.

Again, thanks for the feedback :)

@TheWalkingCuban - Oh, yeah, as far as my normal diet goes I eat plenty of protein. I just thought that you were. referring to supplementary protein.

@SpaceParanoids - Agreed. Even Moon Knight, which started really strong, brought too much cheese to its final episode. Bottom line is these shows feel too much like Disney products and not enough like Marvel products. To me at least. Maybe as a longtime comic fan I’m not the intended audience though, admittedly.

@Jackraow21 - Yes