A 45-year-old Redditor transformed his body, a feat that’s hard in middle age. His secret, however, reveals a darker truth about men’s health.
We just love body transformations here at DMARGE. There’s nothing better than seeing blokes who’ve been struggling with their weight and finding a way to turn it all around, especially when they’re — how can we put this — of advancing years. In an effort to share the secrets behind their fitness success so that others can kickstart their own journies, we share some of our favourite stories.
This forty-five-year-old Redditor — who posted progress pictures to the site’s dedicated subreddit under the username Evermoon79 — revealed an incredible and incredibly fast transformation. While he only shed 5 lbs over the 5-month period, he’s totally recomposed his body. However, the biggest single change that he made had nothing to do with his workouts or diet and exposes a sad truth underlying many blokes’ struggle with their weight.
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Bulk Up
The man’s transformation hinged on a process known as “bulking,” which entails increasing caloric intake while combining it with intensive weight training to increase muscle mass and strength. However, this is just the first phase of three which the man may choose to undertake hereafter, with the second being cutting to decrease fat levels, and the third being the retention of muscle growth.
To safely and effectively bulk, men should aim to consume a maximum of 20% more calories than their body needs per day, which equates to around 2,750 calories for the “average” man – we strongly recommend using a calorific calculator to tailor this number to your needs…
Do not, however, eat 20% extra calories of just anything to hand. Eating cleanly is crucial so you can control the levels of nutrients, salts, fats, and sugars that go into your body. Broadly speaking, aim for your diet to consist of 30-35% protein, 45-60% carbs, and 15-30% fats.
To bulk safely, lean individuals should aim to gain 0.5-1lbs per week, while heavier individuals should aim to gain 1-2lbs per week. Tracking your calories and macros is the easiest way to keep yourself in check and reach your goals.
However, this fella clearly managed to do it a heck of a lot faster than that and, while there may be some ‘Vitamin T’ involved, he gives a pretty fulsome account of how he went about it:
“I basically just ate slightly above my maintenance calories, about 300 above. 40%protein, 40% carbs, 20% good fats. Only lifted weights, no cardio. But, I’m kind of genetically lucky. My doctor tested my metabolism and it’s 66% faster than normal for people my age. So, I have efficient nutrient partitioning. Plus, I hadn’t worked out in ages.”
Evermoon79
Mind Over Matter
What really made this user’s post interesting, however, was his frank admissions about mental health. In the title of his post, he makes it very clear that what really allowed this process of change to get started was addressing his mental wellness. Specifically, he got his Bipolar “under control” and started taking the appropriate meds.
And this is an all too common story that often goes overlooked. So many people, but men especially, struggle with their mental health as they enter middle age and, as a result, often let their bodies suffer with it. All too quickly, this can become a downward spiral where bad mental health results in bad physical health which in turn makes the mental health worse, and so on.
Breaking this cycle is immensely hard and the poster in question deserves huge credit, even if there may have been some supplements involved. To anyone struggling with mental health issues, we urge you to reach out and get the help you need. Who knows, you might just get a stellar rig out of it too.