In case you haven’t been following me on YouTube, back in March 2026 I started working out for the first time in 30 years (possibly 40) for a couple of reasons which I get into further below. This post serves as an update to where I am today, 7 months later at the end of October 2026.
My Resistance Training Routine:
I am still doing the following exercises: (2 sets, 10 reps each) all with 25lb dumbbells: natural curls (elbows not pinned to sides), overhead press, bent over rows, lying press. I also walking around with the dumbbells doing farmers carries for 2 minutes. I started doing squats and Romanian dead lift with the same dumbbells around May, but I stopped after I got a thrombosed hemorrhoid a few weeks later. It eventually healed and went away on its own.
I reached My Weight Limit, and I’m Happy with That!
I started off with 15lb dumbbells the first week of March 2026 then progress up to 25lbs around May, and have been at that weight ever since.
One: I am not looking to put on muscle or body build. I just want to maintain, and keep my muscles and bones healthy, especially now that I’m middle aged. I want a no hassle, easy regimen that I can knock out within 20 minutes.
Two: I don’t eat excess protein or take powders (again, not body building). And at 55, I don’t eat like I used to. I live a simple, sedentary life. I eat when I’m hungry, which is only 2 meals a day. No breakfast. I fast naturally anywhere from 12 to 15-16 hours a day, not eating from 8-9PM until 12-1PM the next day. Once a month I may have a sausage, egg and cheese everything bagel sandwich, but because that shit is complete garbage, I rarely do it. But it tastes so fucking good! That’s how it is in life: everything that’s good for you is bland and boring, while everything bad is heavenly. If only it were the other way around!
Three: My biceps can’t handle more than 25 pounds, which I’ve been stuck at now since around May 2026. Interestingly enough, my left hand is my dominant hand in terms of what I use to write with, meaning a pen (and now the mouse, which I switched to from my right hand like I dunno almost 10 years ago now, after decades of use and starting to get Carpal Tunnel like symptoms). So when doing curls, my right arm struggled with the final reps of the second set. Now, my left arm is struggling, while my right is not! And I have no idea why! It’s like my body just switched on me. It’s the funniest thing!
Lastly, I am a lean person. I can and have eaten almost anything from an entire pizza to 5 scoops of ice cream and not put on any weight, even without exercise. I think I weighed 120lbs tops by the time I was 30. I just don’t have a lot of fat and muscle cells. No matter how much I eat, the heaviest I’ve ever gotten was close to 170lbs back around February 2026. My everyday normal weight now sits at 156-58.
Why I Started Working Out Again
As for why I started working out again for the first time in 30 years (since my mid 20’s) or possibly 40 (since my mid teens) there are 2 reasons:
First, it was something I’ve been wanting to do for some years, now that I’ve gotten older and still remain sedentary (working behind a computer since the early 90s from office jobs, to YouTube, to now writing). I go for walks, but the last few winters I haven’t been feeling like my usual self. Not depressed, just no energy. I came to found out my Vitamin D was so low, and has been for years, that I actually ended up being diagnosed Vitamin D deficient back in 2025. My number was down to like 16 or so. Probably because I practically ended up living in our basement recording & editing videos for my channel all day long. And all the office jobs before that. Welcome to life in modern society! So yeah, I wanted to do more than just walk twice a day. I wanted to feel reinvigorated.
Second, after having my annual visit with my primary physician back in February 2026, he asked if I was doing any exercises now that I’m getting older. I said nothing besides walking. He suggested that even some resistance training can help, especially with bone loss and muscle atrophy. So with him saying that, in addition to my already thinking of wanting to start working out again anyway, that’s pretty much what tipped the scales to where I said fuck it, let’s do it! So I went to Dick’s sporting goods maybe a week later, purchased 3 pairs of dumbbells (15lb, 20lb, and 25lb), starting doing 3 or 4 exercises that very first Monday of March 2026, and the rest is history.
Why I Stopped Working Out
As for why I stopped working out since the mid-80s (my teens) or mid-90s (my mid twenties), I basically just lost the drive. I got office jobs, and various jobs thereafter and just didn’t feel the need to work out anymore. I’m not a big guy, and felt with my lifestyle, I just didn’t need to. And now that I’m older, I want to end my days and ride off into the sunset of my life as healthy as I possibly can.
The reason I can’t remember when I stopped working out is because I know for sure that I worked out in my teens in the house I grew up in, where we had grey plastic weights filled with sand. I did the bench press, overhead barbell press, and maybe curls. That was it. There was a time in my mid-20’s when I think I may have worked out again for a brief time, but I can’t remember. So prior to starting to work out again in March of 2026, the last time was either 30 years ago (that time in my 20s) or 40 years ago (definitely my mid teens).
Why I’m Still Doing It
The initial novelty and fun of working out again has long since worn off, sometime back in May or June I guess. Now it’s a chore, but part of my routine. I don’t get excited about it like I did back in March and April when I was getting back into it and progressing from 15lbs to 25. But I don’t hate it either. Resistance training is basically a job now. I still do it because I’m 55 and only getting older, and just want to do some simple maintenance to keep my bones and muscles happy. That’s it. And to help combat when I don’t eat healthy and have an ice cream or piece of cake, cheeseburger, some pizza, etc. I don’t do it for vanity reasons. Just to maintain my health. It’s the first thing I do every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after waking up. I get right to it, bang it out, go for my walk, done. It’s a nice little goal I guess you could say as well. While I may be mostly sedentary the rest of the day (outside my walks twice a day, every day) and still stuck behind a computer since my early 20s, it feels good knowing I’m at least doing something to help my body stay more healthy, and to help counteract the affects of aging and all that. In addition to not smoking, drinking, and watching what I eat as well.
Why I Don’t Go to the Gym
Because paying for a membership would be a waste for someone like me and the small amount of exercises I do. All I need is 1 pair of dumbbells and I can work out in the comfort of my home with no additional need to pay a membership, get in the car, waste gas, waste time driving back and forth. That’s all extra unnecessary nonsense. Rain, snow, whatever, I get right out of bed, walk 20 feet, and boom! I get right to it and get done. Now, if I was into sports or I dunno, some other job or into body building, then yeah, I’d go to the gym. But I don’t need, nor want to do anything more than the exercises I mentioned above. In addition to the dumbbells, I also have a mat, as we have hardwood floors, so that’s for the lying press. I am also trying to live a more minimalist lifestyle without acquiring more crap that’ll eventually end up in a landfill. So there’s that too.
Conclusion & Good Luck!
So that’s the update! I am still resistance training 3 days a week since the first week of March 2026 and haven’t stopped once. I haven’t posted any updates on my channel or whatever because nothing’s really changed. I also continue to walk twice a day morning and night (sometimes I might skip a walk but not often) about 15-20 minutes per walk. And that’s how it will remain for as long as I can continue to do it!
I can’t wait to see the results of my blood work at my next annual visit come February 2027. I am interested to see my LDL and sugar levels especially. I have cut back significantly on bad carbs (bread, cereal and milk, potato chips, cheeseburgers, etc.) and 80% of what I eat is plain meat, fish, and veggies, though that other 20% is eating out at a diner, restaurant, but rarely fast food.
So if you are thinking about working out or losing weight, or both, I wish you all the best and success with it.
Cheers!