” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click here to watch video “15 yrs in the life of an over-40 bodybuilder”
Every few years I reflect on where I am today against the day I started and the path I followed, all the ups and downs in an effort to help me be real about where I came from, where I am now and where I am heading. But also, for you to realize that even though us high profile fitness guys might look invincible, we are facing life in the same way as you and have to fight the same battles, sometimes even more so.
But, even with all life is throwing at you, it is possible to keep rising after every fall. No matter how far the fall, the key is getting up and continue with the good fight harder than ever before. The moment you stop fighting to better yourself and just accept the flow of life, that is the moment that the spark of life slowly starts burning dimmer and dimmer. Be all you can be, ALWAYS!
Burn as bright as you can!
My journey
Well as my followers would know, I officially started my real journey at 40. Yeah big bummer year for me. If you want to know what happened, CLICK HERE.
Before 40
Before 40, well I’ve been working out since my late 20’s. But I simply had no idea what I was doing. And off course if you don’t know what you are doing, nothing happens! How do they say, “young, dumb and full of cum”, sadly that was I. Like most youngsters I thought I knew everything, and no one could teach me anything, ok I am exaggerating a bit, but you get my drift.
Married fairly early at 23. This is me back then (with my beautiful wife). I was a mere 64kg lightweight with very little muscle (1.75m).
Hitting age 40
Then at age 40 I was forced to get my act together, like literally my life was depending on it.
At 42, our one and only baby boy arrived and well, that gave my life some serious meaning. My whole concept of love changed with my son. But, having a small kid is definitely making a body transformation more challenging.
The kid becomes more important than everything else and it is easy to shift gym into the “not important” shelve. Many guys fall completely flat here. Having my backroom gym at my house definitely made it easier during the small child period to stick to my workout routine. If the little one cried, I was there to help. And sometimes he even “trained” with me.
Only round about age 45 to 46 did I really reached great shape for the first time. Apart from my health, which was like a handbrake on my transformation efforts, I also had a lot of serious catching up to do in terms of knowledge and the science of it all, especially for the older body. I wanted to create my system as a blueprint recipe for the older guy. So slowly, as I educated myself, my body started responding in kind.
Hitting age 47
At 47 my arms and shoulders was probably at its biggest ever but I was not really in the best aesthetic balanced shape. That only came later as I further educated myself and started developing my ADVANCED SYSTEM II, the focused transformation system for the older guy.
Hitting age 50
Hitting age 50 was big for me and I made a big effort to drop body fat to my lowest level ever. At the lowest point the nutritionist measured me at just over 6%.
By then I really knew what I was doing and even had some medical doctors referring patients to me regarding specific fitness issues.
But the whole time my health stayed a big concern because some damage from age 40 was permanent, like my kidneys that only functions 50%.
However here, wisdom and knowledge triumphed (with the grace of God) as I continue to better my health and kept increasing my aesthetic look.
Hitting age 52
At 52 I was my all-time best with my balanced aesthetic shape. Everything well symmetrical and correctly proportioned. My muscle size was big enough but small enough still for a great look and not to place unwanted strain on my kidneys. I was really getting excited to think I could hit 60 looking like this!
Off course up to this point there were many challenges along the way, knee operation, various flu and bronchitis fallbacks and even a month or two of complete fallback and off course tendon issues like all older athletes.
Hitting age 53
But the happy train was not meant to last. January 2017 (round age 53) my 2nd very close call with death, like in very close, arrived in a bang!
Want to see what happened, CLICK HERE.
A full 12 months of no training followed. Like in NO training. I was not even allowed to walk short distances. Just chewing my food exhausted me. I must admit it was highly depressing see your hard work of the previous 12 years disappearing month after month until you cannot recognize the body you once had anymore. So yeah, that was a BIG bummer!
But once that year was past and I got clearance to slowly start getting active again, I started with a vengeance and systematic approach to build up the body again, back onto the ADVANCED SYSTEM II.
Hitting age 55
Now it is nearly 3 years later and I am going onto 56. Right now, I am the heaviest I’ve ever been, 91kg, and this compared to that scrawny 64kg, 30 y/o back then.
My bodyfat for the past 3 years remained fairly high 10-16% in an effort to build muscle easier. So, this year I plan to cut down the bodyfat to below 10%. Time to bring out a bit more shape. Although I am close to my all-time best, I still have not reached the point I had at 52 just before the big dip. It will be interesting to see the road ahead, given my age. Knowledge and skill are my weapons, but will it be enough?
Beyond age 55
This 55 y/o is definitely ready for battle. If it is God’s will, I am forging ahead continuing to reach for the stars.
It was so much easier to do the 2nd transformation at age 53-55 than the one at 40, simply because I had the tools and the system in place. Now guys, this is meant to inspire you to continue and get up after you fall down, no matter how hard you fall. There is ALWAYS a way to keep training and redesigning that body.
As I said before…I aim to be the best 80 y/o body ever on internet – lol…let the games continue!
NEVER GIVE UP!
So, guys when life throw you one step back, force your way two steps forward. NEVER, EVER GIVE UP!
One of my clients is an over 40 husband and father with 3 young children. His wife is very sick from cancer (praise God she is on the mend) and he has to look after her and the kids and still work for an income for the family, but through all these trials and tribulations he MADE his transformation happen. As they say, “what is your excuse?”
My Important links
- My comprehensive customised coaching system for the older guy – you can signup here: ADVANCED SYSTEM II: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/
- A list of my preferred supplements and where to get it. SUPPLEMENTS ORDER page: https://gertlouw.com/supplements-order/
- Keep an eye open for discounts on the SUPPLEMENTS ORDER page. Especially the home testing TESTOSTERONE KIT has large discount. This home testing KIT an incredible new development that puts the power of managing your testosterone levels back in YOUR hands and not the doctors. CLICK HERE TO ORDER: https://trylgc.com/gert (use 20% discount code “GERT20”)
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WISH YOU ALL HAPPY TRAINING!
Gert Louw
