An over-40 fitness guy’s lockdown chronicles

Ok, first let’s get the facts straight. I am past 50, actually 55. So, this is probably closer to old-age home fitness chronicles, lol.

So, you are not in lockdown? Count yourself blessed. I don’t know how strict your lockdown is, but here, if you venture outside your house, you either get arrested or get a very heft fine.

Our lockdown 30 days so far and completely housebound. And it looks like at least another 2 months are on the cards. Either way, the Covid-19 scare is far from over here in South Africa, faaaaaar!

Am I coping?

Well, I am still sane but that does not say much.

Even when no lockdown was in place, my “balance” in life was maintained by my intense gym sessions which helped me to get rid of all the anger and aggression boiled up.

Luckily, I was sharp enough to make provision for training at home and got me some basic stuff: dumbbells, barbell, exercise ball, adjustable bench and some Kettlebells.

My wooden deck outside perfect for home workouts. So I can go training crazy.

Which I did. Round Dec 2019 I had a groin hernia injury from moving some very heavy objects. It got better the past few months and I decided to just train around it. But then with lockdown, I started a completely new home workout routine. Nothing seriously heavy but just all new moves. So, I hit my wooden deck. And what did I do? I grabbed the kettlebell and started doing THE SWING. Good move and perfectly safe. But NOT if you have an underlying hernia. After that session I realized I was sitting with a fairly significant hernia, or “sports hernia” as they call this specific type of injury. And it was aching so badly I was bed ridden for a couple days. Now as most of you know, a hernia is not something going away on its own. It needs good old knife and cut under operation to repair. Mine was of the extreme painful type, but not life threatening. So, being in lockdown, there is just no way I can give attention to this. In lockdown, hospitals are not allowed to perform any surgery unless it is life threating. So, this means I will be sitting with this painful problem for the whole of lockdown and some time beyond that, because there will be a big backlog on operations.

Now, how in heavens name is a fitness guy supposed to train with this type of restraints. Just for reference, a sports hernia means NO pressure can be place on the core. And that means just about ALL exercises is a no-no.

But my golden training rule is to NEVER EVER STOP TRAINING and when faced with a problem or injury, to train with wisdom around it.

But this one was a real challenge.

My training

Eventually after some serious research I got some basic exercises I could do.

• The ONLY ones were lying flat on the ground, let the lower body and core relax completely and then with light weights do bench presses, pec fly’s, 90 degree bicep curls just lifting forearms from ground and this was about it. The only lower body exercises were calves raises with only bodyweight. Now for a muscled guy like me…that is…pathetic.
• I could also do some shoulder exercises with very, very light weights. Talking 6kg here!

But, using some wisdom and good old super-setting I found a way to make these muscles HURT when I train. My chest was so sore, I can hardly remember when last it reached this level of training pain. Which means I am stimulating the muscle in a new way which means growth. Which was great, but the problem is I could not train abs, upper legs, lower and upper back and triceps. That is a LOT of muscle groups to go 4-6 months without training! So huge “damage” to this muscled body will happen, sadly!

But this is not my first rodeo. I’ve already had two body transformations behind my belt. The one after 40 which took me quite a bit of time due to health problems and then the one after 53 which took me about 18months.

So, let me do what I can and protect the muscles and then after lockdown get my operation and start with transformation number 3.

Nearly banned wife from bedroom

But sadly this is not the end of my lockdown chronicles. My dear wife had me nearly banning her from our bed…I was very mad at her.

Let me explain. My son has a snake…a large pet snake. This thing, which I do NOT like, eat baby rats. My wife store these rats in the freezer and then put one in a glass of water to defrost. But this time she used my special glass which I use for drinking water. So just before bed I go and drink my nightly pills (yeah us old guys have many of those) and saw a handy glass of water standing ready, thinking by myself, wow my wife is so considerate. Now, I don’t “drink” water, I just open my throat and just throw a whole glass down in one go. (Yeah took some special training). This time I felt something sticking in my throat and it did not wanna go down. So, I started coughing and what did I find? I coughed out a rat, a baby rat! And remember this was standing in this water for hours with all the rat muck and juice.  Man, I am telling you, it was not a good moment in our house. Luckily the neighbors did not call the police.

Yeah, we’ve made up but I’ve put in some new rules to prevent this from ever happening. Maybe it is time for that snake to go! I heard snakes can’t take the pressure of lockdown and commit suicide.

Food in lockdown

Now one of the perks of having a good wife is the food you eat in lockdown. I am in heaven guys. Wife is spoiling me with the best cooked food ever. Definately not good for my 6-pack. But then again, who wants a sickpack in lockdown. U want it when you can roam free!

My lockdown pass time? Since I’ve been working at home with my online ventures, it was no big change for me. So, still working hard and then break for a training session and then spoil myself in evenings go sitting in my man-cave home theatre.

So apart from my injury, the lockdown is like a family vacation. Blessed times.

Prayer for those whose life’s are in shatters because of the virus

But on to a more serious note, many, many people have lost loved ones or know someone sick in hospital with the virus.

For you I say the following prayer: “Our Father, today I bow my head and pray for each family who have lost a loved one to this virus. I pray that the peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ will flow over them. I pray that you will carry their pain for them and help them to see hope again.
I pray for each one in the hospital and ICU. Only you know what will happen to them. If it is in your will Lord, I pray that your healing power will flow over them. I lay everyone before you. I ask this Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

IMPORTANT LINKS:

• Anyway guys, this lockdown give me ample time to attend to signups for my ADVANCED SYSTEM II. So anyone interested to signup for my over 40 body transformation coaching, here is the link: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/
• I also added a new page to my site where I provide links to all my preferred supplements on where you can get hold of it through international providers. Here is the link to my SUPPLEMENTS ORDER page: https://gertlouw.com/supplements-order/
• Keep an eye open for discounts on that page. Especially the home testing TESTOSTERONE KIT has large discount. This home testing KIT an awesome new development putting the power of managing your testosterone levels in YOUR hands and not the doctors). CLICK HERE TO ORDER: https://trylgc.com/gert (use 20% discount code “GERT20”)
• Last, just a quick reminder that ask for a small donation to help me keeping my info free on all my sites and speaking positivity into peoples lives. Those of you that can afford it, here is the donation link: https://paypal.me/GERTFITNESS

So, until my Lockdown Chronicles no.2 video, this is it guys and girls.

Be safe and may God protect you and your families.

Gert Louw