On another thread a while back I asked a question and gave my opinion. I have to admit I did not always have this opinion. At times I was hard headed about it. But John P's response was kind of funny and I couldn't have said it better myself.
Here was the question and John's response:
" After a certain amount of years of training can we really get any bigger? Can we gain muscular size? Will Our body look any differant? My opinion, I don't think a natural person can build more muscle or get bigger without gaining fat. After so many years of training and being older I believe You probably reached what You're going to be able to do genetically. "
As much as it pains me to admit, this has been my experience as well, at least as far as increasing muscle size goes. That being said, I have also found that losing body fat and increasing muscle tone can have a fairly dramatic effect on improving one's muscular development. At 40 years old, I look more muscular now than I did when I was younger, yet am much smaller in size (and not as cute).
My father is 74 years old and has been working out since he was 14. He recently dropped 20 lbs. (intentionally) and even though he lost over 1/2" on his arms, he looks more muscular.
So why do we do this? Why should we even bother? The reason I do what I do is it's fun and relaxing. It may sound funny to some. But coming from where I was with all the pain it makes much sense to me. My 20-40 minutes( depending on what I'm doing) in the morning is like meditation from the everyday grind.
I do what I want. I experiment with differant things because I find it to be fun. I do tend to go back to and stick to things I find that works for me. Yeah I do sets, reps, ect.... but I find it fun. Honestly since I experimented so much I've found things that have keep work injuries almost to zero. So how would You answer these questions?
Just I feel much better after my self-resistance exercises. If I skip them, I feel as a piece of garbage all day.
LOL - if we didn't enjoy what we do - we wouldn't do it. Size can be different things - hard muscle, pumped up tissue (sarcoplasmic fluid and capillarization) or a combination thereof. You can overbuild aspects of your physique. You can underbuild aspects of your physique. Realistically though, your body has a limited size it can carry and you still be functional for work, athletics and survival. It all goes back to individual muscle lengths and cross sectional thickness.
I hate to bring this up, because a lot of people consider this a downer, but there was a professional wrestler named Tommy Rogers who teamed with another wrestler as the Fantasticks back in the early eighties. Rogers was around 5-10 with a medium frame and weighed 220 pounds of weight and steroid built muscle. A couple of years ago Rogers was interviewed by Stone Cold Steve Austin on his podcast. Rogers, suffering from joint injuries, arthritis and other infirmities tied to his ring career told Steve straight out - the human body is only made to be so strong and only carry so much muscle and that the average person wasn't meant to bench press 300 lbs. If you went past your genetic limitations it was always detrimental. Not long after he died of what some have reported as a drug overdose.
Years ago you asked me about a Bruce Lee like body. I think you've achieved something similar along the lines of your own body type and genetics. Vince Gironda for all his kooky ideas had it right about aesthetics. The athletic ideal for the guy with the average frame and height was about 165 pounds in bodyweight and would look better than someone heavier and less lean.
There also comes a point in your late forties and early fifties where it comes down to holding your own against father time. I turned 58 today. I am still athletic and healthy. I can still do manual labor. I don't take medications. I have good posture and bearing. I like the way I look and I can still work towards improvement.
Realistically, I am not going to be competing with the young guys. There a lot of things I can't do like I did in my late twenties and early thirties. LOL - behind the neck presses with 135 pounds while straddling a bench comes to mind. Whew, that has been long gone! Some of the Korean style kicking with the spinning, jumping and multiple kicks off the same leg I used to do is another thing long gone. I used to could do a spinning side kick and stop it a quarter of an inch from my partner's nose. I shake my head that I used to do stuff like that in decades gone by.
The bottom line is, the person you are really competing with is the guy in the mirror and trying to do a little better than the day before. So anyway I plan on doing this exercise stuff to my end of days. It gives quality to my life and helps give me physical strength for the days ahead.