Figured I'd drop this over to you guys as I'm feeling the urge to make another total gym video and or band video on the channel. Let me know if there's a workout and or related training video you want to see. Summer is lining up though for both some very cool band and sliding bench content regardless if everything goes as planned. Hope you all are doing and performing well, Mike

I didn't forget about you guys and like I keep saying, this very slow moving until I get a course loaded on. I still haven't plugged this group in any way since my initial post. I'm working on putting together some more structured training content and wanted to get a pulse from this group. Where are you currently getting stuck? Is it: - knowing what exercises to pick? - putting together a full program? - progressing (what to increase, when, etc.)? - staying consistent? - working around injuries or limitations? Or something else? Just trying to make sure I build stuff that actually helps vs adding more noise

Whatup Buttercups; figured this might be useful to share for others as possible inspiration (not intended to be a pat me on the back story). Background Babble Turning 40 this year; although people frequently think I'm late 20s (got to be doing something right, right?) For most of my life: - sat around 130–145 lbs weight range - strong nutrition discipline (20+ years) - no real structured strength training - work very hard-play hard mentality Complications early in life: - hood background so wasn’t exposed to people who ate well/worked out/lived normal lifes - metal plate in leg (15) from skateboarding - experimental spine surgery (17) w/ full spinal cage top to bottom; still in place So for years, lifting wasn’t just ignored it was intentionally avoided due to risk, low knowledge and poor guidance. Years of chronic pain. One thing became obvious early: eat poorly = inflammation and increased chronic back pain eat clean = you can function That shaped everything around longevity. Training-wise, I always assumed lifting was off the table due to back pain and the fear mongering the doctors told me at the time (pretty much never do anything physical). Every time I tried, it either felt off or the few people I hired didn’t understand the hardware in me and would recommend high probability of getting hurt exercises. So I stuck to: - walking + biking - yoga (helped mitigate pain) - what I’d call “farm strength” through my career (mini-deadlifting objects all day 50lbs-400lbs) Enough to function, maybe arguably keep me in good health but nothing over the top. The Mindset Shift Around July 2025 (~135 lbs), made a call: goal = not ending up physically fragile later in life as a 60-year old man already at a defecit with all the metal implants. I needed real strength, not just “movement”. Started with kettlebells because it felt “safe enough” to test. KB Attempts: - basic KB work - Dan John’s ABC + other programs (squats/presses/curls) - Pavel Tsatsouline’s Right of Passage progression (presses/pull-ups/squats)

So question for group... I just bought a used Total Gym 1900 model for $30. It's a 7/2015 build date machine and has some use on it. It's in decent shape but needs maintenance/cleanup, a new cable replacement and installation, and some rust cleanup on the chrome parts and pins. This was a middle-of-the-road model when built (as best I can tell.) It has a decent mid-tier weight limit of 350 lbs. (more than the 250-275 lb. limits on the base tier models but not the 400 - 450 lb. limit of the heavier duty XLS or FIT models.) It also has the 12-tiered tower incline settings like the later FIT models. In addition to the maintenance stuff, I am going to upgrade it with some key additions, including: - Custom Squat Platform Build: I am going to build a custom squat platform out of wood and heavy gauge steel bars that will be bulletproof and include bar inserts that will never bend from heavy use (this 1900 model came stock with the pilates bar and no squat base attachment, so I definitely need a squat base anyways.) - Adding chrome aluminum handles (to replace the stock TG foam and fabric handles) - Adding hammock/rock climbing bearing swivels at handle connections to keep new cable from getting twisted in the pulley system Question for Group: - Is anyone interested in seeing a how-to vid on TG maintenance tasks and rehab and how-to on the upgrades? (if so, I will video-document these tasks to share, if that is OK.) Question for @Mike D : - Would it be OK to link to YT vids for the above here ? (don't want to do anything that is against the rules here, so figured I'd better ask before linking to external videos...)

Hey everyone! Just about to do a pull day, but I just felt like a quick bowl of oatmeal before, so thought I'd get this party started. Anybody else eat beforehand? Why/why not?? (apologies Mike if I'm jumping the gun)