Midlife Crisis On A Budget

First off I would like to give Veronica credit for the title of this blog entry and for the idea of me writing about this subject as it pertains to me.
I have been going for my long walks for several years now.
Last Winter I decided to buy a recumbent bicycle so that I could continue to get a little cardio workout on the days that it was just too cold to go out for my long walks.
Then I decided that I would like to build a little muscle mass on my body, so I went out and got a small weight lifting bench and a set of Golds Gym 40lb weights.
Then I decided to get myself one of those bicep curl bars so that I could work on my biceps a bit.
So I have been going through this transformation for approximately 8 months now.
I have seen some decent improvement to my body since starting this little adventure. Keep in mind that I have done no lifting with anything higher than 40lbs total weight and most of my weight lifting workout has been done with 20-30 pounds of weight....just a lot of reps.
Within the last couple of months, based on the changes in my body structure, I was getting the itch to push things a bit more.
I don't know....maybe it was part of a midlife crisis type of thing going on. I kind of liked the effect that the weight lifting was starting to have on my body. It has been about 15 years since the last time that I did any serious weight lifting and I ended up having to quit because the amount of weight I was lifting and all of the day after day repetitions, which in turn caused some injuries to my body.
During the time that I lifted weights, I never got into any supplements or anything like that.
But within the last 2-3 months, I have found myself purchasing and drinking mass quantities of protein shakes. I have found myself really yearning for those chocolaty frozen blender concoctions on a daily basis now. Each one is packed with of 52 grams protein.
Of course I did some research and checked various locations and prices and ended up buying the 2 pound tubs of the protein shake powder at Walmart. Not sure if the product is the best but....what can I say...the price is right. Each 2 pound tub was around $14-$17.
Speaking of prices, I did more research and checked more prices when I initially bought my current workout bench, my 40 pound set of weights and my weight lifting bicep curling bar.
I bought each of these items at Walmart also.
The 40 pound weight set was $20...the workout bench was about $49 and the bicep curl bar was approximately $40.
This little journey was not dipping into the old wallet too badly.
But then this new yearning to relive my younger days and work my buns off to have a younger mans body started tugging away at me.
Once again I tried to find the cheapest way to muddle through this midlife crisis. It is bad enough being 56 years old and trying to look fit but the real challenge is trying to do it on the "cheap".
And if I forgot to mention it...I am 56 years old. I always thought that we guys had these type of midlife crises during our....well.....during our "midlife"...you know around 40-45 or so, not at 56. I guess maybe that I am just a late bloomer.
So here I am wanting to upgrade my weightlifting equipment and wanting to try some supplements to assist me in attaining the Adonis-like look I am trying to achieve( did I actually use the word Adonis in a sentence...lol....it doesn't get any worse than that) and having to do it as inexpensively as possible.
So here I am...shopping at bodybuilder.com looking for bargains on a few supplements that will help me get the most out of my weightlifting workouts and assist me in getting my old muscles to grow bigger.
And then I had to go shopping for a new weightlifting bench. Maybe I could just get by with my old one but add a Preachers arm curl bench to my current setup. That would be fairly cheap.
Or maybe I should just get a bench press rack because my weightlifting bench doesn't have one and I could get by with something like that for a little money.
Or maybe I should look for a really cheap weightlifting bench that has both of the aforementioned items built into it.
Of course I could get a really nice weightlifting setup and to hell with the cost but I am not wired that way...no need adding fuel to this crisis. I want to keep this crisis down to the bare minimum as far as the cost.
Like that old saying goes...you give a midlife crisis a penny and that sucker will take a dollar.
Ok so I made that "old saying" up...but I had you going there for a second.
So I did some research and shopping and more shopping and more research. Trying to "hem and haw" about what it was that I really wanted and what was the best deal for the money....hoping all the while that I could keep this whole thing under budget.
When all of the dust settled and I was able to get it all out of my graying hair and off of my wrinkled face, I ended up getting a Marcy Classic MCB-252 Combo Bench with 120 lb Weight Set . And can you guess where I bought this new weightlifting bench from? From Walmart of course...gotta love their low prices.
Not only did I get a new weightlifting bench but it has the bench press rack built into it, a preachers arm curl built into it and a lat pull down bar built into it too.
And the great thing is that the set also comes with 120 pound set of weights and a lifting bar....something that I was going to have to pay extra for. A complete package for a decent price. Sure I could have spent a lot more money but what was the sense in that.
So there it is...all laid out for everyone to see. A 56 year old man with a midlife crisis that he is trying to deal with, so as not to damage the finances too badly.
Kind of like having fillet of mignon taste on a 70% not so lean ground chuck budget.
And this midlife crisis will end up like so many other things that I have gone through in my life.....
A day late and a dollar short.

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