New member, old goals
Posted 03-04-2008 at 03:36 PM by bushcraftbd
Cut cut cut
Not more of the same mistakes! Right now I'm ready to jump into a hardcore diet, counting every calorie, start a workout with 4 weekly strength training workouts and daily cardio, and give it up two weeks later, yielding to fast food and all things sedentary for at least a month. Break the cycle!
It's time to slow down....let's take things one at a time. It's easiest for me to hit the gym and hardest for me to maintain a healthy diet. Why is the diet so hard? I think it's because I'm uncertain of what i'm doing. Working out has made me bigger, no doubt. But what to do with diet? Should I get fewer carbs, no carbs, lots of whole grain carbs? Should I eat more fat to stimulate fat burning (I think that's anabolic)? I might be more dedicated to a diet if it were guaranteed to have results but that isn't the case- I need to monitor my progress, experiment, and find what's best for me. Okay.
So I'll start with things that are undeniably in the right direction. Only when I master this will I worry about protein/carb ratios and all the rest.
Wonderful. What spectacular goals. No real bodybuilding know-how, just plain things we learned in elementary school. Hopefully it will be a great start, though. I know that I don't get cravings so all I need to do to quit eating sugary foods is not have them right in front of me. Well let's see, it's Tuesday. Can I stick with this plan until next Tuesday?
As of now, according to my Taylor scale, I'm 190 lb with 19% body fat. One month ago it was 180 lb with 18.5% body fat. Oh, I'm 5'11.
I've gone to the gym on and off for the past few months (and never before, say, six months ago) and I am clearly bigger and more muscular. Here, I'll outline the workout I'll try to follow. It's from Dr. Scott Connelly's Body Rx. Four workout days a week, one day dedicated to each major muscle group. How you space them out in the week doesn't matter, so long as you do all four days and that you do the workouts in order. It's probably simple enough for me to stick with.
UPPER: chest press, incline press, chest flies, curls
BACK/TRICEPS: lat pull-down, seated row, seated wide-grip row, one of various triceps exercises
LEGS: leg press, leg extension, leg curl, standing calf raise/donkey calf raise
MIXED UP: basic shoulder press, seated lateral raise, forward and reverse crunches
This is great; the more difficult, embarrassing ab exercises are on the day I can work out at home. These exercises are supposed to be the most basic, proven to show consistent rseults. Sets and reps? I know the basic rule; do this to bulk, do that to tone. Burn fat = higher BMR = more muscle = bulking, right? Maybe 1 warm-up set, 1 in between set, 2-3 high intensity sets? For the final three, working my muscles to exhaustion (at a safe pace).
What about cardio? I don't know. According to the bodybuilding people, it's all about strength training to increase metabolism and burn fat (a pound of muscle burns 50 calories of fat per day at rest?). Per friendly advice, I'll do 30-40 minutes of moderate intensity cardio (stair stepper, elliptical, or jogging) twice a week before one of my off days (recovery).
Here's a tough one: I read that strength training comes first with cutting, then comes cardio. Well, strength training and diet, then cardio. I also read that I'll have to decide whether I want to primarly build muscle or lose fat. But I am supposed to lose fat by building muscle. My understanding is clearly flawed somewhere...time to hit the forums.
The primary purpose of this blog is for me to set goals and record progress. Putting it up for public scrutiny sort of makes it "official", to get me motivated. But it would be wonderful if others commented, corrected or critiqued! I wonder if this forum is geared for more advanced bodybuilders and members would recommend I find one for beginners.
Not more of the same mistakes! Right now I'm ready to jump into a hardcore diet, counting every calorie, start a workout with 4 weekly strength training workouts and daily cardio, and give it up two weeks later, yielding to fast food and all things sedentary for at least a month. Break the cycle!
It's time to slow down....let's take things one at a time. It's easiest for me to hit the gym and hardest for me to maintain a healthy diet. Why is the diet so hard? I think it's because I'm uncertain of what i'm doing. Working out has made me bigger, no doubt. But what to do with diet? Should I get fewer carbs, no carbs, lots of whole grain carbs? Should I eat more fat to stimulate fat burning (I think that's anabolic)? I might be more dedicated to a diet if it were guaranteed to have results but that isn't the case- I need to monitor my progress, experiment, and find what's best for me. Okay.
So I'll start with things that are undeniably in the right direction. Only when I master this will I worry about protein/carb ratios and all the rest.
- No more soda. Only diet soda.
- Get your 8 glasses of water and fiber.
- Seriously slow down on fast food. Maybe once a week.
- Prepare your meals. This will help you avoid crappy processed foods and save money.
- Get cake, cookies, ice cream, etc. the hell out of the house!
Wonderful. What spectacular goals. No real bodybuilding know-how, just plain things we learned in elementary school. Hopefully it will be a great start, though. I know that I don't get cravings so all I need to do to quit eating sugary foods is not have them right in front of me. Well let's see, it's Tuesday. Can I stick with this plan until next Tuesday?
As of now, according to my Taylor scale, I'm 190 lb with 19% body fat. One month ago it was 180 lb with 18.5% body fat. Oh, I'm 5'11.
I've gone to the gym on and off for the past few months (and never before, say, six months ago) and I am clearly bigger and more muscular. Here, I'll outline the workout I'll try to follow. It's from Dr. Scott Connelly's Body Rx. Four workout days a week, one day dedicated to each major muscle group. How you space them out in the week doesn't matter, so long as you do all four days and that you do the workouts in order. It's probably simple enough for me to stick with.
UPPER: chest press, incline press, chest flies, curls
BACK/TRICEPS: lat pull-down, seated row, seated wide-grip row, one of various triceps exercises
LEGS: leg press, leg extension, leg curl, standing calf raise/donkey calf raise
MIXED UP: basic shoulder press, seated lateral raise, forward and reverse crunches
This is great; the more difficult, embarrassing ab exercises are on the day I can work out at home. These exercises are supposed to be the most basic, proven to show consistent rseults. Sets and reps? I know the basic rule; do this to bulk, do that to tone. Burn fat = higher BMR = more muscle = bulking, right? Maybe 1 warm-up set, 1 in between set, 2-3 high intensity sets? For the final three, working my muscles to exhaustion (at a safe pace).
What about cardio? I don't know. According to the bodybuilding people, it's all about strength training to increase metabolism and burn fat (a pound of muscle burns 50 calories of fat per day at rest?). Per friendly advice, I'll do 30-40 minutes of moderate intensity cardio (stair stepper, elliptical, or jogging) twice a week before one of my off days (recovery).
Here's a tough one: I read that strength training comes first with cutting, then comes cardio. Well, strength training and diet, then cardio. I also read that I'll have to decide whether I want to primarly build muscle or lose fat. But I am supposed to lose fat by building muscle. My understanding is clearly flawed somewhere...time to hit the forums.
The primary purpose of this blog is for me to set goals and record progress. Putting it up for public scrutiny sort of makes it "official", to get me motivated. But it would be wonderful if others commented, corrected or critiqued! I wonder if this forum is geared for more advanced bodybuilders and members would recommend I find one for beginners.
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- New member, old goals (03-04-2008)
