And I'm back in the very same place I was before..

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 08:04 AM

I'm Stuck In a Closet With Vanna White!! (Weird Al reference).

Ok, no not really, but I am literally back in the very same place I was before, when I started getting serious abut training about 5 years ago. My body is a clean slate and I'm back at IM keeping a journal. Pretty much everything I know about training and diet came from these pages, but it seems these days there is far less good training advice and more advice on how to properly use and order illegal steroids. Oh well.. Still feels like home here.

Anyway, it had been at least 2 years, maybe more until about a month ago, since I had last stepped foot in a gym. I was getting a bit burned out and needed a little time off, then while I was taking said time off, the gym I went to closed down. SO, I never ended up getting a membership anywhere else and kinda slacked off.

I was a robust 210lbs and weak as hell, then around winter 2009, I lost my best friend in the world Annie (my dog), to lymphosarcoma. That sent me in kind of a tailspin and in 2 months time I hardly had a bite to eat, living only on Natty Ice Tallboys, good weed and an occasional candy bar. When I finally shook out of my funk a few months later, I was 180lbs soaking wet; lighter and weaker than I have ever been in my entire adult life. In the following 12-16 months I slowly started eating, but I was facing tons of adversity at work, my boss turned into a fucking shithead and I really didn't know from day to day whether I would be coming into work and actually having a job. So, while I started eating again, I also didn't stop drinking. I did however quit smoking pot back in March, in hopes that a job opportunity might come along and I'd have to take a drug test, but that just led to more drinking to compensate. Now, I can proudly say the drinking has been cut back to a minimum.

Another thing I had to focus on was getting my diet in order. Before I had decided to get back in the gym, I decided I was going to get my diet dialed in to try and drop some fat. While I was inconsistent with my eating, I did manage to log in every meal for about 6 weeks and I got a good grasp of what I needed to eat to lose weight, to gain weight, and to maintain. So, about a month ago I decided to bite the bullet and got a membership at the worst gym in the world: Planet Fitness.

I figured for $10 a month, what have I got to lose? If my knee can't hold up and I lose interest, I'm only out 10 bucks. And if I do stay committed, this is a great place to get my chops back in a "No Judgement Zone" (what a crock of fucking shit that is). Well, after a few weeks I realized I wasn't making a ton of progress not being able to do my 2 favorite movements (squats and deadlifts) so I asked a good buddy if mine if I could tag along with him for leg day. He's a member at what's probably the biggest, nicest "fitness club" within 20 miles, LA Fitness. I've always been leery of places with "fitness" in the name, but this place is fucking great. Squat racks, power cages, plenty of benches, dumbbells and hammer strength equipment to not have to wait on anything, even in peak hours. AND apparently, every perfect piece of pussy in the tri-county area works out there.

Now I've got my diet in order, a great place to train, my drinking has been cut back from 50+ beers a week to less than a 6 pack and I found a great new job that I start in a few weeks. Life is finally moving in the right direction for me. I'm 31 years old and I feel like I'm getting a redo on the past 10 years and I hope to make the next 10 years as productive as my past month has been.

Anyway, I seriously doubt anyone took the time to read all of that but it's not for you, it's for me. And if you did take the time to read that, I thank you.

Now down to the nuts and bolts:

While I'm no longer keeping track of my macros, my main goal right now is to recomp and I'm pretty dialed in. I haven't lost a pound or gained a pound since I got in the gym, but I'm already looking larger and leaner (which I know will happen quickly at the beginning) and my belt is getting looser so I'm off to a good start.

Height: 5'9" 1/2
Weight: 194lbs
Age: 31

A typical day of eating for me goes as follows:

Breakfast:
4 eggs, 1 tbsp butter, fish oil caps, multi, and sometimes 1 slice of sprouted whole grain bread if I'm real hungry (typically I skip the bread). If I'm being lazy or running late, 2 scoops of whey in 12 oz. of organic whole milk.

Lunch:
Either grilled chicken breast and a few tbsp of organic Almond Butter, or 2 tbsp of Almond Butter on 2 slices of sprouted whole grain bread with 8 oz of organic whole milk, or 2 scoops of whey with 1/2 cup of oats and a tbsp of evoo in water. (I never do shakes for consecutive meals, so that changes from day to day) I eat for free at the deli in my building so sometimes I'll just walk down and get a 1/2 lb of tuna and scarf that down with a fork.

Pre-Workout:
Sometimes an apple and almond butter sandwich, sometimes just a whole grain bagel, sometimes just the bread. Depends on what I ate earlier.

Post-Workout:
2 scoops whey, 12 oz or organic whole milk

Dinner:
Either some type of fish, steak or grilled chicken, and a fibrous green.

Pre-bed:
Either cottage cheese, or almond butter and more milk.

2500-2700 calories seems to be my sweet spot and I'm always making sure I get over 175g of protein. If I'm slacking in the fiber department I'll supplement with a psyllium product and that's really all I have to seem to worry about.

Training:

I'm a month into it and got all the kinks worked out but I'm still doing a very basic routine.

Monday, Legs - Quads:
Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extensions
Calves
Abs

Tuesday, Pull/Back:
Pullups/Chins
Seated Rows
B/O DB Rows
Rack Pulls
Straight Arm Pulldowns
Facepulls
Curls

Wednesday, off

Thursday Legs - Hamstrings:
RDLs
Good Mornings
Pullthroughs
Hypers
Abs

Friday, Push - Chest:
Flat or Incline DB Press
DB, Barbell or Hammer Strength Shoulder Press
Dips
Lateral Raises
Skulls
Pushdowns

Sat and Sunday, off

Looks like a lot but I'm going fairly low intensity with this amount of volume. My back/lats and hamstrings can take a pounding and I always recover quickly while my chest and quads seems to respond better to a little lower volume but I like getting around the gym and touching as much equipment as I can during a session. Keeps me interested. My main focus right now is to just take is easy and hammer out technique. I'm having a lot of fun right now and I feel fantastic already. Sleeping like a baby at night also which I haven't done since I quit smoking pot.

Anyway, now that I'm done telling my life story it's time to get my nose to the grindstone and get back the strength and muscle I lost over the last few years.

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 08:13 AM

Weight: 194

Legs - Quads:

Squats:
Bar - 12
135# - 12,8
155# - 9
Bar - 12

Only my second squat session since I've been back in the gym, first squat session outside the power cage. The way the squat racks are configured kinda sucks. The extra weights are mounted on the side of the safety bars.. My squat is so deep that the weight on my bar was hitting the weights on the squat rack, so I had to back almost all the way out just to do a proper squat. Every rep was super slow and deliberate, legs were shaking actually but the weight felt very light on my shoulders.. Skipped Leg Press.

Leg Extension:
60# - 18,12,12

Hammer Strength Crunch:
30# - 18,16,14

And that was that. Short but sweet. Quads are dead today.

**D-Lats** · 07-26-2011, 08:15 AM

Cool ill be following along bro.

**brad1224** · 07-26-2011, 08:17 AM

great start!

keep it up man and logs are the best way to stay with it if your a person who has trouble stayin focused

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by D-Latsky

Cool ill be following along bro.

Thanks man, thanks for reading.

Originally Posted by brad1224

great start!

keep it up man and logs are the best way to stay with it if your a person who has trouble stayin focused

Thanks! Yeah once I get rolling I'm usually ok. Just the past couple years have been rough.

**S_walker** · 07-26-2011, 08:25 AM

Subscribing to follow your progress.

Good for you on making the decision to get back in the gym and find something better to do other than drink, smoke pot and eat snicker bars. LOL (yes I read your novel).

WTG

Edit: Thank God for muscle memory! I laid off for many years and just now really seeing the benefits..

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by S_walker

Subscribing to follow your progress.

Good for you on making the decision to get back in the gym and find something better to do other than drink, smoke pot and eat snicker bars. LOL (yes I read your novel).

WTG

Edit: Thank God for muscle memory! I laid off for many years and just now really seeing the benefits..

Thanks! And yeah, the gym is definitely something better to do with my time! Amen to the muscle memory. I'm weak, but the mind-to-muscle connection is still there like I never left. First time in my life I really don't give a shit what's on the bar and I'm not getting looks in the gym like "that guy is weak" I'm getting looks like: "that guy knows what he's doing, why is he so out of shape" lol.

**bigcruz** · 07-26-2011, 09:53 AM

Great to see your fighting to better yourself. Will be following along

**Triple Threat** · 07-26-2011, 10:05 AM

I just noticed your join date - you've been around here for a while. Have you always have this username? I don't remember seeing it in the past.

The first difficult step to getting in shape is getting started. The second one is staying consistent. One down, one to go.

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by bigcruz

Great to see your fighting to better yourself. Will be following along

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by Triple Threat

I just noticed your join date - you've been around here for a while. Have you always have this username? I don't remember seeing it in the past.

The first difficult step to getting in shape is getting started. The second one is staying consistent. One down, one to go.

Yeah, I was FatCat then I was Repro something or other now I have another shitty username. lol. A few years older, wiser and more mature, that's for sure! Thanks for stopping in!

**bwrag** · 07-26-2011, 10:39 AM

Ill be following bro, sorry to hear about the dog. But looks like your on your way up now.

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by bwrag

Ill be following bro, sorry to hear about the dog. But looks like your on your way up now.

Thanks for reading! Yeah, buying her was one of the last things I got to do with my mother before she passed, so in addition to being an absolutely amazing dog, she was that much more special to me. I cried like a baby when I put her to sleep. lol

**lynnlynn** · 07-26-2011, 11:47 AM

Here's to new beginnings. Have you considered a new furry friend? I lost my doggie a few years ago and adopting another really helped.

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by lynnlynn

Here's to new beginnings. Have you considered a new furry friend? I lost my doggie a few years ago and adopting another really helped.

Thank you! And sorry to hear about your pup. I have considered it, but the new position I just took will require me to travel for extended periods of time. Not to mention I'd like a bigger dog next go around and I live in a tiny place so that's probably a few years off yet.

**jagbender** · 07-26-2011, 03:18 PM

Hey bro glad to see your journal and cleaning up your act.

Looking forward to wathcing your progress and helping any way I can!

Enjoyed our PM chat this afternoon.

Stay strong!

**jagbender** · 07-26-2011, 03:25 PM

I had a white shepard / husky mix for 17 years. I loved that dog smart as heck! "Sport" even rode on my motorcycle. I cried like a baby when I had to put him down. I used to tell my wife "don't make me choose between my dog and you, cause you'll lose"
I had "Sport" before I met her. Sport has been gone for 12 years. Three years ago we got another rescue dog "Buddy". He is a black dog and looks like a flatcoat retreiver.

If I may suggest if you can get a white dog, Black dogs just don't seem as smart!

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by jagbender

Hey bro glad to see your journal and cleaning up your act.

Looking forward to wathcing your progress and helping any way I can!

Enjoyed our PM chat this afternoon.

Stay strong!

Thanks, same here! Last time I was on the left coast I was fleeing from Francis I believe but I'll definitely look ya up if I'm ever in the area!

Originally Posted by jagbender

I had a white shepard / husky mix for 17 years. I loved that dog smart as heck! "Sport" even rode on my motorcycle. I cried like a baby when I had to put him down. I used to tell my wife "don't make me choose between my dog and you, cause you'll lose"
I had "Sport" before I met her. Sport has been gone for 12 years. Three years ago we got another rescue dog "Buddy". He is a black dog and looks like a flatcoat retreiver.

If I may suggest if you can get a white dog, Black dogs just don't seem as smart!

Haha, I hear ya. There isn't a human left on the planet that I'd choose over Annie. She truly was a godsend.

**jagbender** · 07-26-2011, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by MCx2

Thanks, same here! Last time I was on the left coast I was fleeing from Francis I believe but I'll definitely look ya up if I'm ever in the area!

Haha, I hear ya. There isn't a human left on the planet that I'd choose over Annie. She truly was a godsend.

Sport saved me more that once. At one time I had no heat in my trailer (white trash trailer park) And Sport was the only warm thing I had! LOL

Good dog!

Hey I'll host the next hurricane party! if you need a place to duck!

Charlie was 12 miles South of where I live

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 04:00 PM

So, I don't know if I just didn't notice this before because I was so excited to be back in the gym, or if I somehow missed the e-mail, but they must have been holding a douchebag summit at the gym today because there was a representative for every single stereotype in the fucking book.

First it was the "I'm on every single station circuit training" asshole, then it was the "I'm grunting extra loud because I want you to be impressed" dickhead to the "I'm hammer curling with 70's, but I'm hardly moving my arms while nearly doing a backflip just to get the weight half way" schmuck. I kinda took it all in for a second and actually starting laughing out loud a little to myself. Then, I looked up and noticed the biggest asshole of them all. Not only was this prick doing his bent over dumbbell rows on the dumbbell rack, but he literally picked up 6-7 different weights and worked his way down the length of the entire fucking wall. At that exact moment I made eye contact in the mirror with the guy doing incline presses directly behind my station and we both busted out laughing. Welcome to LA "Fitness" Mark...

Needless to say, I didn't to do exactly what I wanted to do today because of shithead #1 and some other people actually, but I love the shit out of Hammer Strength equipment, so I had a good session.

Weight: 194

Pull/Back:

Hammer Strength Pulldowns:
25's - 12,12
45's+25's - 12,9,8

Chest Supported TBars:
45# - 12,12,11

Hammer Strength Low Row:
45's - 12,12,11

Rack Pulls:
185# - 8,8,8

Facepulls:
100# - 18,16,12

Hammer Strength Preacher Curls
45# - 12,11,10

Would have liked to have done a little bit more with freeweights today but I felt like Jim Carrey in the Truman Show when he was trying to drive out of town.

- Probably could have handled more weight all around.
- Grip strength is a huge weakness right now.
- I doubt it was really 100#'s for the facepulls, but that's what the stack said, so for the sake of the consistency of this log, that's the number.
- Remember my watch tomorrow. Not a single goddamned clock in the gym. Counting to 90 in between every set sucks.

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by jagbender

Sport saved me more that once. At one time I had no heat in my trailer (white trash trailer park) And Sport was the only warm thing I had! LOL

Good dog!

Hey I'll host the next hurricane party! if you need a place to duck!

Charlie was 12 miles South of where I live

We actually got the eye of both Francis and Jeanne, but they did more flooding than anything. I remember Francis just parked on us for hours and hours. Sustained winds for all that time were a killer but Charlie was a much more powerful storm than our 2.

**lynnlynn** · 07-26-2011, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by MCx2

Thank you! And sorry to hear about your pup. I have considered it, but the new position I just took will require me to travel for extended periods of time. Not to mention I'd like a bigger dog next go around and I live in a tiny place so that's probably a few years off yet.

I have a small doggie. It is nice to be able to take your dog places when you travel. I've always wanted a bigger dog though. Maybe a boxer?

**jagbender** · 07-26-2011, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by MCx2

We actually got the eye of both Francis and Jeanne, but they did more flooding than anything. I remember Francis just parked on us for hours and hours. Sustained winds for all that time were a killer but Charlie was a much more powerful storm than our 2.

At that time I worked in construction. it was friggin crazy!

2004 a lot of blue roofs around here!

If you live in Fl you probably know what that means

**jagbender** · 07-26-2011, 08:12 PM

"Buddy" says Hi!

**MCx2** · 07-26-2011, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by lynnlynn

I have a small doggie. It is nice to be able to take your dog places when you travel. I've always wanted a bigger dog though. Maybe a boxer?

Hah, Annie was pretty small too. She was big for her breed though, a lean, 12 pound Yorkie. She traveled in a car well but I never wanted to take her on planes with me. Not that I left her behind that often. I even brought her to work with me.

Originally Posted by jagbender

At that time I worked in construction. it was friggin crazy!

2004 a lot of blue roofs around here!

If you live in Fl you probably know what that means

Oh yeah! I was pretty much in the construction industry myself. Most of my customers have been praying for hurricanes the past few years it's been so rough.

Originally Posted by jagbender

"Buddy" says Hi!

lol, Hi Buddy!

**jagbender** · 07-27-2011, 02:05 PM

I had to go back into the freight brokerage business, No more construction for a while. I am a licensed CBC. Sucks But I am blessed to have a good job that I could fall back on!

**MCx2** · 07-28-2011, 06:33 AM

Originally Posted by jagbender

I had to go back into the freight brokerage business, No more construction for a while. I am a licensed CBC. Sucks But I am blessed to have a good job that I could fall back on!

Yeah, it's always nice to be multi-skilled. Thank God I've got office management experience. I just jumped to another industry also.

**MCx2** · 07-28-2011, 06:36 AM

Tuesday and Wednesday I slept well but woke up extremely tired.. I assume it's either too much work in the gym, not enough food, or a combination of both. Ate like a pig yesterday on my day off but unfortunately I didn't sleep well last night, but I also didn't wake up as tired as the 2 previous days.. Gonna up calories today and lower the volume a tad tonight.

**fufu** · 07-28-2011, 08:15 AM

A new journal I see! I read through your history there, good to hear you are back on track.

Training at the gym can be great therapy from tough experiences. I used to never really consider the gym as "stress relief", but now that I am done with school and working...I fucking exorcise the demon every time I'm in the gym.

**MCx2** · 07-28-2011, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by fufu

A new journal I see! I read through your history there, good to hear you are back on track.

Training at the gym can be great therapy from tough experiences. I used to never really consider the gym as "stress relief", but now that I am done with school and working...I fucking exorcise the demon every time I'm in the gym.

Thank fu! Yeah it's definitely great therapy. Every day since I've been back in there I just count down the hours at work until I can run out of here and start moving some weights. I used to get all stim'd up before the gym and now I hardly drink caffeine at all which definitely makes a huge difference in regards to the gym truly being a "stress reliever". Feels great to have goals again.

**bwrag** · 07-28-2011, 12:11 PM

Good luck. Keep up the hard work

Thread: And I'm back in the very same place I was before..

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And I'm back in the very same place I was before..

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