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.
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.
WTG
