Please evaluate my Workout and Diet

[DougWright]

Hello,

First let me apologize for such a long post, but I wanted to be as complete as possible so as to give you all the details you need. I am new here but I have been reading for a while.
Last year after nearly 10 years of letting myself go I decided it was time to do something about it.

I am a 34 year old male, 5??? 7??? and weigh 230. At my worst last year I was 250. In High school I was very thin and weighed about 145. My body type is thin.

All I started doing last year was walking and eating a bit better, but nothing serious. I got my heart rate, blood pressure and my blood sugar all into what my doctor said were healthy ranges. I improved my wind and did not huff and puff climbing stairs any more.

This past January I joined a Gym and started lifting weight 3 days a week and doing cardio 2 days a week.
I did this up until 2 weeks ago and while I was getting a bit stronger I was not seeing any great improvement. I decided to hire a trainer to show me the ropes and give me a plan. I also had him provide some nutrition advice.

I am now in my second week of that plan and have lost 10 pounds. I know there are things I am doing right and definitely things I am doing wrong. I was hoping I could post my plan and diet here and have some of your valuable input on it.

My goal is to lose fat, (would like to reach 160 eventually) and firm and tone. Maybe then put on a bit of mass but for now concentrate on leaning out.

Here is my menu from the last few days (since I have been tracking protein/fat/carbs)

13-Jul-03 Morning Weight - 232
Exercise Back -20 minutes Bike

6:50 Meso Tech Pouch (Strawberry) (half)
185 ml Skim Milk
10:00 Bagel
Peanut Butter (2tbsp)
1:00 Pita Bread (Fancy Pokket)
Tuna (Ocean's 184g)
Light Miracle Whip (2 Tbsp.)
3:30 Whey Shake - Chocolate (5000 ml water)
Frozen Yogurt -Yozert - Vanilla (130 ml)
6:00 Chicken Breast (175 g)
Potato (250 g)
Skim Milk 250 ML Baxter (250 ml)
9:00 Whey MAXX - Vanilla (250 ml water)

Calories- 2069 Protein - 244.9 (53.4%) Fat-42 (9.2%) Carbs-171.9 (37.5%)

14-Jul-03 Morning Weight - 233
Exercise Shoulders and Abs -20 minutes Bike

6:00 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX vanilla)
8:45 Waffles - Eggo Plus High Fibre (2 Waffles)
1 tbsp peanut butter
Special K Cereal Bar
10:15 Motts Fruitsations
Raisins (14g)
Tea with Sugar
3 Celery Stalks
11:30 Chicken (175 g)
Potato (250 g)
2:15 Apple
Banana
3:00 Apple Juice
6:30 Steak (Lean Sirloin 6 oz)
Salad
9:00 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX vanilla)

Calories-2085.9 protein-195.2 (42%) fat-42.6 (9.2%) carbs-226.8 (48.8%)

15-Jul-03 Morning Weight - 230
Exercise Arms - 10 minutes Bike
7:00 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX Vanilla)
9:45 Xtreme Protein Blast
10:30 Special k Cereal Bar
Tea with Sugar
11:45 Tuna Pita x 2
Light Miracle Whip (4 tbsp)
Delmonte Orange Juice
Banana
2:30 Steak (Lean Sirloin 6 0z)
Apple
3:00 Apple Juice
6:30 Tortilla Wraps
Tortilla Wraps
Steak (Lean Sirloin 6 oz)
9:15 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX Chocolate)

calories- 2843 Protein-309.7 (49%) Fat-53.9 (8.5%) Carbs-268.8 (42.5%)

16-Jul-03 Morning Weight - 232
Exercise Legs - 15 minutes Bike
6:00 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX Vanilla)
8:45 Waffles - Eggo Plus High Fibre (2 Waffles)
1 tbsp peanut butter
10:30 Special k Cereal Bar
Tea with Sugar
Watermelon
11:45 Chicken Breast (175 g)
Potato (125 g)
2:30 Apple
Delmonte Orange Juice
6:00 Extra Lean Ground Beef 8 0z
Salsa
Peas
9:00 Protein Shake (Whey MAXX Vanilla)

Calories-1733 Protein-154.8 (42.5%) Fat-57.75 (15.8%) Carbs-152.1 (41.7%)

Today (July 17th) I weighed in at 230.5

Here is what I was given for a 5 day training plan

Day 1-Chest

Bench Press
Incline Bench
Decline Bench
Superset - Pec Deck/Pec Deck (2 different machines/grips)

Day 2-Back

Lat. Pull Down
Superset - Reverse Grip Lat. Pull Down/Front Lat. Pull Down
T-Bar Row
Machine Row

Day 3-Shoulders and Abs

Super Set - Dumbell Lateral Raise/Front Alternate Dumbell Raise
Upright Rowing - Cable
Rear Pec Deck
Super Set - AB Crunches (Machine)/Leg Raise

Day 4-Arms

Super Set - Tricep Pressdown/Tricep Rope Pressdown
Dumbbell Tricep Ext. Bench (French)
Dumbell Curls To Side
Superset - Arm Curls (Machine) - Left Arm, Right Arm, Both Arms

Day 5-Legs

Super Set - Leg Extensions/Leg Curls
Squat
Standing Calve Raises
Seated Calve Raise

I know I need to throw another AB workout in there, have to see which day provides me the time and I generally do 15 - 20 mins of bike after each day (in the target heart rate).
The only fish I can eat is Tuna (just don't like any other fish) and I am taking Flax 3 times a day.

So far I am loving it, I am feeling more burn than ever. I am really stressing form and working to exhaust the muscle to failure on each set. I do 3 sets, one of 12, one of 10 and one of 8. Using only enough weight to cause me to only get that many reps.

Should I not bother with supersets since I am not presently trying to bulk up? Would it not be as good to do each exercise on its own. Are there any exercises I am missing to be more complete.

I thank you in advance for any help/advice you may have

 

[P-funk]

Your diet need a lot of work. Your meals are really unbalanced. Try and get protein, fat and some slow burning carbs in each meal. You need to ditch things like milk, pita bread, apple juice and tortillas and bagels. Try and aim for some slow burning carb sources like oatmeal, sweetpotatos, green veggies, apples, grapefruits and brown rice.

About your training. I know that I never tell anyone to do cardio when cutting as a personal trainer myself I am really concerned about your cardiovascular health. If I were you I would be doing three total body workouts or 3 days of upper and one day of lower body workouts per week, with a day of rest in between each one and 2 days of cardio, can be in between the weight training days. No offense but you are severly deconditioned and need to improve your health dramatically. You should start a journal so that people can see your daily progress and help you out better. If you want to switch to the 3 day a week weight training plan I can help you set it up. Sorry, no offense again but I reall hope you didn't pay that trainer for that program because it is extremly unbalanced. Also, supersets are a great way to get your heart rate up and fatigue the muscle further. If I were you I would go easy on them and use opposite muscle groups (ie a chest exercise and a back exercise) or an upper body and lower body exercise (ie bench press and squats). These kind of supersts work well with a total body training program.

just my thoughs

 

[DougWright]

Thanks p-funk...

I was doing a total body workout 3 days a week with 2 days cardio prior to this. I also did 20 mins of cardio on my workout days too. A bunch of people told me to switch to a 5 day routine to concentrate on one body part/day. That is the problem with being a newbie, I have to listen to others with no sense of what is right and wrong.

I only have about 1.5 hours to workout shower and walk 10 minutes to work, so this is working better for me so far. I did pay for the advice, but I will say he taught me how to lift correctly and I guess thats good!

I would really like to see the plan you mentioned. You obviously know what you are doing so I could definitely benefit from it.

I am on a path to change my life and I expects some twists and turns,

Thanks in advance for any help...

 

[Jodi]

Doug, like I mentioned earlier. I see alot of room for improvement on your diet but ready. Funky and I both follow the slow burning carb approach and its restrictive but it works.

 

[P-funk]

1.5hrs is more than enough time to workout.

the 5 day a week training plan is one that is utilzed by bodybuilders, myself included, and most here. I am sure that most people here had good intentions telling you to make the switch to this kind of training split but in my honest expert opinion it is not something that I would advise for you right now. You have let yourself go for 10 years, you are extremly deconditioned and overweight. You need to increase your endurance, vo2max, cardiac output and lean muscle mass. Once your health is more stable you can think of advancing to something else but right now I feel (and this is only one mans opinion but I do train people like yourself everyday) that this is the most efecient way for you to get into optimal health. Add a healthy diet and I believe that you will be amazed with your results.