Introducing BigJohn51

[BigJohn51]

New to the forums here. Live in Northern California, 47, 6 feet tall and 295 as of this morning. Been training for about 3 years, have lost about 35-40 pounds this year but want to turn up the fat loss. My goal is to lose 20 pounds of fat in the next 12 weeks and to retain as much lean muscle as possible. Currently training with weights 5 days a week and doing cardio following weight training. I am a night worker so I train in the morning after work, have 2 small meals and then sleep until my kids come home, so that makes it kinda tough. But we do the best we can. Nutrition is the hard part for me, but I do the best I can.

Any help, advice or constructive criticism will be appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome to Discuss Fitness land BigJohn51.

Your user name reminds me of Big John Stud, a WWF wrestler from the 1980's era. You are old enough to remember him if you spent time watching WWF. I did during that time era with my son. Many pleasant memories.

Why don't you join us in the Online Journal forum and start your own training journal. You'll get great feedback and support from all of us, and you'll find the archival benefit very helpful as you chase your fitness dreams.

Have a great day!

[LiftGirl]

Hi, John and welcome to DF! Congratulations on your weight loss so far. You are doing great! Keep it up, and I believe you will meet your goals, but it will take patience. It took awhile to put that weight on, and it will take some time to get it off. But keep doing what you are doing, and it will happen.

Hope you join in on some of our threads!

[.V.]

Welcome. I've been where you are. I started out 4 years ago at 300lbs myself. With dedication and consistnacy you will reach your goals. 5 day a week workouts with cardio after can be effective, especially when shooting for fat loss. If it starts to wear you down and you feel overtrained we can help you find a more moderate plan that will give you good results too.

You've came to a good place with lots of good training & nutrition information from different diciplines and you will find that your needs will be met here.

Any questions, just ask and you should get plenty of good answers, most of them right...and then just have to decide which one is right for you.

Welcome.

[BigJohn51]

Thanks everyone for making me feel welcome. I am trying to decide if I am going to continue with 5 days a week or shift to a 4 day split to allow extra recovery. This week is a total off week from training to allow the mind and body to heal up a bit. If anyone has recommendations on a split I would love to hear them.

[.V.]

If you are looking for a change, give some thought to one of the 3 day a week full body routines. Or make your own.

As long as it has squat, dead, bench, and row in it...it's gonna work. Other stuff like curls, skullcrushers, crunches, and overhead pressing are optional.

I've been doing a hybrid of HST and Starr's 5x5 lately and it's been really working well for me to improve strength, size, and muscle endurance. I'd say "I'm doing" but two work related injuries have sidelined me for a few weeks.

This is only one way though, there are of course many. If you are interested in more info about this plan...check out my journal or just ask.

[BigJohn51]

Thanks a_welch503. I had thought about doing MaxOT as it is 5 days a week but the workouts are short in duration (usually less than 1 hour) I like to get my gym time in but still get home to sleep so I can be awake when my kids get home. Even their cardio is only 16 minutes. But I am always open to anything.

5x5 sounds interesting, don't know much about HST. Gonna check out your journal for sure.

[Gooseneck]

Welcome.

[BigJohn51]

Thank you Gooseneck.