A Newbs Journal..

[Jandro]

Hello all, I will use this as a journal to help motivate me to stay commited to jogging and exercises. Today was the dreaded first day back for me (been 6 months at least). I kept it short and tried not to overdo it knowing that tommorow I'll be feeling the usual soreness.

Forgive me if my vernicular isn't up to spec I've never been in the weight lifting circles (I go solo normally, as with most things). So for now I am keeping it simple with a upper and lower body split. Previously I did 4 sets of 10 and 4 different exercises per muscle group. That seemed to work really well, but I am far from the level right now.

So basically I plan to do this: Alternate Running with my dogs and working out either upper body or lower body and resting no more than two days if I can.

The way I write in my journal:

Sets x Reps @ Lbs and a roman numeral indicating level of difficulty "X" being hardest

So today, short upper body session:
Flat Bench: 3x10@135 VIII, way harder than it used to be
Lat Pull Down: 3x10@100 VIII
Dumb Milit. Press: 3x10@30 X wow, long way to go here!
Dumb Hammers: 3x10@20 VII
Dips: 3, yeah three! I stopped since my arms were shaking!

That was my very short and tiring first day. I know I will add more, but a mistake I always made in my "returns" to the gym was overworking and then taking to long to go back!

My Lower Body Routine (for the beginning):

Squats 3x10@?
Hanging Leg Raises 3x10 (if I can)
Calf Raises 3x10@?
Dead Lift 3x10@?

Thanks to the FAQ I got some good ideas and tried to incorporate the basic "mass building" exercises. I used to work mainly isolated muscles vs. compound excercises. This should be a nice change, that and the fact that I've avoided lower body most of the time.

Body Comp:
5 11 3/4"
188 lbs with workout clothes and shoes (most I've ever weighed, great)
Medium to thin build
Maybe 13-16% body fat (it's been a while since i checked and they always vary)

Short term goal: enjoy the benifits of being healthy (elevated mood and energy) and show a noticeable difference in the mirror
My overzealous long term goal: to be 225 lbs all muscle

[Jandro]

DAY TWO:

Jogging w/girlfriend and dogs turned out to be mostly walking (my knees weren't up to it yet).

Walked: 2.5 miles
Jogged: .5

:

[Jandro]

I will try to add what I ate, to keep track of it and hopefully own up to some bad eating habits I have (fast food, bleh...)

Chinese food (sweet n sour chicken, egg roll, tiny soup, thai tea)

French Onion soup (two bowls), three peices of bread w/melted cheese

Two Bananas

EDIT:
LATE 3am had:
PB sandwich on white wheat
One Banana
Handfull of Nuts

EDIT: Make that a gallon of water now lol..

[Klinger]

Looks like a good start. It can be tough to start over, but it's better to push less weight and do it right.

Thumbs up for tracking that diet, too. It's easier to eat healthy when you know everything you eat goes into a journal that the whole world can see. :

[Jandro]

Hey thanks Yeah, hopefully I'll get to the level that I can keep track of my calories and the protein/fat/carb balance, but that is a ways away.

So far today:
Two PBJ sandwiches w/white wheat
One Citrus Drop (Big K immitation mountain dew)

One Greek Euro (pita, lettuce, LOTS of onions , chicken, and whatever else is in a Euro
One small cup sized greek salad (lettuce, jalapeno, cottage cheeze?, olive, slice of tomato and olive oil type dressing

Gas station stopover picking my brother up 70 miles away:
One Donkey Kick energy drink (i'm experiment what can I say.)
One Brisk Ice Tea

Later that night
Three snack sized hersheys (like 8 calories each lol) and one snack sized raisanette.One Bannana,
Two more PB&J sandwiches
One more Citrus Drop

Gotta get the little junkfood I have sitting around outa the house (aka halloween candy that kids never came to get )

Tommorow I plan to do legs, I was going to do it today, but I put it off. Hopefully it will be more benificial that way, because sadly I feel a little sore from the .5 mile jog. Well at least the jog involved hills? Does that make it less pathetic... no. I know.

[gcs118]

Not bad at all for returning after so long. Where were you at before you took the break? The 3x10 on bench at 135 lbs isn't bad at all! Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing some numbers in the future.

[Jandro]

Originally Posted by gcs118

Not bad at all for returning after so long. Where were you at before you took the break? The 3x10 on bench at 135 lbs isn't bad at all! Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing some numbers in the future.

Hey thanks, Trust me when I say that everytime that any leaves positive comments it makes the motivation come easier.

Previously when I was way more committed than recently I would do a little more weight in Flat Bench but 4x 10 and then go on to do incline and decline, alternating chest exercises with back exercises. So, basically I used to anywhere from 3 to 4 exercises per muscle group at 4x10. I apparently had it made with the stamina deal. I'm not knowledgeable enough in physiology to know what exactly was occuring, but I believe that when I could survive 160 reps per muscle group at 70% exersion I was a little tougher than my current state lol!

[gcs118]

Doing a 4x10 for more than 135 lbs seems nuts. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. Did you ever consider alternating the 4x10 with something heavy, like a 4x4 or 3x6 or something, to gain strength and endurance? I'd be curious as to what you are capable of max-wise if you can do that many reps.

[Jandro]

yeah, I have no real experience with low rep sets, so I wouldn't even know how to break it down.

Journal for today Well, I was on my way to the gym to give my legs the attention they deserve and well... the gym was closed at 6:00 Pm and I showe up 6:30. Oh well, I guess that's a decent trade off since the gym is only $10 a month. I will go tommorow garaunteed.

Diet today so far:

Lunch: Fast from sonics (I know, I know, I'm working on it)
One Hamburger with bacon, cheese, some kind of BBQ sauce, tomatoes, etc
Barely touched my fries, had maybe 15 french fries.
One large Lemonade, I figured at least I avoided the soda's (I LOVE COKE )

In between, I had about two cups of water.

Dinner: Two Large Calzones w/feta, ricotta, parmesian cheese, olives, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, Chicken, and mushrooms.
Washed it down with a Liter of Sparkling Water

[gcs118]

The diet doesn't look too ideal haha. I would highly recommend against ALL fast food, with very few exceptions, either Subway or Quiznos to a certain extent. Also, no fried foods! Those fries are terrible for you! I know, it's hard to work down, but you should start phasing things out as soon as you can.

On another note, what I do to cut bad calories is to pay attention to what's in the food. For example, change the mayo to mustard, or ask for no cheese or bacon. Try to eliminate as many bad calories as possible. I know, it isn't easy, and cheat days are necessary, but good luck!

[Jandro]

Yeah, I'm at a loss when it comes to the diet. I figure maybe lower as much processed stuff as possible and water and i should be good? I'll work on adding more fresh fruits and veggies and drinking more juice and water That should really help.

[Jandro]

Leg Day:

well, didn't go as well as planned. I only did two exercise because after my first exercise warm up, my legs were already cramping! So, I guess this is going to be a real up hill battle with my legs. Good news: went shopping, got lots of fresh fruits, Juice, and some steak.

Squats:

WU (warm up) 12@45lbs
3x10@95

Standing calf raises:
3x12@45 lbs(squat/bench bar)

So that's it, I'm walking funny just from that

Diet for today:

1 bannana
1 large steak
2 cups of Apple Cider
1 cup of Sunkist Limenade (bleh, not good, immitation Limeade)
1 Large Pomegranet
1 serving of rice
1 serving Cheeze Quiesh (sp?)
2 Glasses of Water

See, no fast food, no soda's!

Okay, I'll post up tommorow if I can walk normal or not

EDIT: More recent
2 small PBJ's
1 Slice of pinneapple
2 Cups of generic Sunny D

Chalk up:

1 Protein shake (2 scoops)...yum..

[gcs118]

haha diet looks much better. I remember when I started squatting at 95 lbs and I couldn't walk right either. Have you squatted before? Do you have deadlifts in your routine? Just curious...keep up the good work!

On another note about the diet, I'm sure you've heard before to eat LOTS of protein. A good way to eat healthy and get lots of protein is from say a whole wheat sandwich with lean meats, or a tuna sandwich. Skim milk is good too. Fruits and juices aren't bad for you, just lots of sugar/carbs, so not a bad snack choice.

[Jandro]

Yeah, had I been able to I would have went on to Dead Lifts and Hanging Leg Raises for Abs, BUT I had just eaten 30 min. before hand and it was a big meal, so the ab workout was a no go. Oh well. Yes I've done squats before but not as regular part of my routine. I will double that weight, mark my word

On the slow road to "mean ripped-ness"

[Jandro]

11/22/04 UPPER BODY

Weight: 186lbs with workout clothes and super light shoes

Flat Bench:
WU 12@45lbs
3x12@135,
1x3@135 IX
the last rep on the last set of 12 I could just barely make it to the hanger so I went on to do one more set of 3 just to make the last one count

Lat Pulldown:
WU 12@50lbs
3x12@100lbs VIII

DB Military Press:
1x12@30lbs
2x10@30lbs IX Wow... need to work on this one

Hammer Curls:
3x12@20lbs VIII

Dips:
1x10@0
1x6@0
arms still shakey on this, but I've been pretty good at these before, only a matter of time.

Shrugs:
3x12@55lbs VIII

Lunch:
1 Large Steak
1 Large serving of rice
1 Slice of Pineapple
2 Protein Shakes (about 44 grams protein)

Snack
1 Protein Shake (22 more grams protein)

Dinner:
1 Medium Sized Salmon
1 Large Serving of Canned Corn
3 Cups of Sunny D

Well, the second upper body day went real well. My return to weight lifting is getting easier. I will be going up in weight in Bench, Hammer Curls, and Lat Pull Downs and bringing those reps per set down to 3x8. After I can easily complete that set, the next upper body day I will keep the weight the same and go up in reps. I will follow that scheme for a while on most muscle groups.