Back in the gym.. for good this time!

[Rampage1]

Hey guys, I had a log a few months ago but unfortunately I lost my motivation to update it. With this, I lost my desire to push the weights and have only been doing them half heartedly for this past month and a half. In between these lousy workouts I have been drinking beer and vodka, alongside eating pizzas and chinese's. This has all been supported with plenty of television and little aerobic activity. You get the point! As a result I have lost plenty of muscle around my chest and shoulders, and developed a nice jack daniel's belly to go along with it!

That is my new motivation to get back on track and push the weights and get the diet back on track! I start tomorrow morning so looking forward to it!

Heres my current stats, which I aim to improve significantly!

Height 5' 7"

Weight: 158lbs (apprx but not sure as I am from Ireland and we are normal and weigh in stones )

I am looking to improve all around, cutting out the stupid looking belly and gaining some good mass in upper body. I intend to do this for a long time as I know it doesn't happen overnight but I am willing to work at it! I will probably do some cardio to cut the weight but i'm not sure how much to do here so it won't affect my muscle building!

Looking forward to getting started and getting in good shape! Hopefully

 

[Rampage1]

first days back!

Incline bench: 10 x 40kg
10x50kg
10x50kg
5x 60kg

Dips x 12 bodyweight
x 10 bodyweight

tricep dips x 12 , x 12

Lateral raises 5kgs (on each side, not total) x 13, x 13, x 13

all in all nice to be back and am looking forward to getting the number up as they are pretty crap at the moment!

 

[Warboss Alex]

nice looking workout. numbers will come up quickly, don't worry.

what is the difference between dips and tricep dips? lol.

 

[Rampage1]

lol.. tricep dips your body is more vertical, whereas ordinary dips you lean forward a bit and it strains your pecs more! probably not much tho!

just down a nice little shake with 3 scoops of whey and 2 eggs, alongside 2 slices of bread.. is that ok for pwo?

thanks warboss

 

[Warboss Alex]

the dips sound the same to me. nothing wrong with dips though, great exercise.

that pwo shake sounds fine to me. people worry too much about post workout nutrition - get in some protein and carbs and you're fine. -what- exactly you take in doesn't matter at the 'just getting back into it' stage, and it doesn't matter 90% of the rest of the time either.

best of luck with your training. keep this updated and we'll monitor it

 

[Rampage1]

^^^
yeah will do as I am motivated to keep it up this time! However, although I can gain relatively fast and have done so in the past, I'm really pissed off with my brothers progress. He's only returned to the gym for no longer than a month and is already in shape. He went from about an out of shape 12 1/2 stone, to completely rock solid 12 1/2 stone in about a month. I know he has muscle memory but the guy is a cu*t..always gets bigger really quick and only takes about 4 scoops a days of protein (max) on top of just a very average diet! I hate people like him

 

[Warboss Alex]

speaking of diets, post yours up.

 

[Rampage1]

I haven't started to focus hard on my diet yet as today is my first day back. I know that I need at least 260 g protein per day and that is what I will be aiming for, whether it be from solid foods or from whey....however, one concern I do have: the last time I bulked up I got to 170lbs (which was good for me), but I got quite a belly alongside it. I just tried to eat as much as possible and get as much protein as possible, this will have to be done smarter this time as any fat I do seem to get goes straight to my belly as opposed to anywhere else on my body.. and we can't have that!

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Yeah if your worried don't dirty bulk. Have a carb-cutoff + plenty of morning light cardio - gpp on days you don't weight train such as sleds, weighted backing, stairs and/or hills...all good stuff.

 

[Rampage1]

yeah Im gona try do it cleaner this time.. but in reality its harder to do it cleaner as sometimes there isnt access to good food and dirty food will have to do.I am intending to cut down on the carbs towards the evening also as there is no need for them if I am just watching tv and lying around on the laptop.

Today I did a quick workout for deadlifts. Not very conventional only having one exercise for my workout but when I incorporate it in my back day it takes away from my other numbers so I have decided to give a day soley to deadlifts.

Deadlifts 12x 70kg
10 80kg
10x 80kg , 10x 83kg

all in all fairly easy. I have been off for a while so I didn't want to jump straight in the deep end, rather I thought it best to start easy and then next week move up in the weight which I will do considerably. So all in all I was just getting my body acclimatised to the less crap weight I will attempt next week

tomorrow I intend to do some cardio to keep the fat off.. Any recommendations for good fat loss cardio that doesn't kill muscular growth?

 

[Quiksilver]

Come join me on the treadmill/elliptical Rampage

I'm in the gym doing cardio every morning of the week at 6:30AM, before breakfast.

The best cardio for fat loss is exactly this:

Fasted morning cardio
Low intensity
45-60 minutes

Doing it fasted = no carb stores to use for energy, so body metabolises body fat.
Low intensity = fat metabolised rather than muscle. When doing high intensity, the body switches to a more readily available energy source(carbs, then muscle). So keep the intensity low to ensure that the body uses fat instead.
45 - 60 minutes is so your body has time to metabolize fat and, well, it comes off easier with longer sessions.

cheers

 

[Rampage1]

sounds good quick, but an hour in the morning before breakfast? that sounds like hell!
how low is low intensity? brisk walking? what do you do to pass the time as it sounds really boring

 

[Quiksilver]

It is hell, there are no two ways around that. You'll just have to suck it up, its not so bad once you get into the habit.

To pass the time?

I listen to audiobooks religiously, so I just crank the volume up and listen to books for the whole hour. Awhile ago I used to bring my laptop in for cardio sessions and play episodes of my favorite tv shows.

So yeah, audiobooks(it aint like listening to some slipknot or killswitch, but it passes the time), tv shows, music, etc.

I found music doesn't hold my attention for longer than 30 minutes and I start getting bored, and audiobooks are fantastic. My birthday present last year was a collection of 588 audiobooks, so that'll take well over two years to get through lol

As for intensity, you'll have to figure that out. You don't want to be panting at the end, cause if you are then be aware that you're body has just used your hard earned muscle mass to fuel that session. Check my journal for the intensity I use for morning cardio.

good luck

 

[Rampage1]

^^^^^^

great, just the encouragement I wanted..haha just messing.

Sounds like a pain in the ass, tho I will try to get this in as many mornings as possible. If I can't then I will have to do it some heavier cardio during the day to burn of some of these juicy carbs I have been eating:

My diet varies from day to day but here is what I ate today.

Big bowl of cereal ( cheerios) (nothing else in the fridge)

next steak beget

protein shake (2 scoops plus egg plus milk)

chicken fajita ( my own recipe with chille sauce AWESOME)

Protein Drink ( 3 scoops of whey plus milk)

chicken breast 6oz roughly

protein drink (2 scoops plus milk)

roughly about 240 - 250 g protein
not sure about the rest. However, I am limiting myself on the intake as I don't want to get fat but still want to get as big as possible! Tricky situation

 

[Rampage1]

After talking with the warboss I have decided to do a low carb, high fat high protein diet, with one carb day to help me bulk but limit fat gain! Anyways, on to todays workout:

Military Press 12x 30kg
12 x 35 kg
8 x 37.5kg

sitting military press Smith Machine 3x50kg, 3x50kg

Dips, one set: 13 x bodyweight

cable tricep pushdowns: 25kg x 15 (2 sets)

All in all not too bad, first time hitting the shoulders in a while and I have noticeably lost some muscle mass in that area so I intend to get that back as soon as possible. I did one set of dips only as I had a good chest day on Saturday and don't want to overtrain! Hopefully I will start to see improvements again soon as the first few weeks back will hopefully result in quick gains. Over and out, time to throw down the glutamine and the jumbo bananna before my shake!

 

[yungahdubz]

Nice dips.

 

[Rampage1]

Cheers dude, but you have to remember they are only bodyweight dips.

Anyways, since yesterday I did a pretty good workout for shoulders I was wondering whether there is a reason for them not being sore today. This always happens to me and my shoulders very rarely ever get sore after a workout, whereas my chest, back , legs ALWAYS feel the pain the next day!

Does this give me more room to train my shoulders more often than the other body parts?

 

[yungahdubz]

Same for me, i always get mean DOMS in the big muscles (quads, hams, back etc.) But only rarely in my triceps, biceps, shoulders, forearms: the small muscles.

Don't think it's anything to worry about really.

Probably shouldn't train the muscles further, might not feel like it but it will probably just lead to over training.

 

[Rampage1]

Today:

Barbell Rows: 10 x45kg, 10 x 45kg, 9 x 55kg

cable pulls to throat: 12x 32.5kg, 12x 32.5kg, 10 37.5kg

Seated Cable Rows: 12 x 45kg (x 3)

Standing Barbell Curls: 10 x 30kg (x2)

Not too bad. I tried to get a few different exercises in for my back as it is definitely an area I need to improve on. Unfortunately I don't have any pull up bars at my home gym so had to do with the exercises listed above. I am starting university again at the start of October so I will have access to a better gym then. However, giving myself a day for deadlifts only will hopefully get my back a little thicker too!

 

[shaunuk]

Yeah, shoulders rarely get sore for a lot of people too. Whereas back, chest etc do. Don't worry about it mate.