Hit by a truck: Diablo's Health Crap

[diablo]

Aargh...

Generally I don't like it when people post useless threads with even more useless thread titles... however, I'm going to cast a blind eye on myself in this instance.

I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck. Not just any Mack truck, mind you, but one loaded to max capacity with lead weights. Going 70mph. Downhill. After nearly a year of slovenly eating habits, drinking, and generally not taking care of myself I have once again set foot back into the gym. Visiting yesterday, I had to get my FitLinxx account reactivated so the computerized trainer at each machine (both free weights and Nautilus) could tell me what my goals were for that section, if I should slow down my lifting or lowering the weights, that sort of thing.

Thing is, after a year of eating at Hooters more than I should, not getting anywhere near enough exercise, and generally being a bum I was still lifting the same as I was when I left a year ago. I had wondered why I wasn't seeing any results (I trained for about a year, religiously, though my eating habits during that time were good, they apparently weren't great...) So, now I need to increase the weight on each machine - if I can do it after a year break I obviously wasn't doing enough... however, my body needs to get unsore first. I forgot how bad - and good - it felt to be sore in virtually every muscle group. Simply lying in bed and feeling the aches of spots I forgot I had muscles in is both painful and relieving. However, I can't wait for the pain to subside and me to be able to hit the gym every other day without feeling the effects quite this strongly.

The reasons I'm going back are simple.

• I need to lose the 1/2"-1" spare tire on my sides. Seriously.
• The beginnings of a gut (1/2") has to go.
• I need to get more toned - I'll worry about getting big later.
• My dietary habits have been sucking as of late. Gotta change for the first three to take place.
• I'm spending money faster than I'm making it, so I've got to get back into shape and start dancing again. My friend, who ironically enough I introduced to dancing, made $2100 last weekend working 3 nights @ 4 hours a night. While I voluntarily quit dancing about 8 months ago (naively thinking I had enough saved up to last me for a long time) I can't pass up that sort of money.
• The girl I've been with for well over a year now is also getting herself "in shape". All 5'2" and 96 lbs of her. I think she's got a pinch of fat somewhere on her stomach - when she doubles over.

Anyway, that's about it. Time to hit the gym, eat right, and inline skate like crazy.

 

[diablo]

Sure it's good, but it's not feeling too good about now. She's the main one; started off as an appetizer but moved her way to the main dish. This isn't to say I don't choose from other things on the menu when the mood hits me, but it's good to have a sure thing.

I don't plan on working out today. I might put my skates on later on in the afternoon and take it to the streets for an hour or two when it cools down, but lifting is out of the question for now. Tomorrow morning or afternoon is more likely. I'll have to find a copy of my routine to put up here...

 

[diablo]

Wow, I'm weak today. Woke up at 8am, then found out the Terminex man was coming so I had to get out of the house by 10am and stay gone for at least 2 hours. Instead of going to the mall or somewhere (what girls get up at 10am in the summer?) I went to the gym. Driving there, I thought about what had happened in the past with exercising... and realized that I was lifting pretty much the same weight the same way for virtually a full year without really seeing any results. I don't want that to happen again, so I decided to up myself today to 2 reps on each - instead of the one I'd been doing.

Now, I'm starting to reach the conclusion that the YMCA fitness staff (who are all certified personal trainers) are either:

• Idiots.
• So used to dealing with 80 year olds that they don't know what to do with a 22 year old.

Here's are the machines I'd do every other day - following their advice - with one rep of 20 for each machine.

Cybex VR2 Leg Press
Cybex VR2 Ab Crunch
Body Masters Tricep Press
Cybex VR2 Arm Curl
Cybex VR2 Leg Extension
Cybex VR2 Rotary Calf (Seated) Calf Raises
Cybex VR2 Row/Rear Delt (Dual Axis) Seated Row
Cybex VR2 Torso Rotation (these i find hard as hell, I need to work on my form)
Cybex VR2 Back Extension
Cybex VR2 Chest Press
Cybex VR2 Hip Abduction
Cybex VR2 Hip Adduction
Cybex VR2 Overhead Press (Shoulder) Shoulder Press
Cybex VR2 Seated Leg Curl

Generally these take 30-45 minutes to finish off. Today I went in and did two sets - one to 20, rested for 45 seconds, then went as many as I could on the second set. I was able to reach 15-20 on most of the machines - especially lower body, but with the upper body (chest press in particular) I was only able to get up to around 12-13 before muscle failure.

All in all, I feel like I got a better workout today than I've ever gotten before. I'll sleep good tonight... then in the morning it'll be time to do some more inline skating. If anyone wants to comment on the routine or give advice on what to talk to the trainers about, feel free.

Oh yeah, and diet is going great too. I've decided to stick as closely as possible with the advice given in the DJB:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33874

 

[MindOverMatter]

diablo, what are your measurements now, and what are your goals?

 

[ryan killa]

Diablo:

Reading your goals, and the actual exercises you are doing, it's obvious you won't see major changes. When doing an exercise over 8 reps, generally, you are working on your endurance, and not creating new muscle tissue. More muscle=faster metabolism=more fat burned. No wonder you lifted the same weight for a year: you created little, if any, new muscle tissue.

Basically, lift so that you can do 2-3 sets of about 6 reps max. This will encourage muscle development, and burn far more fat than you ever will by doing 20 reps, etc.

Oh yeah, you'll start lifting more weight too,

peace.

 

[gav]

Re: Aargh...

Originally posted by diablo
My friend, who ironically enough I introduced to dancing, made $2100 last weekend working 3 nights @ 4 hours a night.

that's tits for ya

 

[Centaurion]

It's good to see that you are back in the gym.

But however, I strongly suggest that you stay the hell away from machine. They are pretty much useless. Most PTs don't know jack. Take a look at this article,
http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=25

That is a pretty good routine. It gives you a nice intro to all the different excersises and you can tailor it to your needs as yo8u go along.

 

[Julian]

Stick to free weights. Those machines are for grannys an trannys.

 

[Oxide]

Diablo..what was all that "im going to be ripped" talk about 4-5 months ago.. fool i though you were working your ass off and instead you were doing the opposite!


We can get you a great body and great BF%.. but the thing is, are you dedicated enough and patient enough to learn all this and STICK with it?

From what i see, your whole routine is sh1t. Utter sh1t that wont get you anywhere. People already started catching it and giving you advice, that's great.

If you REALLY want this, im sure all of us here can help you get there.

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by Oxide
Diablo..what was all that "im going to be ripped" talk about 4-5 months ago.. fool i though you were working your ass off and instead you were doing the opposite!

Yep, I stand chastised. I got about a month into it before I had a cheat meal that I didn't snap back from... Since I need money, and in order to get any amount worth having the love handles have to go, it's time to tear the crap out of this thing. Sure, it's extrinsic motivation... with any luck that will change to intrinsic before too long. The thing that I'm doing different this time around (other than revamping my workouts, diet, etc) is following the advice I read on some thread earlier in this section of the forum - "Focus on daily behavior as opposed to results". Instead of thinking about this as a huge mountain that I've got to overcome, take it a step at a time.

To all that have given advice regarding the plan I've been on, thanks. The advice about free weights reminded me about something my PE teacher told me years ago, in high school... "Free weights are light years ahead of machines". That being said, I've got a bit of a problem... no workout partner as of yet. While going to failure without a spotter isn't an option on free weights, it is with a machine... thus the appeal. In addition to this, they've made tracking your workout process seductively easy by uploading all of the results - including form, time, weight lifted, etc, to your personal account at fitlinxx.com. I'm currently looking for a workout buddy, but in the meantime not too sure of what to do. Tentatively, I'll go in there tomorrow and play around with the weight a little, adding plates until I can only do 3 sets of 6.

Anyway, today I went out and did around an hour of cardio, finishing up at 1pm. I need to start waking up earlier to do this though, since it's 93 degrees (F) out right now (and according to weather.com it feels like 101 with the humidity). Not very condusive to working out... though in all fairness it's probably a large reason for me having already drunk 1.5 gallons of water (I've been averaging 1.25 gallons a day for the last few days..)

 

[MindOverMatter]

To all that have given advice regarding the plan I've been on, thanks. The advice about free weights reminded me about something my PE teacher told me years ago, in high school... "Free weights are light years ahead of machines". That being said, I've got a bit of a problem... no workout partner as of yet. While going to failure without a spotter isn't an option on free weights, it is with a machine... thus the appeal. In addition to this, they've made tracking your workout process seductively easy by uploading all of the results - including form, time, weight lifted, etc, to your personal account at fitlinxx.com. I'm currently looking for a workout buddy, but in the meantime not too sure of what to do. Tentatively, I'll go in there tomorrow and play around with the weight a little, adding plates until I can only do 3 sets of 6.

Diablo, you only need a spotter for free weights if you're doing forced negatives. If you're going to positive failure (you know you cant do another rep), you dont need a spotter.

I've been doing benches, squats, deads, etc without spotters every once in a while for a period of 3 years.

As for progress, just buy a binder, make a routine, print it out, and carry the binder + a pencil with you to the gym.You finish a set, you jot down the rep x weight. Next workout, you try to do a lil more. It's less convenient then having it on the net I agree, but people who try to make things as convenient as possible never end up losing weight.

 

[Oxide]

Spot on Mind.

I have been hearing the same "i cant go to failure" excuse for the last year.. all that is nothing but bs. After 2 weeks you will know when you can do that one more rep... plus the motivation of getting that weight up so it doesnt crush and emberass you is a stimulant on its own. Free weights from now on, very little or no machines at all diablo.

you MUST write down your results. Carry something with you, becuase YES you will forget. It is utterly important because looking at the previous week you can see exactly what you have done, not gestimate it.. (people who gestimate get stuck at the same weight for months and months)...

All that cardio and eating properly is great, WHEN YOU KNOW EXACTLY what you are doing... you MUST create a diet, figure out the calories and the food. we can help you there.

About cardio, i'd like Mind to pitch in, becuase i am not too fimilar with it right now.. one thing i've heard is that cardio should be done right after you wake up and before your first meal of the day, that is the best time to burn fat. Also, intense cardio for 20 mins beats running for an hour.

Good luck

 

[MindOverMatter]

If you just want to lose fat and don't care if you lose muscle mass (this was my case when I had 30% bf several years ago and just wanted to be skinny):

- run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach for a long period of time.

If you actually want to lose fat while maintaining most of your muscle gains, it's a lot harder.

It's recommended that:

1.) You don't do it right before, or after a weight training workout. In fact the best time to do it is on an off day. So say you're doing a 3 day split and are lifting on mon/wed/fri, tue/thur/sat are days you do cardio on.
2.) If you lift weights on that day, do cardio 8 hours later.
3.) Do HIIT cardio only. It shouldn't be more then 15-20 mins.
4.) Supplement with a scoop of whey protein and glutamine mixed in cold water afterwards.

 

[Oxide]

Supplement with a scoop of whey protein and glutamine mixed in cold water afterwards.

Yikes! No thanks, i'll take Crystal Light

 

[diablo]

Time to update this thread, seeing as how it's been a while.

I've been working out consistently since the last post, with the exception of the 4th and 5th of July. I sat down the other night (before reading anything on the thread) with a friend of mine who's hard core into working out. He's got the tattoo of some chinese symbol on his chest in this picture (2 to the right of me):
http://www.jbspencer.com/jeremy/content/pictures/jeremy/spring break small.jpg

Anyway, he was telling me that he's been primarily using machines along with free weights some of the time in his daily workouts and recommended I do the same - so I'll be giving it a shot for a month or two to see how it works out. I made the switch today to 3 sets of 6-8... the weight I was able to lift increased by about 50% on average, though the number of reps decreased (obviously).

I've also got FitDay PC, which will monitor all of my food intake. I eat something, I put it in to FitDay, it breaks it all down for me - from calories to carbs to fat and everything in between... pretty straightforward. It even has spots to input my workout and cardio. I should note that I've cut back on going out to once a week/every other week, and eliminated beer altogether. For what it's worth.

Okay, that's about it for now.

 

[diablo]

Been a while once again. I've stuck with it, doing a full body workout every other day (except for last weekend, when I went to Texas to visit a friend), and am starting to notice some results. Nothing earth-shattering, just a better overall sense of wellness and increased tone in some muscle groups. The diet has gone far better than expected, I've found it easy to maintain and haven't had any problems with cutting out virtually all processed foods. I've been eating a small, healthy meal every 3 hours and drinking 1+ gallons of water each day. I found a 1 gallon heavy duty water jug (like one of those ones you see on the water cooler at an office, just with a handle and a twist top) that I fill up each night and stick in the fridge to drink the next day. Makes it a lot easier. That's about it for this post.

 

[Heizen]

Sweet. Looks like you really have the drive to want to get back into shape.

Doing a full body workout every other day might be OK since you havn't been working out for a while, but it will eventually probably be overtraining and hold back your gains. A 2 or 3 day split might work better until you find the need for a 5 day.

 

[diablo]

Probably true. I've been listening to what my body's telling me - there's been a few times I've waited an extra day before going back to the gym because I was still pretty sore from the prior workout. I may eventually break it down into upper body and lower body, but I like the idea of getting it all done at one time, even though it makes the workout last longer.

 

[Heizen]

Cool.

Honestly I used to do the same thing. I got some pretty good gains until it felt like I was slowly running into the ground. Then I switched. So as long as it's working keep doing what you are doing.

You said you have a spare tire, are you doing some kind of cutting diet along with the lifting?

 

[diablo]

More or less, I suppose. The main thing that I was having a problem with was inertia - getting myself off my ass and actually getting into the gym - putting down the double quarter pounder with cheese - that sort of stuff. Now I've been trying to get as much protein in as possible while keeping the calories total for the day at around 2k... cottage cheese before bed, chicken breasts during the day, protein shakes, protein bars, etc. With any luck, lifting and doing some mild cardio will help me increase definition and tone while building up some amount of muscle - not that I'm expecting to turn into He-Man overnight...

I'm actually heading out tomorrow to Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia for 10 days (getting back August 3rd), where balanced meals will be prepared for me 3x a day - I'll have my protein bars and powder along with me for the times in between... I'm going to the Boy Scout National Jamboree as a staff member, instructing at the military-style obstacle course. Since it's right next to the rappelling station, a rock wall, a kayaking location, and god knows what else I think I'll be able to keep up with staying in shape, even though I won't have a gym accessible to me...