starting over after 19 years

[raginfcktard]

At the end of work today somone asked if I have been losing weight.

:clap2::clap2::clap2:

 

[heavypieces]

Gotta love that. It's just the beginning champ! Soon enough people will start giving you the, "Holy **** you've been working out!"

Keep up the great work!

:thumbsup:

Thanks!!

 

[heavypieces]

:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Thanks!!

 

[heavypieces]

Chest, triceps and HIIT

bench press
DB flies
incline db press

nose busters
straight bar cable push down
close grip bench press
v grip cable extension

1934 calories

fat 57 g
cho 155 g
protein 211 g

added creatine to my diet today. I also decided to start using a measuring cup for my portions. I found out I am underestimating the amount of wheaties and milk.

 

[Vance]

Chest, triceps and HIIT

bench press
DB flies
incline db press

nose busters
straight bar cable push down
close grip bench press
v grip cable extension

1934 calories

fat 57 g
cho 155 g
protein 211 g

added creatine to my diet today. I also decided to start using a measuring cup for my portions. I found out I am underestimating the amount of wheaties and milk.

Another little tip; try to remember what weights you're working with, how many reps you're doing and how many sets. It's another way once the weight loss slows a little (It will at some point) that you can see tangible progress and keep yourself motivated.

What's your weight sitting at now..?

 

[heavypieces]

Another little tip; try to remember what weights you're working with, how many reps you're doing and how many sets. It's another way once the weight loss slows a little (It will at some point) that you can see tangible progress and keep yourself motivated.

What's your weight sitting at now..?

I weighed in at 264 this morning. Seem to be stuck there for the last week or so. However I still feel like my body is changing fast. Arms are tight, chest is getting tighter, love handles seem a little smaller. I wonder if I am adding some bulk while lowering BF. It's hard to tell.

I haven't been posting the weight I have been lifting because it's embarrassing. I'll start posting tomorrow.

 

[heavypieces]

legs and shoulders today

I had a lot of lactic acid buildup from the last time I did legs so I asked the owner of the little gym I go to and he said "work through it but stay light and your legs will feel better after your workout." So I did and they do.

Squats
hack squat machine
seated leg extension

military press machine
standing barbell rows
cable lateral raises

Had to make it a quick one since I was late for work.


diet in a couple minutes.

 

[heavypieces]

breakfast

2 packs of oatmeal 259 cal
isopure protein drink 210 cal
biocell creatine mix 56 cal

workout

isopure 210 cal
biocell 56 cal
banana 105

lunch

ham and cheese sandwich 461 cal

snack

raisins 62 cal


dinner

1 lb raw bluefin tuna!! YUM 490 cals
5 pretzels 61 cal

1990 calories

fat 39 g
cho 174 g
protein 241 g

 

[heavypieces]

weighed in at 261 today!

 

[EasyEJL]

Sweet!

 

[heavypieces]

Sweet!

I think my crazy "cheat day" was the thing that slowed me down this week. I went overboard on the carbs. That's the last time I do that

 

[heavypieces]

back, biceps and HIIT

overhead rows 100x10, 120x10, 130x 10 140x10
seated rows 90x10, 120x10, 130x10 140 x 10
straight leg dead lift. 90x10, 110x10, 130x 10 140 x 10
barbell bent over rows 35 x 10, 45 x 10 55x10 65 x 10

biceps

barbell curls 40 x 10, 60 x 10 80 x 10 90 x 10
standing db curls 20x10, 25x10, 30x10, 35x6
preacher bench one arm cables 20x10 x 4

HIIT stationary bike
1 min @ brisk cycling pace followed by 30 seconds as fast as I can crank. I do this for 15 minutes

 

[heavypieces]

breakfast
banana 90 cal
isopure protein drink 210 cal
biocell creatine/dextrose

workout

PW snack
banana 90 cal
isopure 210 cal

Snack 2
oat granola bar 160 cal
raisins 62 cal

snack 3
oat granola bar 160 cal

late lunch
chicken burrito 629 cal
refried black beans 110 cal

dinner
12 oz bluefin tuna seared with a dry rub YUM 367 cal

fat 42 g
cho 214 g
protein 230 g

2170 calories

 

[heavypieces]

yesterday was chest, triceps, HIIT and eating right.

I weighed in at 258 this morning!! I'm going to hit the beach today with my boy so it's a day off.

Enjoy life,

Heavypieces

 

[JessieC]

ive been keeping up with your log, sounds like your doing great!

 

[bezoe]

Excellent job so far man! I noticed with your diet you started off with quite a bit of protein, like 250 grams or something. The excess would be converted to carbs. But I saw that you bumped it down to about 210 or something which is more practical. Keep it up though and you can keep feeling great.

 

[heavypieces]

ive been keeping up with your log, sounds like your doing great!

Thanks!!

 

[heavypieces]

Excellent job so far man! I noticed with your diet you started off with quite a bit of protein, like 250 grams or something. The excess would be converted to carbs. But I saw that you bumped it down to about 210 or something which is more practical. Keep it up though and you can keep feeling great.

Thanks, I've been making adjustments based on suggestions from other AM members and from what I learn on this and other fitness sites.

Right now the program is:

Lift 6x/week
eat at least 1g protein/lb of lean body mass
adjust my caloric intake to lose at least 2.5 lbs per week.
HIIT at least 4x per week
1 cheat day per week (I'm still trying to figure this out)
Macros 40% protein 40% carbs 20% fat


It seems to be working. I'm stronger in the gym and dropping body fat.

 

[heavypieces]

Cheat day today. I just need to do this once a week.

Oatmeal 160 cal
protein shake 210 cal
glass of milk 100 cal
biocell creatine shake 56 cal

lunch

Carne Asada burrito >1500 cal

snack

banana 60 cal

dinner>1500 cal

3 turkey sloppy joes on white bread
salad w/ dressing
2 chicken breasts

 

[EasyEJL]

lifting 6x a week with 4x of HIIT sounds like alot. Also, 1 full cheat day a week is a little bit high, 1-2 cheat meals a week is probably a better overall plan. dont have to be same day, so you can do dinner saturday and dinner sunday for instance so you can be social

 

[heavypieces]

lifting 6x a week with 4x of HIIT sounds like alot. Also, 1 full cheat day a week is a little bit high, 1-2 cheat meals a week is probably a better overall plan. dont have to be same day, so you can do dinner saturday and dinner sunday for instance so you can be social

Thanks. Sounds like I still need to make some tweaks to the plan. I appreciate the feedback.

Heavypieces

 

[heavypieces]

legs today

Squats 110x10, 130x10, 150 x 10, 130x 10
hack squat machine 100x10, 120 x 10, 130 x 10, 150 x 10
calf raises superset with leg presses 90 x 10, 180 x 10, 270 x 10, 360 x 10
leg curls superset with leg extensions
55 x 10, 65 x 10, 75 x 10, 85 x 10

2235 calories

fat 55g
cho 240g
protein 239 g

HP

 

[heavypieces]

back, biceps and HIIT

close grip lat pull down 100x10, 130x10, 140x10, 150x10
close grip cable rows 110x10, 130x10, 140x10, 150x10
straight leg dead lift 110x10, 130x10, 160x10, 170x10
wide grip bent over rows 45x10, 45x10, 55x10, 55x10

biceps
curl bar 50x10, 70x10, 80x10, 90x10
db curls 25x10, 30x10, 35x10, 40x10
cable preacher bench straight bar 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 70x10
standing cable curls 20x10, 25x10, 30x10, 35x10

HIIT 15 minutes on a stationary bike 1 minute moderate pace, 30 seconds as fast as I can.

2224 calories

fat 55g
cho 203g
protein 236g

 

[heavypieces]

chest and tri's

db press 55x10, 60x10, 60x5, 45x12
incline bench press 40x10, 60x10, 70x10, 80x10
cable flys 20x10, 30x10, 40x10 40x10

straight bar pushdowns
tricep extension rope
nose busters

Not sure of the weight

weigh in at 258 this morning

1600 calories

fat 45g
cho158g
protein 153 g

 

[heavypieces]

256 this morning!! down 14 lbs since I started which was the Friday before Labor Day. 5 1/2 weeks. I defiantly feel like I gained some muscle too. My arms are becoming hard, I feel some muscle under my fat of my chest. Belly is shrinking and love handles feel smaller. I still have a long way to go but motivation is high. I'm still tweaking my diet and learning how my body responds. Also I am going to change my workout a little. I haven't been hitting my abs so split will look like this

day 1. back/bicep
day 2. chest/tri
day 3. legs
day 4. shoulders/abs
day 5. rest

One more thing--I'm working out in a gym that Arnold trained for a while, in back in the day. It's a little gym in San Diego that was owned by a very special trainer named Leo Stern. He passed away last week. This place doesn't look like much but the iron has history here.


Heavypieces

 

[heavypieces]

Legs today. Hit em hard.

2200 calories. Macros good. Abs are sore from yesterday. I'm taking two days off. Have a great weekend.

HP

 

[Vance]

Legs today. Hit em hard.

2200 calories. Macros good. Abs are sore from yesterday. I'm taking two days off. Have a great weekend.

HP

Keep up the good work!

 

[heavypieces]

Weighed in at 260 this morning up 4 lbs. Not sure what that means--still learning about my body for sure. Here are some progress pics. Got some free tickets to the NASCAR race this afternoon. Not a big fan but I like listening to loud hotrods. Eating right for today and back in the gym tomorrow.

Peace,

HP

 

[carnivalhobo]

definite progress, your delts looks more square in addition to the obvious belly fat reduction.

dont be afraid to eat something before bed. a shake + almond butter is a great pre-bed meal. make sure your water intake is high, it will make you feel miles better and allow you to retain less.

I would also suggest dropping some carbs for a week or two and see how you respond once you hit that plateau.

as for your split i think doing shoulders and legs together is probably a better bet. the delts are small muscles and get worked a lot during other training so you probably dont need a whole day for them. I would work abs 2x a week too, something simple like a few sets of crunches, cable crunches, decline situps, trunk twists and the like will help keep it new and fresh and give you a more evenly developed core which will help in the big compound lifts.

 

[heavypieces]

definite progress, your delts looks more square in addition to the obvious belly fat reduction.

dont be afraid to eat something before bed. a shake + almond butter is a great pre-bed meal. make sure your water intake is high, it will make you feel miles better and allow you to retain less.

I would also suggest dropping some carbs for a week or two and see how you respond once you hit that plateau.

as for your split i think doing shoulders and legs together is probably a better bet. the delts are small muscles and get worked a lot during other training so you probably dont need a whole day for them. I would work abs 2x a week too, something simple like a few sets of crunches, cable crunches, decline situps, trunk twists and the like will help keep it new and fresh and give you a more evenly developed core which will help in the big compound lifts.

Thanks for the advice! I am going to add more abs, not sure what day yet maybe back and biceps day. The only reason I split out the shoulders is I need and extra day for my legs to heal up. 3 days on and one off is just not enough for my old legs. As far as the diet I am going to start playing with my macros a little at the end of month two . I just have 2 solid weeks at 2100 calories and 40/40/20. As long as I keep making good progress I want to hold my diet constant. I suspect too many changes too fast will slow my learning curve.

I am anxious to get back into the gym!!

HP

 

[heavypieces]

OK I think I am on my to good progress. I feel like I know what I need to know so I'm going to start posting once a week and I'll try to post progress pics once every two weeks. Thanks for your help.

hp

 

[EasyEJL]

updating after each workout is nice, helps you stay on track of it all

 

[heavypieces]

updating after each workout is nice, helps you stay on track of it all

OK I'll keep going

Yesterday

Chest and tri

DB press 35x10, 45x10, 50x10, 60x10
pec deck flys 60x10, 70x10, 75x10 80x10
incline press 35x10, 40x10, 45x10, 45x6
close grip bench press 40x15, 60x15, 80x10, 80x10
cable flies 20x10x4
back to machine tricep rope extension 30x10, 40x10x3
cable push downs 40x10, 50x10, 60x10, 60x10


Food
1. 2 whole wheat english muffins with 1.5 tbs of PB 400 cal
2. sushi 600 cal
3. preworkout protein drink 220 cal
4. postworkout protein drink 160 cal
5. chicken burrito

2080 calories

fat 58 g
cho 256 g
protein 161 g

 

[heavypieces]

weighed in at 258 this morning. It seems I am bouncing between 256-260 lbs. for 10 days now. I stopped doing HIIT after workouts.....hmmm.

 

[heavypieces]

yesterday

legs and I couldn't get at the squat rack

leg press superset with calf raises 90x10, 180x10, 270x10, 360x10
hack squat machine 70x10, 80x10, 90x10, 100x10
leg extension superset with leg curls 4 sets each

2140 calories

fat 62g
cho158 g
protein 214g

 

[heavypieces]

weigh in this morning at 258. My total body weight seems to have stabilized for the last 10 days but it looks like I am still losing fat but it's hard to tell. I am going to give this 3 more days then lower total calories to 1900 per day.

 

[heavypieces]

Started doing hiit again. I will post my diet and workout later.

 

[oufinny]

I still think you could benefit from upping your fat intake to 30, protein to 50 and carbs to 30. Have one carb up day every 5 or so and you should continue to lose fat.

 

[heavypieces]

I still think you could benefit from upping your fat intake to 30, protein to 50 and carbs to 30. Have one carb up day every 5 or so and you should continue to lose fat.

I appreciate the suggestion. It's in the queue for changes.

Possible changes I am considering.

macro ratios
lowering total calories
workout splits and exercises
increasing HIIT
PH/DH cycle

First thing I am doing is adding HIIT back to my workout. Let's see what that does. I suspect it was important--we'll find out soon enough--next progress picture is in 9 days if the body doesn't show progress then I will make another change.

By the way I am a scientist so I just have to do it this way. Changing multiple variables in an experiment yields confusing data.

HP

 

[oufinny]

With your size I don't see how lowering calories is going to help. Your maintenance has to be closer to 3000 a day and if you are 2100 you are already way down. It may benefit you to raise calories for a few weeks to help get your body out of starvation mode which will prevent burning of fat very easily. Also, you need to get more protein in your meals and make sure it is a focal point of all of them; if not you cannot preserve muscle mass while cutting. Also, many quality protein sources have good fats and cholesterol in them that help with natural hormone production, ie testosterone. And drop the PH/DS idea until you have got to your goal weight then consider it. Plus, good luck getting your hands on any right now.

 

[bezoe]

With your size I don't see how lowering calories is going to help. Your maintenance has to be closer to 3000 a day and if you are 2100 you are already way down. It may benefit you to raise calories for a few weeks to help get your body out of starvation mode which will prevent burning of fat very easily. Also, you need to get more protein in your meals and make sure it is a focal point of all of them; if not you cannot preserve muscle mass while cutting. Also, many quality protein sources have good fats and cholesterol in them that help with natural hormone production, ie testosterone. And drop the PH/DS idea until you have got to your goal weight then consider it. Plus, good luck getting your hands on any right now.

+1 to the highlighted. And definetely continue HIIT. If you have to, for lack of energy, decrease it to 2 or 3 days a week. It's a type of cardio specific for fatloss and it promotes testosterone production.

 

[EasyEJL]

i'd say go with 2800-3000 for 2-3 weeks, then drop back down again

 

[heavypieces]

+1 to the highlighted. And definetely continue HIIT. If you have to, for lack of energy, decrease it to 2 or 3 days a week. It's a type of cardio specific for fatloss and it promotes testosterone production.

Ok that's 3 guys that have told me to increase calories. EasyEJL pm'ed me.

Keep HIIT and increase calories to maintenance. Keep it clean and get protein in every meal.

Feedback? I was assuming my maintenance was 2700 calories but that was just a guess.

 

[heavypieces]

i'd say go with 2800-3000 for 2-3 weeks, then drop back down again

Alright, starting today bumping total cals to 2800 with clean food. I'll post diet in detail for the next few days. Feel free to critique as I go. Any feedback is welcome.

HP

 

[heavypieces]

today was shoulders, abs and HIIT

seated db press 35x10, 40x10x3
delt machine 30x10, 45x10, 60x10, 60x10
standing rows 40x10, 60x10, 80x10, 60x10
front raises 20x10x4

cable crunches 60x20x4
incline leg lifts 4 sets of 20
oblique crunches 4 set of 20

HIIT stationary bike 15 min 1 minute fast pace followed by 30 seconds as fast as I can--repeat.

Meals

1873 calories

fat 61g
cho 156 g
protein 196 g

Missed lunch today because of a meeting.

I've been pretty agro the past couple days.

 

[heavypieces]

258 this morning. Increasing total calories today. Today is my rest day for the gym.

HP

 

[heavypieces]

260 this morning.

my meals were poorly planned yesterday and need to get my act together.

2587 calories

fat 87 g
cho 281 g
protein 212 g

breakfast

isopure zero cal protein drink 210 cal
whole wheat English muffin 130 cal
PB 50 calories

mid morning snack

cereal bar 139 calories
oat granola bar 180 cal

lunch 800 calories
15 sushi pieces

afternoon snack

3 slices of cheese

dinner

protein drink 200 cal
3 slices of cheese 339
tortillia165 cal

snack
protein drink 200

Going to add more real protein and veggies today.

yesterday I woke up with pain and a little stiffness in my left elbow area. It feels like inflammation of a tendon. I took yesterday off from the gym, which was scheduled. I was hoping it would get better but last night it was on fire. I iced it and it started to feel a little better. I'm going to hit the gym and work through it and let's see what happens. Advil and ice for sure.

HP

 

[carnivalhobo]

try doing tricep stretches for the elbow pain

i still think you need to reduce your carb intake, or at least switch some of them to fibrous sources cereal/granola bars and english muffins are just a pile of refined carbs. get some spinch/green beans/broccoli in the mix. These help keep you feeling full, encourage regularity, and will generate less of an insulin response.

 

[heavypieces]

back, biceps and HIIT

elbow was pretty tender during my workout but I iced it all afternoon, loaded up on some advil and it feels great tonight. Looking forward to a good chest and tri workout tomorrow.

cable seated high row 100x10x4
lat pulldown 90x10, 100x10, 110x10, 120x10
straight leg deadlift 90x10, 110x10, 130x10 150x10
standing cable rows 20x10, 30x10x3

standing EZbar curls 65x10, 70x10, 80x10x2
standing one hand cable curls

stopped at that point because my elbow was screaming to stop.

HIIT stationary bike 15 min.

1897 calories

breakfast
wheaties and milk 340

pre workout protein drink 220 cal

post workout protein drink 220 cal

lunch fish tacos on corn tortillas 660 cal

dinner skinless chicken breast 220 cal
peas 104 cal

fat 53 g
cho 175 g
protein 196 cal

 

[heavypieces]

try doing tricep stretches for the elbow pain

i still think you need to reduce your carb intake, or at least switch some of them to fibrous sources cereal/granola bars and english muffins are just a pile of refined carbs. get some spinch/green beans/broccoli in the mix. These help keep you feeling full, encourage regularity, and will generate less of an insulin response.

OK good suggestion. I will do my best to add veggies. Icing the arm and stretching is helping.