[SatireWolf]

Howdy!

I'm new here, but I've been lurking for quite some time. A friend of mine, long long ago, in the way before times, got started here on supplementation to aid his training.

I just happened to glance over his shoulder one day while he was surfing and figured out where all his 'advice' was coming from

I've never been one to be that into personal trainers (most that I've met in my short lifespan have been PE college drop outs that knew more about sales, than true strength building).

That being said, I'm on a long hiatus from lifting (2-3 years) during which I've gained 25-30 lbs, but fortunately not lost most of the mass I've gained.

I don't know the term for it, but I gain mass REALLY easily, and by mass I don't mean fat.

My freshmen year of college I weighed 185, 5 percent body fat (peaking at 3.2 percent), and could dead lift 405, bench 275, and squat 350 free, no smith machine involved.

In a year I weighed 225, but was at about the same lift points, just much more muscular. Of course some of that was fat, I was about 10 percent BF at that point.

These days, I'm 245 (lost 5 lbs in the past 2 weeks finally working off my lazy ass lard gains).

I'm 6'4", and have the physique for real weight loss and strength gains, I'm just not really sure where to start.

This is what I'm doing right now, feel free to correct my ignorance, that's why I'm here.

I'm doing varying intensity cardio 3-4 times a week for 25-30 minutes on elliptical machines (short achilles tendons makes stair climbing a pain, it's genetic, and I have always stretched them religiously in the shower daily).

I'm doing strength training 2-3 times a week (my recovery at this point stinks still), doing chest, arms, leggs butt, and then back/shoulders on separate days. As for which day, it varies as I work 2 jobs, and I'm an IT Director. So I stay busy. Hence the lard assed syndrome.

In any case, I have a goal to hit at least 230 in the near term (read 6 months), and eventually get back down to the 220-225 range, which is optimal for my frame (at least to my knowledge). I may end up weighing more, but 7-8 percent BF is my target.

My favorite exercises are squats, and decline squats on a machine. Of course I also like decline crunches (upside down crunches with weight). I'm the reverse of a lot of people I know, but it's the way I'm built. Long strong legs...

On the Diet/Supp front:

Morning

Nitrix first thing with water.

Tribulus, Hoodia, Hydroxycut Hardcore Dose 1

Isopure vanilla or strawberry shake + 12 oz skim milk ~70g of protein 0g carbs/sugar besides the milk

Snack 1

2 Oatmeal Protein Cookies (~200 cal, 16g of protein)

Hoodia 1 hour after Snack 1

Lunch

Some form of frozen goodness (limited by work and availability of a real kitchen at work). I've been focusing on lean cuisines and the south beach kraft stuff. Mostly the meat and veggies trays to minimize the carb load.

Hydroxycut Hardcore Dose 2

Tribulus

Nitrix 1 hour after lunch

Snack 2

2 Mozarella Cheese Sticks ~18 g protein

Nitrix 1 hour after snack 2

Dinner

Whole wheat tortilla quesadillas (grill my own chicken) with a liberal serving of chease and home made hot sauce.

I also eat grilled chicken with salad, with almonds dried cranberries, and balsamic vinnegerate.

I normally work out an hour after dinner, then make a BSN Lean Dessert protein shake immediatley after workout.

Things I know I can improve:

I'm already calorie negative, but I need to go into ketosis as I am a carboholic engine. My body thrives on carbs, so much so I can almost tell you how many simple sugars are in something I ate by how I feel.

Otherwise, I need to add some serious glutamine, and creatine and arginine to my pre-postwork out to get my recovery time down. I'm still sore for days after each workout. (maybe I'm just getting older, but 25 isn't OLD!!#$!)

Thoughts, comments, suggestions are welcome. I may start a log of my progress once I get settled into my routine. At this point I'm still getting over the (smack my body around and tell it to sit down shut up and work) man it's been awhile hump.

[SatireWolf]

My current bodyfat is ~22 percent, so sayeth my not so accurate Taylor scale. That's an average as it fluctuates +-2-3 percent based on how much water I've drunk for the day, and what time of day it is. I don't do it right after work outs, as that's not a very accurate reading from what I've heard.

One other factoid, is that I've never needed anything other than 'over the counter' supplementation to hit my goals. I'm fortunate to be blessed with a non-deprived Mr. T system.

[thewilman]

to AM

Good luck with your goals!

[Gutterpump]

Originally Posted by SatireWolf

I'm already calorie negative, but I need to go into ketosis as I am a carboholic engine. My body thrives on carbs, so much so I can almost tell you how many simple sugars are in something I ate by how I feel.

Otherwise, I need to add some serious glutamine, and creatine and arginine to my pre-postwork out to get my recovery time down. I'm still sore for days after each workout. (maybe I'm just getting older, but 25 isn't OLD!!#$!)

Thoughts, comments, suggestions are welcome.

Was looking at your diet. You also may want to consider adding more casein protein into your diet especially during a calorie deficit / cutting phase. A mix of whey/casein is good, which I see you doing in the am.

If recovery is an issue during your current split, you may want to consider more of an HST routine. That's what I'm gearing myself towards now, and adding in a lot of compound excercises...plus I'm finding it much more intense since I can quickly go from working one muscle group/excercise to another with little to no break...plus it really cuts down my workout time. The only problem I am having with this is blood pressure (likely from certain things I am taking on this cut) and also energy levels, but I'm working on that too. I've having the same problem with my carbs atm but working on that as well. I try to limit most of my carbs to before noon...but I'm still getting over 150grams a day. Keeping the fat down low now though which is good, since my carbs are far too high for proper ketosis.

[SatireWolf]

Originally Posted by Gutterpump

Was looking at your diet. You also may want to consider adding more casein protein into your diet especially during a calorie deficit / cutting phase. A mix of whey/casein is good, which I see you doing in the am.

If recovery is an issue during your current split, you may want to consider more of an HST routine. That's what I'm gearing myself towards now, and adding in a lot of compound excercises...plus I'm finding it much more intense since I can quickly go from working one muscle group/excercise to another with little to no break...plus it really cuts down my workout time. The only problem I am having with this is blood pressure (likely from certain things I am taking on this cut) and also energy levels, but I'm working on that too. I've having the same problem with my carbs atm but working on that as well. I try to limit most of my carbs to before noon...but I'm still getting over 150grams a day. Keeping the fat down low now though which is good, since my carbs are far too high for proper ketosis.

I choked down some cottage cheese, and a whey casein plain blend protein before I went to bed. This seemed to keep me from being ravagingly hungry this morning!

[thewilman]

Originally Posted by SatireWolf

I choked down some cottage cheese, and a whey casein plain blend protein before I went to bed. This seemed to keep me from being ravagingly hungry this morning!

Hey SW,

This is what I do about 30 mins before bed -

8 oz Skim Milk
8 oz Cottage Cheese
1 Scoop of Protein
1 TBS Natty PB

Blend until smooth...enjoy! Tastes really good and since you hate CC, this may help!

[SatireWolf]

Hrmm I'll have to give that a try I don't 'hate' cottage cheese, it's just not on my top ten list of things I'd 'like' to eat.

You have any brands of natural peanut butter you prefer? I'm blessed by having 3 high end flag ship supermarkets near my house, so I have quite a selection available.

[thewilman]

Originally Posted by SatireWolf

You have any brands of natural peanut butter you prefer? I'm blessed by having 3 high end flag ship supermarkets near my house, so I have quite a selection available.

I just use one from my local supermarket chain (Publix) that is ground daily. Just peanuts, nothing else. The best tatsing CC for my $ is Breakstones 2% Small Curd. But when I blend it, I use whatever is on sale since I can't really taste it (especially the texture) anyway.

[SatireWolf]

Hrmm, sounds good. Yeah I agree that Breakstones is the best 'tasting'. I'll have to see if I can find some fresh ground PB!