Starting Over

[BDiamond]

I'm going to be tracking my progress during the next couple of weeks and wanted to document it on the board. I'm hoping by making this public that it will push me even harder to make sure I see some good results. I've been lifting the past 10-12 years (since high school) but haven't really seen any dramatic results in the past couple of years. I attribute this to a lot of things (poor diet, drinking, not refreshing my program enough, no patience), but I'm hoping to change all that.

I originally got into the gym b/c it was required at the time by my high school basketball coach. Most of my teen life I was the tall skinny kid. Around sophmore year I decided to hit the weights a lot harder. While I did see results, I was young and naive (now I sound like AROD), in the fact I wasn't really sure what I was doing and fell into the habit of just doing the typical chest and bi workouts. After taking some weight training classes junior and senior year I began to get a little bit better idea of what I needed to do to be successful but I still wasn't as dedicated as I could have been. When I left high school I was 205 lbs and had a good base to go off of.

I went away to college to play basketball initially. We'd have long hard practices that would just drain me phyiscally. In the first few months of doing that I dropped down to about 190lbs. It was around this time where I developed a stress fracture in my foot which would sideline me for a couple of weeks. It was then that I had a chance to really lift and eat and I put on a good 20 lbs or so in the next month or two. At the end of my freshman year I transferred to a different school b/c basketball had just lost its fun for me.

During the next year or so I lifted heavy, ate well and cut out most of my drinking. I was able to get up to around 240lbs or so. Over the next couple years I've been lifting 3-5 days a week pretty consistantly and have maintained a weight of 210-225 lbs. While most would say I'm in good shape, I want something more. Hence this log... I'll be trying to follow a routine I found here through Derek where I'm lifting 4 times a week with a push/pull type workout. I'll try to update several times throughout the day/week with what I did in the gym as well as my diet. I plan on getting some measurements later on as well.

I should also note that I have a very bad back (who doesn't?). I had to get an MRI recently where I was told I have some bone spurs forming on a few of my lower vertebrae. This means it's very difficult for me to do squats/deadlifts without severe pain for the following couple of days. I'm going to try my best to work with it, but it's going to be tough as far as heavy weights go.

Program will look like this

Mon:
Incline Bench
Military Press
Close Grip Bench
Squat
Seated Calf

Tuesday:
Bent Over Row
Lat Pulldown
DB Shrug
DB Curl
Stiff Leg DL

Wed:
Off

Thurs:
Flat DB Press
DB Shoulder Press
Skull Crusher
Leg Press
Leg Press Calf Raise

Friday:
Deadlift
Pull Up
Barbell Shrug
Barbell Curl
Laying Leg Curl

I'll be doing 3 sets for each exercise aiming for 4-8 reps. My first week of workouts will not be too heavy as I try to figure out what weight I'd like to work with going forward, so it's pretty trial and error at this point.

Starting stats:
-28 years old
-6'4"
-215 lbs


Mondays Workout:
Incline Bench
8x185
8x205
8x225
8x225

Military Press (smith machine)
8x135
8x175
8x175
4x185

CG Bench
6x205
8x205
5x215

Squat (Machine)
8x100
8x200
8x300

Seated Calf
8x45
8x90
8x135

[BDiamond]

I don't really have a lot of current pics, this one is about a year old, but I would say it's comparable to how I look now.


As far as food today this is what the diet looked like:

Meal 1:
Egg Whites
1 Cup of Steel Cut Oats
(will be adding more food to this as the days go by)

Meal 2:
Shake w/milk

Meal 3:
Grilled Chicken
Vegetables (broccoli, green pepper, black olives)
Handful of Almonds

Meal 4:
Shake w/milk

Meal 5:
Grilled Chicken
1/2 Green squash
1/2 sweet potato

Meal 6:
Same as above

Meal 7:
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Workout B
BO Barbell Row (underhand)
8x115
8x135
8x185
8x205

Lat PD
8x150
8x160
8x180
8x180

DB Shrug
8x110
8x120
8x150

DB Curl (Standing Alternating)
16x50
12x60
9x60

Stiff Leg DL
8x60
8x80
8x115

Still trying to figure out my weights going forward. Also I have a little bit of back pain from the squats yesterday so I didn't want to over do anything. It's also going to be an issue going forward on my lat pull downs and db shrugs b/c I'm going to be topping out the weight soon.

Diet so far:

Meal 1
Egg whites
1/4 cup steel oats
1 slice double fiber wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
Grilled chicken
almonds
Vegetables (broccoli, green pepper, onions)
whole wheat roll

Meal 4
Shake w/milk

Meal 5
Egg whites
2 slices double fiber wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey

Meal 6:
Grilled Chicken Salad
cauliflower

Meal 7:
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Well today is my off day and these always seem to be the hardest to stay away from the gym. I'm going to go during my lunch break just to get a very light cardio workout in. I'll update the diet later today.

Meal 1
Slice of double fiber wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
egg whites
steel cut oats

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
Whole wheat bagel
grilled chicken
Vegetables (green pepper, onions, spinach)

Meal 4
Shake w/milk

Meal 5
Turkey Sandwich
Bowl of vegetable soup

Meal 6
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Here's today's workout. Again, going lighter this week so I figure out what weight to start off on when I go full tilt. The biggest thing that's annoying me is the fact that I can't go too heavy on legs or anything involving my lower back. I have to be really careful that I don't tweak it again b/c this will lead me to be out of commission for 1-2 weeks and I really want to avoid that. Also, for my chest exercise I did incline again b/c it's lacking compared to the rest of my chest. Anyways, here we go:

DB Incline Press:
10x45
8x80
8x90
8x100

DB Military Press
8x60
8x70
8x75

Skull Crushers (EZ Curl Bar)
8x115
7x120
7x120

Leg Press (Machine)
8x200
8x300
8x320
8x340

Seated Calf Press (Machine)
8x260
8x300
8x340
8x400

It sucks b/c I know my legs are strong, but again my back is something I just have to be careful of. Will update food later.

Meal 1:
Egg Whites
1 Slice Double Fiber Wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
Steel cut oats

Meal 2
Shake

Meal 3
Grilled Chicken salad
wheat roll
banana

Meal 4
Shake

Meal 5
Turkey and Ham Sandwich

Meal 6
Subway Club foot long sandwich

Meal 7
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

So finishing up week 1 of this program and still going somewhat light. Today will be a big test as I'm actually dead lifting today. I'm going to go really light to make sure my body can handle it and go from there.

Deadlift
8x135
8x225
8x225
8x225

Weighted Pull Up
8xBodyweight +30lb DB
7xBodyweight +40lb DB
6xBodyweight +45lb DB

BB Curl
8x95
6x115
6x115

BB Shrug
8x315
8x315
8x315

Leg Curl
8x130
8x130
8x130

I'm looking forward to next week when I can finally start pushing myself on this.

As far as the meals go:

Meal 1:
Egg whites
2 slices double fiber whole wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey

Meal 2:
Shake

Meal 3:
Ham
Salad

Meal 4:
Shake

Will update the rest as the day goes by.

[BDiamond]

Found some pics from several years ago when I was bulking and got up to the 230ish range

[BDiamond]

Ok getting back on track for this week. I was out of town all weekend and tried to stick to the diet, but couldn't as much as I'd like. So today was the first day I upped the weights:

Day A
Incline Bench
8x235
8x245
6x255

Military Press (Smith)
8x180
7x185
5x190

CG Bench (Smith)
8x215
8x225
5x235

Machine Squat
8x320
8x340
8x360

Seated Calf
8x135
8x170
8x170

I think I'll stick with machine squats one more week before switching over to regular squats with the barbell. I've been holding back on these so that I can make sure my lower back can handle it. I've been trying to focus on form so that I don't tweak it. The diet looks like this:

Meal 1
1 slice double fiber wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
Steel cut oats
egg whites

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
Grilled Chicken
Large salad

Meal 4
Shake w/milk

Meal 5
Grilled Chicken
Sweet Potato
Small Eggplant

Meal 6
Shake w/milk
Weighed in today at 223lbs.

[BDiamond]

Workout B
BO Barbell Row (Underhand Grip)
8x225
7x245
7x245

Lat Pull Down
8x180
6x190
5x190

DB Shrug
8x150
10x150
10x150

DB Curl (Standing Alternating)
16x55
12x60
12x60

Stiff Leg Dead Lift
8x135
8x145
8x155

Next week I'm going to have to find something else to do besides the DB Shrugs. My gym only has DB's up to 150 and it's too easy. I went a little light on the SLDL's too. Still trying to get a feel for my lower back.

Meal 1
1/4 lb Turkey
Banana
Whole Wheat Bagel
Yogurt

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
Grilled Chicken
Beans
Small Salad

Meal 4
Shake w/milk

Meal 5
Grilled Chicken
Whole wheat pasta
asparagus

Meal 6
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Good workout today...

Incline DB Press
8x105
7x110
6x110

DB Military Press
6x70
8x70
5x75

Skull Crushers
8x120
6x120
6x120

Leg Press
8x360
8x380
8x400

I just realized I forgot to do calves. I'll have to add it on tomorrow.

Meal 1
1/4 lb Turkey
Whole wheat bagel
yogurt
banana

Meal 2
Shake w/water

Meal 3
Grilled chicken
Mixed greens

Meal 4
Shake w/water

Meal 5
2 slices double fiber whole wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
Bowl of Kashi protein cereal w/skim milk

Meal 6
Asian Chicken wrap
Large Salad

Meal 7
2 slices double fiber whole wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
large glass skim milk

[BDiamond]

End of week 2! I feel good overall, although I'm still slowly working my way up on the weights for Deads and Squats, but a successful week none the less.

Day D
Deadlift
8x235
8x245
8x255

Weighted Pull Up
8xBW +45
5xBW +50
5xBW +50

BB Curl
8x115
6x120
5x120

BB Shrug
8x325
8x335
8x345

Leg Curl
8x160
8x170
8x180

Meal 1
1/4 Turkey
Whole wheat bagel
banana
yogurt

meal 2
Shake w/water

Meal 3
grilled chicken
large salad

Meal 4
shake w/water

[devman27]

Hey man I remember you from a long time ago. I actually looked up to you & your physique when I was in high school. Being 6'4" as well, I used to be skinny as ****. I'm only about 210-215 now, but I look a helluva lot better than I did a few years ago.

Anyway, glad to hear you're back & pumping away. Hopefully you can stick with it and achieve your goals. I'll be following your journal so you better stay on track! Haha

But I'm curious to see your reaction/results/opinion of your current routine as you continue with it over time. I have been considering trying something similar and will be interested to see how things work out for you.

[BDiamond]

Thanks for the support man. It's been hard to consistently put on size when I was told by my doctor that I need to stay away from any heavy movements that would put stress on my lower back. B/c I can't go as heavy as I'd like for deads and squats I feel like all my effort might be in vain. Anyways, here's what I got done today. My bench today was down, just didn't have the strength there, but made gains in all my other lifts. Also, next week I'm going to try to make the switch to BB Squats instead of the machine we have. I just have to be really careful with my form.

Day A
Incline Bench BB
8x225
6x245
5x245

Military Press (Smith)
8x185
5x195
8x195

CG Bench
8x230
7x240
4x245

Machine Squat
8x400
8x400
10x400

Seated Calf
8x180
8x190
8x200

Meal 1
1/4 Turkey
Whole wheat bagel
yogurt
banana

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
grilled chicken
medium salad
beans

Meal 4
shake w/milk

Meal 5
2 slices double protein whole wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
large glass of milk

Meal 6
Shake w/Milk

[BDiamond]

Today's workout went ok with the exception of stiff legged dead lifts at the end. My back was tightening up on me and I couldn't get on the squat rack to do them so I went light and improvised. I also switched out DB Shrugs for Upright Rows b/c the DB's at my gym just aren't heavy enough.

Day B
Bent Over BB Row
8x245 ->Form wasn't so good on this one
6x245 ->Form much much better
6x245

Lat PD
6x190
6x190
5x190

Upright Rows w/BB
8x115
7x135
7x135

Standing DB Curl (Alternating)
11x60 (felt too heavy)
12x60 (used too much momentum)
13x50 (lighter weight but better form)

BO Row w/BB
10x80
10x100

Back Ext
8xBodyweight +25lbs
8xBodyweight +45lbs

Meal 1
1/4lb Turkey
Whole Wheat Bagel
Banana
Yogurt

Meal 2
Shake w/milk

Meal 3
Grilled Chicken
Large salad

Meal 4
Shake w/water

Meal 5
2 slices double protein wheat bread w/peanut butter and honey
Large glass of milk

Meal 6
Whole wheat tortelini
Yellow squash

Meal 7
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Today is the off day, so here was the diet.... Lunch killed me today b/c we had a pot luck at lunch and I kinda went overboard.

Meal 1
1/4lb Turkey
Whole Wheat Bagel
Yogurt
Banana

Meal 2
Shake w/water

Meal 3
2 pieces RI Pizza (no cheese)
2 enchiladas
4 shrimp cakes
1 piece cheese cake
2 helpings pasta w/meat sauce

Meal 4
2 slices double protein wheat bread w/peanut butter

Meal 5
Whole wheat tortelini w/red sauce
banana
milk

Meal 6
Shake w/milk

[BDiamond]

Today's workout lasted a little longer then I wanted to. First off this guy kept coming over to me to ask me questions and wanted me to go through his workout journal and critique his routine, the other being that I experimented with the Leg Press sled to get a feel for weights. Anyways here's the program today:

DB Incline Press
10x110
10x110
6x120

DB Military
8x70
7x75
5x75

Skull Crushers
8x125
7x125
6x125

Leg Press
8x290
10x380
8x530
10x620
10x620

Seated Calf Machine
12x240
12x400
12x400
12x400

Diet:
Meal 1
Whole wheat bagel
1/4lb turkey
banana
yogurt

meal 2
shake w/water

meal 3
grilled chicken
side salad

meal 4
shake w/water

[BDiamond]

Sorry for not updating. I think from now on I'll leave out the diet portion as there's not much change on a day to day basis. I'll be posting last Friday's workout, as well as Monday's and Tuesdays.

Day D (Friday)
Dead Lift
8x265
8x295
8x315

Weighted Pull Up
8xBW+50lbs
6xbw+55lbs
6xbw+55lbs

BB Curl
8x115
6x120
3x120

BB Shrug
8x355
8x365
8x365

Leg Curl
8x150+2
8x150+2
4x170

Day A (Monday)
Inc BB Bench
8x235
7x245
7x245

Military Smith Machine
8x195
5x205
7x205

CG Bench (Changed where I brought the bar to on my chest to make it harder)
8x185
8x195
4x205

BB Squat (first time I've used BB to squat in about a year, wanted to start light)
8x135
8x185
8x225

Then did one set of the Squat machine at 8x400

Sitting Calf
8x180
6x190
8x190

Day B (today)
BO BB Row
8x235
7x245
7x245

Lat PD
7x190
6x190
6x190

UR BB Row
8x135
6x140
6x140

Std DB Curl (alternating)
16x55
12x60
10x60

Stiff Leg Dead Lift
8x140
8x175
8x205

[BDiamond]

Here's today's workout. Had a slight problem with the incline DB press. The second set I couldn't get the weights up (I don't use a spotter and the first rep is always the hardest), so I immediately put them down and lowered the weight.

Incline DB Press
7x120
8x100
8x110

DB Military Press
8x75
7x75
6x75

Skull Crushers
7x130
6x130
4x130

Leg Press Machine
12x400
12x400
12x400

Seated Calf
15x400
12x400
10x400

[BDiamond]

Wrapped up another week. I've been really questioning my form on DL's the past couple of times so I went light this week in hopes of nailing my form. Its frustrating that I've had to go light on squats and dead's since starting this program in fear of reinjuring myself, but I figure since I haven't really done them in over a year that it's better then nothing.

Dead Lift
8x225
8x275
8x315
8x225

Weighted Pull Ups
8xBW +55lb DB
4.5xBW +60lb DB
4xBW+60lb DB

BB Curl
8x120
6x120
5x120

BB Shrug (Smith Machine, focused on squeezing this movement)
10x225
10x275
10x275

Sitting Leg Curl
8x170
5x170+1
5x170+1

[BDiamond]

Starting week 5 today. Weighed in at 226.5lbs today which is up by about 10lbs of when I started. I haven't been able to see a difference yet though. I'll post pics around week 8. Had a good workout today with the exception of legs. Someone was hogging the squat rack and I was forced to use the squat machine we have. The only problem with this is that it tops out in weight at 400lbs, so I just upped my sets to 10 reps each for that one.

Incline Press (smith machine)
8x255
8x275
7x295

Military Press (smith)
7x205
6x210
6x210

CG Bench
8x195
7x205
8x205

Squat Machine
10x400
10x400
10x400

Calf
6x200
6x200
4x200

[BDiamond]

Another day, another workout. Today I changed up my BO BB Rows to an over hand grip. I had previously had been using an underhand grip and wanted to mix it up a little bit.

BO BB Row
8x225
8x235
8x245

Lat PD
8x190
5x200
6x200

UR BB Rows
8x140
5.5x145
6x145

Still Leg Dead Lift
8x2101
8x225
8x245

Standing DB Curl
16x60
8x65
4.5
65

[BDiamond]

Ugh I've been slacking on the updates, but I have good reason. I've been busy moving over the past week and haven't had a ton of time to hit the weights. I thought I'd get back on track starting this Monday, but my wrist has been seriously f*cked up.

As the weather starts to get nicer it's making me want to go out and start running. It might cause me to cut this bulk a little short. I weighed myself the other day and I was up to about 229. So that means I've put on 14lbs or so since I started (which I can't tell at all).

Anyways here are the last two days I worked out (Thurs/Fri) of last week. I had to switch up some exercises due to my wrist.

Day C
Hammer Strength Incline (due to bad wrist)
8x270
4x290
6x270

Free Motion Shoulder Press
10x90
7x110
6x110

Rope PD
10x90
6x100
6x100

Free Motion Squat
12x400
12x400
12x400

Calf Machine (Really focused on form here)
12x300
12x320
12x340

Day D
Dead Lift
8x225
8x275
8x315

Weighted Pull Up
7xBW+60lb DB
6xBW+60lb DB
5xBW+60lb DB

Smith Machine Shrug
12x225
8x315
8x315

Sitting Leg Curl
8x170
6x170
6x170

[BDiamond]

So I took off the past week. I managed to hit the gym Mon/Tues, here are the workouts

Mon
Incline BP Smith Machine
8x275
6x295
5x295

Military Press Smith Machine
12x135
5x205
7x205

Rope Press Downs
12x80
7x90
7x90

Free Motion Squat
12x400
12x400
12x400

Seated Calf Press
12x45
12x90
12x135

Tuesday
BO BB Row Underhand
6x255
6x255
6x255

Lat Pull Down
7x200
5x200
6x200

Upright Row
8x145
7x135
7x135

Stiff Leg Dead Lift
8x225
8x245
8x245

Sitting Alt DB Curl
24x45
10x50
10x50

I'm going to hit the gym Thurs/Fri and then will be going on vacation for a week. I'll try to post updated pics then.