Jon’s road to fitness!

[jon4127]

Hi everyone and thanks for checking out my first ever journal! I will start with the first routine and the gains I made on it and than in the next post I will put up my current routine that I started 2 weeks ago. My main goal is to get that elusive six-pack for summer and build a little more muscle/strength. In no way do I want to get huge or put on slabs of muscle, just enough to look good!

When I get home tonight I will post a picture for the before pic and my stats that I took down on April 1. The first 2 months I dropped weight like a rock losing 12 pounds from 207 – 195 where I leveled out for a week or so and than went back up to 205 over the next 2 months, I am happy to say that it was just about all muscle!

Both routines the local trainer helped me put together and went through each and every exercise on the proper form. So while I am sure my form is not perfect it is solid. My main focus when in the gym is to keep good form first and foremost, I really don’t care how much weight I put up but I do need to see some kind of results so I will be posting all measurements and weights lifted.

*NOTE: I would just like to point out now that I am not really that strong – which is part of the reason I am working out so when you see the weights plz don’t laugh! I have tuff skin but this is suppose to be an motivation thing so be kind

Vitals:
Your age: 23
Your height and weight: 5 11 – 205 lbs –Mesomorph
How long you have been training (seriously!) – 5 months
Your goals (Lose weight, gain weight, improve weak points etc etc): strengthen overall, get in better shape for summer.

This is the first routine I ever had. The trainer at the local Planet Fitness set me up with it for free when joining the gym. I was on this routine from 12/15/04 – 4/1/05. I posted the before and after weights lifted after each exercise.

A breakdown of your current routine (Including split, exercises, sets and reps): I worked out exclusively on machines, as this is what the trainer told me to do. For the first 2 months I was doing 13 reps by 3 sets (not counting 7-rep light warm-up). After that he had me to 13,10,10 for reps.

Mon/Thurs - total time in gym 1-1.75 hr
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Chest press 90 –115
Chest incline press 70 – 105
Wide grip lat pulldowns 70 – 95
Row 70 – 80
Overhead press 60 – 70
Arm curl 50 – 65
Arm Extension 55 – 75

Tues/sat – total time in gym 1 – 1.75 hr
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Leg press 130 – 175
Leg extension 50 – 90
Leg curl 50 – 95
Hip Abductor 50 – 105
Hip Adductor 70 – 120
Rotary caff 90 – 145
Ab Bench 95 – 110
Lower Back extension 100 – 125

Wed – total time in gym 1hr
.75 hr cardio
.25 hr stretching


Have you made gains on this routine, and if so in what way (Heavier weights / mass)
Yes I have been very happy with this routine, I have lost 1.5 inches on my waist, my upper body is toner and my arms/legs/chest are definitely stronger, more tone.

What is your diet like – When I started working out I switched to 5 meals a day (per reading this site) but I am really eating 5 full meals because of how hungry I always am. I eat a lot of meats and protein, cereal/oatmeal for breakfast and 3 pieces of fruit every day. Never fast food. No chips/ minimal soda, I drink 1-2 weekends a month and let my diet go on Sunday when watching the game/race and eat chips/soda.

Have / are you taking any supplements and/or anabolic agents (optional)
I started taking a multivitamin when I started working out. I started taking a gmc protein last night (4/17/05)

[ComoComo3]

Good job on all your accomplishments.

[jon4127]

This is the routine the trainer set me up with for the next few months. I will put up the weights and next to it if I have increased or not (ex: 45 +5) would mean I lifted 45 pounds that time which was up 5lbs from last week’s lift.

The first week was a wash because I used all lightweights with the trainer to make sure the form was perfect. The weights posted were for last week. Abs are done 3X a week on my own, cardio days are covered with the summer active lifestyle with my girlfriend (tennis, Mtn. biking, hiking ect).

*note: all exercises are 3 sets of 12

Mon: the exercises are super-setted back to back with no breaks between the 2 exercises that are next to each other.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Pull Down (cable) 80
Chest Press (bench) 95

Row (cable) 70
Incline Press 95

One Arm Row (on bench) 30
Flye 15


Lower back ext 10
Assisted dips 70 (as in taking 70 lbs off my body weight)



Wed.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Hack Squat 90
Leg Ext 100

Leg Press 180
Leg Curl 50

Step up / Down 35
Romanian Dead Lift 70
Calf Raise 55

Sat. All of these are tri sets.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Over Head Press (mil press) 30 each
Arm Curl 25 each
Rope Ext 50

Front Raise 15
Cable Curl 55
Bench Dip 10

Side Raise 10
Arm Curl -> Oh Press 20

[jon4127]

Thank you comocomo3, ever since I found these boards I have meet nothing but good, encouraging people and you are no exception!

[jon4127]

Mon:
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Pull Down (cable) 80
Chest Press (bench) 95

Row (cable) 75 (+5)
Incline Press 95

One Arm Row (on bench) 35 (+5)
Flye 15


Lower back ext 10
Assisted dips 70 (only could do 12,8,6 for reps)


Comments:
Felt good today, I increased the weights on 2 exercises and I will try and increase the pull downs and chest press next Monday. Both exercises felt like I could be doing just a little more and still get the full 12 in.

And as promised here are the before pics, I just took these today. I will have measurements soon so I can get everything down to track progress.

Edit: I have never felt so silly as I did home alone flexing for a camera lol

[jon4127]

Wed.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Hack Squat 110 (+20)
Leg Ext 90 (-10)

Leg Press 190 (+10)
Leg Curl 90 (+10 I wrote it down wrong last time)

Step up / Down 35
Romanian Dead Lift 70
Calf Raise 60 (+5)

Today was a weird day. I started with tons of energy and was feeling good and went big on the hack squat but when I went to do the leg ext I had way less strength than usual. I can only think it is because of work and going up and down the damn plant stairs all day. Next week I feel confident that I can increase the leg press and the lower back ext.

sat.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Over Head Press (mil press) 30
Arm Curl 25
Rope Ext 55 (+5)

Front Raise 20 (+5)
Cable Curl 60 (+5)
Bench Dip 10

Side Raise 15 (+5)
Arm Curl -> Oh Press 20

Today I felt great! I increased just about every lift and the arm curl and rope ext. I feel that I will be able to increase next time.

My good friend works out at the same gym as I do but due to work schedules we seldom work out together. I really think this is why all my lifts went up is we worked out at the same time today.

[C-Dubbs]

Good Luck

[jon4127]

In the interest of keeping this readable and to help me track my progress I am going to only post to here once a week so it is all in one nice neat form.

My girlfriend is a nutrition major and she helped me figure out my maintenance calories which is 3400. Right now I am using fitday.com to just keep an basic eye on how I am doing in keeping with my target of 2800 – 3200 cal a day. I hope to drop about 1-2 pounds a week but the weight is no big deal as long as I can see some results. I don’t take the nutrition side that seriously, but I do eat reasonably healthy(no soda, candy, or chips). My priorities are life>getting fit.

I should note that Friday –> Sunday the diet goes out the window. Case and point this Saturday I went out to the strip bar and got tanked and ate nachos and drank beer all night so if my weight loss is not as dramatic as some here that is why. I really do believe that the key to doing this long term is to take it easy and enjoy it. Not go on some super strict diet plan, I could only do something like that for 3 days max lol I like eating too much.

I will weigh myself every Monday with the gym scale to track the progress there as well.

Weight 197 (-7 from 4/01)
Mon:
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Pull Down (cable) 85 (+5)
Chest Press (bench) 100 (+5)

Row (cable) 75
Incline Press 100 (+5)

One Arm Row (on bench) 35
Flye 20 (+5)


Lower back ext 10
Assisted dips 60 (+10)

Wed.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Hack Squat 130 (+20)
Leg Ext 100 (+10- back to previous weight)

Leg Press 200 (+10)
Leg Curl 90

Step up / Down 35
Romanian Dead Lift 80 (+10)
Calf Raise 70 (+10)

Thurs.
45min cardio

sat.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Over Head Press (mil press) 35 (+5)
Arm Curl 30 (+5)
Rope Ext 55

Front Raise 20
Cable Curl 65 (+5)
Bench Dip 10

Side Raise 15
Arm Curl -> Oh Press 20

Sunday.
Walked 4 miles

This was a fantastic week for working out. Overall I had great energy and the weights are going up. I started actually doing sit-ups this week, I am only doing 50 a night 3 nights a week but it is a start.

[jon4127]

5/8/05

Weight 196 (-1)
Mon:
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Pull Down (cable) 85
Chest Press (bench) 115 (+15)

Row (cable) 80 (+5)
Incline Press 105 (+5)

One Arm Row (on bench) 40 (+5)
Flye 20


Lower back ext 10
Assisted dips 60

Wed.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Hack Squat 140 (+10)
Leg Ext 100

Leg Press 210 (+10)
Leg Curl 95 (+5)

Step up / Down 35
Romanian Dead Lift 90 (+10)
Calf Raise 75 (+5)

Thurs.
2 mi walk

sat.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Over Head Press (mil press) 35
Arm Curl 30
Rope Ext 60 (+5)

Front Raise 20
Cable Curl 70 (+5)
Bench Dip 10

Side Raise 15
Arm Curl -> Oh Press 20

Good work out this week. i really hope that the damn weather breaks, i felt so damn dreary on sat with all this rain, i had to lower the weights on just about every last set

ps. my computer is acting up and i can't type everything into word first so sry about any spelling errors .

[jon4127]

Julie finally found my old measurements!

Julie (my gf) took all the measurements cold.

I had my girlfriend keep them so I would not lose them last time and yep, she lost them for a bit. I am in complete disbelief at the results though. I am very glad I listened to the people on the forum and did this. For example I thought for sure my chest got bigger but it actually shrank by 2 inches! I knew my waist was a lot smaller but I had no idea that I had lost so much! Over all I am extremely pleased with the progress so far.


3/27/05--------------------5/8/05
Chest 40in -----------------37
Biceps 15in flexed 15 ½-----15 flexed 16 1/8
Waist 38 ½ ----------------32 1/8
Hips 41 ½ ------------------36 ½
Thighs 21 ¼-----------------20 ½
Calves 16 ½ ----------------16 ½
Neck------------------------12

And the gym replaced the old “dial” type scale with a new digital one and it said I weighed 205! I think the real reason they did that though is to keep people in the gym over the summer, man was I pissed! There is no way I gained 9 pounds in 5 days. So for now on I will be using the new digital scale at the gym.

[jon4127]

Weight 205 the gym got a new scale this week!!! I know others were complaining that it was off but there is not much I can do about it. For now on I will be using the new scale.

Mon: Ben fold’s concert

Tues:
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Pull Down (cable) 90 (+5)
Chest Press (bench) 115

Row (cable) 80
Incline Press 105

One Arm Row (on bench) 40
Flye 20


Lower back ext 10
Assisted dips 60

Wed. Tennis (2hrs(

Thurs.
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Hack Squat 140
Leg Ext 105 (+5)

Leg Press 230 (+20)
Leg Curl 100 (+5)

Step up / Down 35
Romanian Dead Lift 90
Calf Raise 75

Friday. N/a

sat. Tennis (45min in afternoon)
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch

Over Head Press (mil press) 35
Arm Curl 30
Rope Ext 60

Front Raise 20
Cable Curl 70
Bench Dip 25 (+15)

Side Raise 15
Arm Curl -> Oh Press 20

Overall this week went really well. I improved all the weights I expected to on Tuesday and on Thursday I felt better than ever on leg day. The only down day was Saturday when for some reason I had no energy. I think it is because I was just drained from work.

Saturday night we had a good size party so my diet really went to hell and on Sunday we went out to breakfast MMMmmm sausage and eggs! But hey that is what cheat days are for.