The Transformation of a Couch Potato

[lorrenhix]

Hey guys, I joined the site a while back but have only just recently actually been... well... here lol. Thought I would start documenting my training experience. I'm a little old school in some ways and a little unorthodox in others; I like to keep things simple and experiment to see what works best for me specifically. I've been lifting for long enough now that I've found my rhythm and I like where I'm going and what I'm doing to get there.

I'm twenty-two, started working out when I was twenty. Notice I said "working out" rather than "training" haha because I was a typical beginner for a while and even under the guidance of my awesome husband there was a long period of time where I wasn't really giving it my all and was basically just a cardio bunny. About a year ago I started actually training for figure competitions and within that year I've made some pretty drastic changes. Before I started working out I was at about 30% body fat, skinny fat bordering on actually fat. I pretty much never got up from my computer unless I absolutely had to. My diet was pretty atrocious - my four food groups were pizza, burgers, Starbucks, and cookies. And I ate a LOT of it. I could put away a whole large pizza by myself and not think twice. I'm pretty sure the only thing that kept me from weighing three hundred pounds was the fact that I had youth and genetics (my dad played college football and my mom was a gymnast so I've been pretty blessed in that regard) on my side and I rode horses, which seemed to be just enough physical activity. I had no energy, my self-esteem was nonexistent, I was constantly in pain, could barely function because my lumbar was so screwed up... it was not pretty and looking back now I know I would have been in serious trouble if I hadn't started lifting when I did.

My then-boyfriend, now-husband had already been into lifting when we started dating (he was overweight his whole life and went from being 315 lbs at 6'2" down to 160 lbs and then bulked back up to 220 lbs with a six pack - he's the best motivation in the world) and he got me into powerlifting. I stuck with that for a while and eventually fell in love with the idea of bodybuilding, which is when I changed up my workout routines and started training to do figure. Since then, I've dropped 15% body fat, I'm hardly ever tired, I love myself and my body, and I'm never in pain. I got my personal training certification because I absolutely fell in love with the gym and being able to train other people and help them see similar results is the best frickin thing on the whole planet. I'm currently six weeks out from my first figure competition and even though it has been an insane prep with a lot of bumps in the road (I ended up in the ER due to a stomach infection a few weeks back and was on an all-liquid diet for a while - not really beneficial when it comes to training) but I love it. I've never felt better about myself and what I can do, so hopefully that will continue. I plan on eventually getting my pro card, though that will definitely take a while to get to.

So hopefully if I can not be lazy and remember to do so, I'll keep recording my transformation here. I'm immensely pleased with where I've gotten in a year and I know that as more time goes on I'll be able to make even more progress.

[paiger0321]

Welcome! In and subbed.

[Artemis00]

Subbed as well

[lorrenhix]

Thanks guys!

I'm four weeks out from my competition as of today and somehow not nervous at all. The closer I get, the more excited I am. I'm continuing to lean out, my posing is coming together more, and I feel better and better about it every day. I'm definitely not where I would like to be, but I hold myself to an extremely high standard. At the same time, when I look back at where I was a year ago - or worse, two years ago - I'm pretty dang happy with what I've been able to accomplish. I know that I'll be able to get up on stage and be proud of what I'm presenting.

I even managed to nab a sponsor! It's a family member's business so it's definitely not anything big time, but for a long time I just didn't feel confident enough to even ask. There was kind of that fear of just not being good enough and having people tell me so. After a while I realized that I was being a wuss and that not asking was basically guaranteeing getting a 'no' while asking at least meant that I had a shot. I won't ever get what I want if I'm not willing to work and ask for it. I'm even in the process of getting sponsored by my local Complete Nutrition now, which to be honest has me a little in shock. There's still the part of me that thought they would laugh me off. But hey, like I said - I had no way of knowing without just sucking it up and asking them about it, and fortunately it's going the way I hoped it would.

As far as my workouts go, I'm switching it up a little bit for these last four weeks. I've been on the same routine for the last few months and I'm hoping that changing up the intensity will be what I need to get a bit closer to my overall goal. I usually lift twice a day 4-5 days a week and once on the other two or three days with some cardio thrown in, and now I'm changing it to doing my lifting in the morning and getting some cardio in during the evenings about five days a week. Weekends I'll take it a bit lighter, so tonight I decided to do a little experimenting with my leg workout. I've been doing more research into rest pause sets, drop sets, and super sets in order to up the intensity and I REALLY liked the bit that I did earlier this evening.

My workout tonight consisted of the following:

Rest-pause sets of back squats @ 115 lbs. One set of 20 reps total broken down into 12-15-18-20. Turned out to be too low of weight, so I'll have to adjust next time.

Super sets of leg press and leg extension:
Leg press @ 180 lbs for 15 reps
Leg extension @ 100 lbs for 15 reps

Leg press @ 200 lbs for 12 reps
Leg extension @ 110 lbs for 12 reps

Leg press @ 220 lbs for 10 reps
Leg extension @ 120 lbs for 10 reps

Leg press calf raises:
3x15 at 180 lbs

Those super sets I DEFINITELY felt much more and the calf raises felt good to finish off with. I'll be changing this up a bit when I sit down to actually plan out my new routine but for what was intended to be a lighter workout, it was pretty intense. Those super sets had me almost falling over by the time I finished.

[Artemis00]

Congrats on getting a sponsor and having the balls to ask them.

Nice workout...I would probably be vomiting after that leg workout.

[lorrenhix]

Congrats on getting a sponsor and having the balls to ask them.

Nice workout...I would probably be vomiting after that leg workout.

Thanks! And ha, I almost did. It was definitely something my body was strongly debating.

I've been sticking with some higher intensity workouts and only lifting in the mornings while I do cardio in the evenings now. I somehow managed to spend twenty minutes on the stairclimber yesterday, which is my new personal record on that horrible, horrible piece of equipment. These super-sets and drop sets are really enjoyable and having a shorter but more intense workout is right up my alley.

Today's delt/trap work included...

Super-sets of seated overhead dumbbell press and dumbbell shrugs:
15 reps with the 20s for both
12 reps with the 25s for both
10 reps with the 30s for both

3x8 pull-ups

Super-sets of the rear delt fly machine and dumbbell lateral raises:
Rear delt fly @ 50 lbs for 15 reps
Lateral raises with the 20s for 15 reps (turned out that these were too heavy to make it through the whole set without pausing, so I stuck with this weight)

Rear delt fly @ 60 lbs for 12 reps
Lateral raises with the 20s for 12 reps

Rear delt fly @ 70 lbs for 10 reps
Lateral raises with the 20s for 10 reps

Drop sets of lat pulldowns starting at 130 lbs, dropping by 20 lbs each time until I reached 60 lbs. (I realized afterward that I must have dropped a bit extra - I blame it on drop set brain)


I'm feeling really good about my new routine. I worked hamstrings and glutes yesterday and they're already murdering me at the 24 hour mark (though I'm sure the stairmaster didn't help that). My back is even still sore from working it on Sunday. I'm almost where I want to be when I wake up in the morning and don't have a water bloat yet, so I'm hoping that in the next three and a half weeks I can make some decent progress. I ordered my competition suit yesterday, working on my base tan, I'm going to be getting chiropractic care and massage started soon (one shoulder has been a bit higher than the other when I practice posing), I'm comfortable in my competition heels and practice suit, I'm getting my supply bag stocked up... even if it's my first show, I feel oddly prepared. Maybe because I'm more than a little obsessed about this whole thing. Like, even 'obsessed' is a bit of an understatement. Even though I'm sure that I'll start panicking and not having a clue of what to do on the day of, at least no one can say that I haven't been doing everything I can to get ready for all of this.

[lorrenhix]

Alright... if I thought last weekend's leg workout was brutal, this one was even more so. Throwing up was definitely an option today. I worked legs with my husband for the first time in ages (our schedules/different goals usually keep us from lifting together as much as we used to) and it was the best leg day I've had probably since the last time we worked legs together. Sometimes I forget what it feels like to be the one being coached instead of the trainer, but today was a good reminder that I still need it. I like that I have a lot to learn still and I enjoy learning it. My husband pointed out to me that I rush the eccentric portion of my leg movements, which I hadn't realized until he did so. I had noticed that I never seem to completely deplete my lower body the way I do upper body; I think because I enjoy upper body movements so much more, I was subconsciously just rushing through my leg exercises to get them done with. I can go til failure on my upper body on my own but I needed to have him there to get everything I could out of my legs. Oh, the power of a good workout buddy. Hopefully now that I'm aware of the issue I can work to correct it on my own.

He pointed that out during leg extensions today, so everything before then is probably an inaccurate representation of what I should be doing. Next time I work legs, I need to drop weight and make sure that I'm doing it right from the start.

Rest-pause set of back squats, 12-5-3 reps for 20 total @ 125 lbs

Drop sets of leg press:
5 reps @ 240 lbs
8 reps @ 190 lbs
10 reps @ 140 lbs

Rest-pause set of Smith Machine calf raises, 15-10-5 for 30 reps total @ 155 lbs

Drop sets of leg extensions:
10 reps @ 130 lbs

I went for 10 reps at 70 lbs after that one, but my first set at 130 was the point where my husband corrected my form and had me slow down the eccentric half. It still felt surprisingly easy for that first set but I very quickly discovered that my legs are not as strong as I think they are haha. As soon as I dropped to the next set my legs gave out, so I rested up and went for a second set.

10 reps @ 120 lbs
8 reps @ 70 lbs

Same thing - I got a bit further but ultimately my legs still gave out. Needless to say I have some work to do there.

Rest-pause leg press calf raises, 15-7-4 for a total of 26 reps at 245 lbs

Rest-pause back squats, 10-10-til failure at 12 reps for a total of 32 reps at 65 lbs.


And if it tells you anything about my guy, that was only half of his leg day (I work glutes/hams later in the week and have to be careful to avoid overtraining on my calorie deficit, so I stuck to the quad/calf work portion of his leg routine). I can admit that I sometimes avoid working out with him just because I know how intense his routines can be, but I can't let myself get away with that. When I have the opportunity, I need to have someone pushing me. Practicing what I preach is important to me and I can't push other people if I don't do the same for myself.

My competition suit has been ordered, I'm three weeks out as of yesterday and it's feeling more and more real. The nerves are finally starting to hit, but not too bad. I know that I'm bringing the best package to the stage that I can at this point in time and while it may not be up to my own standards, I'm still very pleased of what I'm presenting. I worked on my posing more today and I think it's going to be one of my biggest strengths on stage. While it's by no means perfect, I've done my research and practiced enough to know what works for my body and what doesn't. I'm anxious to see what everything looks like in a few more weeks of dieting down.