Thunder's Search for the Perfect Butt journal

[jmc53]

This will be my first time posting a workout journal.
Suggestions and comments most welcome.
Bit of background for the first post I guess would be where to start - sorry for length of 1st post.
At 20 years of age my natural bodytype - Broad shoulders - chicken legs - no butt!
6'3" and was around 180 lbs.
I weight trained off and on for 20 years (maybe 13 on and 7 off I guess). At best I was around 230 lbs with no flab but also not cut (maybe 15% bf?). My training and diet were never very scientific - lift heavy, lift often, eat the usual diet plus the occasional chicken. Always did pyramid training and always to failure - never experimented with anything else.
Between age 40 and 53 did no structured weight training, but lots of physical work. I would yo-yo from about 198 to about 220 (extra poundage all fat and all on the waistline) - then decide to get rid of it, walk miles and do push-ups and sit-ups, and lose all extra weight over about 8 weeks - then gradually slide back again over space of a year or two. (Sound familiar to anyone).
Had surgery mid January this year to correct disc bulge. Cleared by doc to return to normal life in mid April.
THE PLAN: no more yo-yo weight gain / weight loss - get back my mid-30's physique but with a wiser head on the shoulders.

April 19th - 227 lbs.

Joined gym and increased weights lifted very slowly but trained hard (main goal to begin was fat loss), only recently added deadlifts and soon to add squats (back feels good), started reading and learning (this site and others, library etc.), did lots of cardio.

30th June - 202 lbs.

Been focusing more on muscle gain since then - Mon Wed Fri, 2 part split rotating.

23rd August - 210 lbs.

In April difference between chest and waist was 3" (43/40) - now is 8" (45/37) - quietly pleased with those numbers - 46/36 for Xmas sounds appealing!
Will post work-out plan and diet in seperate posts over next few days.
Jason.

[stephenlouis]

Great first post...looking forward to pictures and I have no doubt lots of positive change for you in the future. we have(scratch that) HAD the same body type in our relative youths.

[jtroster]

Welcome Jason.

[jmc53]

Stephen - chicken legs and no butt wasn't all bad when 20 years old and the fashion was skin tight jeans - not any more. Photos will be a while - digital camera is broken.
JT - thanks for the welcome.

Current diet:
(Comments and suggestions welcome - it's very high on dairy and a somewhat low on fruit and veg. but my energy level seems OK and I seem to be getting sufficient fibre).

7.00 a.m. 2.5 scoops whey in low fat milk. (5g Creatine, Multi, Fish Oil, Glucosamine)

7.30 a.m. Training day: 1 cups oats (non training day 5 egg white, 2 yolks, 1 slice whole grain toast)

10.00 a.m. Training day: post workout shake 40g protein, 50g carbs (non-training day: small tub low-fat fruit yoghurt)

12.00 a.m. Baked beans on 2 slices whole grain toast

2.00 p.m. 2.5 scoops whey in low fat milk

4.00 p.m. Small can tuna, small serve low fat cheese

6.00 p.m. Either chicken large breast or lean steak with either spinach leaf and veg, salad or with broccoli and beans (and one small low alcohol beer)

8.00 p.m. Small tub low fat fruit yoghurt or punnet strawberries

10.30 p.m. 2.5 scoops whey in low fat milk. (Multi, Fish Oil, Glucosamine)

Training day diet: 3500 cal.s (40% protein, 44% carbs, 16% fat)
Non-training day: 3200 cal.s (41% protein, 41% carbs, 18% fat)

[justtryn]

Welcome to the forum, Jason. While I am a looong way from being a nutrition expert, it seems to me that your dairy is quite high, if your goal is to increase muscle while limiting fat gain. If it were me, I'd cut the low fat milk, all together. Also, having that yogurt late in the day isn't helping either. If you really want to keep it, have it earlier.

I'm sure others with more expert opinions will weigh in.

Looking forward to your posts!

[Gunn27]

Welcome to jounaling!

What I can see in your nutrition....

Your noon meal has no protein, other than a the trace you get in the beans & bread. Watch out for the sugar content, some baked beans are loaded with it.

The 2pm meal would be better if it were real food instead of another shake. Maybe you are not able to eat a meal at this time, but if you are it would be a far better option.

The late night shake would be better as caesin protein for slower absorbtion through the night, versus the whey.

Good luck!

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by jmc53

Current diet:
(Comments and suggestions welcome - it's very high on dairy and a somewhat low on fruit and veg. but my energy level seems OK and I seem to be getting sufficient fibre).

7.00 a.m. 2.5 scoops whey in low fat milk. (5g Creatine, Multi, Fish Oil, Glucosamine)

7.30 a.m. Training day: 1 cups oats (non training day 5 egg white, 2 yolks, 1 slice whole grain toast)

This is fine for a training day, but on the non-training day there's really no need for the 2.5 scoops of whey at 7am. You'd be better off just having the eggs and toast as your breakfast.

10.00 a.m. Training day: post workout shake 40g protein, 50g carbs (non-training day: small tub low-fat fruit yoghurt)

On the non-training day this still needs to be a meal, which means protein + carb + fat. I would switch to a non-fat, sugar-free (i.e., plain) yogurt and add a protein source here.

12.00 a.m. Baked beans on 2 slices whole grain toast

Same comments as above in reference to having a real meal. Also, you need some good fats and some veggies here. Fiber isn't the only reason to eat veggies so don't overlook them.

2.00 p.m. 2.5 scoops whey in low fat milk

Why a shake here? I think 2.5 scoops of protein is too much (I'm guesstimating ~ 75g protein here from the powder and the milk), especially when your workout was hours ago. You'd be better off with real food. If that's not possible, switch to a casein shake and 1 - 1.5 scoops of protein.

4.00 p.m. Small can tuna, small serve low fat cheese

Add some veggies and some fat.

6.00 p.m. Either chicken large breast or lean steak with either spinach leaf and veg, salad or with broccoli and beans (and one small low alcohol beer)

The beer is a really lousy choice if you want to lose fat.

8.00 p.m. Small tub low fat fruit yoghurt or punnet strawberries

How about moving this meal to 9:00 and combining it with your 10:30 meal. Again, you definitely don't need a shake or even more whey at this time. But some cottage cheese and nuts (almonds, walnuts) would be great.

Overall, I see a real lack of veggies and healthy fats. You want to get roughly 1g - 1.5g protein per pound of bodyweight, .4g fat per pound, and then fill in with carbs. You don't get fat from eating fat as long as you eat good fats -- nuts, seeds (like flax), nut butters, extra virgin olive oil, avacado, salmon and other fatty fish, etc. These will all help with hormone production and regulation which is especially important after age 35.

[jmc53]

Justtryn, Gunn, Dbflgirl,
Thanks for checking out my journal and for comments.
I should have added, I live in rural Australia and it's not always possible to get everything (Fresh salmon requires a bank loan).

Gunn, cassein protein not available where I live, I'm looking for a reasonably priced mail distributor at the moment.

Not really focused about fat loss at this point, in fact I have been steadily increasing my total cal. intake over past month cause my weight was static and strength gains were almost but not quite plateaued. With the increase cal.s I'm seeing strength gains greatly increased and weight going up while waist measurement is stable. I am looking forward to receiving bf calipers in the mail soon so I can accurately measure my fluctuation in bf as weight goes up.

My bakes beans meal (which has 27g protein) is a temporary measure - I have a crop of spinach planted outside the kitchen door - I'm gonna replace that meal with tinned salmon and spinach salad. Better? I knew this was a poor choice but not long ago bought 24 cans of baked beans on special - nearly finished them.

Dbflgirl, I'm glad you had a look (I was hoping you would) as I always like your comments in the other forum. My evening chicken or steak I grill in a pan with a little olive oil. Do you think I should put some olive oil with the balsamic in a salad dressing as well?
I recently bought natural peanut butter - what if I replace one of the yoghurts with natural peanut butter on wholegrain bread?
The low fat cheese I eat a little of is still quite high in fat (23g per 100g about 50% saturated) - I love cheese and so only have a tiny serve (maybe 30g).
I'll consider the morning shake, but I wake up completely empty and starving and like to get something into me - as I have to feed dogs, cats and horses before I cook my breakfast (hence the half hour gap).
MY daily average of 3300 cal.s feels about right at the moment but I'll definitley try to get the mix better. Thanks for your comments.
Jason.

[jmc53]

My workout is a bit different, but working for me at the moment.
As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Here's why I am doing this workout:
1. I have a tendancy to get left shoulder inflammation - played lots of sport and I think this set up my tendancy. Unfortunately flat bench press and almost every dumbell and barbell pressing move (chest and shoulders) brings back the pain fairly quickly (decline bench press is fine). I am pain free on the current workout and hence the unusual choice of chest exercises.
2. I had spinal surgery in January, and so started in April with leg press and only in the 70% ROM, worked up to full ROM, added deadlifts three weeks ago. Squats are coming - soon - but need a little more time on deads before I want the weight passing straight down my spine through the repaired disc.
3. I like compound exercises, and in the past have only used isolation exercises to correct an imbalance if I see one. Currently biceps are lagging, so I am trying a few things to shock some action - this is the only reason they are in both workouts - not because they are a mirror muscle
I only recently started doing close-grip chins, and my reps are still pathetic - hopefully improvement there will help restore balance in bicep area. Strangely, although I do nothing specifically for shoulders and triceps, both are quite good.

Training Mon, Wed, Fri - alternating two workouts.
Sets/reps - currently 5x5 and will slip in some 6x3 soon. Was doing pyramids to failure until last week. Needed a change.

Workout A:
Decline Barbell bench press
Dips (leaning forward)
Dumbell pullovers
Concentration curls

Workout B:
Deadlifts
Chins
Bentover barbell rowing (wide grip to stomach)
EZ bar bicep curls

Cardio on Tues, Thur, Sat.
(currently winter and frosty here)
Fast moving from exercise to exercise: jumping jacks, fitball crunches, fitball rolling bridges (?), jumping jacks, fitball between ankles leg raises, etc.etc. about 20 min.s

About to post today's workout.

[jmc53]

Should have mentioned in previous post - some odd numbered weights will seem strange, but I am converting from Kg to lbs.

Decline BB bench press (Smith machine only place I can do these)
110 x 5
198 x 5
220 x 5
242 x 5
264 x 3
275 x 3 (failure)

Dips leaning forward
bw+22 x 5
bw+44 x 5 (failure)
bw+22 x 5
bw+22 x 5
bw+22 x 6 (failure)

Dumbell Pullovers
77 x 5
82 x 5
88 x 5
93 x 5
99 x 3 (failure)

Concentration curls
(1 long set L, R, new dumbell, L, R, new dumbell etc.)
55 x 3, 50 x 4, 44 x 5, 39 x 6, 33 x 8

Pleased with session.

[joed]

Welcome to the journals jmc. Look forward to following your progress.

[thruxton]

Originally Posted by jmc53

...My training and diet were never very scientific - lift heavy, lift often, eat the usual diet plus the occasional chicken. Always did pyramid training and always to failure ...

i was reading Ripp tonight and felt the wonder as to where these damn pyramid schemes came from??? oh the years i wasted in the gym. i mean, i put on some muscle here and there but i know (now) that my strength gains were never realized to their full potential.

Looking at your lifts:
Decline BB bench press
110 x 5
198 x 5
220 x 5
242 x 5
264 x 3
275 x 3 (failure)
what do you think about jumping your last three sets to 275? do 220 x 1-2 and 242 x 1-2 as part of your warmup, then do a working set of 275 x3 (or x5) and then increase the weights next workout day to 280 or 285 x3 (or x5).

and good luck on the 46/36!

[jmc53]

[QUOTE=thruxton]
Looking at your lifts:
Decline BB bench press
110 x 5
198 x 5
220 x 5
242 x 5
264 x 3
275 x 3 (failure)
what do you think about jumping your last three sets to 275? do 220 x 1-2 and 242 x 1-2 as part of your warmup, then do a working set of 275 x3 (or x5) and then increase the weights next workout day to 280 or 285 x3 (or x5).
QUOTE]

Joe, thanks for the welcome.
Thruxton, I'm game to try anything. Today was actually the first time I've lifted 275 this time around - I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm no longer pre-exhausting with 10 or 12 reps of 220 and then 6 to 8 of 242.
I'm gonna try a few things over next few sessions.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Jason.

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by jmc53

My bakes beans meal (which has 27g protein) is a temporary measure - I have a crop of spinach planted outside the kitchen door - I'm gonna replace that meal with tinned salmon and spinach salad. Better?

Much better.

My evening chicken or steak I grill in a pan with a little olive oil. Do you think I should put some olive oil with the balsamic in a salad dressing as well?

Wel, I think it would taste yummy and I think evoo is great stuff, so if this is something you would enjoy, absolutely!

I recently bought natural peanut butter - what if I replace one of the yoghurts with natural peanut butter on wholegrain bread?

Plain yogurt + pb + sweetener (stevia if possible) is also good. Or you can swap the yogurt with cottage cheese (sounds odd but it tastes good).

The low fat cheese I eat a little of is still quite high in fat (23g per 100g about 50% saturated) - I love cheese and so only have a tiny serve (maybe 30g).

Ouch.

I'll consider the morning shake, but I wake up completely empty and starving and like to get something into me - as I have to feed dogs, cats and horses before I cook my breakfast (hence the half hour gap).

How about cutting it back to 1 scoop of protein? And maybe make it with yogurt (since you seem to like yogurt) and perhaps some fruit? Strawberries or blueberries would both be good. You can use frozen which tend to be cheaper and available year 'round.

[jmc53]

Dbflgirl,
Thank you for reply.
(First question - what does dbfl stand for?)
I'm going to adopt some of your suggestions straight away, but just for the moment be a stubborn old coot with the morning whey shake - looking in the mirror this morning I actually think I've dropped a little more body fat in the past few days, and as my primary goal over the next couple of months is to add muscle, and that's been happening, I don't want to change too many things too quickly.
I'll post another daily diet example in a week or so.
Know much about salmon?
I believe the red salmon has the best of the good oils, but I have found a very reasonably priced supply of pink salmon. Label describes it as "Wild Pacific Pink Salmon" Nutrition label says per 100g: 1.8 saturated fat, 3.0 g monounsaturated, and 2.9g polyunsaturated (0.3 omega-6 and 2.5 omega-3)
I have no idea if this is good or bad.
Jason.

[Hibiscus09]

LOL -- I know, I know! I'll let her answer as we've played guessing games with that one before!

I'm enjoying reading your journal, Jason! Keep up the good work and happy Saturday!

[jmc53]

[QUOTE=Hibiscus09]I'll let her answer as we've played guessing games with that one before!
[QUOTE]

Double something?
Something Florida?
How about Dumb, Blonde, Fast and Loose

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by jmc53

Know much about salmon?
I believe the red salmon has the best of the good oils, but I have found a very reasonably priced supply of pink salmon. Label describes it as "Wild Pacific Pink Salmon" Nutrition label says per 100g: 1.8 saturated fat, 3.0 g monounsaturated, and 2.9g polyunsaturated (0.3 omega-6 and 2.5 omega-3)
I have no idea if this is good or bad.
Jason.

I like the flavor of red salmon a lot better than that of pink, and, yes, it has more omega 3's in it. But it can get pricey. The #1 thing to look for is that it be wild caught. The farmed stuff is awful for you. So try your pink and see how you do with it.

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by jmc53

How about Dumb, Blonde, Fast and Loose

You wish!

[JD1213]

daytona beach florida?

Hey jmc53, I got to commend you on your come back from that surgery. Your making me look bad being 34 and all.
Nice work so far. Do those dead lifts bother you at all?

-JD1213

[jmc53]

Originally Posted by JD1213

daytona beach florida?
Hey jmc53, I got to commend you on your come back from that surgery. Your making me look bad being 34 and all.
Nice work so far. Do those dead lifts bother you at all?
-JD1213

Daytona Beach sounds a promising guess.
Thanks for commendation - I'm quietly pleased with progress so far.
I love the deadlifts (deadlift day tomorrow) which of course can be a problem cause we all tend to push ourselves that little bit harder on favourites. After last deadlift session I felt a little twinge in right lower back, but it has passed after a couple of days. I had gone for a PB (PB for this millenium anyway - not counting the old days at this point) - going for 1 rep but 1st rep felt good so I did three. I may back off a few pounds tomorrow and not go heavy again until later in week.

[JD1213]

I know what you mean about that twinge feeling. I get them everyonce in a while in those same areas. It throws up a flag in my brain to Back off the heavy weights. But Like you said its hard to back off it when you like the way it feels even though you get a twinge.

[jmc53]

Just got back from gym - Frustrating session. Weekend brigade had been in and left plates and bars all over the place. Took about 15 min.s to get set up ready to go. Also there were 2 young goths training (weird as goths are supposed to be skinny and like it that way). They had their girlfriends watching. One of them, while I was doing leg press, was about 3 feet away doing touch and go deadlifts (more like bounce and go) and letting the last one crash to the floor from erect position. I tried to explain good form and good manners and at first he wasn't interested in what this old fart had to say. Funny though - the more plates I loaded on leg press the more respectful he got - now he thinks he's my new best bud!

Change to program. I'm not getting enough rep.s at chins for a decent workout so I'm doing V-grip lat pulldowns to chest instead and will work on getting my chin reps up at the end of my other workout.
(How come skinny wiry guys can do a decent set of chins and I struggle to get 5 or 6)?

Deadlifts
154 x 5
220 x 5
286 x 5
330 x 5
352 x 3
363 x 1 (grip nearly failed)
330 x 3

Leg Press
550 x 5
616 x 5
682 x 5
748 x 5
792 x 5
814 x 3 (failure)

Bent Over BB row
88 x 5
110 x 5
132 x 5
154 x 5
165 x 4 (failure)

V-grip lat pulldowns
110 x 5
120 x 5
130 x 5
140 x 5
150 x 5
160 x 5
170 x 4 (got 5 but used a bit of body leverage)

EZ bar bicep curls
77 x 5
99 x 5
99 x 5
99 x 4 (got 5 but swayed on last)
77 x 7

[JD1213]

Jmc53, those are some impressive lifts you got there. I can sympathize with the frustration of the "brigades" except in my gym they usaully come in on Monday or Wednesday. As for the Chins, Do you use Straps by any chance?

[jmc53]

Originally Posted by JD1213

As for the Chins, Do you use Straps by any chance?

No.
I remember even years ago when I was moving lots of weight I was still hopeless on chins. I'm tall with long reach, so I need a large ROM for chins - but I don't think I can use that as an excuse.
This time around I'm gonna beat those suckers somehow.
I'm going to stick with doing lat pulldowns and Ez bar curls on deadlift-back-bicep day and then do a few chins (assisted if necessary) on my other day for a few weeks. I've been doubling up on biceps for a little while (both workouts) but chins will also serve that purpose.
Any suggestions anyone?

[JD1213]

Okay, I skimmed through your journal again and I noticed deads then chins? if thats correct then how about Chins before anything else.

[jmc53]

Originally Posted by JD1213

Okay, I skimmed through your journal again and I noticed deads then chins? if thats correct then how about Chins before anything else.

Could do, but I don't want my frustration with them to work in the end to the detriment of my total program. I know, for me, I have to do my major lift of the day when I'm fresh in the gym. My gut feeling is telling me that benching and deadlifting is where I'm getting 80% of my gains - the rest is cream. When I add squats I'll probably have to go to a three part split to do them justice.
Thanks for the idea though - it may come to that eventually.

[jmc53]

I got my digital calipers in the mail yesterday. FatTrack 11 variety, three measurement locations.
Anyone have experience with them?
I spent quite a while practising with them - so much so that I am sore on my pec where that pinch location is.
This morning I took the measurements three times and got 15.9, 15.1, 15.6. I had decided, no matter what the results, to average and round up to nearest whole number - which gives me 16%. I then tried the navy circumference method and also got 16%.
When I started my journal I was 210 lbs and estimated bodyfat at 17% to 18%.
This morning I am 206. I had a busy weekend moving a small mountain of mulch, and last few days I have had no carbs after 6.00 p.m. (8.00 p.m. snack protein and fat, evening protein shake in water instead of milk).
So I will track my progress from this starting point:
206 lbs and 16% bf.
(measuring both 1st thing out of bed before food).

[Hibiscus09]

I'm glad you received your new toy. I have a love/hate relationship with my Omoron (which I also refer to as the oMoron). It's very water sensitive and a real jerk near PMS time.

Happy Tuesday!

[jmc53]

Originally Posted by Hibiscus09

I have a love/hate relationship with my Omoron (which I also refer to as the oMoron).

I thought I was going to feel the same way about this - first few readings fluctuated between 11% and 19.5% when I measured not only the skin fold byt part of my thumb as well I think. I started to get consistant readings after much practice (but have three very small bruises at the pinch locations to show for my practice).