got bored pretty quick with the whole watching what i eat and rowing/walking as the only exercise. so over the weekend i dusted off the old weights and got everything set up to start a 12 week program effective today

gonna do a 5x5 routine 3x days a week. mon/wed/fri squats on all days, bench and rows one day, military press and deadlift the other

diet details?
or just eat whatevs and lift to balance it out?

no real diet details other than being conscious of what im eating
ya know.. hey im hungry lets eat a twinkie, fudge round, cookie, pound of bacon
*thinks to self* nah, guess i should have an apple, orange, banana, veggies instead

that sorta thing ya know? and choosing to do more active things like family walk, walking the dog farther/longer, taking the long way from the parking lot to work while walking, walking during my lunch break, taking the stairs and refusing the elevator regardless of how many steps, using a rowing machine semi-regularly (but now that im lifting, that last one is over for the time being)

also, cut back on the amount of beers during the week

tonights lifting was kinda funny, taking it easy till I get back into the swing of it

squat
65 lbs 5x for 5 sets (its funny how after the last set I was fatigued. jesus and i that out of shape?)

bench
65 lbs 5x for 5 sets (got nothing from this, decided on the last set to do it 50 times just so i would sweat)

row
75 lbs 5x for 5 sets (also got nothing from this, maybe a little burning in the back)

lets see what tomorrow brings

wednesday's agenda looks as follows:
squat 75 5x5
press 55 5x5
deadlift 110 1x5

friday will be back to today's routine but with 10 pounds added to everything. gonna continue adding 10 pounds to every lift every day until i fail on getting 5 reps on the last set

i wish i had my weight set at my mom's up here, no space though at my cousin's

i want to do 5x5 again, really good program

good luck adam

my bench and weights have moved around like a nomad for the past 6 years
between my parent's garage/basement and my garage or at friends' houses since I ran out of space in my garage due to brewing

i forsee my lifting partner bailing out on me or getting lazy and quitting when things get tough but I have his promise that I can maintain lifting in the space with or without him

ive dabbled with the 5x5 in the past but had a thick head and thought it was below me. back to reality now, need to start back up somewhere

rippetoe, good program im gonna go back to it soon, been doing 531 for awhile

and it might mesh better with running

also, lol @ the squats

squats and i do not have good history since dislocating my knees in rugby
once i start repping over my body weight, my knees sound like rice crispies: snap crackel pop
i must either be retarded, horribly unbalanced or have a hip issue because i never feel comfortable doing squats. ill show you what i mean. maybe come down one lifting day before you flee?

ofc, before the beer is consumed

I overdid it on friday, still semi sore quads lol

wednesday was interesting for squats considering how sore I was going into it. did a couple warm ups and got the blood flowing and i felt like normal. did my 10 pound increase keeping to form and today i feel like i didnt even lift. my recovery time cant be that drasticly changed in only 4 days... can it? i was super conscious of my form and went ass to the floor on every squat including warm ups. pressing on tonight with the weight increases.

unfortunately it hasnt even been a full week and my lifting partner is flaking on me. got a text this morning: "can we lift saturday instead of tonight"
im not giving in. i have a head cold and im sure as fuck not breaking routine already. lifting without him tonight

yeah, honestly the quads/hams from squats are sore the first time lifting in a long time, but then just lifting makes the soreness stop like the first time

also, knew bryan wouldnt last

thats what she said

A week and a half into the stronglifts program. Things are a bit boring since the working weight is light and just practicing good form. Kinda silly that im benching, squating and rowing nearly all the same weight. With increments of 10 pounds instead of 5, im hoping things get to be more of a challenge by Thanksgiving. It only took a week to get back into the routine. Looking forward to the next workouts and currently dont feel any soreness the days after.

http://i.imgur.com/ft1V0.png

just gonna leave this here for you

shit adam be careful

tonights lifting is proelbay gonna be interesting. busted my leg up a bit on saturday and been walking with a bit of a limp. i guess its a good thing my squat weight isnt a challenge yet

this caused some shit to go bananas in my leg. the increased bloodflow caused my left foot to blow up and now looks like it was run over my a truck. got paranoid about blood clots so i went to the doc. doc gave the all clear to continue lifting unless i get cramps in my calf. also said if my foot feels cold (poor circulation) i gotta go to the ER

lifting yesterday was EZ. seriously considering upping my incrementals to 20 lbs or more for deadlifting and squatting. it will be Christmas at this rate before i feel challenged on deadlifting/squatting/benching so i might have to seriously re-evaluate my increments after thanksgiving

im finally challenged with rep 5 on 5th set of overhead pressing and bent over rows. i feel like i should be challeneged equally on all exercises, not just 1 or 2

This post has been edited by xstakemx on Tue - Nov 20 2012 - 09:42:28

Current #'s

Squat 125 (not a challenge)
Bench 135 (not a challenge)
Row 120
Overhead 105
Dead 165 (not a challenge)

Still going EZ with hardly breaking a sweat. Did my routine in 25 mins last night and also started with protein powder and cutting back on beer. Havent drank a beer in 3 days which is unsual for me.

Using muscletech powder mixed with 16oz water. 3 scoops = 60 grams protein that i toss in a shaker cup and start sipping on my way to lift. Drink most of it while lifting with additional water. Consume the last of it while driving home.

At this point, im at week 5 and just solidifying working out as part of my lifestyle again. Im thinking of only using the protein on workout days (M W F) but im willing to hear comments or criticism on that.

not to criticize, but isn't 60 g a ton of protein? i remember someone telling me (like dan or maybe one of my offline friends) that you can only effectively absorb about 25 g protein at a time. maybe because you drink it throughout the workout its ok though

gz, i wish i had the motivation to lift

it took me probably 45 minutes to an hour to consume that 60 grams. i would love to read more about this if there is a write-up somewhere and not just word of mouth. it doesnt seem like a lot to me. while bulking it is normal to consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. (this is daily also counting other forms of protein consumed.) when i was playing rugby and power lifting i consumed over 200 grams of protein powder per day for 5 years in addition to being conscious about getting an aditional 100 grams via other sources like eggs, meat, nuts, etc. i always consumed powder between meals and before/after workouts (it was my goal to reach 300 pounds in a healthy way)

This post has been edited by xstakemx on Tue - Nov 20 2012 - 10:21:44

per day vs per hour is different, but i bet you are probably fine. its not like theres any harm to eating tons of protein. my bodybuilder friend at work eats that much protein at once, but its 1/3 whey, 1/3 egg, 1/3 soy so theres different metabolism rates for each type

Week 7, still pressing on. i am thinking about getting 1.25 pound olympic plates so that i can incrementally use them for some of the exercises like military press that are starting to get challenging. that way in a 2 week period, im only increasing by 7.5 pounds instead of 15 and not increasing the chance of stalling or missing reps too soon

i went to york barbell and was surprised that they dont make them. 2.5 is the smallest increment. online i can get them for $21 delivered to my door. seems kinda stupid to pay 3x the cost on just shipping but whatever. hell, maybe ill rig something up with materials i have laying around

i also decided to start taking a daily multivitamin. i know this might sound stupid but this morning i was ancy/jittery before even finishing my first cup of coffee.

squats, bench, deadlift: still going EZ and might need to up my incrementals
military press and bent over rows are just right, challenging but still holding good form

This post has been edited by xstakemx on Mon - Dec 3 2012 - 09:44:38

seriously considering buying a power rack. the bench i use now is fine but its a bit of a hassel switching between exercises. when the weight gets intense for squatting, im gonna need a rack for safety

friday Dec 7th, ashamed to say I missed my first day of lifting in 8 weeks

got home late from work and by the time i was able to lift, it was 10 pm. i started to get ready and my knee started feeling weird which reminded me there was some unusual popping and cracking going on in there on wednesday. i opted for the extra days of rest and went back at it monday

monday i was starting to feel sick but pressed on anyway. I was dry heaving 1/2 way through the workout but pressed on regardless

squats, shoulder press and deadlift on the agenda tonight

late advise, but up the protein on non workout days as well.

updated my numbers to be more current

i understand consuming protein on off days as muscles are still recovering, i just have a mental block over it as its seemingly a lot of calories to take in which seems counter productive to me wanting to also loose weight. unless i sub out healthy snacks or a meal or something on off days

finally switched my lifting days to sunday/tuesday/thursday to better fit the family schedule

it was interesting lifting today with a hangover but whatever

at 155 now with the bent over rows and im starting to question my form. will need to do some research tomorrow. also, wife is bsck to regularly exercising and she wants to do a diet to add to the benefits of exercising. i guess its time to take dieting seriously now

added benefit of wife working out: you will want to have sex with her again
added negative side effect of wife working out: you will want to have sex with her again and may have another babby

This post has been edited by MoS. on Tue - Jan 1 2013 - 23:54:23

My weight bench is starting to become too rickety/unsafe for the weight im squatting. Time to make a change/upgrade.

local gym -$$ monthly fee. the good- someone to spot me. the bad- dealing with people who poke around and bullshit
power rack -$350 and up. the good- stay at home and safer. the bad- takes up more space and is costly initially

hmmmm maybe ill build my own power rack with some extra lumber i have laying around. If i can get some steel support bars, I can probably do it for under $200 and size it so it fits in my garage

anyone have a suggestion for a dieting plan?

my doctor told me to reduce carbs, but i donno if this is true. i think just counting your calories is the best way to not eat too much. I would think about giving yourself some sort of "cheat" day at least, so that you dont go crazy eating leaves all the time and never getting buffalo chicken dip

any insightful links/good reads on the mechanics of building a diet and how to formulate what your calorie needs/target should be daily to lose weight?

im perfectly happy with maintaining what im doing now and lifting. the wife wants to step up our diet to make our exercising more useful so to speak. shes talking portion control and all that shit which is foreign to me. if she wants to do it though, i might as well go along with it and see what happens

if you are doing cardio work multiple times a week, you can lose weight without portion control. gary/dan might have a better sense of how to balance your calorie needs (fat/protein/carb) than i would. you could always search on men's health.com or something like that. weight watchers online supposedly has a good program, i've known a couple of people who have lost 30-50 lbs on that program

im doin strong lifts 5x5 3x a week without cardio. i get my heart pumping hard enough for that 45-60 mins

once i level out on all lifts and my strength grains are not obviously increasing im planning on doing some rowing/cardio on off days. that is more than a month away though

doing the whole "eat smart" thing has helped me drop a couple pounds. i need a strict diet to take the gains/loses to the next level. the problem im having here with creating a diet is that it needs to be something that works for both the wife and i. she is the wild card here as she is a carb junkie. i have no issues removing carbs right now. she on the other hand wouls freak out like a crack addict. thats why im thinking calorie counting is the way to go for now

i'm just a big fan of cardio, when ur sweating like a pig and burning a thousand calories on the treadmill i know im losin' weight. when i lift (even hard) i dont get that feeling

gary uses myfitness pal

it sets goals for things like calories, carbs, protein, fiber, salts, etc
you should kek it out

nice, i was just looking at that website over my lonch break

there is a mobile app as well, where you can scan barcodes and most brands will pop up with the nutrition facts

my advice, for what its worth -

i am 5'8", my worst weight was 245, im now 220 and losing around 1.5 lbs / week and i do heavy exercise at least 3 days / week

i started around 1600 calories which was way too little, then 1800 for 4 weeks where i lost weight but gained body fat, then finally to 2050 where i am now and losing body fat almost exclusively

once you find a balance in your macros then its really just about routine. counting calories and measuring your portions really works. its the simplest option, its balanced, and its not a fad.

although i dont think theres such a thing as too much protein, i would say to eat ~ .7-1x your weight in protein, the same in carbs, and the rest in fat

ex: i weigh 220 and i eat 155g protein & carbs and 90g fat -- this is the balance that has been working for me

granted, i eat almost the exact same thing 5-6 days / week, but thats what i prefer

also, last note, and most important takeaway for me, was reducing sodium. i went from over 4000mg / day when i started to ~2100mg to now i can get away with ~1300mg / day. i am obsessed with finding low salt and no preservative foods (ex: ezekial bread, raw nuts (excellent good fat source also), low salt turkey breast, real chicken vs purdue short cuts, etc). i find that when i eat a lot of sodium in a day and dont drink a lot of water that my joints even swell some. this will also do wonders for your blood pressure

good luck, and by no means do i consider myself any kind of expert, i am mostly echoing advice that i have received from professionals and what has worked for me so far. i still have another 40 lbs and 10-15% body fat to go myself

cheers

here is my food journal as well
[link removed]

if youre interested in what i ate today as an example

awesome Gary, thanks for sharing.

Im 286 currently and my short term goal is to go for 250

catching the flu really put the squeeze on progress for awhile.

now that ive read through your entire thread after starting lifting myself, i really wish we could lift together
my numbers are right around the same as yours and im curious what your form looks like for squats and deadlift
also shameless 2 week bump for progress