Another Beginner's Log

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Intro:

I’m 35yo, 5’10" and weight 65kg. I’m now at the end of my 5th week of training and so far I’m happy with the results; I feel stronger and healthier. :slight_smile:

Here’s my WO schedule, WO days are Mo, Wed, Fri – and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on them if you have any.

Squat 3x8
Bench Press 3x8
Dumbell Press 3x8
Dumbell Shrug 3x8
Seated Dumbell Curl 3x8
Basic Crunches 3x12
Push Ups 1x20, 2x15 (When I started with this I could only do 1x10, 1x5 so I’m very happy with the progress there. The idea is to work my way up to 3x20 and after that progressive loading perhaps or maybe a few more reps. We’ll see.)

My goal is simple: add 10kg of lean mass in 6 months. So far I’ve had an increase of 1kg and I know its muscle as my fatpercentage is definitly down. Haven’t measured it yet as I don’t have the means to do so but I estimate it at around 13-14%. I wouldn’t mind dropping that fatpercentage a bit but it isn’t a high priority.

Right now I consider my eating habits the biggest obstacle to gains; I’m not a big eater and I find it much harder to eat throughout the day then to train and sleep properly. So right now that will be something I’ll be focussing in on heavily. For starters, starting tomorrow I will keep a foodlog to accurately keep track of my caloric and protein intake.

I will also try to get some pics up soon and update that each month to have something to compare myself to at the end of the six month period.

Glad to be here! :slight_smile:

2

Needs a hip-dominant lower body and a pulling exercise

P.S. and what’s up with “Seated Dumbell Shrug 3x8” ?

3

[quote]Petrichor wrote:
Needs a hip-dominant lower body and a pulling exercise[/quote]

Any exercise you can recommend for that? The pulling exercise is out of the question as I work out at home and don’t have the equipment. I was thinking of later, once I got two 20kg plates, adding the deadlift. Would that do for a hip-dominant lower body exercise?

[quote]Petrichor wrote:
P.S. and what’s up with “Seated Dumbell Shrug 3x8” ?[/quote]

Now that is called a ‘typo’. lol

Thanks for the feedback!

4

[quote]J.P.GM. wrote:

Any exercise you can recommend for that? The pulling exercise is out of the question as I work out at home and don’t have the equipment.
[/quote]

Chin Ups/Pull ups

Bars are very cheap, working out at home isnt really an excuse :wink:

[quote]J.P.GM. wrote:
I was thinking of later, once I got two 20kg plates, adding the deadlift. Would that do for a hip-dominant lower body exercise?
[/quote]

Yes.

Deadlifting is recommended

5

[quote]Petrichor wrote:

Chin Ups/Pull ups

Bars are very cheap, working out at home isnt really an excuse ;)[/quote]

Too true! I already looked around and saw a very affordable pull up bar that I’ve set my eyes on, see attachment.

[quote]Petrichor wrote:

Deadlifting is recommended

[/quote]

Then deadlifting it will be! I’ll add that to my next WO.

Thank you for taking the time ro reply. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. :slight_smile:

6


I was hoping I could get some decent pics but they kinda suck. I picked out the best and hopefully I’ll be able to boost the quality of the next pics; thinking about buying one of those tall mirrors on a stand.

7

an increase of 1 kg in 5 weeks means nothing. it could be water, could be muscles could be fat.

if you really want to gain 10 kgs of muscle in 6 months you are gonna have to eat a lot. 4000 calories should be minimum. you’ll gain fat too but with 1 kg in 5 weeks there is no way you’ll gain 10 kgs of muscle in 6 months.

do you know what kind of foods you should eat?

oh and lift heavy stuff.

forget the push ups, they are kinda useless if you already bench press anyway.

8

btw wear underwear in your pics dude

9

[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
So far I’ve had an increase of 1kg and I know its muscle as my fatpercentage is definitly down.

an increase of 1 kg in 5 weeks means nothing. it could be water, could be muscles could be fat.

if you really want to gain 10 kgs of muscle in 6 months you are gonna have to eat a lot. 4000 calories should be minimum. you’ll gain fat too but with 1 kg in 5 weeks there is no way you’ll gain 10 kgs of muscle in 6 months.

do you know what kind of foods you should eat?

oh and lift heavy stuff.

forget the push ups, they are kinda useless if you already bench press anyway.[/quote]

I know it isn’t fat as the abs are more clearly visible, and the only place I got any fat, and that ain’t much as is, is my stomach. Since my strength increased considerably, and that has to come from somewhere, I think its a fair bet it came from an increase in muscle mass. Maybe, however, my reasoning is flawed?

I read that Riptoe recommends 3000 calories a day and I figured I should keep that as a guidingline. Where did you get the 4000 calories a day from? I seriously hope 3000 will be enough as 4000 isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Since last friday I put myself on a gallon of milk a day, not with complete success but close, and am trying to get the whole 6 meals a day routine down. Which is proving very challenging to me.

I must confess I don’t know much about the specifics of the kinds of food I’m supossed to eat and am working on getting my diet on track.

Besides the gallon of milk a day, I’m trying to get two extra meals with rice down my throat for the extra calories, and those are the meals that I’ve so far skipped completely!! Hence the disapointing progress weightwise.

A piece of fruit with breakfast (four slices of wholegrain with peanutbutter and about half a liter of milk), lunch (same as breakfast) and dinner (lots of meat and a fair amount of potatoes and a moderate amount of veggies and salad). As a 6th and last meal of the day I’m thinking of yogurt.

Does that sound like I’m on the right track or has it ‘crap’ all over it?

Working on the lifting heavy! working hard. :slight_smile:

So far I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and as long as I can add 4kg every week to the squat and 2kg to the bench then I think I’ll get there eventually. Today I got to 3x8x51kg/112,4lbs with the Squat. No idea though if thats big or small lifting for a beginner but I’m a happy bastard with it.

I don’t know if the push ups are useless as I read an interesting article here that recommends to include a bodyweight exercise and a lifting exercise for every major pattern you train. I hope this link works: http://www.T-Nation.com/article/most_recent/the_importance_of_bodyweight_training

Besides, I’m enjoying the push ups a lot!

And whats wrong with posing in the nude, eh? :wink: Don’t worry. When I get the chance to make pics that show more then the one I posted does, I’ll make certain to wear my cleanest underwear! Scouts’ honour! :slight_smile:

Thanks for the feedback! :slight_smile:

10

Update time! :smiley:

I never posted my starting stats and they should be part of any decent log, I think - so without further ado here they are!

Starting Stats
-Neck: 37cm/15,5"

-Shoulder girth: 109,5cm/43,1"

-Shoulder width: 45cm/17,7"

-Chest: 92cm/36,2"

-Waist (contracted): 69,5cm/27,3"

-Hips: 86cm/33,8"

-Upper thigh: 49,5cm/19,4"

-Lower thigh (5" above center of knee): 37,5cm/14,7"

-Calf: 35,5cm/13,9"

-Upper arm: 27,5cm/10,8" (hanging), 31,5cm/12,4" (flexed)

-Forearm (arm straight, hand clenched): 27cm/10,6"

-Wrist (handside of bony prominence): 16,3cm/6,4"

-Hand (tip of middle finger, to wrist): 20,5cm/8"

-Elbow: 25,5cm/10"

-Ankle: 22,5cm/8,8"

-Knee: 33cm/13"

On a sidenote, keeping the foodlog has made a big difference in my eating habits. It made me realise how little I actually eat during the day. Which in turn lead to getting seriously pissed at myself and ever since I’ve been kicking my ass to the fridge during each and every day.

I’m now eating between 3600 and 3900 calories a day and around 140-150 protein. Lots of rice, about a gallon of milk a day, lots of Brinta (a wholemeal grainproduct made of the whole-wheat corns), fish and fruit.

Will keep an eye on the bodyfat, if it gets out of hand then I’ll reduce calory intake.

Next on my to do list is trying to put a shake together that is both nutricious and tasty.

On another sidenote, I just measured my upper arm flexed and its 33cm/12,99", an increase of 1,5cm/0,59"!

Here’s praying hard for more gains! :slight_smile:

Edit: This thread doesn’t show up for me on the forum page. Strange. It’s a mystery!