I just wanted to introduce myself. I recently found this site and have been reading alot of the articles/posts.
Some background: I’m 24 and have been going to the gym regularly for a little over 2 years. I’m 5’11 and when I started in Oct of 2004, I was hovering around the 250 lb mark. I was out of shape and did not have any type of continuous activity since sophomore year of high school.
I received a free membership to a gym from a friend, started slowly, but ended up finding a passion and love for the gym. it became my second home. I changed my diet (I lived off of fast food practically my whole life), and started cooking and eating healthy.
By July of 2005, I was going to the gym 4-5 days a week, for 2-3 hours a day (I know… overtraining), and was down to 185 lbs. I was doing cardio (at least 5 miles on the treadmill or elliptical), ab work, and some isolated lifting. Some days I would even do a triathalon type cardio session where I would do 2-3 miles on the treadmill, 5 miles on the bike, then 10 laps in the pool.
It should be noted I was also taking a fatburner: VPX Redline. I loved the stuff and admit it did help me alot. I read alot of articles and tried some different techniques here and there, but still worked around my usual routine.
In October, I started some boxing training with some friends and quickly realized my strength was not where it should be. I had the endurance to go many rounds sparring and on the heavy bag, but I probably wouldn’t be knocking anyone out.
I started lifting heavier, taking creatine (well No-Xplode), and more protein (Muscle Milk). Also, my diet fell off a little bit, but definitely nothing like eating fast food daily or anything.
By March of 2006 I was lifting heavier and doing less cardio. I was back up to 200 lbs, but i definitely put on alot of mass, looked more built, but still wasn’t as “cut” as I liked. I attributed that to my diet.
Also, I started going to school again, so I could no longer put in the 2-3 hour nights in the gym a day.
In April, along with school, I started seeing my girlfriend and my workout and diet took a major dive. I tried to hit the gym as much as possible, but that dwindled to 2 times a week, if that. Also, we ate out alot. I went up to 215 lbs with alot of noticeable fat around the midsection and face and noticed a drop in strength and endurance.
Late September I decided to make a change again. I honestly missed working out like I used to. I started working out in the morning before work. (A huge thing for me, because I am as nocturnal as they get) I sleep early now, and wake up at 5:30-6:00 in the morning to have my bowl of oatmeal and hit them gym at 7 (or earlier) for an hour or so.
I have reverted back to a cleaner diet, cooking nightly, and eating more meals spread out through out the day.
Currently my workout split goes like this:
Mon-Wed- Fri
Cardio for half an hour (treadmill or elliptical)
then do a variation of a complex workout I found at:
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/mma2.htm
75 lbs
Romanian Deadlift - 6 reps
Bent Over Row - 6 reps
Push Press - 6 reps
Back Squat - 6 reps
Good Morning - 6 reps
x 3 sets
Tues - Thurs
Cardio for half an hour (treadmill or elliptical)
Dips
Bench Press
Lat Pull Downs (Cable)
Low Rows (Cable)
I’m very conflicted with my goals. I plan on taking some formal MMA training soon. Not really looking to compete, but who knows. I do want to have that kind of conditioning though: proper strength, endurance, and flexibility. Currently, I want to get back down to 180-185 and I want to maintain it.
Sore articles have already caught my eye:
The FFB Handbook
http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=05-118-diet
The Tabata Method
All Articles - T NATION (I plan on trying it this weekend)
And I’ve printed out almost 20 others that I’ll be reading on my free time.
With my experiences I found that I truly have a love for working out, but at the same time I realize I am still much a beginner. After being overweight most of my life, it feels great to be in shape and athletic.
I find myself always trying to test myself and I look for challenges from hiking various “difficult” trails in my area, long distance biking, to even taking up a full contact martial art. I find myself researching and reading constantly. I’ve come to love it so much that I have changed my major to kinesiology.
To end this post, I guess I just want to say how happy I am to have found this site. If you actually read the whole long post, any input, suggested articles, workouts, diets, etc, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.