I've been lifting on and off for about a year and half, but don't have as much to show for it as I'd like. I have a pretty good idea of how to do it - lift heavy, mostly free weights, lots of protein - but I've been too inclined to use school and other concerns as an excuse to skip things. My biggest problem has probably been unclear goals. I want to lose fat (but I'm not a landwhale), and I want to gain muscle (but I'm not a twig), but have never really decided which I want to prioritize, so I've vacillated between both, and achieved neither.
Also, I got the GF interested in this stuff a while a back, and she's been very diligent and made pretty damn good progress. It's given me a bit of a Pygmalion complex - but it's a hell of a motivator!
This summer, I'm breaking this confusion by deciding that I'm going to cut first, and damn my inclinations otherwise. My goal is to reach either 155lbs or to have no love-handles, whichever comes first, by September 1. After that, I will start a long, moderate, INTELLIGENT bulk that won't just be an excuse to eat pizza and cookies.
Current stats:
5'8"
21 year old male
171.75 lbs (immediately after breakfast)
Maxes:
Squat 5x235
Bench 6x75 w/ DBs
Deadlift 5x275
Press 5xugh
12 BW chin-ups
After wasting some time with a body-part split I didn't much like, I've decided to go back to the Rippetoe basics, at least for now. I'm doing a slightly modified Starting Strength 3.5 days a week, and doing HIIT and occasional longer runs on the off days. Here's what I've done so far. The first weight day was pretty shitty since I thought I'd be able to do my previous 5RMs, but had lost some of my strength. I should be up to my old level in a week or two.
6/10 Wed - HIIT: 5-10 minutes warm up jog, 6 intervals of 30 seconds all-out sprinting, 60 seconds jogging.
6/11 Thurs
Squat 225-4-3
BB Bench 155-4-3
Deadlift 255x5
6/12 Fri HIITx7 intervals
6/13 Sat
Standing Military Press (BB) 95x5-5-5
Squat 225x5-3-3
BB Bent-over row 105x5-5-5
Dips BWx8-8, 10x8 (my current gym doesn't have dip belts, so I'm doing the old thighs-around-the-plate method)
Weighted incline situps 25x8-8-8
Hypers 45x8-8-8
I hadn't done BB rows before, and the form is giving me trouble (I can do much more weight using DBs). Do I want to be bending the knees a lot? My hamstrings aren't very flexible, so I'm having trouble keeping my low-back straight. Would it make sense to just go back to DB rows?
Diet-wise, I'm trying to eat around 2000-2200 calories a day, with a balanced macro ratio (40/30/30 C/P/F). In practice I tend to get too many carbs and not enough fat. I've toyed with the idea of doing something more radical like the V-Diet or the Anabolic Diet, though they'd be pretty hard to manage with my current kitchen arrangement.
Other notes:
If you keep chalk and spending money in the same pocket, people will think you're a drug dealer.
I need to find boxers that don't split down the ass when I squat - this has happened twice so far.
Pictures forthcoming when I figure out how to get them off my cell.