Meh… I figured why not. I’ve been on and off in the last year or so and ever since my snowboarding injury where I separated my AC (Acromio-clavicular ligament) I haven’t been able to press as well, but its been over 2 months now and have been going to the gym steadily about 3 times a week in the last 3 weeks.
I was wondering if anybody could give me some pointers on where I need work on (I have one pic included from a while ago but I will post a more recent one later).
Height: 5’10"
Weight: 178 lbs
Body Fat % : between 11-13% using tape and electric-impedence (Although I highly doubt it, that tire around my stomach doesn’t really indicate that I am that low). The picture was taken a while back so I think in the picture I am about 15-16% BF.
I can’t really give an accurate measure of my resistance training stats… so I’ll need your guys help here if you don’t mind.
My goal is to gain 5-10 lbs of lean muscle mass hopefully by the end of this year, I don’t know if that sounds like a lot or unreasonable. It seems I have a hard time packing on lean muscle without the added extra fat, and whenever I cut I seem to lose muscle (since on the cutting I tend to also lose the protein intake).
My diet consists of whole wheat bread, soy milk and cheerios, assorted meats (from burgers or chicken strips and burritos and what not), whey protein powder (about maybe 50-100 grams protein a day), almonds, avocados.
I just started on creatine monohydrate but if anything I look fatter now and I gained like 3 lbs total (mix of fats and water maybe?)… I did also gain about 1/2 an inch to an inch in bicep circumference in the last 3 weeks.
Anyways, I’ll keep posting on my progress. I will also be sure to post a more recent recent pic if my webcam turns on.
Here is a more recent picture, from about 2 weeks ago:
BTW is there any way to attach more pictures? (I am assuming this is a BB style where I can attach pictures from a photobucket or imgshack with [img] tags)… I’ll try it out later when I get more time.
An update as well as some questions on my progress:
As I am standing now, I am at 186-188 lbs, been bulking by keeping an average of 160-190 grams protein/day. Been going to the gym mon/wed/fri switching off triceps/chest and biceps/upper-lower back. I read an article about stabilizing and strengthening the core muscles, such as the shoulders and back/abdomen since my arms haven’t been getting that much bigger (maybe only 1/3 to 1/2 an inch increase from 14 to 14.5 circumference) and I figured I’d have to increase my entire muscle mass overall. I decided its probably best to have faith in my body’s physiological homeostasis and hope that increasing mass in my legs and other parts will trigger growth in my arms whenever I train them.
So I asked the personal trainer at Gold’s to help set up some deadlift/squat exercises, that helped a lot but I do have to note that its not everyday some 300lb Black guy wraps his arms around your waist and tells you to bend your knees =.… anyways it was good to have someone show the proper technique cause it’d be a lot worse to hurt myself and have a bar fall on my face.
So I’ve been working my way up from squats and deadlifts… I was just wondering what would be a good beginner weight goals to push for once I reach that comfort/stability level?
For estimation sakes, I’ll say I’m 5’11 (actually 5’10.5 if that matters) and I’m at 188 lbs at about 11-13% BF. I take about 2800-3200 calories a day (I know it should probably be higher than that), and about 180g protein/day.
I been starting with:
Squats: 135 on smith machine @ 3-4 sets of 10
Deadlift: 110 /w 3-4 sets 10
Bench press: 135 @ 3 sets 7-10 reps
Barbell curls: 80 @ 4 sets of 10 reps
Any tips would be appreciated, like any goals I should be aiming for and what areas to focus on. I will try to add recent pics sometime later.
An update as well as some questions on my progress:
As I am standing now, I am at 186-188 lbs, been bulking by keeping an average of 160-190 grams protein/day. Been going to the gym mon/wed/fri switching off triceps/chest and biceps/upper-lower back. I read an article about stabilizing and strengthening the core muscles, such as the shoulders and back/abdomen since my arms haven’t been getting that much bigger (maybe only 1/3 to 1/2 an inch increase from 14 to 14.5 circumference) and I figured I’d have to increase my entire muscle mass overall. I decided its probably best to have faith in my body’s physiological homeostasis and hope that increasing mass in my legs and other parts will trigger growth in my arms whenever I train them.
So I asked the personal trainer at Gold’s to help set up some deadlift/squat exercises, that helped a lot but I do have to note that its not everyday some 300lb Black guy wraps his arms around your waist and tells you to bend your knees =.… anyways it was good to have someone show the proper technique cause it’d be a lot worse to hurt myself and have a bar fall on my face.
So I’ve been working my way up from squats and deadlifts… I was just wondering what would be a good beginner weight goals to push for once I reach that comfort/stability level?
For estimation sakes, I’ll say I’m 5’11 (actually 5’10.5 if that matters) and I’m at 188 lbs at about 11-13% BF. I take about 2800-3200 calories a day (I know it should probably be higher than that), and about 180g protein/day.
I been starting with:
Squats: 135 on smith machine @ 3-4 sets of 10
Deadlift: 110 /w 3-4 sets 10
Bench press: 135 @ 3 sets 7-10 reps
Barbell curls: 80 @ 4 sets of 10 reps
Any tips would be appreciated, like any goals I should be aiming for and what areas to focus on. I will try to add recent pics sometime later.
Like I said in my log… don’t use the smith machines for squats it won’t teach you proper form, free weights FTW. I’m lighter than you and a n00b and squating freely 220+… I’d try 155 then bump it up if you feel okay from that. NO MORE SMITH MACHINE!!!
Another note… your deadlift should be MUCH higher than your squat. Squat at 135 deadlift at maybe 175 or higher… lift more.
