EDIT: Better comparison album! More before pics!
I've never been what anyone would consider out of shape, but I've always considered myself scrawny.
Since high school I've been in the 6'4 190lb range. I'm now 208-215 depending on water weight etc. 28 year old male.
I've lifted weights off and on for years, but never stuck with it for more than a month or two, and was never very consistent when I went. Didn't put up any impressive numbers in any lift. It was just something to keep me from going crazy during the long winters until things warmed up enough for skateboarding, biking etc.
A year ago I went through some shit. Bad times. I made the decision to leave my home and start fresh somewhere different last summer.
One of the things I wanted to change about my life when I moved was to work on achieving the level of fitness I've always wanted. I wanted to have ideal conditioning and aesthetics.
I'm getting there. By trying to eat 4k calories a day, hitting the gym a minimum of 5 times a week, and converting 100% to commuting by bicycle, my strength and cardio is at levels I've never seen before.
I've never run a program. I just divide my gym time into 3 general days. One day is chest / tris / shoulders, second day is back forearms & biceps, third is core & legs. No rest days in between unless I'm feeling particularly burnt out, then I'll take a day off. I do mild core work, a set or pull-ups and chin-ups, and a set or two of shrugs every single workout. This is mainly because I hate sitting still in the gym, so when resting between sets I throw in something light that works another muscle group so my heart rate stays up.
Like I mentioned I commute by bike. I ride a nice road bike and I go for speed every time I ride. I pedal until I feel like I'm going to puke and blackout, back off, then go at it hard again, HIIT style. In addition to my daily ~9 miles commuting to the gym & work, I bike between 100 & 200 miles weekly for pleasure. It's become my favorite way to spend my free time, the health benefits are just icing on the cake to me.
In those 5 months I've made serious progress. For example, I used to struggle benching 2 plates for one rep (235lbs) and for a month just getting one rep with two plates was my goal. These days I feel confident with 330lbs on the bar, and warm up with 2 plates!
As far as my diet goes, it's primarily meat, nuts & fruit. I use smoothies as a quick and easy way to consume calories. Usually one in the morning, one at night. 2 bananas, a scoop of flax seed peanut butter, 2 scoops of whey, some creatine & whole milk. I like clif bar max 30g protein bars for right after my workouts, because I can smash one and still ride my bike to work and not feel sick to my stomach. I work at a restaurant where I can make myself food daily. I'll often make a spinach & chicken pesto salad. Some days I'll just grab 3 or 4 different types of meat and make a monster calzone. Also eat lots of crab & salmon sushi.
Aside from smoothies I pretty much only drink water and whole milk. Some juice here and there but I prefer eating fruit to drinking juice.
I've managed to reduce my intake of alcohol a ton. About a year ago I was averaging 3 or 4 beers a night, it wasn't good. These days I'm averaging about a six pack per month. I feel a lot better in general from this change alone.
From here on out I plan to continue trying to put on weight. I'm hoping to hit a solid 220-225 by the time spring rolls around. I'll be doing a cross country bike tour then and I figure that will be a good time to cut, since I'll be doing intense workouts daily and operating under a caloric deficit.
I think the most important decision I made was turning this into my life. This isn't a phase, this is who I am. Every aspect of my life has to reflect my goals. I can't expect to live life outside of the gym like shit and get the results I want, and I fully understand that now.
Any questions, feel free to ask.
EDIT: Talked with a mod and steroid accusations are being deleted! Don't waste your time, go lift instead!
submitted by thundrbuns to Fitness
[link] [446 comments]
from reddit: the front page of the internet http://ift.tt/1AcB6ka
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire