Md's getting fit finally, training log

[md11hydmec]

Hey, welcome to my finally getting fit training log. First, a little background info.
Stats:
37 yo
213 lbs ------currently
225-230 lbs --When I started exercising in August
278 ------ cholesterol level 2 years ago. Haven't had it checked lately.
As far as fitness level, couldn't do a pullup, only 1 pushup with bad form, run to the end of the driveway before I gave up. I also smoked 1 pack a day.
Gave up smoking in August. Cold Turkey. I know I was a bear for about a week. Started exercising to take the place of smoking. Sounds OCD? Probably, but I'm not smoking anymore, so it works. Tried different diets before that and I couldn't stick to them. Through just general exercising, I dropped to 220lbs. In October started on Lou's book (again) Testosterone Advantage plan(bought it a few years ago, but never finished it). Great book Lou! Finished it in December. I was stuck at 215lbs, until I took Newlifes advice and took a break over Christmas. Wound up losing 3 lbs. Thanks Newlife. Here are my goals:

Age gracefully!
190lbs --- goal weight.
increase strength, fitness, trim down.

Currently on Phase 1, week 2 of The Greatest Workout ever. So far this is a really good workout. Day 4 is a killer! but its worth it!.
I'll be trying my best to keep this updated. So far here are my current lifting weights. They may seem small to some, but to me they were mountains.

Benchpress --- 100lbs (for 3 sets)
Squat -------- 100lbs
Tricepts ----- 50lbs(skull crushers)
Bicepts ------ 50lbs(w/curl bar)
Cardio ------- treadmill 3x/week.

Here is my routine
Greatest Workout Ever 4x/week. M,T,T,F
Rest W,Su.
Cardio T,F,S-- 30 minutes total. 5 min warmup, 5 min cooldown, 20 minutes split between fast walk and jog( 1 min fast walk, 1 min jog -- for 20 minutes) Just started cardio this week, so we'll see. I don't know what my 1 rep max's are. At this point I have no way to find out. I have a simple home gym. 100lbs of DB's(plates), a curl bar, and a bench.
My wife is working out with me, thats a plus! We have a goal of 10% weight loss in 12 weeks. Hopefully we'll make it. LOL. Thanks for listening ... MD

[md11hydmec]

Did my treadmill splits this morning. My legs are still sore from the Day 4 exercises on Friday. When I say sore, I mean overworked sore. Hard to squat down to pick something up sore. I'm skipping the Lwr body workout tonight, and I'll pick up day 3 workout on Thursday. I did get my splits in though, so its not all a wash.

[md11hydmec]

Well, today is a rest day for me. The wife and I plan to go out and ride our bikes after work. Legs are feeling better. On Friday, I plan on going lighter on the weights for my lower body workout.

[md11hydmec]

Well, wednesday was a nice ride. About an hour, we were wore out. Thursday was day 3 of the GWE. Modified my workout bench, enjoyed the workouts.
DB incline bench press- 45lbs each
Lying 1 arm row --- 45lbs each
upright row --- 25 lbs each
1 arm BB curl -- 15 lbs. This one surprised me, since I was curling 50 lbs at one point with a curl bar.
Swiss ball push up ----still funny but trying to get more stable at it. Thanks for the tip Newlife.
Cable row w/ extraction-- I just do a bent over row with 75 lbs on the bar. I don't have a cable station at home.
Tonight is the dreaded day 4 with all those squats. Definately going lighter tonight.

[md11hydmec]

Did the Day 4 workout last night. Went lighter! About half from last time. Legs were a little stiff at first. Didn't go to failure. I'm a little sore from it. Today is my cardio. 30 minutes doing fast jog/ fast walk splits. Been trying to get my calories right and keep them around 2200-2500. At 4:30 am its tough to shovel something down your throat if its not coffee. Oh, and to top it off, I'm a notorious chocoholic. Been good about that. I only allow myself a few morsels, to keep me satisfied.

[md11hydmec]

Weighed in yesterday.

212 lbs -- I was very surprised because I blew my diet big time on Saturday. Too much beer, and while the burgers and dogs weren't that bad for me, the overdoing it with them and the beer was.
Well, got back on track monday. Did my day 1 workout
Bench press--- 110lbs
Push press --- 75 lbs
Pullover/ BO Row- 75 lbs
Tri Extention(stand)50 lbs
Because I'm not set up to do chin ups and dips I do the pullover, bo row, and tri ext to take their place. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great.
Cardio today along with day 2 of the workout.

[md11hydmec]

Did my cardio yesterday morning. Increased my time to 35 minutes.
5 min wu
25 min split 2 min jog/1 min fast walk(although about 10 min into it I was back to 1/1)

Yesterday afternoon weights -- Day 2 of TGWE
Deadlift --100 lbs
Squat --85 lbs
Goodmornings---50 lbs
Front squat ---70 lbs
Feel good today, a little sore, but bearable.

[OldGuy]

MD, do you have a link to this workout?

[md11hydmec]

http://forums.jpfitness.com/cgi-bin/.../t/002411.html
http://forums.jpfitness.com/cgi-bin/.../t/002411.html
Here are a couple of links to it. One has the logs, the first one I think.
Its a decent workout. It was in the Fall issue of MH Muscle.

[OldGuy]

Thanks, MD. That looks intense.

[md11hydmec]

It is. You really feel like you've done something.

[OldGuy]

That's what workouts should do. If they don't you're wasting your time. Plus you're getting results which is good for motivation.

[md11hydmec]

I agree. I'll post my weights for when I first started working out. It's quite interesting to see.

[md11hydmec]

Well, last night was a night of personal bests for me. Felt great and my wife was there to cheer me on.

On my cardio, I just wanted to see if I could do it. I jogged a mile in 12 min. Non stop. 1st time in quite a few years (since the AF in '85) since I was able to do that. Also, on my weight workout I was finally able to do 4 sets of 8 swissball pushups without falling on my face. Boy, are my arms tired after that. Well here's my workout for last night.
Cardio--25 minutes(5 min w/u --jogged 1.2 miles in 12 minutes, 3 min fast walk, 5 min c/d)
1 arm DB incline BP -- 40lbs each 4x8(up to 45)
1 arm lying row DB --- 40lbs each 4x8(up to 45)
1 arm BB curl ------ 15lbs each 4x8(up to 20)
Swissball pushup- 4 sets of 8 w/o busting my can
Upright row -----------25lbs each(up to 30)
Cable row(reverse wide grip B/O row) -- 80lbs 4x8(up to 85)
I'll be moving up 5 lbs on all sets next workout.
Over all it was a good workout. Upper body knows it was worked out. Tonight is the dreaded day 4 workout. I'm ready to take it on!!

[Chris D]

Great job. Keep it up. Soon you'll be lifting some major iron!

Chris

[md11hydmec]

Thanks Chris, sometimes I feel a little embarassed about the low weights. I mean I'm nowhere near what some of these guys and gals lift. But I'm working on it. I just have to remember that it won't happen overnight.

[md11hydmec]

Woohoo!!! I got introduced to my abs last night. I took my shirt off and noticed when I contracted my ab muscles, I could see a faint outline of the muscles. I still have fat around the middle, but it was exciting to see them try to peek out from the fat. I know they're in there so I'm working to bring them out.
My workout last night was great. The dreaded day 4, and it went great. A little sore this morning, but not like when I first did day 4 2 weeks ago. I'm still little shy about bumping up the weights alot. One, I don't want to hurt myself, and two, I work out with my wife and I don't think she could help me if I had alot of weight. Here's the workout:
Bulgarian split squat --- 4x8 no weight, 10lbs next time
Suitcase deadlift----- 4x8 35 lbs, 40lbs next time
Hack Squats ------ 4x8 50lbs, 60 lbs next time
Leg Curls ---- 35 lbs, 40 lbs next time
I'm still learning about how much weight I can lift. Some exercises I've figured it out, but others I haven't yet. Still in learning mode.
Cario tonight. Going for 35 minutes on the treadmill doing my splits. Monday, I'll up it to 40 minutes with 1 day of trying to increase my milage by jogging.

[md11hydmec]

Well, its rare to find me online this late in the day. Finished my cardio thanks to my lovely wife kicking my butt to the basement to do it. Got in from work and I was going to workout, then decided to skip and help with dinner. She wouldn't have that, knew that I like working out. I have one heck of a wife. So, on to my cardio.
5 min ---Warmup
25 min --- splits 30 sec run 9-10 mph, 90 sec walk 3.5 mph (thanks for the suggestion Oldguy) I did have an extended walk, an extra 90 seconds, sorry.
5 min -- cooldown
Felt great! I think I hit a zone, you know, where you think you can run forever. Stopped though because I didn't want to over do it. Tomorrow is a rest day, conveniently on football day. I hope my numbers win. Tuesday I'll increase my cardio by another 5 minutes and stick to this routine. I like it!! Hope everyone has a good weekend.....MD
PS GO whoever, as long as my numbers hit on the NFC and AFC pools.

[Chris D]

I didn't start out lifting a lot of weight and by comparison to some of the other guys I'm still a light weight. I have however upped a lot of my lifts quite a bit. Almost near my form in high school, which wasn't that great. I'd love to blast past those. Also I'm still learning about what I can lift as well. I think it's a perpetual process. Some lifts I could go more on, and some I've had to back down on.

Keep it up. Glad your seeing your abs. I'm not seeing mine. I need to get rid of some of this fat!

Chris