My First Serious Workout Routine, Barely Legal.

[nyguy]

Ok, this is my first log ever and I decided to start because besides wanting to keep progress of my routine, I can always use criticism.

First of all let me thank you guys for the support I got from the moment I started posting. I can't name you all but you know who you are, I want to dedicate this Osca... WTF? And I want to thank Mahler for emailing the excel log.

Yesterday was my first day doing Barely Legal Workout. It's still a trial not because of the workout but I'm still trying to find out how much weight I should and can lift. The routine is intense and since I don't have the experience to follow a workout sheet I got a little lost. Tonight I will write things down with a marker. I'm also getting used to count the tempos and reps at the same time. I'm also paying a lot of attention to posture.

Now, I don't remember sweating so much or feeling so energized by the end of a workout like yesterday. Also when I was doing other workout routines with straight lifts, I would really feel the target muscles in the end. Yesterday when I finished, the body part that I felt the most was my forearm. I also felt the other muscles but it was more like tiredness than the usual tightening after a workout. Like I mentioned above, I still have to adapt and find out how much I should lift for each exercise and I plan to stick with the routine.

Well, that's it for now.

I almost forgot: I'm 33 years old, 5 9 height, 135 lbs, very scrawny but I managed to develop a fat belly eating lots of junky food. My goal at the moment is to lose the fat and build as much muscle as possible before I go to visit my family in Brazil by february. I workout in my basement with a bench and free weight, my favorite color is... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[hard_rox]

Congratulations NYG, you're on your way to a better lifestyle. Glad to see you're putting all that new equipment to use, too.

Good luck and we'll be watching.

[Bond007]

Yes, WE WILL BE WATCHING! Man, Greg, that just sounds ominous!! Sheesh! LOL!

NYG, congrats on your foray into the world of weight training. Keep us posted on your progress and ask any questions. I'm sure someone will be along at some point to offer up advice.

Best of luck, and congrats, bro! You are now truly a part of the "brotherhood".

[Marykaa]

HEY.. NYGUY ! Glad to see you're logging too! I'll be checking in to see how you're doing and you better be kicking ass!

[Terry Monk]

Alright! Glad to see you've got a log and joined up with us over here on this forum! We all support each other like family in here. If you start to lose motivation, PM or post any of us and we'll be right there with ya.
You can do this! Stay strong, stay dedicated and stay motivated! We'll be following along with you. Good luck!

[RacerBill]

Congrats on getting started on a program! That first step is often the hardest. And it's perfectly natural to have to experiment a bit to find out what weights to lift. Know one automatically knows that stuff -- even the most experienced lifters have to try to add more weight sometimes and don't quite get every set in. Except Gymrat.

BTW... you must have hit "add reply" before you typed your favorite color. Don't keep us in suspense! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Welcome to the logs.

[johnacc]

Good luck NYGUY.

I look forward to following your log.

[Marykaa]

BILL.. nah.. I see his favorit color.. it's sort of a lime-green [img]tongue.gif[/img]

but apart from that..

NYGUY you'll have to go fill in your Getting to know you... form

[nyguy]

I finished my first week doing BL. I'm still testing how much weight I can lift but at this point I have a much better idea. The workout is very intense and exhausting for me since I don't have much resistance but I noticed that workout C and D were easier. I also had to adapt feel things like pullups and chinups, finishing them off with pulldowns. Last night I was going to the bathroom and decided to do one chinup and I could go all the way up to my chest but didn't try a second rep. Funny enough on a regular workout I cannot do more than 6 pullups and each set after I do 1 reps less than the set before.


My wife told me friday that my body feels firmer so that's a good thing. I also notice that I'm losing some fat but I haven't gained or lost any weight. My diet is far from ideal since my meals are very infrequent and today I decided to fix that by buying a larger cooler and some Tupperware.

I think that's it for now. Thanks for the support; it makes all difference in the world.

I'll fill the "Getting to know you..." thingy later today.

[Marykaa]

for good measure..
don't know if it can help but..

I use a little pill bottle that's exactly the right size to put one ounce of peanuts in it.. never have to weigh or count them again.

and an old 35mm film plastic container is the right size for an ounce of Pine nuts.

[Bond007]

It's great to see that you're still hanging in there NYGUY! Keep up the work and you'll see your body comp change pretty rapidly at first.

Keep us posted, bro!

[nyguy]

Ok, let me add something else to my log. For some reason I feel a little intimidated writing here. I'm still doing BL but I did a little change. Basically on workout B, I eliminated the abs exercises and added some leg curls and extension at the end of the workout. The reason I did this is because although my legs are getting tired at the end of the squats and deadlifts, when I finished the workout it didn't feel like they were pumped and I'm not that confident anymore to try squats without a rack or cage so I use the lever to finish them off. Another reason was because since I just stopped smoking, I'm getting really out of breath doing the abs exercises at the end of workout B and not being able to finish them, so I took wednesday which is the day off to do the abs exercises and get the full benefit of it.

I have been increasing more weight to all my exercises, as well as being able to finish the sets and reps, something that was killing me before. To give an idea, I increased 30 lbs on both my bench press and squats, and maybe around 20% more weight on everything else. Since I started BL 3 weeks ago I was also able to increase 1 more rep a week to both chin-ups and pull-ups. I guess that finishing the sets with pull downs have something to do with it.

Now, my increase in weight probably has more to do with confidence (I have the thingy I built to help protect me during bench presses) than strength. I also believe that my new diet is giving me more fuel to workout.

My meals are:

1: Oatmeal

2: 2 jumbo boiled eggs

3: 1 cup of yogurt

4: 1 cold cut sandwich (lots of black forest ham or smoked turkey with cheese, light mayo and mustard)

5: 1 banana prior to workout

6: 2 or 3 scoops of whey on 2% milk prior and during workout.

7: chicken breast or meat with veggies for dinner

I guess that since I'm not eating so much in one sitting, my stomach is getting smaller so I feel full fast, but also hungry more often.


What else? My Thursday and Friday were probably the most stressful days of the year and things just didn't workout and I will probably get fucked on my February vacations to Brazil. I haven't seen most of my family in 14 years and I'm so fucking frustrated that I feel numb and desensitized and I hate how I feel now. I put too much thought on this fucking trip that I’m drained. Things have a way to workout, if not by resolving the problem, but making me feel better and either one is fine by me. I just to sleep at night. Enough rant, I should be glad I'm healthy.

Oh yeah, I drank a Coke and it was so goddamn delicious, probably one of the best cokes I ever drank in my entire life. Yes, I have no regrets. It was good and I loved it. Ohhhh, the bubbles on the tongue, the sweet, sweet taste touching my mouth like little drops from heaven making everything pretty again. I love you, coke!...and my wife!

[gobbla]

just to reason this out...you added MORE excersises to things that you were already good at and eliminated excersises for things that you're bad at.

see the disconnect?

A "pump" don't mean shit. Different rep ranges will make you feel different things, and you're working with 6-8 reps here...you probably SHOULDN'T feel a "pump". If you don't feel like you're getting enough out of the leg day then add more weight! If you can go from a squat to a deadlift\split squat superset without feeling like you're going to die then you're the MAN!

If you're getting really tired doing the ab circuit then take your time...as much as you need. You're certainly NOT going to improve that area by completely removing it!

[Marykaa]

For some reason I feel a little intimidated writing here.

humm maybe now you understand why my first log's title was "The L'le Ol' Lady's Log" and not "Mary's Fitness effort".. and not the title you suggested I'm also very intimdated about posting my log.. but having a title that does't put pressure on me helps alot. Your title is just fine. This IS your first serious workout routine.. Everyone has started somewhere. And the more you'll post.. the more help you'll get go for it!


I hope everything works out for your Brazil trip.

[RacerBill]

Good job on upping those weights! Even though you discount it as being related to confidence, that's still an accomplishment from working out. It's not always about strength and muscles. Sometimes it's about gaining confidence in what we can do physically and mentally. No matter what, it's ALL growth in some way or another.

Listen to Gobbla. I totally agree with his advice on your modification to BL. Craig's workouts are tough, which I certainly know from experience. But the idea is that his plan takes us beyond our comfort zone. By taking the abs out and saying let's do them another day -- well, when *I* do that, it means I'm much more likely to forget (or ignore) them. You're probably more diligent than I am. But why put that temptation out there?

Glad to see you're sticking with your plan, and staying away from the smokes. Sounds like the Mrs. likes what she sees! There's some great motivation right there!

[nyguy]

Thank you all for the replies, I can certainly use whatever criticism you guys can offer since the best lessons are learned from mistakes.

Gobbla, I totally agree with you. I just don't feel safe doing certain things at this point with my current setup. I know, I'm a wuss but if I get hurt, my life would be royally fucked. I'm getting the cage and then I'm either increasing weight or trying a few more reps at the end of the set. I suck balancing myself doing lunges too but I'm getting the hang of it. The first time I tried lunges a few weeks ago I couldn't even complete the first rep. I'm not kidding you, I was living a sedentary life and my form was horrible.

As far as doing the abs, I want to follow the BL routine as designed but I've been a smoker since I was 14 years old, almost 2 cartons of marlboro reds 100's a day and I haven't got it out of my system yet. I can lose my breath in a second, especially at the end of supersets. Since leg day is the most demanding for me and I just couldn't get past the bicycles, I decided to do it another day because abs is something I really want to workout.

RB, you are right but it's not about comfort zone, it's about safety zone. I don't believe that comfort and exercising go together and it's funny you mentioned that because when I bought the weight set the other day, the guys from the store were going to bring it to my car and I refused, being that the whole point of buying them was to also lift them. I'm hinting that the cage will be my Christmas gift; it just sucks to wait until then. As far as the abs day, I have the discipline because it's something I can easily do in the living room and my phone is programmed to remind me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

MK, no doubt. I also lack the confidence describing things because of my poor use of the english language and I don't know all the technical terms for fitness, but the feedback and support are very valuable.

Thanks again.

[Marykaa]

yeah.. the English language.. I'm fluent.. but haven't spoken it for 30 years.. so you're doing much better than me!


I imagine you've already picked up this URL for exercise descriptions.. but just in case you missed it :

ExRx.net

[gobbla]

two CARTONS a day?! good god man, it's a wonder you're moving! What are they now...33 bucks a carton? a pack a day always made me feel on the lesser side of ass. Camel wides are better than reds though

Leg stuff, don't sweat it. If you can't increase the weight then concentrate on form...take an extra second or two on the lowering portion. The thing about adding volume is that it swings things out of whack on the whole program. It'd be better to spend a couple weeks on the lesser side of the wagon than to add excerises.

What would you think about doing the ab stuff first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed on the same day.

Just so you know, I'm not trying to bust your balls. Only trying to stear you away from making little errors that you'll have to work twice as hard to fix later. We all had to start somewhere, some of us weren't so far away from where you're at right now.

[nyguy]

Did I say cartons? hehe, I meant packs.

What would you think about doing the ab stuff first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed on the same day.

I didn't think about that, will try it this week.

Just so you know, I'm not trying to bust your balls.

Absolutely, Gobbla. I honestly appreciate the input received here. While I believe that mistakes teaches you valuable lessons, why would I want to bust my own balls trying something that has been proved wrong?

MK, I have the link and I'm always checking it out..at least for a while. Something wicked this way comes.

[nyguy]

Today is a no go. I feel like shit and will probably feel sick for the next few days, so I will reserve my energy to work. I gotta get an air purifier.

[RacerBill]

Hope you're feeling better soon. Man, there's a lot of bugs going around!

You know, if you hadn't mentioned family in Brazil, I never would have guessed English is a second language for you. You sure don't type with a Portugese accent! Seriously, your written English is far better than a lot of the college freshman papers I've seen by kids who grew up in the U.S.

[nyguy]

RB, thank you. Man, I'm so horrible to keep up with the log so please forgive me. You gotta be joking, I never had a chance to go to school here and didn't speak a single word in english before I came here. Sometimes I read myself and I go nuts.

This week I only worked out twice because of this health thing. My energies are drained and I got a sore throat, which I'm beggining to treat with a really disguting tea that I make but works good. I boil garlic, cinammon sticks and then I use the water to make a decaffeinated tea that is not going to keep me up all night, honey and lemom. Take a nyquil and relax.

Other than that I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and put the cage together. I'm just too curious to find out my 1RM.

[Marykaa]

NYGUY hope you feel completely well real soon, and do you have a picture (from the web?) of you cage?

[Craig]

Hey bro,
Maybe you should simply start with a less intense program.
This one may not be for you right now.

craig

[nyguy]

Craig, I love your training, I really do and it's not unconfortable now, it's just that I exposed myself to the weather without proper protection. It was really stupid and I hate to admit it. I work getting in and out of a truck and going inside buildings for an unspecific amount of time. When I go inside I take my jacket off because I start sweating and sometimes in the hurry to keep going I don't put it back on when I get out. Stupid, stupid, getting out of 75° and exposing myself to 2° all sweaty and without a jacket.

MK, here is the link for the cage with pics. web page

[nyguy]

I decided to post some pictures of my progress. They were taken a month apart and I didn't really have a workout/diet plan at the time so the difference is not that visible, but I feel that I have a better posture in general. The first set was taken on oct/30 and the second on dec/01. Hopefully by the end of this month I will see more results if I can control the holiday eating.

[Deserve]

Nice work. I see a marked reduction in the mid section.

[nyguy]

I spent last week very sick with cold like symptons and a very sore throat. My apetite went downhill and I was without any energy so I had to stop exercising to save everything got to work. I'm lucky that I didn't miss a single day of work, although the weather took a beating on me. Financially I could not afford to stay home, specially around the holiday season. I've been very down lately and truth be told, it was probably the worst Christmas of my life but I'll keep the details to myself.

I weighted today and I also lost 7 lbs. The only exercises I did las week was some pullups, pushups and light bench press. Today I'm going back to the basement and I'll see how much damage it did to my workout routine.

Wish me luck.

[RacerBill]

Congratulations on the 7 pound loss! Losing weight during the holidays, when we're surrounded by all sorts of goodies, is something some of us only dream about!

Good luck hitting the weights again. Don't be afraid to ease back into it after taking some time off -- that's part of the process.

[nyguy]

Thanks for the post, RB. I'm a little ashamed of myself because I feel that I'm letting myself down. I don't know, I took a little break and quiting smoking is making me feel fucking bad. I'm not giving up but things are not easy.