Nth time's the charm

[delcyphr]

Another lurker becomes an actual member. Hello, all. A typical Eternal Beginner here, though perhaps older than most (45); I've made a career out of starting programs only to bail out soon afterwards. I found this forum several months ago while searching for info on NROL soon after purchasing the book. I was posting on the Men's Health boards at the time and took a stab at Break-In, but dropped it with just one workout to go. Actually, I dropped a lot of other worthwhile activities at the same time, all due to a nasty bout of depression. It always sounds a bit like an excuse, but I know full well now that depression's just a fact of life, and of biochemistry, for me. I took the critical step, finally, of appropriate supplementation (s-adenosylmethionine, or SAM-e, and enough of it), and it really cleared the decks, as it were. Clouds lifted; a lot of things that seemed well out of reach before, activities that seemed beyond me, were all revealed as being right there. I guess they always had been; I just wasn't seeing them.

So now that the vision thing is remedied, I'm going to make the nth time the charm - for fitness and health, for enjoying more of life, for a lot of things.

Previous attempts at weight training and cardio had me down to 185 at roughly 23% body fat (5' 10'', by the way). I plateaued there for about a month, and then the clouds set in. By the time the air cleared, I was back up to 200 lbs. and 30% bf - as though the last round of workouts had never happened at all. (Still better than the wedding-day, all-time weight of 220 lbs and God knows how much bf. That was six and a half years ago.) This is where things stood when I launched the NROL re-start. I wanted to hold off on posting here and starting a training log until I got some sense of actual completion under my belt. That came when I finished up Break-In this morning. Even though I'm still on the long climb up to "untrained" from "totally unconditioned and inert," having actually completed something is heartening. Huzzah!

Following Stingo's example from when he first signed on here, here's the first and last Break-In numbers. All exercises done at home with dumbbells and the frame of a Soloflex (used only for pullups, dips, and such).

Break-In A, first workout
Squats 2x10@30 (2 15 lb. DBs)

Static Lunge 2x10@0 (bodyweight only)
and
2-Point DB Row 2x15@10

Pushups 2x10
and
Swiss Ball Crunch 8, 6


Break-In A, last workout
Squats 2x15@70 (2 35 lb. DBs)

Static Lunge 2x15@40 (2 20 lb. DBs)
and
2-Point DB Row 2x25@15

Pushups 2x15
and
Swiss Ball Crunch 15, 8

----------

Break-In B, first workout
Deadlift 2x10@50 (2 25 lb. DBs)

Walking Lunge* 2x10@0 (bodyweight only)
and
DB 1-Arm Shoulder Press 2x15@15

Pullups** 4, 2
and
Reverse Crunch 8, 6


Break-In B, last workout
Deadlift 2x15@100 (2 50 lb. DBs)

Walking Lunge* 2x15@50 (2 25 lb. DBs)
and
DB 1-Arm Shoulder Press 2x15@30

Pullups** 8, 5
and
Reverse Crunch 15, 11


* I substituted Walking Lunges for Step-Ups because I have no boxes on which to step. Also, our basement has an uncommonly low ceiling so stepping up would be repeatedly painful. I may have substituted Pullups for Lat Pulldowns; I don't have the book with me, so I can't check.

For cardio, I'm doing the prescribed first-month edition (19 minute) of Metabolic Overdrive, three times a week, on non-lifting days.

I've gone from 200 lbs/30% bf at the start of Break-In to 196 lbs/26% bf as of yesterday, the kind of slow but steady progress I was expecting. I'm planning to do NROL by the numbers: from Break-in to Fat Loss I, II, and III, followed by the Hypertrophy programs, then on to Strength.

I'd planned to talk about diet and goals, but this post is already much too long! More to come.

[Aoife]

Welcome. good progress there. The absolute best thing about having to regain ground is that you know you can make it there because you've been there before, so you can't convince yourself it's a pipe dream. Stick with it and you'll make it back and then some, no problem.

[gregl515]

Welcome! You are off to a great start.

[delcyphr]

Metabolic Overdrive, afternoon (usually in the a.m., but I slept in today)
19:09 min.
5.16 miles

Good thing I still have two weeks to get better at this before stepping up.

[delcyphr]

Thanks for the welcome, Aoife and gregl.

Scheduled day off yesterday (felt decadent). Semi-specific warmup this morning per NROL, Chapter 5. I'm between phases just now and start FL I in a week, so just warm-ups and Metabolic Overdrive for the next few days.

I meant to mention the diet a few days ago. Nothing radical; total calories at 2250 or so, perhaps 200 or 300 under maintenance. I may be eating a little too much - I tend to overestimate my calories expenditures - but I'll probably wait until I'm into FL I before making any adjustments. Going for a 35p/35f/30c split on weight days and fewer carbs on other days (more like 25% or less). Eating fairly cleanly - lean protein sources, dairy, veggies - but still slowly moving the diet in the right direction (damn potato chips).

I'm looking at my body recomp work as a three-phase effort:

• first recover the gains I made (and lost) months ago by getting back to 185 lbs. and about 24% body fat. Hope to reach this by the beginning of December.
• moving past that to 170-175 lbs. and 15% bf. I'm not married to the weight goal per se, but figure that's where I'd be at 15% bf. I would expect to be there around early March (just in time for a birthday).
• then the fun part: adding mass and working gradually back to around 200 lbs.

[Mahler]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your resolve to get back on the horse and ride hard.

(love the avatar)

[delcyphr]

Many thanks, Mahler! I remember your motivators from the MH boards; glad to see they're here too.

[delcyphr]

Metabolic Overdrive, morning
19:02 min.
5.28 miles

[delcyphr]

Semi-specific warmup, then coffee. I have never been much of a warmup guy - too impatient or maybe lazy - but I'm learning.

[delcyphr]

Metabolic Overdrive, morning
20:06 min.
5.33 miles

Have been feeling like a slacker during this break week. It'll feel good (!) to start FL I.

[Aoife]

Don't worry, you'll hate FL1 soon enough....

[bigDman]

ill be watching this journal... good luck

[delcyphr]

Aoife: I'm think I'm prehating it now.

bigDman: Thanks! Hope to give you stuff to read in the months to come.

Today: a little under the weather, but trying to stay active.

Three sets of the following bodyweight routine preparatory to FL I.

Prisoner squat
15-15-15

Pushups
15-15-15

Static lunge
15-15-15

Inverted rows
9-10-10

Forward prisoner lunge
15-15-15

Elevated pushups
10-12-10

[delcyphr]

Metabolic Overdrive, morning
20:00 min.
4.87 miles

Sluggish this morning; couldn't seem to get it out of first gear. Didn't sleep well last night, so that may have been a factor.

[bigDman]

Prisoner squats... sound um... very shall i say ravaging

[delcyphr]

It's not what it sounds like.

Kaopectate Day today. Yeesh. It was supposed to be the start of FL I. Still might be if things, ah, settle down...

[bigDman]

did it involve toe touches or grabing your ankles :-P