Hey T-Nation,
I’ve browsed the forums and articles here for years but have been reading more intently the past few months. Of course I can’t help but be extremely impressed with the wealth of knowledge here. I am putting together a bit of a program for myself largely based on the ideas shared here. That said, there are so many guys on here who have so much to offer that I figured I’d post and see if anyone cares to help me refine/completely restructure said program.
About me: I’m a 37 year old everything-aholic. For the first 22 years of my life, I considered myself an athlete. I played baseball through high school and football (wide receiver) through college. I lifted regularly in college (although with no real plan or direction–intense and long training sessions with maybe 75% of the calories I needed, although I didn’t know it at the time. I just figured I wasn’t meant to get “big” and that was OK with me.) I was 190-195 lbs, in good shape, everything good enough.
Post-college, I became a day trader (still am) and worked out until about the age of 26. So, it’s been a while. I also never got the memo that you don’t drink after college like you do in college, so I went down that road until it got just a bit too bumpy a few years ago and I had several, um, health-related incidents that persuaded me that it was time to drop the sauce. I can be more specific, but the bottom line is that I’m completely healthy (I’ve had all kinds of tests because I was convinced I had done some serious damage to myself), somehow, as my body is very forgiving.
Of course, I didn’t want to face 100 hour work weeks without a little something, so I “prescribed” myself 60 mg of oxycodone/day for about 20 months. I’ve finally decided to make a go of getting healthy again this past year and am looking to replace the vices with healthy habits. I’ve weighed between 190 and 220 since college, mostly in the 200 lb range. However, since quitting alcohol and switching to pills, my appetite disappeared, and so did 30+ pounds. I’ve weighed as little as 165, possibly less, in the past 12 months.
Diet: I’ve always eaten healthy. Very little to no processed foods, corn syrup, genetically modified, none of that crap in my house. A few weeks ago, I was trying to figure out why the hell I am still stuck around the 170 lb mark and that’s when I really started reading through the forums here more closely. I would estimate that I was taking in about 3k calories/day for a couple months, and that seemed like a lot to me. I don’t think I ever ate that much more than that; I just supplemented it with thousands of calories in alcohol. I am currently eating along the lines suggested in the various bulking threads and am putting on weight as one might expect. I also am trying to minimize what I’ve come to realize is a not so great habit–I’m on the phone for 2-3 hours each day, and when I’m on the phone, I’m pacing. I mean the entire time, I’m walking briskly. I can’t think well if I don’t, but I’m working on it. I didn’t account for the enormous amount of calories that was burning up, but I am now. I’d say that I’m taking in about 5k calories per day now and, as I’ve said, I’m finally starting to nudge the needle north on the scale. As long as there aren’t onions involved, I’ll eat or drink it. Tuna in a shake? I don’t relish the idea but I’ll throw that shit down. I’m buying a Blendtech tomorrow to be able to drink more calories than I’m currently taking in.
I’ve been lifting again now for about 3 months. I’m still in the “warming up” stage, I’d say. Mostly compound exercises. I’ve had meniscus surgery on both knees, and my left tibia and fibula were snapped in a goddamn softball game, so I’ve got a repaired left leg on top of the meniscus. So, lower body stuff is a bit more problematic and I’m going slow with the weight. My knees are telling me to go slower than my muscles are ready to, so I am.
I’m working out at home and have a standard olympic weight set. I’m willing to add more equipment (notably, I miss dumbbells). I am doing NO cardio right now, as I don’t want to burn a single more calorie than I already am.
Also, I’m hesitant to add this because I know it’s amateurish and will draw the ire of some (probably many) but it’s an important piece: I started taking androgel 1.62 about 3 weeks ago. I also have cyp and somatropin that I haven’t yet begun because I’m still getting started and don’t want to completely waste it. I read in the forums by someone (I don’t remember who, now) who posted “if you haven’t been training for 5 years, don’t fuck with gear”, or something to that effect, since there are plenty of natural gains to be had. That is an excellent argument. However, I’m a workaholic above everything else. I’ve been failing to maintain a program until I started taking test. I knew I would force myself to stop working and lift some damn weights if I made the “commitment” by taking some test, and I was right. I know myself and what motivates me. Also, you could make a pretty cogent argument that I’m a fucking alcoholic/drug addict and I want a shortcut.
I intend to continue with the andro for another 6 weeks or so and progress to the cyp and gh. I know this is just fucking retarded; I understand that. It’s just where I’m at. I am extremely disciplined in some ways and not in others. I need to think I have a crutch, or edge, or whatever. I’m working on that, but, as I said, it’s where I’m at. Oh, I do not have a scrip for any of that, and I have not been advised by a doctor.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’m just looking for a specific training program–exercises, sets/reps. I think I’m good on diet, but I’ll take advice on that too if anyone is giving. My general goal is to work my way back up to 200 pounds. I currently have extremely little fat on me, and it would be nice to keep that level of definition with some, y’know, muscle, but not critical to me. I am also currently very fucking weak. Not as weak as I was a couple months ago, but still, cringe-inducingly weak even for a wide receiver. I work hard, with proper form (I apparently still have the brain cells that remember how to perform the exercises) and with dedication when I have the switch flipped to “on”. Right now, it’s on, and I want to keep it that way. So, any help would be great, but I’ve already learned so much from this site that I could also just end with “thanks”.