hmmmm thats a massive change in 6 weeks are you sure it was 6 weeks?
Oh, yeah, my food intake for yesterday:
Supps:
2 HOT-ROX
2 Fish oil caps
1 Flax cap
1 Multivitamin
Breafast:
3 scrambled whole eggs
3 strips of low-sodium bacon
Shake (2 scoops Grow!, 5g Creatine)
Snack 1:
1/2 cup Quaker Oats
50g peanuts
Lunch:
Ground Bison
Kielbasa
Snack 2:
50g Peanuts
Dinner:
Chicken (olive oil, garlic, cayenne)
Corn
Shake (1 scoop Grow!)
Pre-bed:
1 TBSP of Peanut Butter
Shake (1 scoop Metabolic Drive)
~2600kcals
[quote]zarrs wrote:
hmmmm thats a massive change in 6 weeks are you sure it was 6 weeks?[/quote]
Actually, the time between the photos has only been 4 weeks. The dates on the photos are accurate.
My training program started on 3/31/2008 (6 weeks ago). I am doing Starting Strength, and for my first month I was on the Anabolic Diet. I’m slowly ramping up the diet to add more calories and more carbs, but trying to keep the carbs down to 100g / day or less, since I am carb intolerant.
Nice job dude! You look much leaner, and more muscular.
[quote]goochadamg wrote:
Nice job dude! You look much leaner, and more muscular.
[/quote]
Thanks! I still have a long way to go, but I think it’s safe to say I’m off to a good start. I really can’t wait to see the 6 month comparison, especially if I can keep up this kind of progress.
I just got back from the gym. I’ve decided to do my HIIT on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because with the accessory work I’m doing now, I’m running out of gym time.
I also got my body fat tested - they have a 3 point system using electronic calipers (measuring chest, stomach, and thigh). My body fat came in at: 22.5% … not as high as I thought, but still 12.5% more than I want, lol.
We’ll see where I’m at in another month, though.
Yesterday’s food intake was a little screwy. The lunch that I thought was still in the fridge at work was NOT there, and I had no money available. Thank the gods for my shake being so filling, but it really twigged out my system.
Supps:
2 HOT-ROX
2 Fish oil caps
1 Flax cap
1 multivitamin
Breakfast:
3 whole egs (scrambled)
1/2 cup Quaker Oats
Shake (2 scoops Grow!, 5g Creatine)
Snack:
50g Peanuts
Cheese
Lunch:
Shake (2 scoops Grow!, 1 Scoop Metabolic Drive)
1 Banana
Snack:
50g Peanuts
Dinner:
Grilled Pork
Mixed Veggies (green beans, peas, corn, diced carrot)
Whole Wheat pasta noodles (very small amount)
Pre-bed:
1 tbsp Peanut Butter (this is truly the highlight of my day!)
Canned Herring (lotsa protein, very yummy)
Shake (1 scoop Metabolic Drive)
I haven’t entered this into Fitday yet, but I don’t think I made my 2500+ calories today because of the lunch fiasco. I definitely need to plan backup foods, so this kind of situation doesn’t happen again.
Question: Does anyone have any ideas for a good substitute for eggs? After 6 weeks of eggs almost every day, I’m actually getting a little sick of the taste. Maybe I should just make them in different styles to kill the monotony. Still, suggestions are welcome. 
Weigh-in this morning was: 194 lbs.
I seem to be holding at 194-196, which is fine by me (for now) as long as I keep making strength gains and becoming more lean.
5’11" at 195 and 10% body fat is above normal, right? I.E. someone with those stats would actually look like they lift, with or without a shirt on? Or am I overestimating the size?
Good job on the lifts, especially the squats! Keep up the good work. And as far as body size that’s entirely up to man. That height and weight isn’t a bad combo, once you achieve that goal you could simply reevaluate and set another goal. I’m shooting for over 200, but I’m a skinny-ass, haha!
-Matt
depends on what you mean by lift?
you’d look like yuo go to the gym, but as much as the average gym goer. except you have had the progress they’ve had in 1/10 of the time. haha.
personally i think you are lean enough right now to start a bulk. if you are going to the gym for looks try starting with a 300-500 calorie surplus. if you dont mind gaining fat but you want a much faster progress go for 1000cals surplus.
personally my squat never increased till i started eating more haha. but i also think part of the reason was also that i THOUGHT my form was off(it still is a bit off at the bottom my back curves a tiny bit). but it was fine.
the hardest thing IMO when i was at your point was to increase my squat. you just have to make them explosively and never stop before muscle failure. NEVER. make sure the form is right, the pins are right, whatever is needed to be right so you just do NOT stop unless you reach muscle failure or get all the 3*5 in.
btw thats an amazing room transformation in your pics! the first is a bedroom the second is a bathroom! wow!
haha
joking aside you certainly have lost body fat… and either you learnt to pose or your shoulders and biceps got bigger
[quote]slimsaw00 wrote:
Good job on the lifts, especially the squats! Keep up the good work. And as far as body size that’s entirely up to man. That height and weight isn’t a bad combo, once you achieve that goal you could simply reevaluate and set another goal. I’m shooting for over 200, but I’m a skinny-ass, haha!
-Matt[/quote]
Thanks! I’m busting my ass at the gym every time. Right now my main goal is strength gain and the additional mass building that comes with that, but I’ll probably eventually work on size. Honestly, though, I’m less concerned with the weight, and more concerned with how my lifts are progressing right now. My first month was fat loss, now I’m doing this for true strength.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
depends on what you mean by lift?
you’d look like yuo go to the gym, but as much as the average gym goer. except you have had the progress they’ve had in 1/10 of the time. haha.
personally i think you are lean enough right now to start a bulk. if you are going to the gym for looks try starting with a 300-500 calorie surplus. if you dont mind gaining fat but you want a much faster progress go for 1000cals surplus.
personally my squat never increased till i started eating more haha. but i also think part of the reason was also that i THOUGHT my form was off(it still is a bit off at the bottom my back curves a tiny bit). but it was fine.
the hardest thing IMO when i was at your point was to increase my squat. you just have to make them explosively and never stop before muscle failure. NEVER. make sure the form is right, the pins are right, whatever is needed to be right so you just do NOT stop unless you reach muscle failure or get all the 3*5 in.[/quote]
I’m doing a slow bulk right now. I upped from 2000kcals to 2500kcals/day. My body fat is still high (22.5%), so I don’t want to risk gaining too much fat. Still, I think I’m still in that beginner’s luck stage, and if I’m careful I can get significant muscle gains and come out ahead with less body fat percentage.
I got more compliments in the gym today on my Squat form. I’m the only person in there that goes ATG. I absolutely refuse to compromise on this, even if it means a slower progression on my squat numbers.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
btw thats an amazing room transformation in your pics! the first is a bedroom the second is a bathroom! wow!
haha
joking aside you certainly have lost body fat… and either you learnt to pose or your shoulders and biceps got bigger
[/quote]
The first pics were taken in my computer room; the second pics in the bathroom. I like the lighting in the bathroom better, lol.
Thank you for the compliment. As I said above, I’m in this for the long haul, and I’m busting my ass every day in the gym. I think my pose got a little better, but there has been a DEFINITE increase in my shoulders and muscles, which I like. I’m getting more solid all around, and having this much improvement so quickly is motivating as hell!
Now, with all the posts answered, here are my lifts for today…
On a side note, I just want to say that my work situation has sucked ass today, and I channeled all that rage into my gym session. I think the Iron understood, as today was a VERY GOOD day for me.
LIFTS:
BACK SQUAT:
(warmup) 135x5, 155x3, 175x1
(working) 200x5, 200x5, 200x4
→ Got one more rep in today over Wednesday. I think I’ll have the 200 conquered come Monday’s session!
DEADLIFT:
(warmup) 135x5, 155x3, 175x1
(working) 210x5
→ Got 'em all! I think I’m starting to reach a limit with my grip. It was a little hard holding on to the weight. I’ll look up grip exercises in a bit.
BENCH PRESS:
(warmup) 65x5, 75x3, 85x1
(working) 115 3x5
→ FINALLY!! I conquered 115. Onto 120 next week (or maybe 125?)
DIPS:
BWx5 !! (that’s one extra one on this first set!)
BWx3 (still struggling with the second set)
INCLINE SITUPS:
BW+15 (210#) 3x5
HYPEREXTENSIONS:
BW+10 (205) 3x5
Today was weigh-in day, and I’m at 194.
My only issue today was a slight wobble on my squats, but nothing that really sacrificed form. One of the guys in the gym offered me a belt, but I declined. I think it’s too early to start wearing one of those… am I right on this? What’s the general consensus?
you might wanna try during warmup to do the same or even higher weight for 1 rep than your work set
for example
BACK SQUAT:
(warmup) 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 205 or 210x1
(working) 200x5, 200x5, 200x4
it helps the CNS adjust better and faster for your work set
oh and im like 99% sure that your body fat is way less than 22.5. there is no way you have a rather flat belly and have 22.5 body fat %. just… no way.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
you might wanna try during warmup to do the same or even higher weight for 1 rep than your work set
for example
BACK SQUAT:
(warmup) 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 205 or 210x1
(working) 200x5, 200x5, 200x4
it helps the CNS adjust better and faster for your work set[/quote]
Maybe I’ll try that on Monday. I seem to making progress each time, and definitely am able to up my lifts every 2-3 days. But, if this will help me progress faster, then I’ll definitely give it a whirl.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
oh and im like 99% sure that your body fat is way less than 22.5. there is no way you have a rather flat belly and have 22.5 body fat %. just… no way.[/quote]
Flat, yes, but it still sticks out quite a bit from my waistline. I know when they guy did the test, he was able to get a good amount of belly fat. I know the pics look pretty lean, but trust me, my midsection is still mostly flub (although I can feel it getting more solid beneath the flub).
Or, their test could not be that accurate. It was a 3 point machine caliper test - he took the average of two measurements from my chest, belly, and thigh. That average went into his computer program and it spat out 22.5%.
I know when he was doing the test he didn’t get too much from my chest, and he joked that he was having a hard time getting anything to measure on my thigh. Almost all of my fat is in my midsection, but (and I hate to use the phrase), it’s being carried VERY well now).
I don’t know what to say, though. Even if their methods are inaccurate, I think it will provide at least a baseline of measurement for progress each month. I’m tempted to get my own set of calipers and teach my wife how to do it, lol.
hm. then i guess just start a bulk when you feel energetic enough. i remember what it was like to be fat and out of shape(now im fat and in shape haha). i was 105kg with barely any muscle when i started out.(231 lbs). you feel tired, more depressed, more sleepy etc etc. when you feel energized, like your muscles dont struggle all that much to carry your body then i guess you could start a bulk
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
hm. then i guess just start a bulk when you feel energetic enough. i remember what it was like to be fat and out of shape(now im fat and in shape haha). i was 105kg with barely any muscle when i started out.(231 lbs). you feel tired, more depressed, more sleepy etc etc. when you feel energized, like your muscles dont struggle all that much to carry your body then i guess you could start a bulk[/quote]
I definitely have tons of energy these days, as long as I stay away from bread. Bread kills me, for some reason - puts me right to sleep.
I feel I’m making some pretty damn good progress, and I’m much less concerned about fat loss now, so the ‘slow’ bulk process is my next step. I’m such a newbie that I’m still trying to figure out what’s best for my body, so I’m experimenting with different things for 4-6 weeks at a time, to see what works and what doesn’t.
I appreciate all your input on my log! It’s nice to know people are reading it.