Getting Back Into Shape?

Training Beginners
1

I used to be in pretty damn good shape mostly thanks to T-Nation.
However, in the past 1.5 years I’ve had little but constant setbacks.

I had legal trouble resulting in a 3-month stint in juvenile detention, where lifting was a joke as they had a universal machine with the max weight being 150 pounds, a diet that was composed of jerky like prison grade meats and a ton of carbs in the form of stale white bread, and to top it off we went outside to exercise three times in three months.

Then once released I went right back to school and I just couldn’t handle life anymore. I don’t know why, I have no excuse, I just couldn’t stand listening to people or interacting with them on any significant level. I just generally stopped caring my grades plummeted, I never started working out again, and I just stopped socializing.

I’m fairly intelligent and I kept trying to figure out what was going wrong and when I had no legitimate answer I decided to solve the problem one way or another. Sadly the method I chose was to drink. When I drank all of my problems faded into the background, I was happy, I could interact with people again, and it overall just worked. Then I realized that I couldn’t stop otherwise I became worse than I was prior as far as irritability and happiness was concerned. I realized I had a problem.

Again I’m one to solve problems by any means necessary. At the time I was attending a drug and alcohol class that was mandatory when I was released from juvenile detention. It was there that I learned about, and developed an interest in marijuana. The guy in charge of the group told us how when he decided to quit alcohol and heroine he used marijuana ,as it wasn’t addictive, to help him overcome the physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. Of course between that statement and the other attendees telling me how great marijuana was I was ready to attempt it.

Well here I am now. I rarely(only at parties) drink anymore, but I smoke marijuana at least once every day. I have been attempting to quit but I can’t sleep if I don’t smoke. As one can imagine this is a serious problem and I’m looking for a couple suggestions.

Also I’m fat and I’m ready to begin to get back in shape. I know how to do this, but I would appreciate any ideas on how exactly to start lifting again. Should I go back into it slow with a less intense plan, or should I just go right back to 3x10s for the major compounds?

Stats:

age:
weight:260
bf%: unknown but at least 30% in my estimation
bench:250
dead:315
squat:315

I know I have alot of work to do, and I’m prepared to do it I just need a couple pointers.

2

Ok now this is an earfull. I also used to smoke weed everyday and then my parents put me in rehab. Although i still think it is rediculous it got me into lifting and boxing. Just start something new.

Go start taking a boxing class or just find a program for beginners. I recommend Waterburys Anti-Bodybuilding hypertrophy program (link at bottom). Just dont smoke weed anymore. Grab your balls and tough it out for a week or two and you wont even want to smoke anymore.

In the meanwhile your gonna have to find something that will wipe you out enough to make you go to sleep. I love going to sleep because im always exausted from the day. Keep your time occupied by doing research on this site or whatever else you find interesting.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459341

3

Ok my fault i put up the wrong article. I forgot you wanted to lose weight and i gave you a weight gain article. I suggest actually upping your cardio in some sort of way. Again anything that requires continuous work. There is a shitload of things you can do to up your calorie defict.

Again boxing is my favorite however a freind of mine is obsessed with swimming. Just find something you like to do that requires physical effort and you will also find people to talk to. Accomplishing 2 things at once.

Keep me updated on how you are doing.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=795366

4

I’ve decided to pull an all nighter to get myself back on a normal sleeping schedule.

My training will be Waterbury’s plan outlined in his new book:

Goal: Increase strength and lose fat
Order of programs: BBB, TTT, SFM, WM, BBB, TTT, SFM, WM, BBB, TTT, SFM, WM

My diet will be the standard anabolic diet.

Cardio will probably be sprints or tabata.

I’m not one to cry about marijuana being addictive I know it’s not and I can stop easily, it’s more a matter of fixing the sleep schedule. Once that’s done I’m not worried about the marijuana.

5

Day 3 of the diet and I’m still ok. I have mainly been surviving on chicken salad, eggs, bacon, steak, and grilled chicken.

Fish oil and protein of course, and considering reimplementing creatine but I may wait until the diet gets harder (Days ‘4-14’)

I intend to add some romain lettuce, spinach leaf, and possibly attempt cauliflower mashed potatoes as outlined on that recipe thread.

6

yea to stay on a calorie restriction i find that i need alot of variety or i get really bored and say i want a pop tart and lets start to bulk again

7

Right now for the induction phase I’m not logging my food intake at all, just ensuring that I eat as little carbs as possible.

I know I’m not going over the carb limit of 30g a day, because the only things that I eat containing carbs are eggs and cheddar cheese. I go through maybe 3/4 a brick of cheddar a day, and each brick has 8g carbs total, so that’s 6 carbs; and then the eggs’ carb count is so low I don’t measure it.

I eat when I’m hungry which probably equates to 5-7 feedings a day.

Once I’m converted to burn fat for energy and the body is suitably adjusted to the diet, which I hope will be by August 6th, I will start a food log and begin weighing/portioning my food into meals. Right now I just make stuff and leave it in the fridge to eat when hunger strikes.

I’m off to college within a month, and I signed up for the unlimited eating plan. I can eat as much as I want, as many times as I want a day. The food isn’t spectacular, but they have a self service mexican station, so I can load my plate with ground beef and cheese as often as I can stand it.

I have high hopes for myself this time. I’ve never been more committed to changing before, and I finally have an organized plan rather than a quick fix. The next years worth of training and diet is roughly outlined.

8

ha dont worry about years worry about weeks. Peanut butter is amzing for fat loss. I eat it with milk by the gallons because it tastes amazing and is all protein and mono unsaturated fat

9

Jrock18, sorry to hear about your past troubles, but you are doing a good job of looking to the future and changing things for the better. Good luck in college, study hard and don’t fall off the wagon.

As theflowjob said, 10x3 For Fat Loss is a great place to start. I’m on the program right now, and along with a clean diet, I’ve been losing weight and gaining strength. From what a lot of members have said, the best program after 10x3 is Quattro Dynamo by Chad Waterbury, so you might want to give that a look.

If you’re not worried about carbs from eggs, that’s good. If you start to get concerned, switch to Egglands Best eggs. That’s what I eat, it has 25% less cholesterol and 0 carbs per egg.

You said you are doing an anabolic diet, I don’t know if you’ve read the thread in the supplements and nutrition forum titled ‘My experience on the Anabolic Diet’, but here is the link.

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=658379

And here is the link to Quattro Dynamo.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459216

You’ve come to the right place. Good luck with your goals.

10

Day 5 and I’m feeling great still. I had to leave my house (argument with the parents) from 7pm last night to 4pm today, and I went over by 2g of carbs yesterday because the only options available to me (on my limited budget) by the time I decided to eat were beef jerky and low-sugar redbull. I have been consistently under the 30g carbs per day limit so I’m not going to sweat 2g.

Tmoney what I meant by not being worried about the carbs from eggs is that they’re so minimal I tend to just assume 5g for them per day and that would cover 12.5 eggs, and I usually only eat about 10.

I have all of Waterbury’s programs simplified onto an excel spreadsheet (done by some other diligent person) so I have quattro dynamo, but I appreciate the linkage.

Right now I intend to start the formal program this monday. This week I’ve just been doing the basics: Squat, DL, BP, Rows, MP, GM, and (attempted) pull ups.

I was actually pretty disheartened when I couldn’t do a single pull up, but I figure regaining the ability is a sort of penance for being a fat, lazy bastard for a year.

As far as keeping it together in college, I am a bit worried just because it would be exceedingly easy for me to fall back into the habit of drinking, but I also want to have a social life. So far my plan is to allow myself to drink once a week, and no matter what stick to that rule. So if I have one drink on monday, I’m beat on Saturday. That will prevent the “it’s just a night cap” mentality I want to avoid.

Regarding marijuana use I’m giving the rest of my stash to my friend when he gets back from vacation, because If I have it I’m going to smoke it. I do intend to still use on occasion, but nothing like I’ve been doing, more like once a month.

The main reason I think I’m fairing so much better this time than in previous (pitiful) attempts is because I’ve recognized that at my level of obesity this is a long term thing and not a quick fix. Lifting wise I’m confident in myself, but I need to work on the cardio aspect a bit more. I don’t want to be a long distance runner, but I want to be able to comfortably do a mile in 7 minutes.

To do this I’ve been utilizing Tabata and sprints. Honestly though I don’t have a full tabata session in me yet, and my sprints are more like john candy chasing a taxi, but I’m on the road to recovery

11

Very good on the progress so far. If you cant do any pull-ups it makes no difference. Find an assist machine. Always adapt to waht you get. Dont go narotic on the eating thing, 2 grams makes no diffence.

12

I’m still here, but I have relaxed the diet mainly due to my college orientation. I eat a something carb loaded in the morning, like say a slice of pizza or a pieceof toast with cream cheese. I find this gives me more energy to start the day, and then I just make sure to eat less than 20g carbs for the rest of the day. I eat around 50g-60g a day. I intend to ween myself down to the recommended 30, but the instant cut was too much.

I also set up my bag stand and 100lb heavy bag, so that’s a bit of manly cardio that doesn’t bore me to death.

So I’ve been doing BBB and occasionally tabata. Sprints have fell out of favor, and the bag is in.

Does anyone know of any good routines for the bag. I’ve just been having fun and making ut up as I go along. For example maybe 10 right jabs then 10 left jabs, then 2 right haymakers, then 2 left haymakers, then a rapid left-right left-right until I get to tired, and then a couple random slow punches.

I have no formal boxing training and have never even read a book on the topic (if you couldn’t tell ;)) and I’d appreciate any help, tips, or links that would help in any way.