Every summer it seems to be the same story I make respectable gains and get myself ready to lean down for the beach and bam the season hits and I go back into landscaping mode. Now it’s great that I am getting the uh extra “energy system” work I guess you could say but by the end of the day I am too exhausted to go to the gym and give it a good effort. So here’s my question, am I eating enough? I consume around 2500-3000 calories a day in the form of poultry/95% lean beef, fruits, veggies and some grains. Now because I am always dead on my ass tired when I get home I am thinking its possible that I am simply not eating enough. I know that the added stress will rob me of some muscle and such but damnit I want to be able to take my shirt off at the beach this summer! Anyone have any suggestions for a diet/workout combo? I was thinking the “don’t diet” diet and an h.i.t. program something around these guidelines
Day 1
Bench press or weighted dips 2x8
Squats 1x20
Bent over rows 2x8
Day 2
Overhead press 2x8
Deadlifts or straight leg deadlifts 1x15
Chins 2x8
Abs done on both days for 1 or 2 sets, and all sets taken to failure.
so like I said any ideas on how my diet/workout should go I am all ears!
My girlfriend Christiane AKA Ms. Beast used to work on a farm 50 hours per week. She did this while preparing for a bodybuilding contest. She would work 10 hours a day and then hit the gym. Remember that when you feel too tired to train
As for your question. To estimate how many calories you need, multiply your bodyweight by 12 and multiply it by 1.6, that will give you a good starting point. Remember to eat 6 smaller meals instead of 3 big ones and drink tons of water.
now THAT’S a woman! the most I can do while at work is a gallon…otherwise I am helping mother nature along with watering the plants! do you think the h.i.t. program might work well for someone in my position? actually why I am typing instead of trying…it’s time to slam some coffee and hit the gym!
Been there, still doing that
It’s actually fairly common to work 50+ hours per week landscaping, especially when the season gets into full swing. I had the same problem last year, I did 2 semesters at uni, made some good strength/size gains, and then it was off to work in atrophy town! I’m naturally thin, so it takes very little for me to lose any gains I’ve made, and landscaping as you know does not qualify as “very litte” However, this year I’ve made some changes/sacrifices to my schedule so that I can maintain my manly figure
My workouts are 3 days per week, full body, short and simple. (ie. squats, bench, deadlifts–in that order) for variety I switch stuff in and out, ex. I’ll do front squats for the first 4 sets, then throw in a couple heavy doubles with back squats. This has worked well for me, and I’m done in about 45-60 min.
I adjust my workout days to better fit my work schedule. Rather than the mon, wed, fri schedule I was doing in Uni, I switched to sat, mon, wed.
Make sacrifices at work, I’ve told my boss that On weds, and mon, I’ll be leaving work at approx. 3pm due to nightschool courses I’m taking. And while I was taking nightschool (past tense), I no longer am, yet have “neglected” to inform him of this change. Frankly I dont lose enough money on those two days by leaving early for me to justify going back to full time. (10 hour days) and the benefits are great, I get home, take a break, head to the gym. it all works out very nicely.
I’ve been on this schedule for the past 2-3 months and I’ve maintained everything I gained in the school year, and even hit some new pr’s.
So long story short, adjust your schedule, make up some lie that requires you to leave early two days of the week (workout days) and condence your workouts to whats necessary.
[quote]beAman13 wrote:
now THAT’S a woman! the most I can do while at work is a gallon…otherwise I am helping mother nature along with watering the plants! do you think the h.i.t. program might work well for someone in my position? actually why I am typing instead of trying…it’s time to slam some coffee and hit the gym![/quote]
You’ll definetly need to lower the training volume, at least until you get used to your job’s demands. You’ll be able to gradually increase it as your body adapts to the heavy workload.
I remember when I was 18 years old, I had a summer job in a big “Home Depot” type store. Because I was strong I worked in the concrete department: my job basically consisted of loading trucks with thousands of pounds of concrete plates. During that summer I still hit the gym but only performed two exercises per workout. Basically doing 30 minutes workouts. I obviously stuck to compounds movements.
The good thing is that I gained strength (well, considering that I lifted concrete plates all day long that’s to be expected) and lost 20lbs of fat despite eating fast food every day. On the negative side I almost had a nervous breakdown and had the worst farmer’s tan ever (the fact that I played golf on the weekends didn’t help either).
You might want to take a look at “Need Advice: Powda in the Summer” in the Physique and Performance Photos. Aside from all the flak thrown at me; there are a lot of good suggestions.
