Jay-t

Nine days since my last post. 9 days of progress and gains! I weighed in at 170 today and was able to do 5x5 110 pound squats, 5x5 55 pound overhead press and 1x5 deadlift of 185 pounds. I've reached my goal of deadlifting my body weight, so now its on to Double body weight! Also a little over halfway to my goal of a body weight squat.

I skipped posting on monday but I went to the gym. Increased my squat by another 5 pounds, deadlift by another ten and was able to finally break that overhead press plateu. My diet has been shit the last few days. Well, not shit but not as good as I would like. I spend weekends at my girlfriend's house and I forgot to take my veggies, when I got home they were ruined and because I'm lazy I didn't go to the store. So I ended up eating baked chicken wings and baked fries. I've gotta concentrate a little harder on what I put into my body.

I've been at this for a month now and the results are amazing. The fact that I've lost two inches from my waist and have a visible increase to my chest and arms is keeping me motivated to keep going! A month ago I weighed in at 190 pounds at 5'11. Not overweight by any means but seeing myself naked I could tell that my body wasn't in the shape it could be. I started with bodyweight exercises and realized I could only do about 10 squats, no push ups, no pull ups and could only hold a plank for about 15 seconds. I weighed myself yesterday and I'm at 175. I did 5 sets of 5 squats at 85 pounds, deadlifted 150 pounds 5 times and was able to bench press 70 pounds for 5 sets of 5 reps. My strength is increasing dramatically and its becoming easier to adhere to my "diet". I live with my mom and sister who are both very overweight and have taste for chips and other crap foods so it's hard to not walk into the kitchen and eat some doritos. Instead of beating myself up about it I just open the bag, eat one and then walk away instead of sitting down and eating the entire bag. The only exercise i'm frustrated about is the overhead press. I can do 5 sets of 5 reps with just the bar while keeping proper form, but as soon as I add 5 more pounds I can only get through the first three sets without form breaking down and struggling hard to get the bar up. I've been stuck on that weight for weeks now. I think it might be a core strength issue, that's what breaks down first.

I do strong lifts too. I like the way it's designed, so that eventually you have to find a different program. Like you I have trouble focusing on one plan. I want to do all the things!

Pizza beer and soreness are all issues that feel like they set me back. I'm the person who says "aww fuck I ate a slice of pizza, diet is ruined, probably should give up" This time around I'm looking at it a little differently. Instead of feeling guilty when I eat a piece of pizza or drink a beer, I simply say "Whatever, one pizza isn't going to set me back" and then make an effort to eat healthier. I've been loading up on lean meat and veggies so when I'm confronted with crap food I'm not very hungry. Soreness is a bit more of an issue. I work out hard 3 times a week and the days in between feel I like I was hit by a truck. I need to start looking into options to aid recovery.

It is the stronglifts. It seemed simple and easy to follow while building good strength. My goals are actually kind of counter to each other. I want to gain strength as I go, but I also want some muscle definition on my body. I look like an average flabby guy. I haven't been tracking my calories but I should probably start doing that. I've been concentrating on eating good healthy foods instead of worrying about how much I eat. On my current plan I eat as much as I want of the good stuff and minimum amounts of bad stuff. My glutes and hamstrings were very sore the first few days but the last 2 or 3 workouts it's been the adductor muscles. I'm thinking that it's because I'm concentrating on not letting my knees cave in during the squats and deadlifts.

Hi all! I've been working on my fitness for almost three weeks now and I'm seeing some great results. I've lost an inch or so from my waist line and I'm not sure how much weight. Weightloss isn't my goal, strength and overall fitness is. Not to mention I wanna look better naked. I apparently have great genetics because I've always been able to eat what I want and not gain any weight. I've always weighed around 160 pounds at around 5'10. Until the last year. I hit 26 and I started noticing that my pants are a lot tighter and my energy level is decreasing. That's no good. I'm using ideas I found here and on other sites to form a plan. Diet: Lots of meats and veggies. No dairy at all which is easy because I don't eat cheese or drink milk anyway. I've stopped drinking soda except for one 12 oz diet coke per day (Sometimes I don't even drink that). Sweet tea was harder to stop drinking. I am a native Georgian after all. I eat fruit or carrots for snacks and really try to limit the amount of pasta/bread I eat. Super tough but I'm doing okay so far. Beer is my weak spot. I love beer, I have cut back from a 24 pack a weekend to a 12 pack so...baby steps. Exercise: I'm following a 5x5 plan. Squatting 3 days a week and then mixing in deadlifts, overhead presses, barbell rows and bench presses. I started with an empty bar for each and add 5 pounds every work out. I always thought you had to spend hours in the gym every day to get results but just 45 minutes 3 times a week is really working for me. I'm having a TON of soreness though. I think the issue might be in my recovery. Maybe I'm not eating enough calories? A little more about me: I'm a Biology-secondary education major and an avid board gamer. Video games are okay but board games/card games with friends is what really makes me happy. About once a month we meet up and spend the evening drinking and playing games like Carcassone, Munchkin, King of Tokyo and tons of others. I can't wait to follow along with all of your journeys and to have you all follow along with mine!