My story - Prelude to a Primal Journey. (Long post, questions at the end)

[ducatisteve]

Hey guys, new guy on the block. This story is definitely going to mirror a lot of others. Re-reading it, I feel like I've read it so many times before, but I suppose that is the state of our society! My fiancee and I have committed to the Primal diet and lifestyle in order to "get into shape" by our wedding at the end of May (and of course to look good in Mexico on our honeymoon!). SWMBO is already in pretty good shape, but wants to gain muscle mass and lose her "tire tube", as she calls it. Like many other stories, after trying chronic cardio and eating low fat/high whole grains, she doesn't feel she's made progress towards either goal.

As for me, I'm 27, I've never been that athletic and am 5'11" and 240lbs with not a lot of muscle present. Obviously overweight. I'm also dealing with things like bouts of extremely low energy at certain points of the day (the 2:30 feeling), chronic heartburn, and poor sleep. I recently got my first "real job" as a Systems Administrator, which obviously puts me in front of a computer most of the day. Luckily, a few months ago I decided it was time for me to start dressing like an adult, and I started reading a bunch of men's style blogs, one of them being Primer Magazine which has a NF feed on its site. Deciding I wanted to start looking good in my new clothes, I started reading the Free Resources and my world opened to the idea of Primal/Paleo. Of course I had heard of low carb diets before like Atkins, and I've seen the results in terms of weight loss, but it always seemed like a half complete idea and an unsustainable setup for yo-yo dieting.

Then I stumbled on Tony, Saint, and Staci. I've read countless diet success stories before, but they all seemed so contrived and gimmicky, like there was stuff they weren't telling us. These guys' stories were so complete and logical I couldn't ignore it. Primal dieting, and the commonly associated inclusion of strength training filled out that missing piece in my mind and I jumped all over it. Being a ravenous researcher, I immediately started consuming every word I could on NF, MDA, Robb Wolf's blog, Nom Nom Paleo, etc. I talked to my fiancee and best friend (also coworker) about it, and they both jumped in headfirst as well.

After a week of Primal eating, my energy throughout the day has become very high and consistent, and I had no more heartburn. This week I started going to the gym in the morning before work and now I'm already sleeping like a rock and waking up earlier and easier.

I do want to run a couple questions by the community regarding my diet and workouts. My goal is to have my BF in the mid to upper teens by the wedding (3 months away!) while hopefully beginning to build some lean mass. So far my schedule and plan is to do strength training 5 days a week with a mix of squats, dead lifts, chest presses, shoulder presses, barbell rows, pullups, chinups, and dips. My gym has a barbell, but no squat/power rack (only a Smith Machine), and dumbbells between 5lbs and 100lbs. I usually do three exercises every morning (squat/dead/chest, dead/shoulder press/pullup, etc). When we buy a home later this year I will be putting a squat rack and bench in the basement. Are there any other exercises that I can be looking at? Should I do more each morning? Is it okay to be doing things like dead lifts and squats 3x a week? If I get DOMS for a couple days from squats, but can finish my 5x5, should I lower the weight or keep it where it is? I'm not a fan of running, but will definitely get back into mountain biking on the weekends when the weather here in Pittsburgh warms up.

My diet usually consists of a couple eggs and bacon for breakfast, a post workout apple or orange, small handful of almonds mid morning (usually around 10-15 almonds), lunch is some combination of meat and vegetables (today it was carnitas with salad and a lot of guacamole), then usually nothing until dinner which is also meat, vegetables, and sometimes half a sweet potato. My fiancee does have a sweet tooth, so we have had things like coconut flour donuts or almond flour banana bread around the house....I might have had one or three small pieces over the past week. Does this look good for my goals? Should I cut out the nuts and carbs altogether?

Thanks!!

[bigm141414]

My gym has a barbell, but no squat/power rack (only a Smith Machine), and dumbbells between 5lbs and 100lbs. I usually do three exercises every morning (squat/dead/chest, dead/shoulder press/pullup, etc). When we buy a home later this year I will be putting a squat rack and bench in the basement. Are there any other exercises that I can be looking at? Should I do more each morning? Is it okay to be doing things like dead lifts and squats 3x a week? If I get DOMS for a couple days from squats, but can finish my 5x5, should I lower the weight or keep it where it is?

Question to you: How much of a beginner are you? And how are you doing squats? In a smith machine or goblet squats with dumbbells?

DOMS is usual when you first start out and I would not advise lowering the weight if you were able to complete a 5x5 set.

Deadlifts and squats are fine 3 times a week. I do them regularly (sometimes 4-5 if I feel strong like bull ). As the weights get heavier it will become harder to do them all in the same session. A lot of beginner programs separate squats and DLs as much as possible. I am to the point where I will DL in the morning and squat in the evening because my legs can't take the abuse all at once (for reference DL is 355 and squat is 245 so a decent amount of weight). But when starting out you should have no problem doing them all in the same time.

What you have now as far as exercises is great! Remember when starting out it is best to keep it dead simple and don't throw in random stuff. Random workouts, random results.

Also, if you are interested, the two most popular beginner programs are StrongLifts 5x5 and Starting Strength. Check them out. If you have a chance to get the Starting Strength book I highly recommend it. The in depth look at form is quite honestly invaluable.

[ducatisteve]

Thanks for the speedy response bigm! I have done weight lifting in high school and college, but that was all about 10 years ago. So I know how to have correct form, but my muscles are strangers to weights these days. I use dumbbells for squats and avoid the Smith Machine (it usually has someone in there doing calf raises for 30 minutes anyway). I don't do goblet squats, but have been holding dumbbells on my shoulders. I was thinking about holding them down by my side instead of up on the shoulders, which I think would be okay as long as it keeps my balance the same and let me squat deep enough.

I am a big fan of simple, heavy, combination exercises. I was just wondering if there's any glaring holes in my routine, but if it looks good then that's awesome.

I have looked at SL and SS, which both really interested me and I am part of Mehdi's mailing list. A big part of their program is barbell squats, which I can't do right now. Hopefully later this year I'll have access to a rack and be able to do them. Until then I'll just have to deal with <100lb dumbbells.