Diet and Exercise Start

Alright, a lot of people have been asking me lately about the exercise and diet plans that I’ve been on, so I figured that I would write a big post and outline exactly what I’m doing, in addition for some tips.

Disclaimer: Not a medical doctor. Don’t do these if you think you could get hurt/sick/whatever.

So a few months ago I finally kicked my ass into gear again and went back to the gym. At first I was just doing the old exercise routine that had done from before, using the stationary bike, the elliptical, walking on the treadmill, and then machines. Machines ruled my workout. It was wrong, but we’ll get to that in a second. I was also still on a pretty bad diet. I’d cut out cola and fast food, due to medical reasons and the fact that they both taste like horse piss, but was still eating a lot of bad crap.

So I was screwing around on the internet one day and stumbled on some research detailing the fitting workout models that someone should use to really build up/slim down their body. It gave some tremendous information on how not to do your workout. One of those things? Machines. Machines are the bane of a good body. Couple of reasons why this is:

1. Isolation – Machines isolate muscles groups, which doesn’t allow your body to grow naturally. Sure, you hit the big muscle, the bicep, the delt, the pec, whatever, but you’re leaving out the stabilizers of your body. Never heard of them? Feel under your arm at the back of your shoulder. Now move it around. Under the big fat delt are some smaller muscles that act as stabilizers for your shoulder (Think balance for muscles groups). These exist all over the body, and machines don’t target those at all. The provide stabilization so you don’t have to. Anyone else think that sounds wrong?

2. Weird strain - most machines are awkwardly built, so as to stabilize the body during the target exercise. Unfortunately, this often can put a worse strain on the muscle than if you were doing it with free weights. Think about the difference between a leg press and a squat. With the stabilization, you can press a whole lot more than what you could possibly squat.

So naturally, I wanted to get off the machines after doing the research for these exercise routines. Like so many others, I had decided that the free weights were too scary, and that it was safer with the machines. Plus, due to the fact my shoulder has problems sometimes didn’t give me any confidence. But I decided to man up and take on those free weights. And you know what? I didn’t have any trouble at all. None. I only had myself to blame for not improving over the years.
**this is not to say that machines are always bad. If used correctly with free weights, you can help certain muscles grow. But that’s for more advanced workouts.

My diet was usually consistent of what you would expect from a college kid, all meat and cheese and fat. Once I cut back on everything, and started eating more salad and fruit as well as meat and fat, I found I lost a ton of weight. There’s a weird thing out there, where people believe that all fat is bad. All fat is not bad, it’s only when you’re eating it exclusively that you’re doing it wrong. You need a balanced diet, one that is a good split between protein, carbs and fats. If you don’t have one, you won’t build a good body, no matter what you’re doing. Especially if you’re trying to lose weight, proper diet is a must.

But on to what I’m doing.

My Workout

A lot of people have asked me about my workout. I’ve been experimenting lately with circuit training (that is, exercise the whole body, and not focus on one part the whole workout switching up the workout ABAB style) I may go back to that method, but for now, I thought I’d outline my current workout.

Warning: Don’t try this workout unless you can push yourself mercilessly. I have friends who have puked halfway through this workout, so fair warning.

I start with half a round of HIIT, going 3 rounds.
1 min warm-up
1 min hard
2 min jogging
1 min hard
2 min jogging
1 min hard
2 min jogging

Makes for 10 minutes of cardio. Try to get your heart rate above 150 on average. I’ve hit 180+ before, but the average is about 150-160.

The rest of the workout is as follows:
2x10 Floor Wipes
5x5 Incline Bench Press
5x5 Squats
3x5 Deadlift
1x10 Power Cleans
2x10 Dumbbell Upright Rows
1x10 Dumbbell Curls
1x10 Rear Delt Raises
1x10 Lateral Raises
1x10 Front Raises
2x10 Bent Over Rows
2x10 External Shoulder Rotations – Standing (1 round per arm)
2x10 Tricep Pull-downs
2x10 Front Cable Raises for Shoulder Rotation
2x10 Oblique Extensions (per side)
2xF(failure) Pull-ups
2x10 Captain’s chair
1x10 Dips
1x10 Dumbbell OHP
2x10 Dumbbell Bench
2x10 Bent Over One Armed Rows (per side)
2x10 Tricep Press
3x10 Pushups
1x10 Lunges (one per side)
2x10 bodyweight squats

** When I wrote this, I was on the circuit. I have gone to a split of chest-tricep/back-bicep/legs now (It saves on time, 1-1.5 hours instead of 3). Though I may switch it up again. I’m thinking of doing a rotation of the two. Updated workout soon.

My Diet

Honestly, my diet consists of clean eating. I don’t eat anything special, no “low-fat” magic, no ‘100-calorie’ products. Just clean eating. Think of it this way. If it’s not natural, you shouldn’t be eating it. That’s not to say organic. Some things are better organic, but it’s also more expensive. Here’s the way I think of it. Would my grandfather recognize what I’m eating as food? It’s a good rule. Most food fall under this, chicken, fish, fruits, bread, vegetables. A few exceptions, like the packaging I’ll overlook. (Tuna in bags, some of the frozen vegetables/ready-made salads, etc.). Not everything has to be all natural or homemade, though it does help.

Cooking is always a plus, so if you make the time to cook even simple meals you can eat a whole lot more healthy. Cooking is always cheaper than eating out as well, so for all of you who struggle monetarily, it’s a good tactic. Beside this, I just make sure that I’m eating my maintenance calorie rate, and just keep eating healthy. For me, that means I eat around 2400 calories a day, but it’s different for everyone. I’ll post some links later to give you guys some info on all that, but I thought I should start out by outlining what I do.

For me, it’s about willpower. Pushing myself until I can’t go on, and when I can’t, I move on past it. If you can do that, then you’ll achieve whatever you really want to.

So far, I’ve lost a lot of weight, and my lifts have all gone up. I’ll go into what I know later.

More to come. Hope that answers some of the questions.