buckeyeblitzer
January 28th, 2008, 07:44 PM
Hey Everyone,
I used to have a fitness journal on here (roughly 12 months ago), but generally lost motivation to update due to life's interventions, school, work, blah blah blah...Although, I never really stopped working out I just really had to re-evaluate what my fitness goals really were and ask myself "what the heck am I really doing?" I've come to realize that my weight lifting became way too focused on weight, sets, reps, etc.. and I started to feel "lost" at the gym (if that makes any sense) and also began to to feel crappy about myself after seeing people whose bodies were much more ideal than mine. So basically I am in search of a new "beginning" (hence posting in the beginners forum) and would greatly appreciate any info/input that you think would help answer my questions and ultimately reach my goals.
First of all, a little past fitness history:
I am naturally a endo/mesomorph and have always carried around a good deal of fat (probably never been below 15%bf) I got serious about getting in shape by entering a body transformation contest at my local gym that spanned about 4 months with a before and after assessment. I got really revved up and went from 240 - 180lbs while losing more than 10%bf. After dipping into the 170s I began to grow complacent and decided that I didn't have as much muscle as I ideally would like. My first mistake was not getting a handle on my diet at this point, and would have been an excellent opportunity to start a clean bulk, but unfortunately I was not well enough informed (didn't find jsf until 2006) and just started to focus on getting bigger and stronger. This trend continued on for about two years, mainly doing only bench press (went from sub-200 to 300lbs max) in the summer months when I had access to a decent gym, and then running like a madman during the school years, often to the point of painful shin-splints that would force me to take lengthy breaks. My weight was up to 220 but I still wasn't happy and I should mention during this time my diet was not in check so I pretty much limited my progress severely. The next year(2006) I got serious about training for ski racing, started hitting the weights playing basketball frequently, and even trained and completed a sprint distance triathlon all while eating the most healthily I ever had in my life. This should have been a spring board for greater things but unfortunately my healthy eating was sabotaged by an overabundance of cheat meals and again my results very limited. I have maintained my weight of 230 for the past six months with a steady increase in muscle mass and decrease in body fat to the point where the scale doesn't really move, but I can notice a difference in the mirror (like actually seeing some veins and definition)
On to my goals:
They are mainly for aesthetic purposes (six pack etc..) but also for having a healthy body composition for the future (family history of diabetes) I want to cut for the next 5 months (~1lb/week) until I reach my desired weight of 210. My routine consists of swimming, climbing stairs, running, and b-ball every week for cardio. And then yoga and core work at the gym. I am interested in lifting weights at my home because I like it better that way. I have 40lbs of free weight and two universal dumbbells and a pair of 12lb'ers at my disposable. What would be the ideal work out routine to do once a week to supplement my weight loss by increasing both muscle tone and strength? (and not necessarily mass)
I apologize for the lengthy post, but I had to get it all out there..Thanks!
I used to have a fitness journal on here (roughly 12 months ago), but generally lost motivation to update due to life's interventions, school, work, blah blah blah...Although, I never really stopped working out I just really had to re-evaluate what my fitness goals really were and ask myself "what the heck am I really doing?" I've come to realize that my weight lifting became way too focused on weight, sets, reps, etc.. and I started to feel "lost" at the gym (if that makes any sense) and also began to to feel crappy about myself after seeing people whose bodies were much more ideal than mine. So basically I am in search of a new "beginning" (hence posting in the beginners forum) and would greatly appreciate any info/input that you think would help answer my questions and ultimately reach my goals.
First of all, a little past fitness history:
I am naturally a endo/mesomorph and have always carried around a good deal of fat (probably never been below 15%bf) I got serious about getting in shape by entering a body transformation contest at my local gym that spanned about 4 months with a before and after assessment. I got really revved up and went from 240 - 180lbs while losing more than 10%bf. After dipping into the 170s I began to grow complacent and decided that I didn't have as much muscle as I ideally would like. My first mistake was not getting a handle on my diet at this point, and would have been an excellent opportunity to start a clean bulk, but unfortunately I was not well enough informed (didn't find jsf until 2006) and just started to focus on getting bigger and stronger. This trend continued on for about two years, mainly doing only bench press (went from sub-200 to 300lbs max) in the summer months when I had access to a decent gym, and then running like a madman during the school years, often to the point of painful shin-splints that would force me to take lengthy breaks. My weight was up to 220 but I still wasn't happy and I should mention during this time my diet was not in check so I pretty much limited my progress severely. The next year(2006) I got serious about training for ski racing, started hitting the weights playing basketball frequently, and even trained and completed a sprint distance triathlon all while eating the most healthily I ever had in my life. This should have been a spring board for greater things but unfortunately my healthy eating was sabotaged by an overabundance of cheat meals and again my results very limited. I have maintained my weight of 230 for the past six months with a steady increase in muscle mass and decrease in body fat to the point where the scale doesn't really move, but I can notice a difference in the mirror (like actually seeing some veins and definition)
On to my goals:
They are mainly for aesthetic purposes (six pack etc..) but also for having a healthy body composition for the future (family history of diabetes) I want to cut for the next 5 months (~1lb/week) until I reach my desired weight of 210. My routine consists of swimming, climbing stairs, running, and b-ball every week for cardio. And then yoga and core work at the gym. I am interested in lifting weights at my home because I like it better that way. I have 40lbs of free weight and two universal dumbbells and a pair of 12lb'ers at my disposable. What would be the ideal work out routine to do once a week to supplement my weight loss by increasing both muscle tone and strength? (and not necessarily mass)
I apologize for the lengthy post, but I had to get it all out there..Thanks!