hey all,

i have been trolling the forums for like 8 months now since i first joined and my first attempt at getting back into shape failed.

now that i am determined to get back into shape, i have already made a plan on what my work out plan is. i still need to determine how i am going to go about my Diet plan because i live in a dorm and we do not have our own kitchen, so i have to eat from a cafeteria (which does offer some good/healthy food). All i need to do is sit down and look at the menu and nutritional facts to determine what i am going to eat. they list food 3 weeks in advance so i can determine what i am going to have that day.

as of right now, i weigh 220lbs @ 5'8" and no idea of body fat. i was a high school wrestler until i hurt my knee and began swimming to rehabilitate it (hence why i have more of wrestler/football frame). my goal is to get below 200lbs and stay under no matter what i eat that day.

Some starting pics:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/PureStang/Work%20Out/1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/PureStang/Work%20Out/2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/PureStang/Work%20Out/3.jpg

as for my weight lifting, here is the schedule:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/PureStang/Work%20Out/startingworkout.jpg

Sounds pretty solid to me!

That Day 2 looks like a doozy. I just got back from my version of that and I feel pretty creamed.

So you're back to it - good for you! One small piece of advice I have:

This may sound totally bananas.

Sometimes when I don't feel like going to the gym, or when I'm at the gym but don't feel like I have it in me to finish out the workout, I pretend that I'm a robot.

A robot doesn't get to complain about not wanting to work. A robot doesn't know how. A robot doesn't get tired, feel pain, or ask, "When is this going to end?" You flip a switch and the robot just gets to it, and it doesn't stop until the switch is flipped back off.

It's kinda like a super autopilot mode. I ignore everything. I just lift. It gets me through times when I feel my natural urge to be lazy coming on.

Might sound bonkers, but I've heard similar things from other people. Some people imagine they're a monster, or that what their lifting is weightless. Turning your psychology against the work ahead is surprisingly effective. You become unable to undercut yourself. Imagining things like that is also a good and powerful distraction when you don't think you have that one last rep. Pretty soon workouts become just one thing like any other, and you snap out of things and realized you're looking damned good.

Good luck!

Sounds pretty solid to me!

That Day 2 looks like a doozy. I just got back from my version of that and I feel pretty creamed.

So you're back to it - good for you! One small piece of advice I have:

This may sound totally bananas.

Sometimes when I don't feel like going to the gym, or when I'm at the gym but don't feel like I have it in me to finish out the workout, I pretend that I'm a robot.

A robot doesn't get to complain about not wanting to work. A robot doesn't know how. A robot doesn't get tired, feel pain, or ask, "When is this going to end?" You flip a switch and the robot just gets to it, and it doesn't stop until the switch is flipped back off.

It's kinda like a super autopilot mode. I ignore everything. I just lift. It gets me through times when I feel my natural urge to be lazy coming on.

Might sound bonkers, but I've heard similar things from other people. Some people imagine they're a monster, or that what their lifting is weightless. Turning your psychology against the work ahead is surprisingly effective. You become unable to undercut yourself. Imagining things like that is also a good and powerful distraction when you don't think you have that one last rep. Pretty soon workouts become just one thing like any other, and you snap out of things and realized you're looking damned good.

Good luck!

I've never thought about being a robot. On days I don't feel like lifting, I think about a person either online or in real life that has managed to annoy me, then I pretend that I'm squishing their head with dumbbells. :whistle:

It's a dark, aggressive way to get workouts in, but they do get done and I'm always in better mood afterwards. :lol:

Sounds pretty solid to me!

That Day 2 looks like a doozy. I just got back from my version of that and I feel pretty creamed.

So you're back to it - good for you! One small piece of advice I have:

This may sound totally bananas.

Sometimes when I don't feel like going to the gym, or when I'm at the gym but don't feel like I have it in me to finish out the workout, I pretend that I'm a robot.

A robot doesn't get to complain about not wanting to work. A robot doesn't know how. A robot doesn't get tired, feel pain, or ask, "When is this going to end?" You flip a switch and the robot just gets to it, and it doesn't stop until the switch is flipped back off.

It's kinda like a super autopilot mode. I ignore everything. I just lift. It gets me through times when I feel my natural urge to be lazy coming on.

Might sound bonkers, but I've heard similar things from other people. Some people imagine they're a monster, or that what their lifting is weightless. Turning your psychology against the work ahead is surprisingly effective. You become unable to undercut yourself. Imagining things like that is also a good and powerful distraction when you don't think you have that one last rep. Pretty soon workouts become just one thing like any other, and you snap out of things and realized you're looking damned good.

Good luck!

When I was a kid playing ice hockey, if I was getting tired near the end of a shift I would imagine that I just replaced my 'normal' battery with an energizer battery, and then I'd pump out another 30-60 seconds of hard work.

Congratulations, we're both losers! :tucool:

haha, i actually never thought of thinking of myself as a robot just doing somthing i will have to try to do that in the gym sometime. my official training starts on monday since i have been real sick the last couple days and havent been able to get to the gym cause of it

the one thing i dont want to do is loose my size, i want to loose a lil bit of weight and quite a bit of b/f while retaining my overall foot ball build. any tips? should i do low rep/high weight workouts or mid rep/mid weight workouts?

Every time I read the title of this thread, I hear Yoda in the back of my mind*. :lol:










* "Do, or do not. There is no try." For those non-geeks out there. :o