"I did nothing; the pavement was his enemy!"

[Leeeshcakes]

Hey everyone.

Love this site. I am an ex-athlete who unfortunately didn't become educated in nutrition until after my competitive athletic career was over. You would think that coaches and trainers would emphasise the importance in order to maximise the team's performance, but, oh well... if I'm ever a coach I will assign homework and menus.

Anyway, I'm a girl with some serious muscle considering I train on and off out of.. err, laziness I guess, so my goals are to get ripped (17% body fat or so) and also be able to kick ass at everything I do. I've never kept a public journal but I feel like I would be more likely to not slack so maybe I'll try that out. I basically know the drill in how to get results just by years of interest, reading, and experimenting with my lifestyle. Also I have read the stickies on this forum for years obsessively.

I am currently around 25% body fat, lift heavily 4 days per week rotating body parts, and do maybe 15-30 minutes of running 3-4 days per week just to clear my head; I don't think of the running as helping me to reach my goals but rather to improve my mental state. Maybe I will get more serious with it later. Last but most importantly, my diet is pretty tuned in I think. I definitely need to work on hitting my macros more accurately but I am true to my calories 90% of the time and not eating crap, striving for lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats, more carbs on lifting days, etc. Will give details of workouts/meals in journal but no need to bore you now.

Thanks for reading.

[mastover]

Originally Posted by Leeeshcakes

Hey everyone.

Love this site. I am an ex-athlete who unfortunately didn't become educated in nutrition until after my competitive athletic career was over. You would think that coaches and trainers would emphasise the importance in order to maximise the team's performance, but, oh well... if I'm ever a coach I will assign homework and menus.

Anyway, I'm a girl with some serious muscle considering I train on and off out of.. err, laziness I guess, so my goals are to get ripped (17% body fat or so) and also be able to kick ass at everything I do. I've never kept a public journal but I feel like I would be more likely to not slack so maybe I'll try that out. I basically know the drill in how to get results just by years of interest, reading, and experimenting with my lifestyle. Also I have read the stickies on this forum for years obsessively.

I am currently around 25% body fat, lift heavily 4 days per week rotating body parts, and do maybe 15-30 minutes of running 3-4 days per week just to clear my head; I don't think of the running as helping me to reach my goals but rather to improve my mental state. Maybe I will get more serious with it later. Last but most importantly, my diet is pretty tuned in I think. I definitely need to work on hitting my macros more accurately but I am true to my calories 90% of the time and not eating crap, striving for lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats, more carbs on lifting days, etc. Will give details of workouts/meals in journal but no need to bore you now.

Thanks for reading.

We are not aware of your stats or your training routine, but I believe the diet should be addressed if you want to reach your goals. What are your current weight, height, and macro's (cals/pro/carbs/fats)

This will give members a better idea on how to advise.

[Leeeshcakes]

Stats:
Age: 21
Height: 5'6
Weight: 170 lbs

I am trying to lose fat, so I am eating between 1400-1600 calories per day. I am for 35-38g fat, 160-200g carbs, and 120-130g protein. Maintenance level cals are about 2200.

Typical day:

7-7:30: Meal 1
352 calories: 3.8g fat, 62.8 carbs, 19.8g protein

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp honey
1 scoop of soy protein powder
sometimes 1/2 cup blueberries or serving of fruit
coffee either black or with 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk

(Lift from 8:30-9:30ish)

9:30-10:00am: Meal 2
192 calories: 0.7 fat, 24.1g carbs, 25.4g protein

1 apple
3 scoops of soy protein in water

(Meal 3 and meal 4 are interchangeable as it depends on which I packed and which I left at home.)

1-1:30pm: Meal 3
325 calories: 15g fat, 32.1g carbs, 16.9g protein

2-3 cups of salad with lettuce, spinach, tomato, shredded carrots
2 tbsp yogurt dressing (sometimes I don't use this and just eat the salad plain, or 1tbsp olive oil without the almonds/avocado)
10 almonds or sliced avocado
1 veggie burger or baked chicken

5pm: Meal 4
348 calories: 7.4g fat, 25.7g carbs, 44.8g protein

1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 whole wheat flour tortilla or slice of whole grain bread
veggies (lettuce, asparagus, squash, Brussels sprouts, broccoli)
1 5oz can tuna, or chicken, turkey, 4oz of salmon


8pm: Meal 5
240 calories: 8.0g fat, 12.0g carbs, 26.5g protein

1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp natural peanut butter

For a grand total of:
1414 calories: 34.7g fat, 157.2g carbs, 122.9g protein

Usually I run anywhere between 9:30 and midnight outside on hilly terrain for 15-40 minutes depending on my mood... but like I said I do this maybe 4 times per week.

Workouts:

I like to work the sh!t out of my legs, probably because I am naturally hulkish there so it's the most fun and rewarding. For the most part I lift so I can only do 6-8 reps, and go for 4 sets per exercise.

Also once in a while I throw in a P90x workout if I can't get to the gym- I know it has its criticisms but if nothing else it gets your heart rate up for an hour and you're lifting heavy, although inefficiently.

Mon: Legs (quad focus): Squats(sometimes very high rep with the bar, and by high rep I mean sets of 40+ done quickly, sometimes low rep and heavy) one legged squats, lunges with weights, seated leg press

Tues: Shoulders/Arms: Dips, various shoulder machines(lat raise, etc), upright rows + late night run

Wed: Chest/Back: incline bench press, pushups, rowing, lat pulldowns, pec flies + late night run

Thurs: Legs (Hamstring focus): light squats for warmup, deadlifts, deadlifts, deadlifts! hamstring curls, one legged squats, lunges, calf raises

Fri: I like having a day to do whatever I want in the gym that isn't on a schedule, so I'll do whatever I'm feeling that day and make sure I work hard. Also include abs here.

Sat: Run for fun, 20-30 min?

Sun: Doubles beach volleyball for about 2 hours

FYI: Other than working out, I am sitting down all day at work and in classes!

[mastover]

Hi Leeshcakes,

Your diet would have to be re arranged to hit your goals. Your activity levels are quite good, but your diet is not supporting it. Can you post any recent photo's? From your info, you may be an endomorph. If that's the case, you need to re-structure your nutrition.

[macdiver]

I'll let the expert advise you on your nutrition and exercise.

I'm curious about the title of this thread. Please explain it.

Good luck with obtaining your goals. They are achievable if you are will to commit to them.

[Leeeshcakes]

Oh, the title... Arnold Schwarzenegger quote from a terrible movie he played in. And thank you for your encouragement.

Pictures as requested.. sorry about your eyes, my body is a work in progress. Thank you for any replies and advice in advance.

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7771/dsc01652x.jpg

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/4217/dsc01645z.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5933/dsc01647y.jpg

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5340/dsc01648eb.jpg

[stallion16]

something doesn't add up here...170 lbs is a pretty heavy weight for your height. At that weight you'd either have to be very muscular, very fat, or both. And your body actually looks pretty good, but it doesn't look 170....more like 130-140 lbs.

This is a female @ 5'6 at a low bodyfat and she's only 131lbs: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/acco...-long-way.html

[Leeeshcakes]

Hm, well I assure you I am 170, weighed on multiple scales. I have a lot of muscle and a decent amount of fat covering it up so I don't look very defined. Maybe it is just distributed in such a way that I look better than I should.

[mastover]

Originally Posted by Leeeshcakes

Hm, well I assure you I am 170, weighed on multiple scales. I have a lot of muscle and a decent amount of fat covering it up so I don't look very defined. Maybe it is just distributed in such a way that I look better than I should.

Drop your carb intake substantially. Increase proteins and healthy fats. Do only HIIT cardio 2-3 x per week. You are an endomorphic body type. I'd also do higher reps (keeping weights as heavy as possible) in your workouts.

[Leeeshcakes]

Thanks so much for the advice. I will certainly give it a try.

[mastover]

Originally Posted by Leeeshcakes

Thanks so much for the advice. I will certainly give it a try.

My pleasure.

[Zilla]

Hey Leeeshcakes,

I wouldn't beat yourself up over the lack of knowledge regarding nutrition. There are far too many "experts" out there that have no clue about nutrition even though they say it's their expertise. Clean, balanced eating will always reap rewards.

I'm not trying to step on Mastover's toes, but instead, I speak from life experience regarding your workouts. Since you posted your pics I found we have a similar body shape.

The majority around here are fans of lifting heavy which is fine. Muscle burns lots of calories, but don't be afraid to change up your routine from time to time. If you find yourself doing the same routine for months at time, you'll find yourself not getting the results you're after ( assuming your diet is in check) and your body will just shrug the workouts off.

A routine change doesn't always mean adding more volume. A simple change in tempo or shorter rest periods will wake your body up. Other simple changes can be doing a exercise in a different way. If you've always done narrow stance squats, try doing squats with your legs further apart. You mentioned deadlifts, so do them in other ways besides the typical dead lift.

The rule of thumb I use is I change my routine every 8-weeks or so. If I continue to see results with a specific routine after the 8-week period, I'll use it for a few more weeks but usually by 12-weeks, my body gives me the proverbial paw to the face that says "Whatever!" It's at that point I make the decision on what I should do. If my workouts for 8-12 weeks have had a cardio effect, I'll lift heavier than I had been for less of a cardio effect. If just hammering away at lifting heavy and it starts to make me feel as though watching paint dry would be more exciting, my workouts include more activity.

You'll know when a change is in order. You just have to "listen" and figure out what you need to do to get things moving in the right direction.