Reebok1303
New Member
Hey guys, I'm a 6-2, 235 lbs 24 years old, and have been lifting for 2 months. I've been stalking on the boards for the past few weeks, just reading and learning a ton, and I'm finally to the point where I feel like I can ask some intelligent questions, (and I'm sure some dumb ones too) which hopefully you guys can help me with.
First things first, in the last 8 weeks I've gained some strength in all of my lifts, but not a lot, and not enough to explain having lost only between 4-7 pounds thus far after eating a MUCH better (but far from perfect) diet.
My lifting routine looks like this: (I usually do all exercises 3 sets 10 reps while gradually increasing weight, unless otherwise noted)
Monday - Legs
Squat
Hamstring curls to 10 and calf raises to 15 super set
Leg Press
Hack Squat 2 sets only
Tuesday OFF
Wed - Chest and Tri's
Incline DB press
Upright Bench Press Machine
DB Flies
Then I use a Fly Machine or very rarely Cable Crossovers (I know you guys hate these for newbies)
Lying Tricep Extensions (aka skullcrushers, finishing each set with close grip bench till near failure)
Tricep Pushdowns
Tricep Pulldowns
Tricept Extensions
Thursday - Back and Bi's
Seated Rows
Some back machine I don't know the name of - I sit with my arms over my head and push down with my feet to lower a bar that's above my head to begin, then pulling down the bar over my chest...... it sounds like a waste but it feels like a good stretch and I only do it because it was recommended by a friend)
Deadlifts
Bent over and Incline rows 2 sets each
Superset db Curls and Hammers
Preacher Curls
Friday - Shoulders and Traps
Seated Dumbbell Press - only I lean back a lot on these, like basically on an incline bench
Smith Machine Shoulder Press
Upright Row
Dumbbell Front Raise
Dumbbell Lateral Raise or usually Dumbbell Reverse Fly
Dumbbell Shrugs
Abs at home either on Sat or Sun
Diet wise, I don't eat exactly the same every day, but this is a good example.....
Breakfast - An eggbeater omelet with American Cheese, turkey, ham, maybe some brushetta (sp) and maybe a piece of whole grain toast.
Pre workout - 2 scoops EAS whey protein and 1 teaspoon creatine either mixed with 1 cup milk or water 260 calories 6 g carbs 46 g protein (without the 1%milk)
Repeat shake post workout
Dinner - some lean meat, home made soup, lots of veggies like peas and broccoli, or a big salad.
One more shake at night
Also of note, I have type One Diabetes (I'm on an insulin pump, so no shots - thank god), so sometimes I HAVE to eat carbs, and in these cases I like to drink bottled Gatorade. The only other drinks I have are diet soda and water. I did cheat St Patty's Weekend, I'm not gonna lie, but other then that I have been pretty good.
Supplements other than the Whey and Creatine include a Centrum Multi vit, 1 gram vit C, and 2 grams fish oil per day.
For Cardio, I love basketball and play for a couple hours a few times a week depending on the weather or I jog for 20 min on a treadmill twice a week and hate every second of it. (I've read on this site about the 400 meter sprint cardio workout and also about how doing short sprints to near nausea with short jogs in between are better then long jogs, but I have an old ankle injury that kills me when running on the treadmill so I decided to stick with the less effective jogs for now.)
Anyways, if you guys could help me improve my routine and maybe suggest some diet help I would be very grateful. (I still find myself getting hungry at night and had been eating celery and peanut butter until I read from role model that PB was a no no, so now I'm eating some lean turkey and cheese when i'm very hungry for snacks and still looking for some other safe foods.) I also feel like I can/should be working each body part more than once a week, but haven't seriously considered doing a 5x5 routine because I feel it may hamper my main goal - to lose weight, approximately 30 lbs more.
Some other questions -
Should I still have the shakes on my off days?
Can/Should I increase any of the supplements?
Would you suggest I take a commercial fat burning supplement, and if so can you recommend any?
Finally, I have awful Deadlift form - I mean really awful - is there a different set of exercises that I can replace this with? I'll try anything, but at this point all I keep doing is hurting my back (and yes, I have read the sticky about proper form, but it didn't help)
If you're still reading, thank you again for taking the time, and for your help.
-Reebok
First things first, in the last 8 weeks I've gained some strength in all of my lifts, but not a lot, and not enough to explain having lost only between 4-7 pounds thus far after eating a MUCH better (but far from perfect) diet.
My lifting routine looks like this: (I usually do all exercises 3 sets 10 reps while gradually increasing weight, unless otherwise noted)
Monday - Legs
Squat
Hamstring curls to 10 and calf raises to 15 super set
Leg Press
Hack Squat 2 sets only
Tuesday OFF
Wed - Chest and Tri's
Incline DB press
Upright Bench Press Machine
DB Flies
Then I use a Fly Machine or very rarely Cable Crossovers (I know you guys hate these for newbies)
Lying Tricep Extensions (aka skullcrushers, finishing each set with close grip bench till near failure)
Tricep Pushdowns
Tricep Pulldowns
Tricept Extensions
Thursday - Back and Bi's
Seated Rows
Some back machine I don't know the name of - I sit with my arms over my head and push down with my feet to lower a bar that's above my head to begin, then pulling down the bar over my chest...... it sounds like a waste but it feels like a good stretch and I only do it because it was recommended by a friend)
Deadlifts
Bent over and Incline rows 2 sets each
Superset db Curls and Hammers
Preacher Curls
Friday - Shoulders and Traps
Seated Dumbbell Press - only I lean back a lot on these, like basically on an incline bench
Smith Machine Shoulder Press
Upright Row
Dumbbell Front Raise
Dumbbell Lateral Raise or usually Dumbbell Reverse Fly
Dumbbell Shrugs
Abs at home either on Sat or Sun
Diet wise, I don't eat exactly the same every day, but this is a good example.....
Breakfast - An eggbeater omelet with American Cheese, turkey, ham, maybe some brushetta (sp) and maybe a piece of whole grain toast.
Pre workout - 2 scoops EAS whey protein and 1 teaspoon creatine either mixed with 1 cup milk or water 260 calories 6 g carbs 46 g protein (without the 1%milk)
Repeat shake post workout
Dinner - some lean meat, home made soup, lots of veggies like peas and broccoli, or a big salad.
One more shake at night
Also of note, I have type One Diabetes (I'm on an insulin pump, so no shots - thank god), so sometimes I HAVE to eat carbs, and in these cases I like to drink bottled Gatorade. The only other drinks I have are diet soda and water. I did cheat St Patty's Weekend, I'm not gonna lie, but other then that I have been pretty good.
Supplements other than the Whey and Creatine include a Centrum Multi vit, 1 gram vit C, and 2 grams fish oil per day.
For Cardio, I love basketball and play for a couple hours a few times a week depending on the weather or I jog for 20 min on a treadmill twice a week and hate every second of it. (I've read on this site about the 400 meter sprint cardio workout and also about how doing short sprints to near nausea with short jogs in between are better then long jogs, but I have an old ankle injury that kills me when running on the treadmill so I decided to stick with the less effective jogs for now.)
Anyways, if you guys could help me improve my routine and maybe suggest some diet help I would be very grateful. (I still find myself getting hungry at night and had been eating celery and peanut butter until I read from role model that PB was a no no, so now I'm eating some lean turkey and cheese when i'm very hungry for snacks and still looking for some other safe foods.) I also feel like I can/should be working each body part more than once a week, but haven't seriously considered doing a 5x5 routine because I feel it may hamper my main goal - to lose weight, approximately 30 lbs more.
Some other questions -
Should I still have the shakes on my off days?
Can/Should I increase any of the supplements?
Would you suggest I take a commercial fat burning supplement, and if so can you recommend any?
Finally, I have awful Deadlift form - I mean really awful - is there a different set of exercises that I can replace this with? I'll try anything, but at this point all I keep doing is hurting my back (and yes, I have read the sticky about proper form, but it didn't help)
If you're still reading, thank you again for taking the time, and for your help.
-Reebok
