Grey Spartan
Member
MESO is literally called "think steroids". But if you’ve been here more than a few days, you’ve probably noticed that about half the users don’t use steroids, they’re GLP users. Most GLP users are just like us gearheads; they’ve decided to use pharmacology to reach a personal goal. Since I have some personal experience in the evolution of a GLP user to a "Gym Rat," I thought I’d share.
The Back Story
Covid hits, and the wife has to work from home. She slowly gets up to 185 lbs (we’re the same height, 5'9"). The wife says, "I need to lose weight, I’m fat." I say, "You look good to me." The wife gives me a side-eye, thinking, "This bastard just likes it now that I have an ass." I’m thinking, "Please don’t make me help you lose that ass." I give her the usual calories-in, calories-out spiel. She listens attentively, then says, "Don’t they have drugs like your TRT thingy?" At this point, SEMA (semaglutide) was brand new and just starting to get traction (Wegovy wasn’t even available yet). So, I tell her I’ll look into it. I research, find, and procure some SEMA, and tell her I’ll give it a test run since it's from the internet. "Fuck that, give me some now," she says. lol
As the pounds start dropping and her confidence accelerates, she starts asking about the app I use to track food and even suggests we start going to the gym (I have a home gym with barbells and dumbbells that's outside, not her cup of tea). Fast forward one year, and the wife is now 145 lbs, gym time!
Choosing a Split
The first thing we need to do is choose a gym split. I personally like a "bro split" (isolating individual muscle groups), but this isn’t a productive beginner split. So, we’re left with options like full-body, upper-lower, PPL (push, pull, legs), or opposing muscle groups. I rate splits based on volume, which I define as [effort x sets x reps = volume]. Using this metric, I decide that a full-body split three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with weekends off is the best beginner plan. Here’s what it looked like:
Monday
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Chest
- Back
- Shoulders
Wednesday
- Back
- Chest
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Hamstrings
Friday
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Back
- Hamstrings
- Chest
In the first week, we started with minimal effort: 1 set, 12 reps. This kept soreness to a minimum. In the second week, we increased the effort but kept everything else the same, except for adding a "warm-up" set. Once we hit maximum effort while maintaining control and form, we added more sets and changed the rep range to 8-20. When we reached 4 sets (excluding warm-ups), we switched to an upper-lower split. This allowed us to train more days (5 instead of 3), and we could add multiple exercises per muscle group. Currently, we’re doing the opposing muscle group split, which I call "The Working Man’s Split" (I have a thread on that if anyone’s interested).
Say what you will about GLPs, but I can attest to their multifaceted benefits. They can take an unconfident normie and turn them into a motivated gym rat in just a year. The wife is even looking into a new "bodybuilding" gym to level up. Here I come, bro split, bring on the gains!
The Back Story
Covid hits, and the wife has to work from home. She slowly gets up to 185 lbs (we’re the same height, 5'9"). The wife says, "I need to lose weight, I’m fat." I say, "You look good to me." The wife gives me a side-eye, thinking, "This bastard just likes it now that I have an ass." I’m thinking, "Please don’t make me help you lose that ass." I give her the usual calories-in, calories-out spiel. She listens attentively, then says, "Don’t they have drugs like your TRT thingy?" At this point, SEMA (semaglutide) was brand new and just starting to get traction (Wegovy wasn’t even available yet). So, I tell her I’ll look into it. I research, find, and procure some SEMA, and tell her I’ll give it a test run since it's from the internet. "Fuck that, give me some now," she says. lol
As the pounds start dropping and her confidence accelerates, she starts asking about the app I use to track food and even suggests we start going to the gym (I have a home gym with barbells and dumbbells that's outside, not her cup of tea). Fast forward one year, and the wife is now 145 lbs, gym time!
Choosing a Split
The first thing we need to do is choose a gym split. I personally like a "bro split" (isolating individual muscle groups), but this isn’t a productive beginner split. So, we’re left with options like full-body, upper-lower, PPL (push, pull, legs), or opposing muscle groups. I rate splits based on volume, which I define as [effort x sets x reps = volume]. Using this metric, I decide that a full-body split three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with weekends off is the best beginner plan. Here’s what it looked like:
Monday
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Chest
- Back
- Shoulders
Wednesday
- Back
- Chest
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Hamstrings
Friday
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Back
- Hamstrings
- Chest
In the first week, we started with minimal effort: 1 set, 12 reps. This kept soreness to a minimum. In the second week, we increased the effort but kept everything else the same, except for adding a "warm-up" set. Once we hit maximum effort while maintaining control and form, we added more sets and changed the rep range to 8-20. When we reached 4 sets (excluding warm-ups), we switched to an upper-lower split. This allowed us to train more days (5 instead of 3), and we could add multiple exercises per muscle group. Currently, we’re doing the opposing muscle group split, which I call "The Working Man’s Split" (I have a thread on that if anyone’s interested).
Say what you will about GLPs, but I can attest to their multifaceted benefits. They can take an unconfident normie and turn them into a motivated gym rat in just a year. The wife is even looking into a new "bodybuilding" gym to level up. Here I come, bro split, bring on the gains!
