new from 503

[combover]

hey all. been lurking awhile, a few weeks longer than my join date. finally making intro post so I can get more involved for another layer of accountability to reach my goals.
mid 30's, 5' 11"
gone from fat to fit twice since I was 20. always been kinda fat since I was 12, endomorph
went from 230 lbs oct-15 down to 190lbs by feb-16, and became interested in aas.
something came up in my life and to keep it short, I'm probably back to around 200lbs
I'd guess around 20-25% bf based on the picture charts on google images.
from reading here, I see I am too fat to start aas, probably need to be closer to 175lbs.
Also always had some bitch tits, so I assume that would mean I am even more prone to gyno.

back in the gym now and bought a new road bike for additional cardio, I really like to ride the bike.

gonna get some blood work soon to see what my natty T levels are. I cardio a lot, I feel like I don't increase my strength much and I don't know if that is from too much cardio or what.
Diet is tough, but I'm getting much better. Not counting calories perfect yet, but have ditched the crap food and eating eggs, chicken, pork, salads, fruit, yogurt, shakes and black coffee. Need to control portions at dinner.

I can get some cyp locally, but waiting till I'm closer to actually be able to use it.
bro split? chest/tris, back/bis, legs/abs, shoulders, rest 1 or 2 days, then repeat.

I have some dumb q's, but I'll save those until I've looked around for the answers a little more first.

 

[213]

welcome man. also new myself.

thinking of counting food in macros rather than calories really helped me internalize portion control. there's a great program for iOS called MyMacros+ (a simpler version of MyFitnessPal) that allows you to scan barcodes of food for easy input.

iifym.com is a great place to learn about macros and how to eat them.

TDEE Calculator: Learn Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is also a great (and free) resource to help you plan your macros and give you an idea about your bmr/tdee.

are you currently training on a bro split? i'm also cutting from a fairly high body fat %, and have had success on a strength full-body program like Stronglifts 5x5, which also has an amazing iOS app available for download.

cardio is a tool to help create a larger deficit, but you can't out-train a bad diet. cardio is good for you and should be a sensible addition to your routine, but it's easier to control calorie intake than it is to burn off excess.

keep at it man, you're gonna make it.

 

[combover]

Thanks man. Your intro is what prompted me to do mine. Maybe we can race to bf goals or something lol.

I do pretty good on food, but then a birthday or something else comes up and is easy for me to justify a bacon cheeseburger or something.

I really need to get into food prep, cause I hate wasting money or food and I think that would help greatly. Gonna scout the nutrition section for meal ideas.

Thanks again and let's get ripped.

 

[combover]

Also ya, on the bro split right now. I'll check out the 5x5 and give that a go.

 

[213]

Thanks man. Your intro is what prompted me to do mine. Maybe we can race to bf goals or something lol.

let's do it.

with iifym, you can fit a bacon cheeseburger into your meals without blowing your numbers for the day and beating yourself up about it for days (like i'm guilty of sometimes)

when i'm cutting and restricting, having the (very) occasional treat helps keep me psychologically on track. for me, the mental part is 90% of the battle.

meal prep is the business. when i was looking/feeling my best, i was meal prepping 1-2x per week. the key was SPICES, SPICES, SPICES that kept me from getting bored with eating the same stuff.

Mighty Mealz Meal Delivery Service in Los Angeles, CA has a great list of protein/carb/fat sources that are simple, healthy, and can be combined into infinite combinations to keep you from burning out on chicken breast only.

 

[213]

Also ya, on the bro split right now. I'll check out the 5x5 and give that a go.

i'm sure someone with more experience will be able to give you more information on this, but from what i understand bro splits are helpful for hypertrophy but only hit muscle groups 1x per week.

full body routines like StrongLifts or a PPL (coolcicada's from bbforums is a great template) use compound exercises which, from a physiological standpoint, are more effective in preserving LBM when you're in cutting mode. plus you get the added benefit of hitting multiple muscle groups multiple times per week.

squats, bro. you squat 3x a week on StrongLifts.

 

[Seven]

Welcome to Meso.

No strength gains, well its your diet. You gonna eat. Bro splits I've done my whole training life. I just started Layne Norton's PHAT. I'm on my 2nd week and love it! First two days are power days upper and lower, then hypertrophy days kinda bro splits I guess. Lol


An example of the split would be:

• Day 1: Upper Body Power
• Day 2: Lower Body Power
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
• Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy
• Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
• Day 7: Rest

Layne Norton on training

Thread on it ^^

 

[ebkallday]

Welcome to Meso.

No strength gains, well its your diet. You gonna eat. Bro splits I've done my whole training life. I just started Layne Norton's PHAT. I'm on my 2nd week and love it! First two days are power days upper and lower, then hypertrophy days kinda bro splits I guess. Lol


An example of the split would be:

• Day 1: Upper Body Power
• Day 2: Lower Body Power
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
• Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy
• Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
• Day 7: Rest

Layne Norton on training

Thread on it ^^

 

[combover]

thanks seven dog for that. i just read it and am going to put together a schedule so i can stick to that for a while. I need to switch it up.
Most importantly, I need to put together a solid diet plan, that I'll stick to. For me its mental too. I'll tell myself, "who says I can't have a slice of pizza, fuck them, I can do what I want" A nice form of self sabotage. I really need to get away from that mentality and focus real hard on my goals.

This may sound dumb, but even though as it stands, you folks are not much more than a forum username to me, since you've taken the time to respond to my thread, I feel like I don't want to let you down or waste your time. That's where the added layer of accountability comes in. May be petty, but whatever it takes, right?

I probably sounds a lot less motivated than I really am, but I'm also usually pretty hard on myself when I'm doing something that hurts me reaching my goals.

 

[213]

I probably sounds a lot less motivated than I really am, but I'm also usually pretty hard on myself when I'm doing something that hurts me reaching my goals.

you gotta try to start to undo that kind of negative-reinforcement thinking. here's a video that helped me quit smoking weed. this video is specific to pot, but you can apply the idea of "the ripple effect" to pretty much any choice.

 

[combover]

I'll watch that here in a little bit. I gave up pot earlier this year, but will probably look into keeping a thc vape pen or something around when I go on cycle. Just to help with any irritability that might come with the juice.

Gonna finish this week out on my routine i've been doing, then switch it up. I don't have a problem with leg day, but abs man, I fucking hate them and feel like I never do them. I'll hit some planks when I get home once a week or something, but thats it.

I opted to ride my bike into work today, 10 miles of mostly up hill. Now some fruit and yogurt and black coffee. Then chicken salad for lunch.

 

[BallsMahoney]

Welcome bro.

 

[Big_paul]

Welcome 530 here.

 

[Smokey McPot]

Welcome brother

 

[combover]

Thanks for the welcome bros. Starting the routine seven dog posted above, starting today.

 

[combover]

Been rocking this routine posted above by 7dog. It's nice a change from the same ol thing I was doing before. Strength is increasing. I honestly think I was over training before. I use to do soooo many reps hammering the same muscles during a workout.

Been meal prepping for a few weeks and losing weight. Ham n eggs and potatoes for bfast. Chkn, brown rice and broccoli for lunch and dinner. Lots-o-water. Maybe a protein shake here or there but trying to eat my protein mostly.

 

[Inmate]

I like the routine seven dog posted also. Glad to hear you're still at it. Keep up the good work brother!

 

[combover]

Got some bloods done
T - 245
E - 22

Any other numbers I should be looking at?