Cleanneon's quest to fitness: HELP ME GET BIGGER!

[CleanNeon98]

Much like a thread that teh_Dirt started before, this a member journal for me and not my car. I am determined to get in shape for spring/summer and am giving myself 30 weeks to turn my diet, lifestyle, and appearance around.

Here's the layout
Excersize: weight, reps/sets

Week 1 (current): 220lbs starting weight
Bench: 90lbs, 12/4
Curl: 50lbs, 8/3
Resistance Crunch: 70lbs, 50/2
Leg Press: will log
Leg Curl: will log
Various Cardio: 30 minutes per session

Workout regimen: twice daily, 7am-8am, 9:30pm-11pm

Goals: cut back on smoking, avoid alcohol and junk food, get back on Whey Protein

I'll start updating with weekly pix eventually, I'm in no shape to be posting semi-noods online right now LOL

Suggestions for meals, excersizes, etc. apreciated, keep in mind first 4 weeks are dedicated to cutting and losing fat, not bulking and building muscle.

[CleanNeon98]

LOL dunno how I rated my own thread 1 star but whatevers

[djb5118]

dont burn yourself out with the 2x/day workouts to start, thats for sure

[CleanNeon98]

Originally Posted by djb5118

dont burn yourself out with the 2x/day workouts to start, thats for sure

I've been back at it a few days now, feelin good, little sore, but good. Morning is really for running and light lifting, evening is for heavier stuff.

[lagos]

I saw great results with jogging over the summer, but sadly winter came around and i was too busy to stick with it.

[mcperson2k]

Lets get some topless progression pics or this thread is worthless! Hahaha... But seriously... I enjoy these threads, but only if there are pictures... (no homo)

[ndubz]

Alex, good to see ur doing this. I need to get on getting in shape as well. Thanks for setting a good example.

[CleanNeon98]

Originally Posted by mcperson2k

Lets get some topless progression pics or this thread is worthless! Hahaha... But seriously... I enjoy these threads, but only if there are pictures... (no homo)

In due time...if I saw pix of myself right now, I'd probbably never log back into the forum

I talked to a few friends who are into bodybuilding for some tips but my real area of confusion is nutrition.

Who has some kind of meal plan written up for say cutting or bulking, etc.

[doug]

i've been training for the past month and a half and i'm feeling really good.. it's always that first week that is the toughest to get through. good luck with the results.

[Ridachu]

How's helpping me take out a set of racing harts out of the hatch 8p, it'll be a workout.

[Erik]

2x a day is a bit rough in my opinion. i feel like that may be a bit on the overworking side. im curious to see how it comes out. Once im done with school and only working full time, ill be back at the gym. doing all three sucked hard.

good luck none-the-less brah

[CleanNeon98]

Originally Posted by doug

i've been training for the past month and a half and i'm feeling really good.. it's always that first week that is the toughest to get through. good luck with the results.

I usually get that thing about a month or so in, then I just need a push over the hump and I'm good to go. Last time I did it, I kept at it cause I saw results cause I took supplements, this time I want to try and keep it natural so I will need to motivate myself more than before.

[doug]

what kind of supplements did you take? i just drink whey after hard work outs.. bout it.

[CleanNeon98]

Originally Posted by doug

what kind of supplements did you take? i just drink whey after hard work outs.. bout it.

Whey protein
Creatine (forget the mg dosage but i took it all before instead of a 50/50 split like the bottle said)
no2 for a short period of time, it worked great for me once or twice and then just started to dwindle away so I cut it from my lineup.

I'll definately do whey again so I can get all the protein I need cause I don't have time to keep eating at work and class during the day to get it otherwise, the others I'm not sure on. I took this stuff called Maximum Pump which seemed to help me out a good bit, don't remember what was in it. I think the no2 I took was just bad though, it was by BSN labs or something like that, it was apparently overpriced junk (good thing i didnt buy it).

I think the Maximum Pump had no2 and creatine as well. It was advertised as some kind of miracle product and it was cheap so I tried it, actually worked well, I was able to add 10lbs to my bench the following week and the last reps were much easier to get through, combined with the whey, I wasn't sore the morning after and was able to train a bit longer and more intensively.

Before I left the gym last time there were several products to hit the market that I didn't get to try but I heard good things about no2 Black.

[CleanNeon98]

Then again I also heard of some people stacking Creatine and no2 for bulking and then getting off of it for cutting because A. it's not really needed and B. to keep your body from developing tolerence to it. I haven't really read too much into supplements yet however, I am working on getting a local trainer to help me come up with a meal plan for the different phases of my 30 weeks and I will talk to others about supplements because he said not to take them, others said it's fine so I want to get more info before I decide to commit again.

If anyone has any info on this, post up.

[Fujito]

You should state your height. Also, are your curls dumbbell or bar curls?

When you say 2x daily, does that mean every day? The whole idea of working out twice in one day is to give the next day off completely. The usual routine is to designate each day with a different region (arms, chest, legs, etc), but the 2x a day routine should ideally work your upper body in the AM and lower body in the PM, or vice versa. The way you have your regiment laid out makes it look like you're repeating this same schedule twice a day, which is futile since you're overworking areas that have already been fully fatigued and ripped.

If you don't give the following day completely off then your muscles will never heal properly and you will plateau since you will never fully build the strength to reach the next level.

If you're solely trying to lose weight right now then I'd suggest you choose weights that allow for 10-12 reps for 3 sets. Cardio exercises focus on slow twitch muscles fibers. These fibers are made to endure whereas fast twitch muscles give off strong, but short bursts of energy. It's argued that mixing these two will hinder your progress.

I extensively studied nutrition in high school. I was a big meathead, but AP honors student, so I didn't neglect the food side to exercise. Plus I'm a chef. Anyway, to lose weight you should focus on increasing your metabolic weight. Cutting out the junk is a big step, but your metabolism--the rate at which your body burns calories--can really help or hurt your goals. Aim to eat 5-8 small meals a day. I used to eat 9 small meals a day and I had a clear cut six pack. Here was my diet:

-Protein shake
-Raw Cashews
-Whole grain PBJ sandwich with all natural PB & J
-fruit
-protein bar
-yogurt
-a small meat portion with vegetables and a carb
-fiber crackers
-Protein shake
-something else

This example is extreme, but you should try to decrease the size of your meals and eat every 2 hours or so. Every time you eat your body has to work to digest the food. This is why after you over eat you become very tired--your body is exhausted. Well, it also has to do with glucose levels and insulin, but that's another story. So by eating more you will naturally increase your metabolic rate. Your body will be burning more calories throughout the day. Eating less will actually lower your metabolic rate, which results in rebounds.

Stay away from simple carbohydrates. Generally anything "white" is a bad simple carb. White flour and white rice are the two prime suspects. Replace the two with whole grain flour products and brown rice. Simple carbohydrates are also known as monosaccharides, which is an elaborate way to say single sugar. Simple sugars are easily and quickly digested by your body because of their simple short chemical structure.

Whole grains are polysaccharides, aka many sugars. Their chemical structures are much longer and complex, meaning they are slowly digested and your body has to work harder to do digest them. This will in turn increase your metabolic rate, and you won't experience any sugar crashes. Glucose is the simplest form of sugar. This is why when you're low on energy you will have food cravings. Your brain is saying "feed me". Caffeine lows can also induce these cravings. To explain that it'd take another three paragraphs, so basically caffeine isn't good for you when trying to lose weight.

Hope this all helps!

[GeforceXtreme]

Below is a pretty good exercise guide link. Love how you can click which part of the body you want to work out and it shows you tons of work outs with video's.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/

I also take 100% whey protein after working out. I just started using Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard stuff and I really like it so far. I bought their limited Edition flavor Extreme Milk Chocolate and the stuff tastes like a milk shake and is great. Also has 24g of protein. Link below where I got it from. That site seems to have the best prices on protein from what I have researched. Also they include a free shaker bottle with any purchase.

http://www.supplementwarehouse.com/v...product=143864

You can do anything as long as you set your mind too it. Using me as an example, back in Jr high and earlier part of high school I was over 240lbs+ I think and I wore a size 46+ pair of pants at my worse. I was a jelly donut pretty much. Back then I really never thought I ever be able to get myself down in weight. But after pushing myself REALLY hard to cut back on crappy food, and getting myself to the gym I am now down to around 160lbs and wear a size 32 pair of pants. Its such a great thing to actually notice a difference overtime and to know you are doing your body better as well. Also the feeling of accomplishment when you finally reached your goal is nothing but amazing. Now I am spending my time to build up some bulk because I feel I actually lost too much weight and need to gain back muscle now.

Good luck and always push yourself because some days its a pain in the ass!

[CleanNeon98]

Fujito, I agree that 2x a day is too much and I'm cutting it to one. Curls I do with individual dumbells but there is a bar option, not sure what's best. I am 5'11"

Mike thanks for the links. Optimum whey seems to be a favorite Bit I thought it was 35 or 40 grams per serving.

[nhanxsolo]

you aware brah?

[JST2KWIK]

I would love to get back into shape... started running daily and going to the gym every other when the semester started but as it got colder, I stopped running and then stopped going to the gym too. It's practically impossible to eat healthy while in college ha all of the food provided to you is garbage and what college kid has money to stock cabinets with protein bars and the fridge with fruit? lol I miss going though and will start back up in the spring. Thanks for the info and gl to you hopw to see results and updates