Project Scrawny

[Trozzle]

This was a very good idea Ash, I actually think this will help me a lot as I can not only watch how I've changed but it will also provide some drive in the sense that I've now got to show you f**kers my progress and not let myself look lazy

Alright so more or less I was always a very fast fit kid. Never quite the top of anything, but definitely well above average in most areas of highschool exercise. I had been playing soccer since I was 6, and was always in a midfield position thanks to my ability to chase any motherf**ker down. I had immense leg strength but not much more. I had not an ounce of fat on my body, and could eat bloody well whatever I wanted and as much of it as I pleased. Downsides was I was skinny as shit, absolutely nothing on my upper body. Could easily feel the ribs through what little pectoral muscle I had.

Come end of season 2005, I'd been playing soccer for 12 full years. Though things soon changed, as that year on the 28th of December I received a late Christmas present in the form of a blood clot in my occipital lobe. I had a stroke at 17 and a half years of age, which rendered the left side of my body completely useless (for only a short time mind you). It took me a few days to regain movement and feeling, and I was released from hospital a week later, walking etc again - albeit a bit f**king uncoordinated. Unfortunately, even the thought of attempting to play soccer again that year was a joke, and so the constant exercise almost came to a complete halt.

Later that year I take up playing WoW, and the next thing I know I'm a lazy turdchild spending 5+ hours at a time in front of the computer each evening, still eating whatever I please. Thankfully, I'd also purchased myself a nice hardtail dirt jump bike and was at least getting SOME exercise from that. Still started to put on fat. Sadface.

Skipping the rest of my life story, I more or less got convinced to take up going to the gym with a (former) friend. I enjoyed the exercise quite a lot since it had been so long without it - I'd long forgotten the feeling of those endorphins.

Without details of my past progression (since f**k me it was slow, I had no idea what I was doing hey) I'll skip to where I am now and we'll go from there yeah? Recently I've been a bit iffy with it and not really heading for gains leading up to my current Europe trip (yeah, I'm writing this from the lobby of a hostel in Berlin, whattup?). Once I get back to Australia, I'll be sorting myself out with the right (over maintenance) diet and getting back to spending at least 2 hours most days lifting.

I'm in this mostly for physical appearance with a bonus of strength (like Birds really) so here I am now:

[Birds]

Good luck with it buddy

I'm rooting for ya!

If you want a 4x per week workout plan, shout me a PM. Emphasis is on an athletic physical appearance, but you will end up quite strong too. Nee-san has reported success with it and has now modified the program to suit himself / his own needs.

[Trozzle]

Yeah dude, I'd like that though for some reason I can't send you a PM....every time I click the little message icon it just hangs

[God_speed]

Sounds like you've got the commitment mate, congrats on taking the plunge. You'll love it. It's good you will have the motivation from the guys here as well as a training partner. Try and focus on enjoying yourself in the gym too, cos it'll take a while before the body acclimatises and as it goes through its conditioning phase... and I know I have been through phases of impatience when seeking results. It's not all about putting a tape measure round your biceps, but the great feeling of being fitter, healthier and stronger after a workout too. The more reasons you have to keep hitting the gym the easier it will be to get consistency - and consistency will bring results.

Congrats on recovering from your stint in hospital too - that's incredible getting struck with something like that so young. Family history?

[KezR33]

Some good four day splits if you're interested:

http://org.ntnu.no/styrke/program/cc.htm

http://www.wannabebig.com/training/bodybuilding/baby-got-back/

[IOWNU]

Good luck.

I'd just like to add that generally speaking, 2 hours of lifting is far too long for the average lifter.

45 mins is ideal IMO. Any longer can be counter-productive, unless you are a power/olympic lifter or on the good stuff. .

[NickR33]

yeah agree... 2 hours means your doing too much talking or looking in the mirror lol... or your on the juice

[God_speed]

There was that research done some time ago that stated your body went into a catabolic state after about 60 mins - hence counterproductive after that. Can't find it after a 30 sec search.

So I personally don't know how many guys do only 3 days a week and still get everything in, if each day consists of an hour or less. Heavy-ass weights I suppose.

[NickR33]

harder if your doing split routines... I do full body workouts but I'll do different exercises at all 3 sessions... means I'll only do squats once a week or deadlifts once a week etc... but I lift as heavy as I can manage

people who are in the gym doing just arms for a full hour are either proper bodybuilders or just wasting a lot of time

for beginners I wouldn't split at all... just mix up exercises so your doing a push followed by a pull... bench press followed by bent over rows for example... that way you give the smaller muscles a chance to rest (triceps, biceps etc)

[KezR33]

I agree. I've got mate who calls me weak when I walk out of the gym after doing a hard, heavy 40-45min full body workout. I feel like I'm going to spew, my legs shake when I walk down stairs, etc and he leaves the gym 3 hours later feeling "energized".

But then again, I'm the skinny guy who struggles to gain weight and he's a natural mesomorph so why would he listen to me?

[WGNPWR]

for beginners I wouldn't split at all... just mix up exercises so your doing a push followed by a pull... bench press followed by bent over rows for example... that way you give the smaller muscles a chance to rest (triceps, biceps etc)

my mates whos a PT, told me to do this. push, pull, legs.

[Trozzle]

Sounds like you've got the commitment mate, congrats on taking the plunge. You'll love it. It's good you will have the motivation from the guys here as well as a training partner. Try and focus on enjoying yourself in the gym too, cos it'll take a while before the body acclimatises and as it goes through its conditioning phase... and I know I have been through phases of impatience when seeking results. It's not all about putting a tape measure round your biceps, but the great feeling of being fitter, healthier and stronger after a workout too. The more reasons you have to keep hitting the gym the easier it will be to get consistency - and consistency will bring results.

Congrats on recovering from your stint in hospital too - that's incredible getting struck with something like that so young. Family history?

Nah nothing in the family, was weird. Ah well, shit happens - I'm back to normal now with only a small blind spot in my vision due to where in my brain it was.

Good luck.

I'd just like to add that generally speaking, 2 hours of lifting is far too long for the average lifter.

45 mins is ideal IMO. Any longer can be counter-productive, unless you are a power/olympic lifter or on the good stuff. .

Yeah I've heard a lot about that too, though I'll clarify a bit - this includes my half-ass cardio warmup/down (like10 minutes easy pace jog) as well as floating around lazily in the pool afterwards and showering...not 2 hours of only lifting plus I tend to be a bit more than 1 minute between sets sometimes.

Cheers for the comments though guys, will read back through a little more detailed when I have a chance....gotta run now though damnit >.<

[NickR33]

I agree. I've got mate who calls me weak when I walk out of the gym after doing a hard, heavy 40-45min full body workout. I feel like I'm going to spew, my legs shake when I walk down stairs, etc and he leaves the gym 3 hours later feeling "energized".

yeah it ruins me too... on Tues we went pretty hard

all free weights, all barbell or dumbell

squats 12/10/8/6 starting at 80kg and working up to 160kg

incline bench press 12/10/8/6/2 (last set was just too heavy) starting at 40kg and working up to 90kg

bent over rows (standing) 10/8/8/4/6 starting at 50kg and working up to 90kg, only getting 4 at 90kg so back to 80kg for another 6

military press (standing) 12/8/6 very similar to incline bench so we only did a couple of sets... starting at 30kg working up to 60kg

flyes (flat bench) 10/8/8/6 starting with 15kg dumbells working up to 25kg

shrugs (standing) 10/8/6 starting with 25kg dumbells working up to 35kg

all that takes just over an hour with a short 5min kettlebell warm up and 5 min of stretching at the end

next session I will do all different exercises... probably deadlifts or powercleans, maybe calf raises or split squats, flat bench press, one arm dumbell rows or weighted pullups, probably some isolation work like dumbell laterals, arnold presses, dips etc etc

then on Sat we will do a kettlebell session... light weights, high reps, sprints, short rest periods, lots of core stuff, one leg, swiss ball etc etc... I hate those sessions, I sweat like a dirty animal

I don't wanna go to the gym more than 3 times a week... and if I miss a session I'm not missing out on training that body part for 2 weeks

[Trozzle]

Some good four day splits if you're interested:

http://org.ntnu.no/s.../program/cc.htm

http://www.wannabebi.../baby-got-back/

Just wanna ask some Q's about stuff in at least the first link, I'll just use Monday as an example

1. Flat Bench - warmup to 3 sets of 5 reps - one down set of 10 reps

2. Dumbbell Incline Presses - warmup to 3 sets of 6 reps - one down set of 10 reps

3. Dumbbell Flyes - 4 sets of 6-8 reps

4. Straight-bar curls - 3 sets of 6 t0 8 reps

5. Curl-bar curls - 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

6. Alt. Seated Curls - 3 sets of 6-8 reps

First up I'm not sure about the bold set outlines, is it saying do warmup set(s), then X sets of Y reps, then another 10 rep set at a lower weight?

Secondly I don't entirely know what those last 2 curls are, curl bar I assume is the one shaped like a W that I load plates onto and alt. seated curls I assume is alternating between hands with dumbbells while seated?

cheers

[Trozzle]

anyone on the above?

Also, I fly out of Estonia in 3 hours, will be back in Aus on Tuesday. Hopefully that arvo I'll be back into it and giving it everything. Gonna do this 100% and make some serious progress, can't bloody wait.

[KezR33]

Secondly I don't entirely know what those last 2 curls are, curl bar I assume is the one shaped like a W that I load plates onto and alt. seated curls I assume is alternating between hands with dumbbells while seated?

Exactly.

warmup to 3 sets of 5 reps - one down set of 10 reps

If you're doing 3 sets of 5 reps, its going be bloody heavy weights. All its saying is warm up to those weights. Do 5 x 50%, then 5 x 75%, then do your three working sets, and cool down with a light set of 10 reps.

[NickR33]

Secondly I don't entirely know what those last 2 curls are, curl bar I assume is the one shaped like a W that I load plates onto and alt. seated curls I assume is alternating between hands with dumbbells while seated?

forget the last 2... one set of curls is enough, just do standing barbell or dumbell... don't bother with seated variations... how often do you lift heavy stuff sitting down?

yes curl bar is the one shaped like a W

really not sure that routine is what you need... a full body routine or a more basic split would be more suited IMO

[Birds]

Have responded to your PM with my 4 day split Troz

[NickR33]

just realised I've been posting in the wrong thread... thought this was KezR33... sorry your prob okay with a split as it sounds like you've been at it for a while

I wouldn't be going to a 4 day split until you've been hitting the weights regularly for 1-2 years and have built up a strong base... takes a lot of dedication to be in there 4 days a week giving all days equal intensity... good luck!

[Trozzle]

I've got the dedication to do it, just didn't have a routine to stick to unfortunately.Made it very erratic and irregular

Now though I'll give Birds' 4 day a go and see if it's for me. Just by the sounds of it I'm thinking I'll like it