OK, time to take the plunge, and add my journal to the big scary list.

I'm 6 foot 4, and currently weight 14 stone. I'm up from 12.5 stone 2 months ago, so the bulking up seems to be on track. I was surprised at how fast I put on weight the first month, but I guess there's an element of body-memory, since I used to be in better shape.

I had been doing 4*3 reps at about 90-95% max, but on the advice of El Marko, I've changed to 5*5 at about 75%. It does feel like a more thorough workout, I have to admit. I was alternating each exercise, but was advised to complete the 5*5 before moving onto next. Saves faffing about with the one barbell I have, anyway.

I was pretty haphazard about which exercises I was doing, I've changed to a three days alternating between Push, Pull, Legs (and core). 4 days mon-fri, with the weekend for recovery, plus one weekday (theoretically wednesday to break it up, but depends on how I feel).

Exercises I'm using:

Push:
5*5 Bench Press about 70kg
5*5 Overhead Press (seated at the moment) 40kg
Pushups 5x20 (15 for last couple of reps)
Dips 5x15 (using two chairs)

Pull:
5*4 Deadlift about 90kg (woo, my body weight) (fewer reps on this one, but I like the big weights )
5*5 Bicep Curls about 20kg barbells
5*5 Upright Rowing about 35kg
5*5 Not sure on the name. Lying on back, with barbells out horizontally, raising to meet in the middle above you. About 12kg
Chin-ups. I don't incorporate this into my actual work-outs, as the only place I can fit my chin-bar is in my bedroom (once again, roll on gym). Try to stick to a rep of 5 first thing in the morning to wake me up, then 3*5 in the evening on rest days.

Legs/Core:
5*4 Squats about 60kg. Low, but without a rack of spotter, I'm nervous about pushing it.
Crunches 5x20
5*5 Leg raises using bench thingumyjig, on front, and seated. Can't remember the weight as I don't have my notepad with me.

Not exactly impressive weights, but most are over twice what I started at 6 weeks ago, so I'm happy with progression. Mark can back me up on how skinny I was.
Can't do inclines, as bench is missing the support pin. If I don't get gym sorted soon, I'll find something to use as one.
I intersperse each 5*5 with 3 minutes on the step machine, highest setting. I've heard some people knock step machines, but my quads are burning at the end of it. I have an exercise bike, though I prefer the steps.

Start off with 20 minutes stretching and 5 minutes on step machine. I'd like to get back into martial arts, so pay particular attention to stretching.
End up with 10 minutes light cardio and stretching.

Longterm goals? Well, a mixture of strength training, and body building, it's still early days for me. I'd like to get back into martial arts, so I'll probably up my cardio later.

Any advice? Obviously I'll have a lot more options when I join the gym, I'll update when I do and have found my bearings.
I'll follow with diet info later. I should probably get a body photo too. Rather wish I had one taken when I started, as embarrassing as it was.

get that gym sorted asap, it will really step up your progress to the next level once you've got a squat rack.

It seems to me you're doing the best you can considering your circumstances...so keep it up.

"5*5 Not sure on the name. Lying on back, with barbells out horizontally, raising to meet in the middle above you. About 12kg"

I assume you mean dumbells, in which case they are flys (flyes... i never know how to spell it)

Youve got off on the right foot Tom, good to see you really get into it, as everyone has said though, its time to step it up and if you dont have the space to put in a decent home set up, its gym time.

Oh yes, dumbells. Don't quite have the wrist strength to do two barbells at once.

Rorschach wrote:Oh yes, dumbells. Don't quite have the wrist strength to do two barbells at once.

Don't worry, that'll change soon!

I like you attitude and what you're doing.

All sounds good .

Most people but on a lot of weight at first and then it gradually slows down so dont get disheartened if this happens to you .

Welcome aboard

Off to a good start there mate. Be careful not to eat too much if your gaining slows as it's easy to put on fat unnecessarily if you do

So I guess you have a fast metabolism right? Can you give more description about your body type.

eg. When I started I was very thin but held very little fat, you could clearly see the muscles they where all just very small . My metabolism meant despite eating junk food I would remain the same weight, my bone structure was/is wide and I've always been strong for my size. I've always held most of my BF around the chest/hamstrings/knee (the little I had), at school I excelled at explosive events (long jump, high jump etc).

This kind of info has direct carry over into your training and diet and will lead to more tailored advice

Craig wrote:So I guess you have a fast metabolism right? Can you give more description about your body type.
...
This kind of info has direct carry over into your training and diet and will lead to more tailored advice

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or a thousand grimaces if it's of me. Body type.

Anyway, tonight...

BB bicep-curls
5x17, 5x17, 5x17, 5x19, 4x19

Upright rowing
5x35, 5x35, 4x45 (form was slipping at end, so back to 35), 5x35, 5x35

Deadlift
4x5 @ 90kg.
I took a weeks break from squats and DL, as my right knee was complaining. DL felt a lot stronger after the break (probably my fav. lift so far), felt I could have hit 100kg if I had the equipment. Cut off the last rep though, as my newbie callouses were really beginning to hurt. This cold can of beer is definitely helping though.

Only did three sets tonight, as it's friday, and was in a bit of a rush.

Oh, and thanks for the words of encouragement, people.

Some info on diet:

Obviously it varies, but this is fairly standard. If I'm in a rush in the morning, i soft-boil 4-5 eggs, eat one then, another couple when i get to work, and rest with snacks.

Breakfast
Pint of whey + full fat milk
4 scrambled eggs on 1 slice of wholemeal toast (going to switch to sunny side up in olive oil based on what I've read here about cholesterol oxidisation)

Mid-morning snack (11am)
Whey shake + something solid (eg. couple of slices of ham on toast, or couple of rollmops (pickled raw herring snack I'm partial to))

Lunch (12:30pm)
Couple of cereal bowls of rice/wild salmon/mushrooms/sweetcorn
or
4 slices of ham/beef in wholemeal sandwich + avocado with cottage cheese and olives

Afternoon snack (4pm)
Same as mid-morning snack

Snack on 100-200g of unsalted mixed nuts/seeds during work

Workout 6-7pm, then have a whey shake

Evening meal (8-9pm)
Varies, something based on mince (non-lean), beef or fish steak, with white rice and brocolli/peas/green beans
I know whole/brown rice is better, but i have a humongous sack of white basmati that I'm not going to throw away

Drink about 30 units a week.
Supplements: whey powder, multivitamin, glucosamine (600mg), Hi-Strength cod liver oil/omega 3 cap
Stopped having sugar with tea/coffee, and only use cola as a mixer (can't stand diet's flavour, and am wary of aspartamine).

Definitely have more energy on this diet. Perhaps i should eat more fruit/veg? Multivitamins only go so far.

Oh, and I realise that bread's got a high glycemic index, and should probably go, but on wednesday i skipped breakfast toast and forgot to bring bread for my lunch (no rice-mix that day). Therefore ate only nuts, eggs, ham and whey/milk until evening, and felt sapped all day, so I'm loathe to cut it out completely.

Checked out the uni gym near me, and it looks pretty good (as well as being cheap).
2 racks, 3 benches with olympic bars, 3 sets of dumbells, some cardio equipment, and a bunch of machines which I have NFC what they do. It's pretty much dead at weekends, too, though apparently is a little busy 5-8pm midweek.
No problem with chalk, or lifting barefoot. No problem with lifting overhead either, they even raised the ceiling in that section, as they had a 6 foot 7 guy who liked to olympic press apparently.

Joined for a month, which costs almost as much as 2 months if you join for a year, but best to be sure, I guess.

Found out a guy I know goes there, so hopefully have a spotter too. Unfortunately he's French, but we can't have it all.

Sounds good, cept the french thing ofc

Rorschach wrote:Found out a guy I know goes there, so hopefully have a spotter too. Unfortunately he's French, but we can't have it all.

And just what is wrong with the French? You need to feel sorry for them. Creatine is illegal in France

First session at the new gym was tonight, and was good and bad.

Good: More weights, more equipment, more eye-candy.
Bad: Felt pretty self-conscious, didn't warm up or cool down properly. No obviously injuries, but we'll see how I feel in the morning.
Blistered my fingertips on my left hand at a barbeque last night (seriously, don't leave me in charge of volatile chemicals and fire). Didn't affect my lifting too much, but they were beginning to smart by the end. Typing isn't fun either...

Hopefully I'll feel less self-conscious after a couple more sessions.

Bicep Curl:
17.5kg x5, x5, x5
15kg x5, x5

Deadlift:
100kg (pb) x5, x5, x4 Stopped early as left hand felt wobbley.

Chin-ups:
x5, x4, x3

I realise bicep-curls plus chin-ups were perhaps superflous, but I wanted to try the machine. Couldn't work out how to set it up for assisted, so just did them free-hanging.

Place was beginning to fill up by that point, so did 10 mins cardio, and hit the showers.
Hopefully I'll get into the stride of it more after a couple of sessions.

Congrats on the PB, have you decided on a training split yet?

Gym-pig wrote:Good broad base there .

I wouldnt even give body fat a thought mate . Get quality eating, train basic and hard and get enough rest

Recommended reading ; Further Brawn by Stuart McRobert .

I agree a clean diet and heavy compounds and lets see how that works out. Diet looks OK, I'd drop the ham, and replace whey with a 50/50 mix of whey and milk protein concentrate (from BSD of course) or use there Milk and whey mix if your lazy .

Other top tips from this site: Add cinamon (sp) to shakes to help avoid fat storage, apple cider vinegar does the same thing. And if you start to pile on the BF to quickly when bulking add in a damage control day (low carb day once a a week). Hmm all these tips are nicked from CP and thibs............. oh well

Marks1972 wrote:Congrats on the PB, have you decided on a training split yet?

I'm thinking of sticking to Push, Pull, Legs/Core, on a three day split. Nothing fancy until I'm a lot fitter. Those pull-ups were a killer, never done them free-hanging before.
As to what exercises I'll do each day, i'm working on that...

I'm not fussed about body-fat right now. Apparently I'm at 14%, though that was just with a reading from scales, haven't managed to find any calipers yet.

Why cut the ham? It's usually off the bone, so shouldn't be particularly processed. Would beef be better? I'm not particularly fond of chicken or turkey, unless it's roasted and hot.

Rorschach wrote:First session at the new gym was tonight, and was good and bad.

Good: More weights, more equipment, more eye-candy.
Bad: Felt pretty self-conscious, didn't warm up or cool down properly. No obviously injuries, but we'll see how I feel in the morning.
Blistered my fingertips on my left hand at a barbeque last night (seriously, don't leave me in charge of volatile chemicals and fire). Didn't affect my lifting too much, but they were beginning to smart by the end. Typing isn't fun either...

Hopefully I'll feel less self-conscious after a couple more sessions.

Chins are never superfluous (reminds me I haven't had a go at them in a few days)

Eye candy is always good but potentially distracting.

Re feeling self conscious, well, everyone starts somewhere and in all honesty its mainly a combination of paranoia (I am always convinced people are laughing as I attempt chins) and lack of self confidence. In most weight rooms the only guys/girls worth their salt are the ones lifting and training, they're concentrating on their workouts and will probably only notice you if they are looking to see if the squat cage/bench/appropriate piece of equipment is free and you are using it.
Anyone else who is staring at you either, 1. fancies you, 2. isn't training or 3. is jealous. Such people can be ignored.

So you have nothing to worry about.

GymBunny wrote:Anyone else who is staring at you either, 1. fancies you, 2. isn't training or 3. is jealous. Such people can be ignored.

So you have nothing to worry about.

If you stop bending over so suggestively I'll keep my eyes to my self and get on with my workout

As for the Ham it has a high fat content and low protein content to my memory.

2nd trip to the gym today. Felt a lot less self conscious, which is good.

Dumbell Flyes:
12.5kg x5 x5
15kg x5 x5 (technically pb, though only because i haven't done them before... )
12.5kg x5 x5

SL Deadlift:
95kg x5, x5
85kg x5, x5
Probably shouldn't have done deadlift two days in a row, I'm already feeling pretty sore. Met an old friend, though (man he's gotten big), so wanted to use the opportunity to check my form. I need to work on keeping my back straight, but it was improving by the end. He informed me that I'm naturally doing SLDL too. Don't see any reason to change that though, there's no benefit to normal DL over SLDL I presume?

Chin-ups:
x5 x3
Still stiff from yesterday.

Sit-ups
x20 x20 x15

Press-ups on knuckles
x20 x15

Finished up with some low weight (20kg?) reps with my right leg on the leg-press machine, as my knee's still getting twinges.


On the food front, our freezer packed up this afternoon with no replacement due until friday, so I had to cook 2kg of chilli. Going to be my main food source for the next couple of days...
Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the cinnamon in shakes, it's worth it for the taste alone.

SLDL is more of a hamstring/lower back exercise and you typically dont ground the weight, you take it to shin level. Its a good exercise but its not as good an overall mass and strength builder as a proper deadlift. I dont particularly like them as i dont like loading the sort of weight that my hamstrings can handle on my lower back, i find RDLs much nicer and hit the hams more, but that might just be me stuck in my ways.

Its not terrible doing deads and RDLs/SLDLs back to back because of this, but thats still pretty hefty going for a relative noob.
If your doing PPL you could deadlift on Pull day and do RDLs on Legs day. Do pull and legs on the 2 days furthest apart in your split (ie monday and friday if you do M/W/F) and youll have no probs.. push is the girly day anyway

Oh, and I'm definitely getting a better workout from the gym; though the workload's not noticably higher, I've felt shattered both nights. I'm guessing it's because I up the tempo as there're other people around who might want to use the equipment. No 10 minute breaks between exercises here.

Also slept like a baby last night. I usually wake up after 6 hours.

Marks1972 wrote:Its not terrible doing deads and RDLs/SLDLs back to back because of this, but thats still pretty hefty going for a relative noob.

Well I naturally do SLDL, so I would've done them yesterday too.
Think I'm taking a day off tomorrow, my back's already sore, despite stretching at the end.

possibly my favourite video on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA

breaks the deadlift down to its barebones so even you can lift right