Working Out...Time Of Day/Motivation

[Nova]

I've gotten into it all pretty hard. Bodybuilding.com has been my go to website.
Clear goals on my intake, and workout, and am now supplementing as well.

Intake goal:
2600 Calories (about a 15% calorie deficit)

Macro-nutrients:
200g Protein
100g Fat
200g Carbs

Leaves me at around 2200 calories, so I go a bit heavier in one or the other depending on the day, leaves some breathing room. But those are supposed to be my minimum requirements daily.
Eating a lot of chicken, whole grain rice, avocado's, stuff of that nature. I eat red meat here and there throughout the week. I've actually been finding it hard to hit 2600 calories while eating healthier foods. It's a lot easier when you order pizza/eat out a couple times a week.

Supplements:
Whey Protein powder (3 times daily on workout days, 2 times on non workout)
Creatine 5g daily
Opti Multi Vitamin 2 a day
Omega 3 2 a day
Flax seed oil 2 a day
Pre-Workout supplement by Musclepharm.

I will eventually add Casein once I start putting on more muscle.

I work out early in the morning.. but for me it's near the end of my day. I sleep 10am-6pm and work out at about 6am, so a few hours before bed.

Wednesday: Chest/Triceps/Calves
Thursday: Back/Biceps/Abs
Friday: Off
Saturday: Shoulders/Traps/Calves
Sunday: Legs/Abs
Mon/Tue: Off

Currently working with weekly micro-cycles.
Week 1: 12-15 reps. I do a Pause-Break after my final rep of every set. I stop for about 15 seconds, then go again to muscle failure (Generally 3-4 more reps)
Week 2: 9-11 reps with increased weight. I do a Pause-Break on all final sets.
Week 3: 6-8 reps with increased weight. I do a Drop-Set after my very last set of each exercise. I immediately drop the weight by about 25% and go again until muscle failure
Week 4: 3-5 reps with increased weight. I do a Drop-Set after my very last set of each exercise.

I then basically repeat the month this way.

I start every workout with a 5 minute warm up jog on treadmill at 6mph, and end them the same way (except leg day, no post workout jog..). I do my sets at a steady pace, keep myself breathing deep and sweating.
I do leg day last because it's hard enough just sitting/standing after leg day, I don't want to have to walk around a gym and move weights etc while my legs are still recovering, so I do them right before my 2 days off.


I spent the last 6 months getting used to going to the gym, and learning all I could about eating right. Now I have officially started my real routines/diet/supplementation. I will be weighing myself once a week, as well as taking front/side photo's and taking my measurements. I will report back here with some before/after if all goes according to plan.

Good stuff. A tip that took me a while to discover but has worked for me. Grab some Casein Protein to work in tandem with the Whey. Whey, of course, digests quickly so it's really good for pre and post workout. Casein digests slower so it's good for extended periods of time where you may be going without food, like right before bed.

I'm not a trainer or a nutritionist, but it's worked great for me. Gains are easier a bit easier to come by after I started taking both.

 

[Nova]

I take c4 too, cause it's safe with proven ingredients. It's a little underdosed and on the expensive side, but there are sites that give you a good deal on 60 servings. I've seen it go as low as $29.99 for 60 servings.

Sweet deal. Might have to get that site address from you.

 

[RastaRocket]

If anyone is interested in my routine, here it is:

Monday / Wednesday / Friday: 3x max Pushups, Pull ups, Chin ups
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday: 30 Min. Cardio (Alternate running, walking) and 3x max crunches.

If anyone has a better solution for core than crunches let me know, cause i heard they are bad for your back.

What about some dips for chest and triceps to go along with pushups? Dips are a great bodyweight exercise. If you have something to do dips on (if you don't that might explain why you don't do them) then you can do leg raises while holding yourself up on the dip bar to get your lower abs.

 

[Stryker44]

Good stuff. A tip that took me a while to discover but has worked for me. Grab some Casein Protein to work in tandem with the Whey. Whey, of course, digests quickly so it's really good for pre and post workout. Casein digests slower so it's good for extended periods of time where you may be going without food, like right before bed.

I'm not a trainer or a nutritionist, but it's worked great for me. Gains are easier a bit easier to come by after I started taking both.

By gains do you mean being able to do more reps at a heavier weight, lower % bodyfat, noticable in the mirror? How do you define "gains" while getting in shape?

 

[TheBigEasy]

By gains do you mean being able to do more reps at a heavier weight, lower % bodyfat, noticable in the mirror? How do you define "gains" while getting in shape?

Sorry...I jumped into this thread really late! Gains - he means noticeable muscle growth in the mirror and increased strength.

 

[TheBigEasy]

Been working out for the past 15 years. I started the first day I landed my first job out of college. I experimented with working out all times of the day and lunch was by far the best time. I see a lot of people running to grab fast food during their lunch hour and this helped me to avoid this trap. It gives me a serious boost of energy to make it through the afternoon. I eat a small meal working out at my desk - tuna sandwich with almonds, a protein shake with a scoop of dry oatmeal, etc. Another thing I found was finding a workout partner. EVERYONE needs motivation and if you always have someone pushing you, and vice versa, it helps. If you do lift weights at lunch, maximize your time by doing supersets. Google it. I spend no more than 40-45 minutes in the gym. Very little rest and constant strain on your muscles all while elevating your heart rate. Feel free to ask more questions. I'd be glad to lend advice.

 

[Nova]

By gains do you mean being able to do more reps at a heavier weight, lower % bodyfat, noticable in the mirror? How do you define "gains" while getting in shape?

@thebigeasy88 pretty much nailed it.

Gains, at least for me, are noticeable increase in muscle mass, noticeable in the mirror. Of course, strength usually accompanies that, but for what I was talking about, the Casein is extra caloric intake necessary to gaining size, delivered in the form of slow digesting muscle building protein.

I don't specifically measure my gains with a tape measure like some will do, but rather just view them in the mirror/ increases in strength as you've mentioned. Typically I workout with heavy weight, low reps one week, and then reduce the weight a little bit and do higher reps the next, as well as switching up the activities to get a better range of exercise for a particular muscle group.

But overall, I measure strength in my heavy low rep workouts and when I'm able to comfortably move up a few pounds.

 

[Nova]

Been working out for the past 15 years. I started the first day I landed my first job out of college. I experimented with working out all times of the day and lunch was by far the best time. I see a lot of people running to grab fast food during their lunch hour and this helped me to avoid this trap. It gives me a serious boost of energy to make it through the afternoon. I eat a small meal working out at my desk - tuna sandwich with almonds, a protein shake with a scoop of dry oatmeal, etc. Another thing I found was finding a workout partner. EVERYONE needs motivation and if you always have someone pushing you, and vice versa, it helps. If you do lift weights at lunch, maximize your time by doing supersets. Google it. I spend no more than 40-45 minutes in the gym. Very little rest and constant strain on your muscles all while elevating your heart rate. Feel free to ask more questions. I'd be glad to lend advice.

I'm right with you. I've eaten so many damn almonds... I'd be really interested to see how many pounds of them I've eaten over the last couple of years. But the tuna sandwich is a nice change of pace.

As far as working out with a partner, if you're a beginner looking to put on size and strength, competition can sometimes be discouraging. Some people take longer to get stronger or put on size (I'm one of them), but if it's just general getting into shape I agree 100%. Partners help keep you accountable.

 

[Future]

Been working out for the past 15 years. I started the first day I landed my first job out of college. I experimented with working out all times of the day and lunch was by far the best time. I see a lot of people running to grab fast food during their lunch hour and this helped me to avoid this trap. It gives me a serious boost of energy to make it through the afternoon. I eat a small meal working out at my desk - tuna sandwich with almonds, a protein shake with a scoop of dry oatmeal, etc. Another thing I found was finding a workout partner. EVERYONE needs motivation and if you always have someone pushing you, and vice versa, it helps. If you do lift weights at lunch, maximize your time by doing supersets. Google it. I spend no more than 40-45 minutes in the gym. Very little rest and constant strain on your muscles all while elevating your heart rate. Feel free to ask more questions. I'd be glad to lend advice.

I couldn't disagree more about the partner thing, but w/e haha

I'm a big fan of supersets, though you have to be in shape - at least to some extent - to be able to actually push yourself through them.

 

[Sarge]

I go at lunch time. My gym is 1 block from my work, so I just walk over there.

My motivation are the man-boobs that I am currently showing off. My back fat adds to the motivation as well.

Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

 

[RastaRocket]

I couldn't disagree more about the partner thing, but w/e haha

I'm a big fan of supersets, though you have to be in shape - at least to some extent - to be able to actually push yourself through them.

I agree, I used to workout with a partner simply to learn about working out. One of my good friends in college was in great shape, and really knew his **** from the diet to the workout. Learning from him was a great way to get me motivated and not look lost in the gym. However, now that I know what I'm doing it's much easier to just go whenever I want and get **** done.

 

[TheCowboy]

Starting the madcow 5x5 workout program on Monday. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

[Teren_Kanan]

Haven't heard anything negative about Madcow 5x5. On the Bodybuilding.com forums you tend to hear about bad routines pretty frequently.

Pretty sure it's a bulking program though, so you'd need to be trying to gain weight, not lose it. Not sure what your goals are. There are more regularly recommended routines for beginners, I think Madcow is more of an intermediate, but I'm not positive. But again I'm not sure where you are starting from either.

 

[Stryker44]

What happens if you try to lose weight and do lots of cardio while doing 5 x 5? Thinking of starting myself in a few weeks.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Started running 3 mi Mon-FRI on my lunch break. Trying to lift three times a week, as well, but It is hard to find time with a new baby.

 

[TheCowboy]

Haven't heard anything negative about Madcow 5x5. On the Bodybuilding.com forums you tend to hear about bad routines pretty frequently.

Pretty sure it's a bulking program though, so you'd need to be trying to gain weight, not lose it. Not sure what your goals are. There are more regularly recommended routines for beginners, I think Madcow is more of an intermediate, but I'm not positive. But again I'm not sure where you are starting from either.

I'm 220 lbs. Just came from losing 80 lbs, need to get my lifts up to where it was before and better. Used to bench 250, now only 225 once or twice. I'd like to get to 315 when the program is over.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

What happens if you try to lose weight and do lots of cardio while doing 5 x 5? Thinking of starting myself in a few weeks.

If you are on a calorie deficit, doing cardio, and a strength training program, You will definitely lose weight. You won't progress very fast in the strength/muscle size department though. You'll get some gains to be sure, especially if you haven't been heavy into weightlifting before, but your results muscle/strength wise will be less than most people who do Madcow.

Good gains in strength/muscle size require a calorie surplus, meaning you'd be trying to gain weight and eating a lot. So what you want to do is fine so long as your primary goal is to lose weight. Once you reach your goal weight, if you wanted muslce mass you'd then go on a Bulk (Calorie surplus) and hit the weights heavy from there.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

I'm 220 lbs. Just came from losing 80 lbs, need to get my lifts up to where it was before and better. Used to bench 250, now only 225 once or twice. I'd like to get to 315 when the program is over.

Really nice weight loss there, 80 pounds is no joke.

Adding 90 pounds to your bench will definitely take dedication, but you can do it. Madcow + a clean bulk will get you there eventually. Just make sure you get enough fat/protein/calories in your diet or it'll hamper your results. Alot of people when they lose a lot of weight are afraid to start eating at a calorie surplus because they do not want to get fat again, but you really gotta be gaining some weight to put on the muscle.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

IIFYM.com

Really good calculator for what your diet should look like. It will calculate how many calories/proteins/fats you should be taking in a day. You can then use a program like Myfitnesspal to keep track of everything. Myfitnesspal is a pretty amazing app that you can use to keep track of all calories/nutrients you put into your body. I've yet to come across food whether from the store or a restaurant that I cannot find on MFP, and it even has a barcode scanner now so you can just scan food and it'll put the correct nutritional information in automatically without having to search for it.

Bodybuilding.com
IIFYM.com
and Myfitnesspal.com

These 3 sites have been my go to during all of this. I'm down 15 pounds in the last month and a half, and have put on noticeable definition in all muscle groups. Myfitnesspal is a life saver as counting calories was very daunting before I discovered it. Simply "winging it" when it comes to counting calories is near impossible.

 

[TheCowboy]

Really nice weight loss there, 80 pounds is no joke.

Adding 90 pounds to your bench will definitely take dedication, but you can do it. Madcow + a clean bulk will get you there eventually. Just make sure you get enough fat/protein/calories in your diet or it'll hamper your results. Alot of people when they lose a lot of weight are afraid to start eating at a calorie surplus because they do not want to get fat again, but you really gotta be gaining some weight to put on the muscle.

You said it exactly. I want to bulk but am afraid I will do it wrong and be fat again. I can't tell how much weight gain would be muscle mass or fat.