Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Feb 2009
- Posts
- 3,924
As part of a raft of resolutions, I’ve been trying to get back into working out this year. I’d previously been a gym regular for most of my adult life, but had fallen into a very unhealthy rut since having kids. Sedentary life, fatty foods, beer... all took their toll and by the end of Christmas I looked and felt utterly dreadful.
Knocked all booze on the head on New Year’s Day, and started the 4:3 fasting diet. Cut a lot of fat surprisingly quickly, and after a few weeks suddenly thought, ‘hey, looks like I kept hold of at least a percentage of my old muscle mass under the covering flab.' So, I dusted off my weights and started a home workout routine.
I’d always used a gym before. Despite owning weights and a dip/pull-up bar I’d never done much working out at home, so I’m still finding my feet with what’s possible. As my strength comes back I may have to reconsider.
Started out on NYD at 13st 2lbs (@5’8”), dropped a lot of fat to 11st 7lbs, and have now bulked back up to around 12st (still a touch of fat around the kidneys and bottom of my waist to shift, but overall I don’t think I had this low a bf% even when I was a younger gym rat).
At the end of my most recent gym-going period, before kids took up all my spare time, I was veering between 14 and 15st, a little chubbier than I’d have liked, but also reasonably strong (for me). My old workout journal from 2008 shows me doing:
DB flat bench, 45kg, 3x8
Decline bench, 110kg, 3x8
Seated DB press, 30kg, 3x8
Dips, BW+20kg, 3x8
Barbell row, 77.5kg, 3x8
Lat pull-down, 95kg, 5x5
Seated cable row, 110kg, 3x8
Smith squat, 100kg, 5x5
Power shrugs, 125kg, 8 on working set
SLDL, 115kg, 8 on working set
So, nothing earth-shattering, but that’s the kind of strength I’d ideally like to be getting back to. Also will be trying not to let the bodyfat go above low/mid-teens like last time.
So, thinking my ideal weight would be around 13st 7lbs, with 10-12% bf - a gain of around 1.5st of lean mass (sometime between now and whenever). I’m not naturally a big or strong guy, and my old routine was very good for me strength-wise, so this will be a challenge!
This challenge will be exacerbated by the fact that whilst I seem to have lost most of my functional strength, I have been left with the legacy of my old injuries (blown left knee, torn left wrist ligaments, some kind of tear/impingement in my right shoulder, temperamental sacroiliac joint).
Also, there are no easily accessible gyms near my new house, so I’m trying to devise a home workout that will help me meet my short- to medium-term goals. I will hampered further by having to house the set-up in my (shared) study rather than a dedicated room (so looking at free weights, dip/pull-up bar, perhaps a foldaway bench, but not much else).
Will start posting my routines and would very much welcome critique/suggestions/comments.
Knocked all booze on the head on New Year’s Day, and started the 4:3 fasting diet. Cut a lot of fat surprisingly quickly, and after a few weeks suddenly thought, ‘hey, looks like I kept hold of at least a percentage of my old muscle mass under the covering flab.' So, I dusted off my weights and started a home workout routine.
I’d always used a gym before. Despite owning weights and a dip/pull-up bar I’d never done much working out at home, so I’m still finding my feet with what’s possible. As my strength comes back I may have to reconsider.
Started out on NYD at 13st 2lbs (@5’8”), dropped a lot of fat to 11st 7lbs, and have now bulked back up to around 12st (still a touch of fat around the kidneys and bottom of my waist to shift, but overall I don’t think I had this low a bf% even when I was a younger gym rat).
At the end of my most recent gym-going period, before kids took up all my spare time, I was veering between 14 and 15st, a little chubbier than I’d have liked, but also reasonably strong (for me). My old workout journal from 2008 shows me doing:
DB flat bench, 45kg, 3x8
Decline bench, 110kg, 3x8
Seated DB press, 30kg, 3x8
Dips, BW+20kg, 3x8
Barbell row, 77.5kg, 3x8
Lat pull-down, 95kg, 5x5
Seated cable row, 110kg, 3x8
Smith squat, 100kg, 5x5
Power shrugs, 125kg, 8 on working set
SLDL, 115kg, 8 on working set
So, nothing earth-shattering, but that’s the kind of strength I’d ideally like to be getting back to. Also will be trying not to let the bodyfat go above low/mid-teens like last time.
So, thinking my ideal weight would be around 13st 7lbs, with 10-12% bf - a gain of around 1.5st of lean mass (sometime between now and whenever). I’m not naturally a big or strong guy, and my old routine was very good for me strength-wise, so this will be a challenge!
This challenge will be exacerbated by the fact that whilst I seem to have lost most of my functional strength, I have been left with the legacy of my old injuries (blown left knee, torn left wrist ligaments, some kind of tear/impingement in my right shoulder, temperamental sacroiliac joint).
Also, there are no easily accessible gyms near my new house, so I’m trying to devise a home workout that will help me meet my short- to medium-term goals. I will hampered further by having to house the set-up in my (shared) study rather than a dedicated room (so looking at free weights, dip/pull-up bar, perhaps a foldaway bench, but not much else).
Will start posting my routines and would very much welcome critique/suggestions/comments.
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