Diet/Workout Advice

oceanclub

Hi all,

I'm trying to get fit and buff again (was relatively buff up until 30, a long-commute job and getting comfortable in marriage put paid to that! Now have a short commute and a wife I want to impress again.

Age: 38
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 67kgs ("overweight")
Waist: 32"

The following is the diet and workout I'm aiming for; my workouts up to now have been fairly sporadic, I'm going to knuckle down from now on:

Diet (weekdays):

* Breakfast: Egg or cereal bar (130 calories) & white coffee

* Lunch: Normally Healthy option meal from M&S.

* Afternoon: Some nuts and/or bit of protein bar.

* Dinner: Ideally, low carb option; something like bolognaise sauce with roasted aubergines, or omelette.

* Supplements: zinc, l-arginine, multi, selenium)

Gym (twice a week):

* Session 1: lower body

* Squats (barbell) - 3 sets of 20
* Leg curls (machine) - 3 sets of 20
* Calve raises - 3 sets of 20
* Situps

* Session 2: upper body

* Dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10
* Seated row (machine) - 3 sets of 10
* Dumbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 10
* Wide pulldown - 3 sets of 10
* Triceps cable pushdown - 3 sets of 10
* Biceps cable curl - 3 sets of 10

20 mins cardio with each sessions. On top of that, one most other evenings, I'm trying to work up to 100 "burpies".



P.

neilmct.com

oceanclub wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm trying to get fit and buff again (was relatively buff up until 30, a long-commute job and getting comfortable in marriage put paid to that! Now have a short commute and a wife I want to impress again.

Age: 38
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 67kgs ("overweight")
Waist: 32"

The following is the diet and workout I'm aiming for; my workouts up to now have been fairly sporadic, I'm going to knuckle down from now on:

Diet (weekdays):

* Breakfast: Egg or cereal bar (130 calories) & white coffee

CEREAL BAR = CRAP

* Lunch: Normally Healthy option meal from M&S.

BE CAREFUL - WHEN SOMETHING SAYS HEALTHY OPTION IT OFTEN MENAS ADVERTISED TO LOOK LIKE HEALTHY OPTION BUT U MAY AS WELL HAVE A SAUSAGE ROLL DIPPED IN CURRY

* Afternoon: Some nuts and/or bit of protein bar.

BE CAREFUL WITH 'BARS' OF ANYTHING - OFTEN TRANSFATS AND SUGAR STUCK 2GETHER

* Dinner: Ideally, low carb option; something like bolognaise sauce with roasted aubergines, or omelette.

DIET LACKS PROTEIN / GOOD FATS

* Supplements: zinc, l-arginine, multi, selenium)

Gym (twice a week):

IF GOING TWICE A WEEK AN UPPER LOWER ISNT THE BEST WAY FORWARD AND I WOULDNT BOTHER WITH ISOLATIONS JUST YET

BESTTHING WOULD BE A FULL BODY ROUTINE BOTH DAYS WITH MAYBE ONE DAY HEAVY LOWER LIGHT UPPER AND THE OPPOSITE NEXT TIME - THIS GIVES U AN EASY SETUP WHERE THE REP RANGES VARY - GOOGLE FULL BODY ROUTINES AND UNDULATING PERIODIZATION

* Session 1: lower body

* Squats (barbell) - 3 sets of 20
* Leg curls (machine) - 3 sets of 20
* Calve raises - 3 sets of 20

WORK THE POSTERIOR CHAIN WITH A FREE WEIGHT IE DONT ISOLATE THE HAMS WITH MACHINE BUT GET IN SOME DEAD LIFT ETC

DONT WORRY ABOUT CALVES EITHER

* Situps

BEST WAY TO WORK CORE IS THE PREVENTION OF CRUNCHING IE PALLOF PRESSES AND ROLLOUTS

* Session 2: upper body

* Dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10
* Seated row (machine) - 3 sets of 10
* Dumbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 10
* Wide pulldown - 3 sets of 10
* Triceps cable pushdown - 3 sets of 10
* Biceps cable curl - 3 sets of 10

SUPER SET WHERE POSSIBLE IE

a1 DBELL BENCH PRESS - 4,0,1,0, TEMPO

REST 90
A2 DBELL ROW SAME TEMPO (4 SEC LOWERING)

REPEAT

ETC ETC

20 mins cardio with each sessions. On top of that, one most other evenings, I'm trying to work up to 100 "burpies".

DONT DO CARDIO WITH GYM BUT INSTEAD JUST DO SOME SPRINT WORK OR PLAY SPORT ON NON GYM DAYS


P.

Hope that helps a bit

oceanclub

neilmct.com wrote: »

CEREAL BAR = CRAP

True! I'm going to start maybe boiling eggs and bring them into work to wean myself off the bars.

BE CAREFUL - WHEN SOMETHING SAYS HEALTHY OPTION IT OFTEN MENAS ADVERTISED TO LOOK LIKE HEALTHY OPTION BUT U MAY AS WELL HAVE A SAUSAGE ROLL DIPPED IN CURRY

Oh yeah; I know what you about "low-fat" meals that are packed with carbs, salt and sugar. This particular range of M&S meals seem to be more balanced.

BE CAREFUL WITH 'BARS' OF ANYTHING - OFTEN TRANSFATS AND SUGAR STUCK 2GETHER

A quick look at said bar suggests it ok, and I really only have a mouthful a day anyway.

DIET LACKS PROTEIN / GOOD FATS

I might start taking Udo's Oil again, and I should mention I take protein shakes (currently after workouts, might start taking one a day too).

IF GOING TWICE A WEEK AN UPPER LOWER ISNT THE BEST WAY FORWARD AND I WOULDNT BOTHER WITH ISOLATIONS JUST YET

BESTTHING WOULD BE A FULL BODY ROUTINE BOTH DAYS WITH MAYBE ONE DAY HEAVY LOWER LIGHT UPPER AND THE OPPOSITE NEXT TIME - THIS GIVES U AN EASY SETUP WHERE THE REP RANGES VARY - GOOGLE FULL BODY ROUTINES AND UNDULATING PERIODIZATION

I'll look at that, thanks; I had figured that hitting a body part twice a week is bad unless you're genetically gifted, especially squats, but I guess if one routine is lighter, that may be OK.

WORK THE POSTERIOR CHAIN WITH A FREE WEIGHT IE DONT ISOLATE THE HAMS WITH MACHINE BUT GET IN SOME DEAD LIFT ETC

Can I deadlife _and_ squat on the same day?

DONT WORRY ABOUT CALVES EITHER

Hey, I like big calves.

DONT DO CARDIO WITH GYM BUT INSTEAD JUST DO SOME SPRINT WORK OR PLAY SPORT ON NON GYM DAYSHope that helps a bit

Well, unfortunately, I hate sport (not sure cyber-sport counts) and doing weights _and_ cardio together breaks up the monotony for me. Plus cardio fitness is a priority over putting on muscle for me, at least for the moment. I do keep the cardio sessions after weight quite short (typically only 10 to 15 mins).

Thanks for taking time to answer.

P.

oceanclub

Just to follow up on this:

SUPER SET WHERE POSSIBLE IE

a1 DBELL BENCH PRESS - 4,0,1,0, TEMPO

REST 90
A2 DBELL ROW SAME TEMPO (4 SEC LOWERING)

It looks like I do already superset - at least where the definition of that includes working opposite body parts without much rest in between.

EDIT: Oops, I just re-read it and it means to do a _single_ set, then do a single set of the other exercise, then back to exercise 1. I would like to try it, but I imagine in a gym where the machines/weights are mostly in use, this is rather impractical; I'd probably end up spending _more_ time waiting than simply doing the 3 sets of one exercise and then moving on.

If anyone can expand on that tempo notation (4,0,1,0?) I would be grateful.

Also, is going set of 20 for legs too much? Should I shorten that to 15, and so 4 sets instead?

P.