Lifestyle Transformation - Long Post Alert & A Few Questions

Cork Boy

Hi Folks,

I think my body problems are very typical of people my age so hopefully this post can help a lot of people! If i just lay down the stats and hopefully people can help and give their tuppence worth...

Body Stats:

Male
5ft 8"
154lbs
27 Years
Skinny body, big belly
Suspected Lumbar Lordosis
Smoked from age 13 up until 6 weeks ago
Desk job mon-fri, 9.00-5.30


Weights Programme all 2 x 12 reps, 60 sec intervals between sets, 1-2 minutes between exercises. Programme started 21/06/11

Bench Press (barbell)
Standing Military Press (barbell)
Triceps Push Downs (cable)
Side Lateral Raises (dumbell)
Preacher Curls (barbell)
Seated Curls (dumbell)
Lat Pull Downs (cable)
Dumbell Shrugs
Behind the back close grip barbell wrist curls

Diet

I think I eat reasonably well except for missing breakfast which I know is a grave sin so off to the shops tomorrow to buy me some porridge and milk and bananas. I should mention I don't drink milk straight but otherwise I'm ok with dairy.

1pm. Lunch is usually a cold sandwich from spar always consisting of ham or turkey with swiss cheese and either coleslaw, egg salad or spud salad. On brennans white bread... god now i write it down my diet is feckin appalling until...

6-7pm: Dinner Time! Ok, here I'm actually good. I make all my dinners from scratch with good ingredients. I typically make spaghetti bologneise, thai curries with rice or noodles, pasta carbonara, tuna melts, mushroom risotto, stir fries (using peanut oil), pasta with tuna and anchovies.

I am sometimes guilty of late snacks around 9-10pm such as tea and toast or goats cheese with an apple or on good superquinn vienna loaf bread.


So... what I want to do is to:

1. Rectify the posture
2. Lose the gut*
3. Add 2 stone of muscle to my frame
4. Apologise to my heart and lungs and get them back up to speed

* The gut thing - I don't drink all that much anymore (average 6 pints per week max).


Questions:

Best exercises to rectify the posture? I plan to go to the pool twice a week - any particular swimming strokes? Am I ok to hang in the steam room for ages afterwards so long as i bring plenty of water?
Edit - found this, looks promising and was very educational http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/girard1.htm

Diet suggestions? I'm told I need to change from 3 meals a day to 5 smaller ones. How do I allocate portions with my work day? Closest I can think of would be:

8am Bowl of porridge & fruit
11am Yoghurt & apple or banana
1pm - Small lunch brought from home (are microwaved leftovers ok?)
********Walkies**************************************
4pm - piece of fruit and/or some mixed nuts
6pm - Small pre-exercise snack - good bread & meat & cheese & juice
**************Exercise********************************
7.30pm - Dinner - fist size of meat & veg and fist size of pasta/rice/noodles/spuds

I know I won't stick to this religiously as there will be the odd kebab or big mac meal or Donkey Fords fish'n'chips (dats limerick city!) but if that's only once or twice a week I reckon i'm doing ok?

Overall suggestions/comments?

Mellor

Cork Boy wrote: »

Weights Programme all 2 x 12 reps, 60 sec intervals between sets, 1-2 minutes between exercises. Programme started 21/06/11

You'd be better off doing lower reps and more sets.
5 x 5 is generally recomended.

So... what I want to do is to:

1. Rectify the posture
2. Lose the gut*
3. Add 2 stone of muscle to my frame
4. Apologise to my heart and lungs and get them back up to speed

* The gut thing - I don't drink all that much anymore (average 6 pints per week max).

You have to find out if you actually have lumbar lordosis.
Losing the gut means burnign more calories than you eat. Diet is key here.
Adding muscle means lifting heavy things as often as possible and eating a lot.
You generally can't add significant muscle and lose significant fat at the same time. However, If you have a big belly at 155lbs, then you've pretty low muscle mass. so you could prob add a decent amount just by being new to weights. Go on a bit of a diet, start lifting weights and you'll start to lose the belly. And build muscle. Evaluate after 3 months.

Best exercises to rectify the posture? I plan to go to the pool twice a week - any particular swimming strokes? Am I ok to hang in the steam room for ages afterwards so long as i bring plenty of water?

Why would you want to hang their for ages?
If you are thinkign that you'll sweat away the "weight", then don't bother.

Diet suggestions? I'm told I need to change from 3 meals a day to 5 smaller ones. How do I allocate portions with my work day? Closest I can think of would be:

Who told you that?
They are wrong.

There is no difference between 3 or 5 meals. It doesn't keep you metabolism going at a higher rate. A bigger meal takes longer to digest than a smaller one. Total food is all that really matters.

Do what ever you find most comfortable.
I work 9-5 and I have 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.
Breakfast/Lunch/Snack/Dinner/Snack

Cork Boy

Thanks Mellor.

Regarding the reps, i'm aiming for endurance more than muscle mass, hence the 2x12 - or am I wrong here?

Have an appointment booked with the doc re the spine/posture.

Regarding the steam room, i just love it is all!

gymsoldier

Cork Boy wrote: »

Bench Press (barbell)
Standing Military Press (barbell)
Triceps Push Downs (cable)
Side Lateral Raises (dumbell)
Preacher Curls (barbell)
Seated Curls (dumbell)
Lat Pull Downs (cable)
Dumbell Shrugs
Behind the back close grip barbell wrist curls

No legs?

Cork Boy wrote: »

Add 2 stone of muscle to my frame

Cork Boy wrote: »

i'm aiming for endurance more than muscle mass

^^^ A bit contradictory?

Cork Boy

gymsoldier wrote: »

No legs?

^^^ A bit contradictory?

I'm doing calf raises on the stairs and need to add squats also - is that enough coupled with the cardio work?

The 2 stone muscle is a long term goal so I don't think it's too contradictory. I want to build muscle but not at the expense of speed and mobility.

I'm going to the gym tomorrow with my free pass before I join so i'll have a chat with the instructor there and report back here!

TimeToShine

i dont think you quite grasp exactly how much 2 stone of muscle mass is.

Cork Boy

TimeToShine wrote: »

i dont think you quite grasp exactly how much 2 stone of muscle mass is.

Probably not, i was kind of pulling that number out of thin air :P

Mellor

Cork Boy wrote: »

Regarding the reps, i'm aiming for endurance more than muscle mass, hence the 2x12 - or am I wrong here?

Why endurance? Is it for a specific sport?
What exactly are you looking for?
A lot of the time increasign cardiovascular fitness will increase your "endurance"

Personally, I'd rather get stronger.

Cork Boy wrote: »

The 2 stone muscle is a long term goal so I don't think it's too contradictory. I want to build muscle but not at the expense of speed and mobility.

2 stone of muscle is nearly 13kg (think of meat to get a size for this). You won't put this on any other way than long term.

Your endurance aim is not conducive to putting on muscle. Again, if you g owith a strength program, you'll get bigger too. Slowly. There is no reason to think you'll lose speed. Look at sprinters, boxers or any other athletes with explosive speed. They are all carrying muscle.

Nor should toy lose mobility if you get stronger/bigger.

Cork Boy

Thanks Mellor - the endurance is aimed towards rugby and joining the gardai (if templemore ever opens again!)

As I said, I was kind of pulling that figure of two stone out of the sky. I am looking at the below programme (not sure about the supplements though - maybe some whey protein pre & post workout and some multi-vitamins).

If you're interested at all at taking a read but I'll warn you it's long enough...

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/male-20to39-muscle-building/intro

Doctor_Socks

My first suggestion for you would be to find a personal trainer in your area with a good reputation and have them assess your flexibility. The reason I say to get a trainer is that when I started training I thought that I had great flexibility, then all of a sudden I got an upper back injury from a tight thoracic area that messed up my left shoulder and took ages to heal, it held me back for ages when I was just starting to really enjoy my time in the gym!

Secondly, if you're looking to build some muscle and endurance for rugby i'd definatly add in some lower body work, no point havin the chest of an ape when you're tackled and your legs collapse cause they're not strong enough. Some squats, deadlifts and power cleans are your friend for getting some strong, thick legs with explosive power to help level lads and to prevent you getting flattened on the pitch aswell! Hope the above helps, I really can't stress how important overall flexibility is so don't just brush it off and say you'll be grand.

Cork Boy

Thanks Doc - I realise now how much I was overlooking my legs but the workout plan in the above link has a programme divided 50/50 between above and below the waist.

Does anyone know if the personal trainers in JJB are any good? Or failing that perhaps someone could recommend a personal trainer in limerick?

Cheers