A couple of weeks in
Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 2:28 pm
I haven't been religious about doing it every day, but I've managed 3-4 times a week, plus one lifting workout and one actual day of doing actual work with hammers and stuff (we had a company-wide habitat for humanity type volunteer day and I was a carpentry lead for our house... Beats sitting in front of a computer all day). I'm actually seeing results already. I think I need to focus on diet more, because I'm actually up about 3 pounds to 221 and I'm not conceited enough to think it's muscle, but my arms and shoulders feel different. Much harder, and I can feel those little muscles in your shoulders and back. For the past couple of days I've been doing about 12 minutes of SG plus one set of something with dumbells like shrugs or side raises or bent over rows, plus either pushups or hanging leg lifts (using ape hangers, those straps that you put your upper arms into and hang from, I'm not strong enough to do them from pullup position, or, actually, even to get into pullup position . I've also managed to squeeze in 2 or 3 runs (I'm going to do 4 miles this afternoon, and try to get a full weight workout in this weekend with squats, deads, and bench presses).
Impressed I am. I think the biggest change is my posture, I'm definitely sitting and walking more "at attention". And I just feel more strong in general, it's amazing how quickly it's paying off. When I lifted weights hardcore (well, semi at least) previously, it seemed like it took me a month or two to really notice improvement. My plan next week is to go hardcore on the diet front, I'll probably alternate hardcore diet with not so much in alternating weeks, from past experience it seems like if you keep your metabolism guessing, things progress better.
One thing I am doing differently this time is going heavy on the protein from the start which makes a huge difference. Last time I lifted it took me 6 months to realize how important protein was, this time I'm taking 50g of whey isolate every morning, plus trying to get at least one high protein meal like tuna or chicken or eggs.
Impressed I am. I think the biggest change is my posture, I'm definitely sitting and walking more "at attention". And I just feel more strong in general, it's amazing how quickly it's paying off. When I lifted weights hardcore (well, semi at least) previously, it seemed like it took me a month or two to really notice improvement. My plan next week is to go hardcore on the diet front, I'll probably alternate hardcore diet with not so much in alternating weeks, from past experience it seems like if you keep your metabolism guessing, things progress better.
One thing I am doing differently this time is going heavy on the protein from the start which makes a huge difference. Last time I lifted it took me 6 months to realize how important protein was, this time I'm taking 50g of whey isolate every morning, plus trying to get at least one high protein meal like tuna or chicken or eggs.