Whirlwind

Cheezy - my nephew has this problem...

He'll get up early and go for a two-mile jog. He'd come home, eat breakfast: A bowl of cereal, usually Lucky Charms.

Throughout the day, he'd eat like a teenager: burgers, fries, sodas, chips, etc.

He'd lift in the evening, usually bench presses and curls until he was just screaming sore!

It was like that every day...and it still is. I've tried to explain to him that he needs recupe time. He needs to feed his muscles the right foods. Oh, if I had his hormone levels what I wouldn't do!!!

It's not strange food, though...it's God's food, Cheezy. I've heard this diet called the Garden of Eden Diet. The Caveman Diet. The Native Diet, etc. If it's natural, if the cavemen or Indians would have eaten it, if Adam would have found it in the garden of Eden...go ahead and eat it. If it's processed, bleached, loaded with artificial chemicals, then don't eat it.

Believe me! I didn't always eat this way...I used to love my pepperoni sticks and Zingers. But you get used to it really fast. Sooner than you know it, you'll wonder how you used to eat the way you did.

Today, my nephew still does his same routine. He still looks the same. Even on days when he's sore he'll still do his curls and bench presses. He loves to scarf Banquet Fried Chicken.

But oh well...long as he's happy.

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Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.

CSchultz

For the most part, I stay on a high protien diet.
I eat lots of cow, Usually some fish or chicken a few times a week.

Fish and chicken are good for lunches because they are light, I try to enjoy the red meat and pork for breakfasts and dinner, good day starters and enders.

Lots of potato's with home made butter and sour creme also help keep me fit. As far as vegetables, I get pleanty. In addition to the taters, I find that a a balance of wheat, malt, and barley round out the necessary requirements quite nicely.

Not to mention all of the cows, hogs, and rabbits I eat are vegetarians, so surely most of the benefits of the veggies they eat get passed on to me.

I try to work out as often as I can. I made sure to get a standard transmission when I bought my truck,...so,... I got that goin for me every time I drive.
And when I need that little extra "Buffing Up" I find that curling weights is very effective.

I don't want to get muscle bound, so when I do curls, I take it a little easy on the weight.

12 ounces at a time keeps a guy pretty fit.

SaviorsGear

Whirlwind, that was an awesome read, and tons of important info! Thanks so much for taking the time to log all of that. I am doing alot of what you said already, but you have just given me so much more I never considered. Here is our log if your interested ( even has a few pictures!!)

Boyer Bodybuilding

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Mike
Savior's Gear
http://www.saviorsgear.com

Boanerges

Back in the day I did almost every exercise regiment there was. What worked best of for me was strength training one day (weights or weight machines) and running the next. The combination of cardio and strength training gave me great results and those came at a rapid pace. 3 days a week of weights for about an hour and a half. I never tried to set world records, I worked up to 5 sets of 10 at 180 lbs bench press and 3 sets of ten on most everything else between 100 and 135 lbs. Running was about 6 miles- I would run three one way let my dog swim in the Mississippi River and run three back. It took me about three months to build up to where I was comfortable with this and I could run at 12:00 noon in Louisiana heat- it took a whole bottle of Gatorade before and after though.
Anyway start slow and eat right, develop a schedule- you can have all the exercise equipment in the world and it does nothing for you if you do not make yourself stick to it. The combinaton of cardio and weights will transform you in short order.

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Boanerges

I would like to add something to that- if I had rode a bike instead of running I would more than likely still have knees now.

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smellycat

my regime was weight lifting 1 hour beer drinking next 3.lol nothing much changes,i guess i still trust God to look after me.

Whirlwind

THAT'S AWESOME!!!

Are you using the weight gainer as well? You know, with your build (classic mesomorph!) you probably don't need it. You've got some dangerous guns under your skin, what you're doing is right!

I was watching Deal or No Deal last night before bed, and this guy with nice biceps came out and started flexing. He started yelling out "Muscle Beach!" They asked him about his workout, and he said he does nothing but pull-ups, 170 per workout.

The banker sent out his secret weapon...a bodybuilder from Muscle Beach. Oh man, it made the first guy look like a wimp! Now...you know that the big muscle-guy's workout included a lot more than just pull-ups.

Do you go through fat-loss mode and muscle-building mode? In fat loss, they concentrate more on cardio and cutting calories. You need to count calories in this mode, otherwise your body will begin consuming muscle instead of fat. Cut your calories by 500-1000 only. Drink tons of water. Eat six small meals per day. And perform cardio for 30-minutes a day with one rest day. Man, with your build you'd looked like a solid chunk of granite that someone took a chisel to in no time!

Then there's muscle-gaining mode. Feed your muscle quality proteins like you're doing. Lift hard. Circuit-training. Never skip a workout. Creatine and protein supplements are your best friends in this mode. If you're hungry, eat. Consume your minimum calories for muscle-building mode even if you have to shove them down with a plunger.

Also, with your build you probably have a hard time finding shirts that fit you - right? Hee hee. Buy XXL shirts and have a friend sew in the side seams. Cut off the excess. You'll have a shirt that fits you great around the mid-section; a shirt that will be roomy enough throughout the shoulders and chest area.

You and your dad are doing great! Praise God when you look in the mirror! You have so much to be thankful for. Give Him the glory and drop down to your knees and just cry out thanks and praise to Him whenever you feel grateful. Take no credit, and let Him know that you realize that it's all from Him.

You're on a good road, my Brother in Christ.

Afterthought: Don't try to go through both modes at the same time - muscle-building and fat-loss. I tried that for about a year and just about fell over from exhaustion. It doesn't work. Of course, during that year I was reading constantly and learning a lot. My long post to you was accidentally stumbled upon throughout many magazines, internet posts, articles, books, etc. I'm a big dummy when it comes to this kind of stuff...so I had to get it from whatever God sent my way. Hee hee.

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Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.

BCheezy

And what kind of results do you see??

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BCheezy

Whirlwind.. I've been heavy on the hard boiled eggs. I'd say 6-8 per week, i love them right before bed.

So.. if I do the creatine + the whey powder + do the protein shake in the morning, and add in some veggies here and there... that's my best way to improve???

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Whirlwind

Cheezy - This will all depend on your body type (mesomorph, endomorph, ectomorph). Just by trying to remember your pic, you're in pretty good shape. Not too muscular, not too lean, so I'd take a wild guess that you're an ectomorph? (just a guess)

You also have to think about how much you weigh. How tall are you? What are your goals?

There's studies out there that show that protein is very, very underrated in today's diet for men. We don't get enough, a doctor with all kinds of degrees will tell you. Then in his next book, he might tell you that today's men eat far too much protein to be effective.

You want the right kinds of protein before going to bed to prevent your muscle tissue from catabolizing. Fat-free or skim cottage cheese contains the proteins and nutrients that your body needs...plus it's a dairy product that will keep your body from manufacturing new fat cells or contributing bulk to the fat cells that you already have. It's really gross when you first start out...I never used to eat it before. But now I'm used to it. 1/2 cup before bedtime, and night-night.

Space your meals throughout the day - have six small meals. Make lunch your largest meal, and dinner your smallest meal. Figure out your daily calorie needs and stick to it. Buy a good scale (I found one at Tuesday Morning or whatever for 20-bucks). If you don't have time to make out six meals a day...then make six meals when you can and stick them in the fridge.

Remember your goals and keep them in mind. Do you want to lose fat? Do you want to gain muscle? To you want to keep what you have? Find your number below...

10-12xBW to WANE (lose fat)
13-15xBW to MAINTAIN (keep what you got)
16-18xBW to GAIN (muscle-building mode)

If you weigh 120 pounds and want to pack on muscle, then you'd take 18 from above (GAIN). 120 x 18 = 2160.

But just eating 2160 calories per day won't build muscle - you have to work out, too.

When you're in muscle-building mode, make 1/3 of your caloric intake protein. Quality - like chicken breast, turkey, tuna, salmon, lean beef, whey protein powder, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. McD's is not protein, it's fat. Bacon is not protein, it's classified as a fat. If you get weak around McD's, then watch Fast Food Nation, rent it. It'll cure you right up. Supersize Me - that's a cure-it movie too.

If you weigh 300 lbs and want to lose fat...take 10-12 from above. So on. Don't eat fewer than the amount of calories that you wind up with from mulitplying 300 by 12 or you'll be in danger of putting your body into starvation mode. You'll lose fat and muscle quickly, the scale will report a dramatic weight loss, but once you begin to binge-eat again (which will I did because I couldn't handle living on this low-cal diet) the calories will go right to fat because your body will think there's a famine.

Space those calories out into six meals per day and concentrate on cardio (but don't skip weights) in fat-loss mode. Leave the weight-powders and creatine alone on this phase. But go ahead with the protein powder.

In muscle-gaining mode, cardio can be muscle's worst enemy because it robs the blood of nutrients that your muscles need to grow. Weights are your friends in this mode.

Fat-loss, maintain, or muscle-building. Pick one and stick with it until you reach your goal.

Say I'm 300 pounds and want to become a muscleman. First, I'd lose fat. Fat-loss mode. And then build muscle. It's so hard to do both at the same time that many people have failed attempting it. They don't see their goals being realized and give up.

Sorry for the long post, Cheezy...but honestly, this is something that I've enjoyed studying over the years. I didn't want to bring it up because I was afraid of my own long posts...so I waited here and said nothing.

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Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.