Starting up again - need advice please.
Hey all
I'm 27 years old and I am just getting back into the gym after an 8 month hiatus. I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out a bit. Maybe someone else has been in the same boat I am. If not, any advice from those of you who are in shape is really appreciated.
First, I'll give you my history.
I started working out heavily around the age of 19 or 20. I weighed around 130 lbs back then. I was tired of being small. To give you an idea, my father weighs around 130 lbs and my genetics suck (I think)
I worked out for awhile and got some gains. At about the age of 22 I weighed about 145- 150 or so. Then I really hit it hard. For aboout a year I was in the gym 4 times a week, lifting heavy, eating lots of protein, taking glutamine and creatine. I blew up to about 185 in a year to a year and a half. I neglected my legs and I always have since then, so most of my size was and still is in my arms and chest. I also neglected my abs, but I did them intermittently. I never did get myself looking the way I REALLY wanted to either. I got size, but I got puffy too. At my peak, people said that my head looked too small for my body!
From the age of 23 until about 8 months ago I pretty much did maintenace workouts. There were periods where I would be in the gym 3 times a week and there were six month periods or so that I didn't do anything, but I never really got that far out of shapeMy abs have always been kind of flabby, my legs are still skinny
and I just never really looked like I envisioned myself looking.
My problem is in the past 8 months I have gone from tolerably fit to having an embarassing gut and being really unfit. I ate a lot of fast food, I drank alot of beer and I became LAZY.
Now I am pissed at myself and I have decided that I am either going to poop or get off of the pot (if you know what I mean)
I started working out this week and man does it hurt. My cardio sucks, I am tired after I work out....Not to mention I am really discouraged. I know that I just need a few weeks to get myself back into the rhythym, but even when I took six month breaks in the past I could still get back into the gym and in 2 weeks feel good after workouts again. I will need more time than that this go round for sure. This really sucks! I know I am beating myself up, but thats my nature.
My goal now is to lose my horrible beer gut, put back on the size that I used to have and develop my legs. I don't really want to go for pure size anymore, but I wouldn't mind a bit more. In summary, I want to have a good physique for myself, and so that I am not embarassed in front of other people when I go on vacation this summer!
I currently weigh about 185 lbs, but I think I could lose 15 pounds in my waist and gut alone with time.
My questions are these:
-Is muscle memory a fact? I have heard that when you were developed in an are once, you regain size quicker.
-Can anyone give me a program or direct me to one that will give me fast gains? If the muscle memory thing is true, then I should be able to put the size on again pretty quickly. The fat loss is what I am uneducated in.
-Anyone have any comments or suggestions otherwise? Positive comments or stories help more than you know.
I am ready to do the work again, but this time I want to do it right.
I know this is a long post, so thanks for reading.
edited: My image of myself is pretty negative. I have always carried that with me, probably stemming from feelings of insufficiet size that I had in high school. If you saw me in regular clothes you really wouldn't notice my gut. To put it into perspective, I wear a size 34 waist and they are tight on me now. I don't look pregnant or anything!
Hey all
I'm 27 years old and I am just getting back into the gym after an 8 month hiatus. I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out a bit. Maybe someone else has been in the same boat I am. If not, any advice from those of you who are in shape is really appreciated.
First, I'll give you my history.
I started working out heavily around the age of 19 or 20. I weighed around 130 lbs back then. I was tired of being small. To give you an idea, my father weighs around 130 lbs and my genetics suck (I think)
I worked out for awhile and got some gains. At about the age of 22 I weighed about 145- 150 or so. Then I really hit it hard. For aboout a year I was in the gym 4 times a week, lifting heavy, eating lots of protein, taking glutamine and creatine. I blew up to about 185 in a year to a year and a half. I neglected my legs and I always have since then, so most of my size was and still is in my arms and chest. I also neglected my abs, but I did them intermittently. I never did get myself looking the way I REALLY wanted to either. I got size, but I got puffy too. At my peak, people said that my head looked too small for my body!
From the age of 23 until about 8 months ago I pretty much did maintenace workouts. There were periods where I would be in the gym 3 times a week and there were six month periods or so that I didn't do anything, but I never really got that far out of shapeMy abs have always been kind of flabby, my legs are still skinny
and I just never really looked like I envisioned myself looking.
My problem is in the past 8 months I have gone from tolerably fit to having an embarassing gut and being really unfit. I ate a lot of fast food, I drank alot of beer and I became LAZY.
Now I am pissed at myself and I have decided that I am either going to poop
or get off of the pot (if you know what I mean)I started working out this week and man does it hurt. My cardio sucks, I am tired after I work out....Not to mention I am really discouraged. I know that I just need a few weeks to get myself back into the rhythym, but even when I took six month breaks in the past I could still get back into the gym and in 2 weeks feel good after workouts again. I will need more time than that this go round for sure. This really sucks! I know I am beating myself up, but thats my nature.
My goal now is to lose my horrible beer gut, put back on the size that I used to have and develop my legs. I don't really want to go for pure size anymore, but I wouldn't mind a bit more. In summary, I want to have a good physique for myself, and so that I am not embarassed in front of other people when I go on vacation this summer!
I currently weigh about 185 lbs, but I think I could lose 15 pounds in my waist and gut alone with time.
My questions are these:
-Is muscle memory a fact? I have heard that when you were developed in an are once, you regain size quicker.
-Can anyone give me a program or direct me to one that will give me fast gains? If the muscle memory thing is true, then I should be able to put the size on again pretty quickly. The fat loss is what I am uneducated in.
-Anyone have any comments or suggestions otherwise? Positive comments or stories help more than you know.
I am ready to do the work again, but this time I want to do it right.
I know this is a long post, so thanks for reading.
edited: My image of myself is pretty negative. I have always carried that with me, probably stemming from feelings of insufficiet size that I had in high school. If you saw me in regular clothes you really wouldn't notice my gut. To put it into perspective, I wear a size 34 waist and they are tight on me now. I don't look pregnant or anything!
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