Pig's Diary

[pig]

Well I thought I would keep myself honest here and start a journal. Hopefully it won't be a few posts and get lost on page 10 due to my lack of commitment, but I am going to try and be diligent in my keeping this quest alive.
I've been toying with the 4X training system in Ironman Magazine the last couple of weeks, and the soreness is unbelieveable! I don't know if it's the workout routine or more my lack of being out of shape from not working out so sporadically over the last few years. It's very humbling to use such lighter weights, also due to loss of strength, but more so due to this being about getting into shape and trying to protect my joints.
It's a challenge to be not quite 50 and deal with 3 or 4 different areas of pain and try to live a good lifestyle and not fall into the trap of eating and drinking to escape, but I am going to try and turn this around and be more consistent with my eating and training.
I want to thank everyone for your help and encouragement and hopefully a few of you can follow along as I try to take myself to new places.
Monday will be go time on the new routine and I am going to keep myself honest here and any advice will be appreciated.
As for my personal life, my daughter is getting married next Saturday so it's going to be somewhat of a girly week, lol. She's a junior at Iowa State University and has her plate full, but they're in love so as long as they have that they should be okay. As for me, it will be tough but sometimes you have to let them go and make their way in the world. So now it's about me and the wife having time for ourselves and doing the things we would like to do, even though this wedding has hit the wallet something fierce, lol. My wife bought my a new Harley this spring for my 50th which is in October so I'm enjoying that and looking forward to the milestone of hitting 50, kind of a big number, but what am I going to do? I'm just going to try and make the best of it and move forward and try to enjoy the ride rather than fixating on the destination.
Thanks for looking in and take care everyone.

[mrky03]

Glad to hear the the 4x is working for you! I have used it before and yes it makes you sore! Your wife must really love you! Lol congrats on the new Harley!

[Hammerfit]

Awesome to hear you're sore! I tell clients if you're not sore then you must not have gone hard enough. Which is alittle BS but sorta kinda true!

Wow congrats on the Hog. You are a lucky guy.

We are always here for ya.

[masterschamp]

Congrats.......if you ever get down Florida way on the bike let me now....we can go ride some together.

[Mac]

Glad to have you posting pig! 50 ain't nothing but a number.

[Baldiewonkanobi]

Welcome. 50 is a great year....if I can remember that far back. Stay with the 4x for a while. Its not a sin to change up several times a year. I did that for almost 60 years. Be safe on your ride. Mine served me well....last one a 2006 Beast chopper with Dual OHC HD punched out power plant and a Soft Tail suspension. Had to give up lifting and my ride a few months back due to arthritis. Yet life is GREAT. Thanks to Bodybuilding.

Baldie

[pig]

Back and Bi's today, and my muscles are already aching. it's weird to be using only about half the weight I usually use for exercises, yet the weight seems really heavy. I'm sweating like a pig with only 30 seconds or so between sets. I'm really out of shape at this point so hopefully in 6 or 8 weeks I start to see some changes. I usually weigh between 160 and 165 but today I was 153 so I'm also hoping there's a little muscle memory and some of the solid weight comes back quickly, right now I'm most likely in the skinny-fat category and that's my goal to change.
Anyways, today's workout:
Lat Pulldowns 100x10,10,10,10
Bent Over Rows 95x10,10,10,10
Deadlifts 115x10,10,10,10
Dumbbell Shrugs 30x12,12,12
Bent Over Laterals 12x12,12,12
EZ-Bar Curls 55x10,10,10,10
Dumbbell Curls 20x12,12,12

The weights are embarrassing low, but hopefully the come up as time goes on. Tomorrow is leg day, I can hardly wait, lol! I have to be careful since I have to do the father-daughter dance on Saturday when she gets married, I might just have to do the robot if I'm too sore, ha,ha!

[masterschamp]

Have fun Saturday!

[pig]

Legs today:
Squat 4x10,10,10,10
Leg press 4x10,10,10,10
Leg Ext 3x12,12,12
Leg Curl 3x12,12,12
Calf Press 4x10,10,10,10,10
Calf Raise 4x10,10,10,10

[mrky03]

Its all good man! You are doing fine, I've trained this way before you really can't go heavy which is the whole point! It really does thrash your muscles and tax your cardiovascular system!


You can probably mix things up some and try some heavier training when you feel up to it. But if you're making gains who cares how much weight is on the bar right?

[pig]

Thanks for looking guys. Yesterday was an off day so I didn't do too much and today is supposed to be Chest, Delts and Tri's but I am so damn sore I can hardly lift my arms from Back and Bi's on Monday so I'll probably push it back until tomorrow. I did legs Tuesday and I can only imagine how they'll feel tomorrow, lol! I need to be in the gym 4 days a week, but it looks like I'll only get in 3 days a week, I'm hoping this initial phase of soreness lessens over time where it gets to the point that I can recover enough over 4-5 days to train the same bodyparts again.
I'm struggling with the skinny-fat issues, as a kid I was about 200lbs and now weight around 155lbs, but I am pretty soft especially in the waist, again I'm hoping this will change over time and is the result of the last few years being so sporadic in exercising.
A typical days diets consist of:
0300 3 eggs with a small amount of cheese and meat
0800 low carb wrap with meat and veggies and veggies with hummas
1100 protein shake
1230 train
1400 protein shake
1730 meat and salad, rarely some carbs
1900 spoon of natural peanut butter

I think this is a pretty good diet, I'm not looking to put on a whole lot of weight, looking at more of a recomp where I gain muscle and lose fat, I would eventually get back up to around 165lbs which is what I weighed about 20 years ago when I got married, but over the last few years I lost about 10lbs of muscle.
Today begins the wedding countdown, my wife's off the next couple of days so we have a ton of things to do to get prepared, i'm looking forward to my daughter's wedding but at the same time it will be nice to get it done and have a little stress relief, lol!
Have a great day guys!

[mrky03]

Time and consistency!

[pig]

I'm still around guys! Nothing like you're kid getting married to kick your ass. Constantly running around, even after the wedding! Now for a little me time! And so the fun begins.....

[pig]

I'm still at it! don't feel like I'm making a lot of progress though, I have this skinny fat thing going on and I've put on a couple of pounds and feel thicker around the waist. I'm thinking about trying to do the 4X training 5 days a week and working each bodypart only once a week and doing cardio after each session, but I still stuck on the mentality of needing to work bodyparts more than once per week, does anyone have an opinion for a natural trainee on bodypart frequency? I know these things take time but I'm trying to make some serious changes. i keep seeing these 6 and 12 month transformations on different forums and I want to be one of those guys, lol! Thanks.