Late to the game, have a few questions.

[ML7205]

I'm a former high school offensive lineman who's kind of lost his way and am looking to get back into playing shape. As sad as it is, I wasn't really focused on the game and my own personal fitness back then, which I regret thoroughly. Since then, I've managed to get myself into a sedentary rut of a lifestyle, and am looking to bust out of it.

Currently, I'm 23, 6'2", 310 lbs, relatively athletic for a fat guy like myself, but not in shape by any means. I still play football with friends on Sundays and we often join 7 man leagues in the Summer and Fall. Generally, we play full contact blocking, two hand touch rules. I noticed this past season that my late game endurance, off the line explosiveness, and speed have been sorely lacking.

My ultimate goal is to drop a lot of my body fat, bulk my muscles up, and improve my speed, strength, and overall health over the next few years. I'm hoping to end up at around 275-290 lbs, in the long run. If everything works out and I can get myself into shape, I hope to join an Ironman or some other full pads, full contact league.

As far as why I'm making this post, I've pretty much forgotten everything I learned about lifting and strength building in high school, and I never really knew my way around the weight room, even back then. Essentially, I'm a complete novice, looking to get into lifting seriously for the first time ever. I'm looking to find a weekly routine that I can get into and stick to. I've seen a lot of people saying good things about the WSB4SB routine, but let's face it, I don't think I've EVER been a skinny bastard.

The question I have is: If I take that WSB4SB routine and stick to it's basics (obviously, given my current poor fitness levels, I'll probably have to work up to it), will it accomplish what I'm trying to achieve? Would it be in my best interest to modify it in some way, in order to improve fat loss or cardio? Is there an alternative, easy to understand program that might be better?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and sorry for the long post. I tend to ramble.

[Dan Fanelli]

Ws4sb as written might not get yu there, but it's a damn good start. Also search for westside for fat bastards. And diet is going to be important for sure.

[StLRPh]

Have you looked into Wendler's 5/3/1 for Football?
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&pid=3362

or

Crossfit Football? (Which is very different CF.com)
www.crossfitfootball.com

[ML7205]

Ws4sb as written might not get yu there, but it's a damn good start. Also search for westside for fat bastards. And diet is going to be important for sure.

Yeah.. diet.. I can tell you that's probably the part about this whole goal that's going to be the most difficult. One of the reasons I am the way I am today is that I absolutely LOVE good food. That and soda, which is my other weak point. As a computer programmer, I basically run on soda when I'm at work, and I know that's going to have to stop.

As far as diet goes, I'll probably ease myself into a better diet slowly, so I can grow accustomed to a leaner, healthier diet without all of the grease, sugar, and fat. I don't really know too much about putting together a healthy football diet either, but I figure if I keep it low in calories and eat more lean meats and fruits/veggies, it's probably a good start. Once I get myself into a decent workout schedule, I'll probably dig a bit deeper to see what I can to to improve the diet further.


Have you looked into Wendler's 5/3/1 for Football?
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&pid=3362

or

Crossfit Football? (Which is very different CF.com)
www.crossfitfootball.com

I took a look at those links you provided. The 5/3/1 for football book seems interesting, and I might set some cash aside to grab the hardcopy of it next month. I'll have to compare that with crossfit and WS4SB in order to figure out which will work best for me.

Thanks for the info so far, though. This site has been pretty helpful.

[StLRPh]

For soda a switch to diet can save you a **** ton of calories depending on how much you drink. Diet info can be overwhelming. Try to keep it simple and something that you can stick with. Adding veggies/fruits and minimizing grains/complex carbs will probably help a lot.

[joey54]

I wonder though, if one drinks a lot of soda and it is all diet what is worse? All that crap they put in the diet soda, or just taking in the extra calories?

I say see if you can limit the soda to around workout times to start, transition it to post workout, and then make it an occasional thing or drop it all together.

[ML7205]

I wonder though, if one drinks a lot of soda and it is all diet what is worse? All that crap they put in the diet soda, or just taking in the extra calories?

I say see if you can limit the soda to around workout times to start, transition it to post workout, and then make it an occasional thing or drop it all together.

Hah, yeah. That's not going to be a problem, though. I can't stand the taste of diet sodas. Ill probably start by limiting it to an occasional thing, like only on Bowling night and maybe every so often in the evening, after I'm done working out for the day. Ideally, I'll be able to pretty much cut it completely.