Alright, I'm getting serious now.

[Seb]

Hello all,

I just discovered this great online community, which I hope will help me accomplish my goals of becoming serious about lifting.

First, a brief bio: I used to be a competitive swimmer for 7 years, quit around 18yrs old, but I kept working out on and off with no real intensity or regularity until now. A recent breakup means I now have more time, and also helped with my motivation to get serious about building the body I ultimately want.

Now, I am definitely not only after looks; I have always trained for the pure fun of it, the results are more of a bonus or fringe benefit to me. So you most likely will not see me shave my body, or alter completely the course of my life for the training stuff. I wil ltry to watch my diet a little bit more, but don't expect me to start gulping protein shakes, again, rearranging my life is not the goal here, I simply want to take up an activity that will be good for me, and that will be structured as well. A challenge, I guess you could say.

I am now around 155lbs depending on the time of day, I eat A LOT but never get really fat, although I have noticed a loss in muscle definition as of late (part of my motivation to take this up). I have a lot of trouble putting on weight, and more recently I also have had a bit of trouble putting on more weights at the gym. I have reached a plateau that cannot be broken without some additional dedication. I figure posting here regularly and getting your comments will help me soldier on, as I cannot find training partners who will provide that sort of motivation and keep up with me.

I will be honest: for the past few years, I have been concentrating on the upper body A LOT more than the legs. This has resulted in some imbalance (see pictures posted later). I now will give the legs the importance they deserve, and I have also started running so that will help as well.

I used to create my own routines using the knowledge I had about working out, which, without being encyclopedic, was good enough. I have been stuck in the same exercises for a long time, however, and wanted to try some new stuff, so I went ahead and started with the Wanna Be Big Routine number 1. I will alter it and change to #2 later, but for now it gives me the right mix of good basic exercices and novelty I was looking for.

I will need your help with two things: 1) keeping me motivated and 2) helping me find out what my weaknesses are, both in terms of physique and strength.

As far as goals go, I will see what is attainable when I start seeing gains, but I definitely want to get stronger, and I want to build muscle mass. I will watch my food intake and try to get some cardio in my regimen to keep lean, however, so no bulking/cutting phases for me. I am looking for continuous, regular improvements, but I don't mind if it's a bit slower.

So please feel encouraged to offer your comments and guidance as well as encouragements. They will be highly appreciated. I will now post some pictures of myself so you can see the damage for yourself... Then, the journal begins!

P.S.: Never used supplements, nor enhancers such as creatine. I don't plan to either. Also, forget about any kind of performance-enhancing drugs. I'm going all-natural baby, let's see how far my genetics and hard work can get me!

[MrWebb78]

ha spam lol roflmao bwahahahaha spam get it spam!!!!!!!!! rofl lol

[Seb]

Here are the pictures, keep in mind I don't know how to pose, and I don't know the standard poses either. So no laughing!

[Pup]

Welcome to the forums Seb...putting more focus on the lower body will not only bring up your lagging bodyparts, but make your upper body even stronger. Since your goals are strength and size, make sure you eat a lot of food, primarily protein dense food with a good balance of fats and carbs.

[Seb]

another pic

[Seb]

and again

[Seb]

again (I have a digital camera, so pictures are cheap and fast to do ;-)

[Seb]

the legs

[Seb]

and finally relaxed

[Seb]

You will notice a weird imbalance between my pecs. It's there in real life, but for some weird reason it seems to show up more in pictures. Also, I don't know why, but maybe because of the way I took the pictures, I seem less cut than I really am, so that's not too much of a problem.

Feel free to analyse and make comments, I have no fear of ridicule (as can be seen by my legs pose, lol).

I will put more emphasis on the legs from now on, I promise.

[Seb]

on to the journal!!
I keep it in Excel, so I might actually post the Excel file from time to time, but for now here are the first day of the new routine:

13/10/2003
156lbs - 8:45pm tired - bloated (just ate)

Flat BB Bench Press 6x185
set 2 6x180
Low Incline DB Press 9x70
set 2 8x75
Machine Dips 10x240
set 2 7x270
BACK
Behind Neck Chin Ups 10xown weight
set 2 9xown weight
Deadlifts 11x135
set 2 9x155
Bent-Over BB Rows 8x195 (*)
set 2 7x195 (*)
Shrugs 10x75

[Seb]

Day 2!

15/10/2003
154lbs - 11:30pm

Squats 8x185
set 2 8x185
Hack Squats 9x135
set 2 9x145
Leg Curls 9x100
set 2 5x110
Straight Legged DB Deadlifts 10x75
set 2 9x80
Standing Calves Raises 15x135
set 2 12x155
set 3 11x165
set 4 10x165

[Seb]

so comments on my weaknesses and strong points would be appreciated, and thanks already for the welcome guys, although I may not fully understand MrWebb78's message...

[fuzz]

Welcome to WBB, Seb.

You look pretty lean, which is always a good place to start. Good luck.

[Seb]

thanks fuzz!

I just realized measurements were the only thing missing, so here they are, cold and flexed. They are approximate as I don't know the standards for them, but I guess the important thing is to measure them the same way every time right?
Waist taken at navel.
Chest taken just above nipples.

Arms: 14.5"
Legs: 21.5"
Calves: 14 and 1/4"
Waist: 31"
Chest: 39 and 1/2"

[Mik]

Grats on starting a journal Seb! Good luck with your goals. We need more Canucks around here.

[Seb]

Thanks Mik. I hope I get more comfortable with the new exercises quickly so I can really start hitting the weights as hard as possible! So far, not too much trouble with the squats, but the deadlifts are killing me, and the standing calves raises are almost impossible with a significant weight. I guess I'll just lower the weight and increase the reps until I'm more comfortable with this exercise.

I'm gagging for the gym today, but it's a rest day, and besides I'm stuck here working on a school assignment... Maybe I'll go for a run later today, as my legs don't feel as tired as I'd like.

[APE.]

Definately the build of a former swimmer, excellent however.{always admired how they stayed lean}What are your plans?to bulk or what?

[Seb]

Well, I'm still trying to decide whether I want to do a bulk then cut cycle, or to just stay lean. I think I'll try to stay leanish while concentrating mostly on the bulking (eating a lot and so on), but I don't even know if I CAN get fat... so I may not have anything to be afraid of!

I'll go with the flow for now, and as soon as I get concrete results, it'll be easier to come up with some objectives, and to decided whether I need to concentrate on mass to make gains.

[Seb]

Just went for a run, first thing in the morning (9:45ish).
Warmup run 3 minutes, mild stretching, then relatively intense (definitely more than 60% intensity) 20 minute run.
I'm pretty toasted for now, but I'll recuperate in time for my arms/shoulders workout in a couple hours.

My tendons are acting up again, which is why I'd stopped running in the first place... I get shin splits like you wouldn't believe, and even more so since I've gained some upper body weight and none in the lower body. That'll teach me!

People walking their dogs should have them on a shorter leash... And the women are definitely not as sexy when it's 8 degrees Celsius outside.

[Herc]

Welcome!

Good luck on your journal. From you pics I would say you have a great base to work from. BTW: how tall are you?

Your leanness is making you look much bigger than your stats indicate. With what you have said a clean slow bulk is probably what you are looking to do (of course it is one of the hardest things to actually accomplish) Just keep consistant in your training and keep an eye on the amount of protein on your diet and I'm sure you'll be able to achieve your goals .



oh and here's some

[Coke]

You have some nice pics and are really off to a great start


...and this is what spam is dude -

[Seb]

Thanks guys!

I'm 5.8' or 5.9', maybe between the two... I'll have to check...

Yeah, I think I'd like to stay relatively lean throughout, but putting on weight is really what I'm most concerned with right now. Maybe that'll change during the course of things, if I see there is now way I can get bigger while still maintaining a low BF.

Today was shoulders-arms day. Here we go:

Military Press.................12x85
set 2....................................8x95
Seated DB Press.........9x55
set 2...........................8x55
Standing Lateral Raises........10x35
set 2........................................9x35

Narrow Grip Bench Press........11x135
set 2.........................................7x145
French Press................7x76
set 2............................7x76

BB Curls....................................8x86
set 2.........................................8x86
Hammer Curls..............7x45 (x2)

I mistakenly did two sets of hammer curls, only one was required in the routine. I hadn't done military presses in at least a year and a half, and narrow grip bench presses are alien to me, I avoided them because they hurt my wrists... I was actually pretty surprised by how much I lifted for those, especially compared to my BP weight...

Not a lot of emphasis on the arms in this routine, I feel, or maybe it's to prevent overtraining, what do I know. Anyways, seeing as most commented that my arms were a strong point, it doesn't matter.

I don't know whether the run affected my stamina, we'll see next week as I avoid running before this routine, see if my weights increase. I had eaten a whole pizza...tuttut

I increased pretty much all of my weights on the exercises I used to do before, mainly because of the reduced number of reps, but maybe also because of the new intensity level. I feel I really did give 100% on almost all the exercises this time.

[Seb]

I actually found a file where I put my workouts from last Fall (2002). I found out I haven't put an ounce of weight on, maybe even went down in weight a little bit. And no, I wasn't fatter then, I was probably even leaner...

The less depressing part is that I have increased pretty much all of my weights, albeit not by huge amounts. So I am stronger.

I'll copy-paste the workouts here, and also join the Word file as an attachment.

---------------------------------

28/08/02

156lbs -- 6:00 pm

BACK

Wide-grip Pull-ups
156 x 10
156 x 10 FAST
156 x 8

Cable Rows
165 x 10
165 x 10 fast easy
165 x 10 fast easy

Close-grip Cable Pull-downs
180 x 5 hard
180 x 10 hard
180 x 8 hard

BICEPS

Seated Alternate Dumbell Curls
35 x 7
35 x 7
35 x 7

Standing Cable Curls
140 x 8
140 x 8 hard! Long rest
140 x 9hard

Feeling Good!

30/08/02

155lbs -- 8:30 pm -- already ate

PECS

Bench Press
175 x 9
173 x 9 HARD
168 x 8 HARD

Incline Dumbell Presses
65 x 9
65 x 9 fast
65 x 8

Decline Bench Press
178 x 6
173 x 6
168 x 8

SHOULDERS

Seated Dumbell Shoulder Presses
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 8

Combo Upright/Prone Dumbell Side Arm Extensions
30 x 19
35 x 14
35 x 14

TRICEPS

Standing Cable Pulldowns
150 x 12
150 x 12
150 x 10

Single-arm Cable Pulldowns
50 x 10
50 x 11
50 x 9

Good Hard Workout!

02/09/02

156lbs -- 8:30 pm -- already ate

BACK

Wide-grip Pull-ups
156 x 10 easy
156 x 9
156 x 10

Machine Cable Rows
180 x 9
180 x 8
180 x 8

Close-grip Machine Pull-downs
180 x 10 hard
180 x 9 long rest
180 x 10

BICEPS

One-armed Biceps Curls
30 x 9 (incline)
30 x 8 (vertical) long rest
35 x 8 (vertical) hard

Standing Cable Curls
130 x 9
130 x 8 hard
130 x 8 HARD!!

04/09/02

157lbs -- 9:00 pm -- already ate

PECS

Dumbell Bench Presses
75 x 10 easy
75 x 10 easy
75 x 8

Incline Dumbell Bench Presses
65 x 9
65 x 8 long rest
65 x 9

Machine Seated Flies
150 x 9
159 x 8 hard
145 x 9

TRICEPS

Close-grip Standing Cable Pulldowns
150 x 14
160 x 10 hard; long rest
160 x 10

finished 9:50 pm

05/09/2002

158lbs – 8:45pm – already ate

BACK

Wide-grip Pull-ups
158 x 10
158 x 10 easy fast
158 x 8

Machine Cable Rows
165 x 9
165 x 8
165 x 9

Close-grip Cable Pull-downs
185 x 8
185 x 8 HARD
180 x 8

BICEPS

One-armed Vertical Bench Biceps Curls
35 x 8
30 x 8

One-armed Standing Cable Rows
60 x 10
60 x 10

Standing Cable Curls
140 x 8 hard
140 x 8

09/09/2002

155lbs – 8:30pm – already ate

PECS

Dumbell Bench Presses
80 x 10
80 x 9
80 x 8

Incline Dumbell Presses
65 x 10
65 x 8
65 x 8

Machine Flies
150 x 9
145 x 8
145 x 8

TRICEPS

Close-grip Cable Pulldowns
160 x 12 hard
160 x 8 HARD
150 x 11

Single-arm Cable Pull-downs
60 x 10
60 x 8 HARD
50 x 11

Wrist injury, did not affect me too much

10/09/02

155lbs -- 4:00 pm

BACK

Wide-grip Pull-ups
155 x 10
155 x 9
155 x 8

Cable Rows
165 x 8
165 x 8
165 x 8

Close-grip Cable Pull-downs
180 x 8
180 x 8
180 x 8

BICEPS

Alternate Dumbell Curls
40 x 7
40 x 7
40 x 7

Standing Barbell Curls

Did a couple, then stopped, wrist injury hampered moves

End 4:45-5:00 pm

12/09/2002

156lbs – 2:00pm

PECS

Dumbell Bench Presses
80 x 10
80 x 9
80 x 8

Incline Dumbell Bench Presses
65 x 9
65 x 8
65 x 8

Decline Bench Presses
180 x 6
175 x 6
165 x 8

TRICEPS

Close-grip Cable Pulldowns
160 x 10
160 x 8
150 x 10

Wrist injury getting better

16/09/02
156lbs - 8:20pm just ate FULL

PECS

Dumbbell bench presses
80 x 9
80 x 9
80 x 8

Incline dumbbell bench presses
65 x 9
65 x 9
65 x 8

Machine flies
150 x 8
145 x 8
145 x 8 HARD

TRICEPS

Cable pull-downs
160 x 12
160 x 10
160 x 10 hard

Overhead biceps extensions
55 x 10
55 x 12
55 x 10

17/09/02

155lbs – 6:10pm not eaten

BACK

Wide-grip pull-ups
155 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 9

Machine cable rows
180 x 8
170 x 8
170 x 8

Close-grip cable pulldowns
185 x 8
180 x 8
180 x 8

BICEPS

Alternate dumbbell curls
40 x 14
40 x 14
40 x 12

Machine cable curls
140 x 8
135 x 8

One-armed bench dumbbell curls
30 x 8
30 x 8

end 7:00pm

23/09/02

157lbs – 9:00pm just ate

BACK

Wide-grip pull-ups
10 x 157
9 x 157
9 x 157

Seated cable curls
8 x 50
7 x 50
8 x 50

Assisted one-armed dumbbell curls
8 x 30
8 x 30
8 x 30

25/09/02

156lbs – 9:00pm

PECS

Dumbbell bench presses
80 x 8
80 x 8 HARD
80 x 6 HARD

Pullovers – Decline Flies
55 x 8 40 x 8
55 x 8 40 x 8
55 x 8 40 x 8

Machine flies
145 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 10

26/09/02

157lbs - 9:15pm

BACK

Various chin-ups
157 x 8
157 x 8
157 x 8

Close-grip pull-downs
180 x 8
180 x 8
165 x 8 wide

BICEPS

Dumbbell curls
40 x 14
40 x 16
40 x 14

Double dumbbell curls
30 x 10
30 x 8
30 x 8

30/09/02

158lbs – 8:20

PECS

Dumbbell bench presses
80 x 9
80 x 9
80 x 7

Incline dumbbell bench presses
65 x 9
65 x 8
65 x 8

Machine flies
145 x 9
145 x 8 hard
145 x 8 HARD

TRICEPS

Cable pull-downs
160 x 10 rest
160 x 10
160 x 8

Overhead extensions
55 x 11
55 x 10
55 x 10

-----------------------------------------

There it is for today, I'm off to work now, looking forward to comments and spam!

[Seb]

I've also realized I eat too much not often enough. I'll try eating more meals per day, and less at every meal. This summer I only ate two meals a day since I skipped breakfast most of the time. I've been able to break that habit recently, now I'll try to increase it to 4-6 meals a day.

I also need to drink WAY more. I only urinate maybe 3-4 times a day, and it's always pretty yellow (sorry for the details), I feel like I have to drink a lot more, and more water as well, instead of the usual fruit juices and soft drinks. I'm not going to count calories, but the least I can do is clean up my act, at least out of respect for the people that really put in a lot of dieting efforts here.

Signing out for now!