Official Dids Gym Thread

[Dids]

Hey "The Gym".

This is my workout/weight loss tracking/suggestion/accountability thread.

As you may know, last March I was at 331 lbs. That's likely down from more like 345 (I had moved in Feb and was walking about 3 mile or so a day for the past 3 months).

Since then I've dropped about 70 lbs to my current total of 260. This was mostly just from more walking, much better eating, and the workout plan that I'll outline below (I'd been in the gym a few days a week in Nov and December, and got really dedicated and about 4-5 days a week from Jan on. (I got a car, and I'm not walking to the bus stop anymore, although my plan is to walk on days off from the gym).

My goals are mostly to drop weight. However, one of the things that happened in the period between March and Jan is that I lost a lot of muscle, so I'd like to get that back again.

Here's my current work out plan. I've been more or less sticking with this for a while.

Working out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.

I start with 20 minutes of cardio on crossramp at the 16 setting (which works the gluts and calves) keeping up a rate of about 155-165 strides per minute and a heat rate between 130-145 (this really varies by how much energy I have), and then another 10 on the bike or the treadmill that’s typically less vigorous than the crossramp.

Then it's lifting. I was alternating "arms and chest" and "legs and back" days, but I just changed that to a rotation of "arms and chest", "legs" and "back and stomach".

Here's the various machines I'm using and the current weights I'm at. When I'm lifting, my goal is always 3 sets of 10.

Arms and Chest:

Chest Press: 85
Biceps Curl: 75
Triceps Extension: 75
Shoulder Press: 40
Lat Raise: 70
Fly: 110

Legs:

Leg Sled: 360
Calf Press: 280
Leg Extension: 120
Leg Curl: 120
Adductor: 100

Back and Stomach:

Row: 100
La Pull: 100
Back Extension: 260 (max on the machine, I do 3 sets of 15 for this)
Ab Crunch: 140
Torso Rotation: 135
Pullover: 110
Rear Fly: 110

Diet/Schedule:

I wake up about 5:30, on the bus and at work by about 7, that’s when I eat breakfast.

Breakfast is typically: Two pieces of whole wheat toast with lowfat, no sugar peanut butter and either low sugar jam or honey, a light yogurt and a bowl of some kinda whole grain non-sugar cereal with 2% milk.

Lunch/Dinner: Typically leftovers for lunch, you can see what I’m cooking for dinner on my blog. Typically it’s going to be some kinda lowish fat meat and two veggies.
I’ve been having a protein shake made with Whey Protein, one banana, and frozen fruit after dinner. This is in part to quench my sweet tooth.

Questions and comments:

1- What jumps off the page at me is that my upper body is horrible, especially chest press, but my lower body is almost maxing out some of the machines. I assume that's called "carrying around a fatass for a long time", but I'm not sure.

2- I've been told by a few people that I should be doing the lifting first before cardio. My reasoning for not doing this in the past has been that it’s the lifting I really enjoy, so by forcing myself through the cardio, the lifting is a reward. How much of an impact is this, and is it mos def something I should change? Should I still have like a 10 minute warm-up if I do that?

3- People are going to suggest squats, I hate squats. In high school I was doing them bad and ended up emptying both sides of the bar on the floor and it freaked me out. I’m not very comfortable doing them, so I like to avoid. Also, I strongly prefer to stick with machines over free weights.

4- So what do we think of my plan? Is anything painfully misplaced? What should I add, what should I drop? My gym is pretty damn nice (LA Fitness) so if there's something you suggest, they've probably got it.

5- Judge the diet. Is breakfast good? Is the shake a good/bad idea ?

My intent with this thread is to update it weekly with how often I’ve worked out, values for what I’m lifting, weight loss, and pictures (yes, topless Dids pictures!!).

Pictures for the purpose of progress tracking:






Thanks in advance for the help guys. I think this forum is going to rule if we can all work together to keep on track.