OK, time to introduce myself. My name's Phil and I've been lurking as a guest for about 2 months and I finally joined 3 weeks ago.
First, 0311, Sentinel, Dr. X, and the other senior members.....You guys ROCK!! You convinced me about the benefits of total body workouts using squats, deadlifts, military press, bench press, chins, dips etc. I started experimenting with these exercises late last December, then Sentinel posted his
"Guide to Novice Barbell Training" thread a few weeks ago and I finally had all I needed to start a real routine.
I'm 49 and I've been going to the gym for about 6 months now. My original goal was to lose weight (I was 207 when I started and I'm 173 this morning and was down to 171 at one point). Now that I've lost a bunch of weight, I'm focusing on strength and hopefully burning that last bit of fat around my belly.
I've been doing cardio all along. I've also been doing weights all along too, but I started real basic doing machine circuits. I eventually got brave and started going to the "back of the gym" where the "real" weightlifters are with the dumbbells, barbells, and benches. In retrospect, I think being timid at the gym actually turned out to be a good thing because I didn't over do it. I think I formed a pretty good base of strength and technique to build on.
So far I'm loving the novice routine Sentinel posted. Even though I do not consider myself a novice anymore, I started from scratch and I'm still building up to stalling points for the different lifts. The workout is very easy to understand, but not physically easy, and I have a goal every time I walk into the gym now. I feel great when I'm done and I spend half the time lifting than I used to.
My diet also evolved from watching calories to making sure I get enough nutrients to grow some muscle and to be strong for my workouts. Now the first thing I look at is how much protein something has instead of how many calories. I'm hoping I can walk that thin line of losing some more fat while getting stronger. Is it possible to do that? (Just kidding, I've read the rants when a newbie asks that question.)
One more thing about me, I've been pursuing an unusual goal since 2000….I'm trying to do one million pushups before I die. I have a web site,
www.millionpushups.com where I track my progress. I'm sure a lot of people here have done a million pushups (if they go back and think about it), but the difference is I was an old fat guy that wanted to do it. The pushup goal is actually a problem now because I do not want the pushups to get in the way of my workout recovery. I know you guys say do not mess with the Rippetoe routine, it's good as is, but I added pushups. I superset my squats and deadlifts with sets of 15 pushups, and I do sets during my pre-workout stretching and after my post-workout cardio. On my non-lifting days, I spread out low rep sets through out the day.
I got a little long winded there, but now you'll have an idea of who I am when I post again. I'm very new to bodybuilding and I'm starting at a late age, but I still have the passion after 6 months and I look forward to every workout. I'll likely post questions about my age and about my pushups, but I realize this is not the forum section for that.
Phil