Those of you who know me know that I've been around this board since the start and that my avatar to the left is me in 2005. After a long time off I finally stopped drinking and carried my ass back to the gym. I've got a long ways to go, but when I put my mind to something I'm about as dedicated as you can get. Started back in the gym in early January. First pic is in February after a few weeks back. The other 2 are about 3 weeks old. Much more progress to come in the next 4 months.

Coming in strong

What made you stop?

Good shit brother, you'll be back in no time. Muscle memory is a real thing. Plus you have the knowledge and experience to do what it takes. Glad you back at it.

Originally Posted by Mr I

Coming in strong

What made you stop?

I was about to start my last semester in college and the gym became more of a job than enjoyment at that point. I should've just went in as a middle weight, but I dropped a ridiculous amount in a short time to make the light weights and I pretty much lost the love I had for the gym. Young and dumb.


Not necessarily trying to get back to that.... But it sure feels nice to call the gym home again and I've found my passion for lifting again.

Originally Posted by Bouncer

Good shit brother, you'll be back in no time. Muscle memory is a real thing. Plus you have the knowledge and experience to do what it takes. Glad you back at it.

Thanks B, feels great to have this type of life style back again. Without the drinking and being back in the gym it's like I found out how to live all over again. And muscle memory is definitely a real thing. I'll post more progress come around August.

Glad to see you are getting back in to it.
And happy to see that you let it go worse than me. Lol. J/K brother.

Glad to see the fire start back up. Hit it hard, keep humble, and don't look back

Consistency is key and all,will follow, good job!

LMG, talk a bit about what you've done in terms of diet/cardio/hormones in order to make the transformation you plan on making. I'm sure there is plenty of people out there that would find it pretty inspiring and helpful to watch a guy go from the cookie monster (no offense ) to a lean mean machine!

Good stuff bro. I agree with bouncer a lot of people myself included will find this inspiring! Start a log for your transformation

Hell of a foundation to start with bro. You'll be back to your former glory in no time. Hell of a good progress already!

Good stuff. I was never built like you were but I was always in great shape all my life. Then I retired out of the Army after 20 years and stopped working out..doing anything in the gym.. I became a fat piece of shit. I went from 6'4 235 lbs with a 34 in waist to about 245 with a 42 in waist.. I was totally disgusted with myself.. about 4 years ago I got back on the stick and off my ass..I wont ever look back again... now I don't have the size I used to but Im healthy, stronger and again back down to a 34 in waist and setting at about 205. I'm good with it for my age!!.....go get it bro..never look back only move forward. Looking fwd to the progress pics!!

Originally Posted by Lmg2701

I was about to start my last semester in college and the gym became more of a job than enjoyment at that point. I should've just went in as a middle weight, but I dropped a ridiculous amount in a short time to make the light weights and I pretty much lost the love I had for the gym. Young and dumb.


Not necessarily trying to get back to that.... But it sure feels nice to call the gym home again and I've found my passion for lifting again.

Fantastic

My only advice if I may is use the new found enthusiasm smartly. Tendons and ligaments will take time to adjust as will posture and flexibility. Train for completeness and balance and fitness from the inside out as opposed to just the cosmetic look and keep your ego in check.

Okay, so here's the information on what I've been doing from the start of this new journey.

Back in early January I spent 2 weeks in the gym doing 1 workout for 4 sets 10-12 reps for each body part. I did this for 2 reasons..... Initial soreness can be a huge deterrent to push through in the very beginning and after such a long time off I wanted to just "wake up" the muscles so to speak.

Me and my brother decided to have a little competition of who could look the best by June 1. At this point I set my goal up as 6 pack abs by June 1. I tend to set the bar high and this is where I set it.

I was probably around 208-212 around 25-27% bf and I'm just over 5'7.

After the 2 weeks of full body workouts I joined a local gym. I train 5 days a week typically Mon-Fri Chest/Back/Tris/Bis/Shoulders. I was hitting Abs everyday.

Cardio was pretty much whatever I could handle walking on incline.

Also, I began to clean up the diet. Nothing extreme, but I started to keep a close eye on my carb and fat intake and no more fast food/fried food/etc....

The first 6 weeks were pretty hard to actually get a pump in my muscles. They've laid dormant for so long that no matter how concentrated the movement or how focused I was with each rep, the pump just wasn't there. I knew this would take time. Side note..... The only thing I've ever done for Abs are crunches while resting my lower back on a ball. It's always worked for me and when your back is positioned just right on the ball you can literally do crunches without putting a strain on any other muscle. At first this was also discouraging because it seemed like there just wasn't any muscle there and I was going through the motions.

Fast forward to the end of February. After consistently training I began to feel those muscles come alive again. The good soreness after hitting a muscle group started to come back. It was almost a feeling like muscle memory was finally starting to come back slowly. At this point I was doing 30-45 minutes of cardio at 3.0% incline and 3.5 mph. Diet stayed fairly clean although I knew I was going overboard with protein shakes through the addition of bananas and peanut butter..... Total caloric intake can skyrocket pretty quick if you're not watching what you're adding to your protein drinks; however, I still had 3 months left until June 1st. At this point I had my BF% checked using a 6 point caliper test and it came out to 22.4% bf. When the guy asked me what I thought it was my guess was 22..... Pretty close right? Here's the thing, I know my body well. I know how it reacts to certain food, training, sleep, and supplements through many years of logging these things.

Throughout march and some of april not much changed aside from cardio and caloric intake. I pushed my cardio up to 60 minutes per day with 3.5% incline at 3 mph 5 days a week. I dropped the peanut butter and bananas from shakes. I eliminated carbs as I saw fit while keeping protein pretty high. The day after and 2 day after soreness after hitting a particular muscle group was back. Doing concentrated movements now I could focus on each rep and feel the muscle contracting again. Same goes for abs. I guess I'd consider this the time where my muscles were actually starting to build a base again and get back into "game on" mode.


I moved in early april to a different state, but before I left Colorado I got my bf% checked again. In 5 weeks I had gone from 22.4% to 18.3%. Even through moving I kept my workout steady and my cardio on point.

Last month I upped cardio to 90-110 minutes 5 days per week @ a 4% incline and 3.7 mph. Started watching and lowering carbs more, but I still wasn't as disciplined with carbs as I should have been. I've never been one to try and train heavy, but in just this short amount of time I was back to lifting around what I've lifted before and I could definitely feel that my muscles were back in gear.


This month I will restrict carbs a LOT and keep my protein intake pretty high. A few things to note and I know I'm going to catch shit for this. I have not been working out legs. Yes.... I know..... I know that too...... Yes, I get it..... Fortunately for me I am genetically prone to having pretty good size quads and hamstrings and things will change after June 1st. Also, I know this is a shit ton of cardio and it can start to dip into the good storage that aids in building muscle. But through keeping my total caloric intake at just the right amount I find I'm able to dictate when it's too much. Typically my heart rate doesn't go above 135 during these 90 minute cardio sessions.

Supplements: None as of yet. As some of you may have seen I was having Cholesterol issues and until that gets in check I'm going to hold off (either way I wasn't going to jump back on a cycle right away until I got back into some form of decent shape). In fact one of the statin meds they put me on actually makes you retain water. It bothers the shit out of me and frankly I almost want to take a mild potassium sparing diuretic to see what happens. I may just try Taraxotone for a little while and see if that helps. I haven't checked my BF% since I moved to Cali and I probably won't until the end of this month. I know how much of an insane change can be made in 4 weeks and that's the plan for the month of May alone.

Come June 1st I will revisit bodyfat % and possible summer cycle which would be a Test 400 Cyp/Enat Blend, EQ, and Winny, this cycle can be seen in the anabolics section. I'll begin to up my carbs slowly, I'll drop the cardio to roughly 30 minutes 5 times a week to maintain, and I'll start hitting legs again. Come hell or high water I will have a 6 pack by late spring or this summer. It's my goal and it's going to fucking happen. I think if I can start this cycle June 2nd and do all the things I just stated then come mid-August I will be very pleased with where I'm at.

So that's about it for now. If anyone ever has any questions feel free to ask. I've always tried to log my training endeavors on here and I typically keep a monthly log at home that details what I worked out that day and how much cardio I did. One thing to note about me when it comes to dieting..... I can literally eat the same thing every day and not give a shit. So as of now I season a bunch of boneless and skinless chicken breast for the week and cook as necessary. The only carb intake I really have is from protein powders and milk. At this point no carbs after 6 PM at all and I try not to eat too heavy after that time all together, but my work schedule and gym schedule sometimes I eat pretty late but it consists of chicken breast only. Most mornings I'm around 203, but with dropping carbs and with water manipulation I have a feeling that # is going to start coming down quicker. Basically the goal is to get rid of all this mid section fat and start fresh like I'd be doing a very lean off season bulk. No plans to compete in the future just yet, just the plan I've set forth above. I'm loving the gym again and don't want to look at it as a job again anytime soon just and compete just to compete.

Originally Posted by Mr I

Fantastic

My only advice if I may is use the new found enthusiasm smartly. Tendons and ligaments will take time to adjust as will posture and flexibility. Train for completeness and balance and fitness from the inside out as opposed to just the cosmetic look and keep your ego in check.

I train with moderate weight only and focus on controlled movements more than anything. I typically do train each muscle to exhaustion, but I consciously do it with my tendons and ligaments in mind. I know my body very well and I listen to it. When the time comes to go balls to the wall, my body will let me know. As for my goals right now, balls to the wall isn't required just yet when it comes to the amount of weight. But this is definitely a good tip for anyone that's just getting back into training.

nice brother!

Nice trap progress, I'm jealous, even on aas I'm a slow trap gainer.

good stuff lmg, sounds like a plan. glad to see your not rushing into it. I'd probably be tempted to jump on gear right away. after 9 years your body is primed for that shit!

great update post. glad to have you back around.

Very detailed and informative

Good for you brother! Can't wait to see another progress pic in about 6 months.

Congrats bro for getting back in there! I came back after a six year layoff and the enjoyment is back, having fun and not taking it so serious...


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Good plan lmg. Best of luck

Good progress and job!
I'm also trying to do my best now,summer is comming and now waiting ))

So the more recent pics up above were from 4-15-16. The ones in this post are from today.



My training has stayed as planned.... Wish I could say the same for the diet. My 3 year old was here to visit this past week so I caved and had dessert 4 days in a row..... May not have been a terrible idea though because my body typically responds well to small amounts of cheats after very strict dieting (very common practice for most). I don't suggest the 4 day in a row thing, but I only see him once a month so fuck it...... Now, some of you that saw this previous post of mine and the cholesterol issues I was having. You can see the differences now below as well as the currently planned cycle.

https://www.superiormuscle.com/forums...-your-thoughts

2-25-16
Triglycerides: 187 mg/dL
Total Cholesterol: 286 mg/dL
LDL: 213 mg/dL
HDL: 35 mg/dL
LDL/HDL Ratio: 6.09
CHOL/HDL Ratio: 7.67

Added Policosanol 40mg daily and Omega 3 Fish Oil

3-28-16
Triglycerides: 180 mg/dL
Total Cholesterol: 345 mg/dL
LDL: 264 mg/dL
HDL: 45 mg/dL
LDL/HDL Ratio: 5.87
CHOL/HDL Ratio: 8.17


Doctor added 20 mg of Lipitor Daily and said that muscle aches, water retention, and elevated Liver Enzymes could be possible Sides....


5-6-16
Triglycerides: 123 mg/dL
Total Cholesterol: 218 mg/dL
LDL: 146 mg/dL
HDL: 47 mg/dL
LDL/HDL Ratio: 3.1
CHOL/HDL Ratio: Didn't show on this test

Liver Enzymes:
ALT: 39
AST: 40
Noticed muscle aches initially, but now not so much. I feel like I'm retaining water, but it may just be a mental thing. I might throw in Taraxotone for a little while to see if I notice any difference rather than adding Aldactone.

************************************************** *********

So clearly Cholesterol is getting better. Friendly competition with my brother will be done June 1st and I'll likely start the cycle below June 2nd. Also, I'll probably get the blood tests run again on June 1st and each additional month throughout post cycle.

Weeks 1-12 600-PW Test E/Test C Blend
Weeks 1-12 750mg PW EQ
Weeks 8-12 50mg Winny ED (25mg AM/25MG PM)
Weeks 1-12 0.4 mg Liquidex Daily

PCT to follow after, still trying to decide which route I'd like to go. That's all for now fellas. As always feedback and questions are welcomed.

Nice progress...even with the desserts lol. Good to see your cholesterol is getting under control. Your proposed cycle looks good. You are doing it the right way by not just hopping on. Keep working hard and I look forward to seeing future updates.

agree with epic. that said. both me and epix would have hoped on by now. lmao.

keep it up bro, make sure the cheats are few and far between. make up for them by doing some extra cardio on an empty stomach the following day. i usually do an hour of cardio on an empty stomach the following morning after I pig out the day before. helps me feel like im minimizing any fat gain that may come from the cheat meal.

You have good progress!

And so it begins Sunday, I'll post this in the Anabolic Section as well:

Weeks 1-12 600-PW Test E/Test C Blend
Weeks 1-12 750mg PW EQ
Weeks 7-12 350 mg Deca PW
Weeks 7-12 50mg Winny ED (25mg AM/25MG PM)
Weeks 1-12 0.4 mg Liquidex Daily

PCT Starts about 12 days after last shot.
Day 1 - 300mg Clomid
Days 2-7 150 mg Clomid
Days 8-21 100 mg Clomid

Will get blood work done once more tomorrow just so I have a final base line value for my Cholesterol and liver Enzymes. Currently 5'7" 203 and probably around 16%. Filled up first pin with .75 test and .75 eq..... Now I patiently wait until Sunday.... Here we go!

Took some time off for personal issues, but back at it now and here's where I'm at.

enough with all this "took some time of for personal reasons" bs. You just got back on after 9 years for fuck sake. Bit of tough love here so don't take it personal bro but wake the fuck up. look at your avatar and look at you now. you looked like a god back in the day. that should be all the incentive you need to get back on track. just do it bro. set your mind to it and do it. "personal reasons" is your excuse and I'm sorry it's bs. some people are fucking paralized, some people have months to live.. get shit in perspective and wake the fuck up.

Originally Posted by Bouncer

enough with all this "took some time of for personal reasons" bs. You just got back on after 9 years for fuck sake. Bit of tough love here so don't take it personal bro but wake the fuck up. look at your avatar and look at you now. you looked like a god back in the day. that should be all the incentive you need to get back on track. just do it bro. set your mind to it and do it. "personal reasons" is your excuse and I'm sorry it's bs. some people are fucking paralized, some people have months to live.. get shit in perspective and wake the fuck up.

You're right. That is all.

Originally Posted by Lmg2701

Took some time off for personal issues, but back at it now and here's where I'm at.

Looks like you lost that belly,,good shit bro..:thumb:

any progress or did you have another setback lmg? hopefully he's doing well and not falling back to old habits.

well here goes one unsuccessful thread..smh

Yea shame. Good guy. He's still around. Just has a lot of personal shit that always seems to make him stumble. Hope he wakes up one day and snap out of it.

Originally Posted by Bouncer

Yea shame. Good guy. He's still around. Just has a lot of personal shit that always seems to make him stumble. Hope he wakes up one day and snap out of it.

I mean damn just say something... Puff disappeared

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Originally Posted by boricuarage79

I mean damn just say something... Puff disappeared

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its a reminder of failure. who the hell wants to say, "well i still look like shit and haven't made any progress because of my issues". nobody wants to do that. so they just try and forget it.

Fucking waist of time reading a progress thread half ass!!

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Originally Posted by boricuarage79

Fucking waist of time reading a progress thread half ass!!

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Waste. Dumbass.

Originally Posted by Bouncer

Waste. Dumbass.

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