Hitting the weights again

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Immediately after the state wrestling tournament my junior year of high school I hit the weight room and hit it hard. I lifted from late February until football started in mid August. I gained a huge amount of mass. For an incoming high school senior I was strong as hell. I don't remember exact maxes because I never wrote anything down but I hit somewhere in the high 200s on bench, high 300s on deadlift, and mid 300s on squat weighing a little over 200 at 5'10"

To make a long story short: I'm a freshman in college now and haven't touched weights in over a year due to injuries and other bullshit. I weigh 250 pounds now. I've kept most of my muscle mass but gained a lot of fat and probably lost a lot of strength. I'm currently recovering from a slight lower back injury but that should clear up very soon and I'm hitting the weights again. I'm going to be doing the same basic powerlifting routine I used in high school. Jim Wendler's 5/3/1. I'll keep you guys updated. I might turn this into a progress log once I start lifting again if that's allowed

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

Good luck , condition yourself so that you don't cause injuries.

[Padawan787 Moderator ReservePEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Padawan787]

Are you looking for more bulk? If not, don't forget to do some cardio/ interval training in order to lose the fat that you've accumulated. The added agility and quickness on your feet will benefit you more than the added mass on the football field.

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Good luck , condition yourself so that you don't cause injuries.

Will do, thanks for the advice. Wendler advises to start very conservatively on the first mesocycle of his program and ease into heavier weights. That's what I did back in high school and made huge gains for 6 months straight without any injuries. The injuries didn't come until I stopped lifting

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Are you looking for more bulk? If not, don't forget to do some cardio/ interval training in order to lose the fat that you've accumulated. The added agility and quickness on your feet will benefit you more than the added mass on the football field.

My main focus is strength but I definitely want some size too. I'm going to clean up my diet and put myself in a small caloric deficit so I can slowly lose fat while gaining my strength back. I'll be doing sprints and plyometrics in addition to moderate cardio as well. I'm done wrestling and playing football now that I'm in college but I'm still going to train like an athlete because I'm considering playing intramural rugby or getting into BJJ

[Raider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Raider]

About 10 days ago I was 6'2 225. I want to cut fat off though so I went on this low carb/high protein diet. I'm already down to 215 and I'm actually seeing my 6 pack for the first time in my life. I'll for sure have it in another week or two.

All I've been doing is cutting out the following from my diet: Pasta, rice, bread, tortillas, milk, soda, ketchup, bbq sauce, potatoes and bananas.

The necesities: 12 oz of lemon water a day, an apple a day. I'm allowed to eat any meat (steak, fish, chicken, deli meat), black beans, veggies, whip cream, honey roasted nuts, burgers or hot dogs from anywhere but without the buns, eggs and cheese sticks. The point is to keep your carbs under 100g a day.

In two more weeks Ill be changing up my diet just a little bit and also changing up my workout plan. For the past few weeks I've been doing metabolic workouts which I highly recomend if you're trying to cut down.

[turkeysandwich Member Find all posts View Profile Close turkeysandwich]

Low carb high protein definitely works best for cutting, for ur last couple weeks I'd drop ur carbs down even lower, and consume ur carbs in ur first 3 meals. Also eating every 2.5 hrs is huge, and people saying dont eat before bed Have no idea what the r talking about. But slow digesting protein is best, cottage cheese or casein protein. Cardio is definitely a huge thing. Abs r definitely made in the kitchen I lost 50lbs and have a 6 pack and never workout my abs

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Thanks for the advice guys. My junior year of high school I went from 215 to 171 in under 2 months to get down to my wrestling weight. Of course some of it was water weight but I'm planning on following the same diet I followed back then. Lean meats, eggs, rice, oatmeal, and lots of vegetables. No flour or dairy and I kept fruit to a minimum. I basically only ate fruit to satisfy cravings for chocolate, ice cream, and stuff like that. I drank at least a gallon of water a day, usually close to 2 gallons. Wrestling for a well established program was serious and I really learned how to play with my fat stores and water weight. I'm not gonna try to lose as quickly as I did back then because there's no need for it and it was extremely unhealthy. I'm planning on being in a moderate caloric deficit, 300-500 calories at most

[Raider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Raider]

You're going to be restricting yourself to 300-500 calories a day?! As a fellow athlete I know you're most likely supposed to be eating close to 3,000 (Mine was 3,400) calories a day so I wouldn't be eating less than 2,000. Just be careful though. I have had many friends in wrestling and I know how crazy they can get...This one guy I met was getting down to 3-4% body fat and would put vaseline on the bottom of his feet so when he stepped on the electronic scale it would show him at 7 or 8%

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

No, sorry if I was unclear. I'm going to be in a deficit of 300-500 calories a day. So if maintanence requires 3000 calories a day, I'll be eating 2500-2700 calories a day. I haven't sat down and done the math to find my maintenence needs but 3000 is probably a pretty good estimate at the moment.

A lot of my teammates did crazy stuff like that. I learned pretty quickly how to play with my water weight so I was very good at cutting weight. Every year except my senior year of high school I would regularly lose 5-10 pounds the day before a match and feel great because I knew how to do it right. The most I ever cut was 16 pounds

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

My main focus is strength but I definitely want some size too. I'm going to clean up my diet and put myself in a small caloric deficit so I can slowly lose fat while gaining my strength back. I'll be doing sprints and plyometrics in addition to moderate cardio as well. I'm done wrestling and playing football now that I'm in college but I'm still going to train like an athlete because I'm considering playing intramural rugby or getting into BJJ

Contact sports can hurt your body and find existing issues out . Be sure you are ready.

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Contact sports can hurt your body and find existing issues out . Be sure you are ready.

I'm only 18 and already have 6 partially torn ligaments. I COMPLETELY understand the stress contact sports put on your body but I've been an athlete my whole life and I'm not planning on giving up that lifestyle anytime soon.

That being said, thank you very much for your advice and concern. I'm going to take plenty of time to prepare before jumping back into any sports

[Padawan787 Moderator ReservePEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Padawan787]

My main focus is strength but I definitely want some size too. I'm going to clean up my diet and put myself in a small caloric deficit so I can slowly lose fat while gaining my strength back. I'll be doing sprints and plyometrics in addition to moderate cardio as well. I'm done wrestling and playing football now that I'm in college but I'm still going to train like an athlete because I'm considering playing intramural rugby or getting into BJJ

Awesome, definitely do rugby! Have you ever played before?

The thing that really sets rugby apart from other sports is the fact that it's very physical, so size and strength are important, but endurance and physical stamina are even more important! Don't get too big. You see loads of guys who bulk, and bulk, and bulk, and sure, they are beasts, but they lose their explosiveness and endurance. They're great for the first 20mins, then they're dead on their feet for the rest of the match.

Do strength work, and gain some mass, but try and stay relatively lean. Don't neglect the plyometrics and stamina work! There is no point in being beastly if you can't get to a ruck, or can't keep up with play.

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

Oh yeah, Rugby's intense. The hits aren't as hard as football but that's only because there's no pads. Everything else about rugby is crazy. I read somewhere that in an average NFL game the ball is only live for 7 minutes but the game lasts over three hours. Factor in special teams, back up players, and the fact that 99% of players only play on one side of the ball and each player only sees about 3 minutes of actual live game time over 3 hours.

[closed076 Member Find all posts View Profile Close closed076]

I'm going to start finding out my 1 rep maxes on deadlift, squat, bench, and overhead press so I can start the Wendler 5/3/1 program. Was planning on going today to max out on deadlift but I'm fighting a cold right now. I'll probably go tomorrow.

I have a question for mods or any members who might know. Are progress logs allowed in this section of the forums?