smallasian721

I was recommended to this site by Slash, who wished for me to post my workout journal here. I thought "Why not? Always nice to have more support"... Anyway, here it is, copied from the BB.Com Site...

Hey guys. My name is Joseph... here's some background about my interest of lifting weights.

At about Fall of Last Year, I was an overweight (5 feet 4 inches, 141 pounds), unathletic, chubby ASIAN kid, always picked last for teams, and teased constantly, both about my race and my weight. I was also very sensitive, and hated being fat, however, I was naturally very hungry, lacked discipline, and knew nothing about nutrition (Hell, I thought Frosted Flakes were good for you, cause the commercials said so).

One day, a group of girls in lunch started teasing me ruthlessly, about my weight. Chubby Chong, they called me. Being very sensitive at that time, I broke into tears, and at home that day, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. I decided once and for all I would try to change my weight. I convinced my dad to buy a treadmill, and every day, I would run 3 miles a day, as fast as I could. Also, I started learning the calorie values of all my foods that I ate, and started counting calories.

At first, all went well. For about 2 months, I ate about 1600 calories a day, and ran 3 miles a day. I began dropping weight incredibly fast, and all was well. However, as I dropper weight even faster, I began to always sense that I was still chubby. I slashed calories further, to 1200 calories a day, and ran even more. I began losing weight (and muscle, although I didn't realize it, alarmingly fast.) Soon, my friends and family began telling my I was slowly wasting away.... But I slashed calories even further.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I went from 5 ft 4 inches @ 141 pounds, to 5 ft 5 inches @ 95 Pounds in about 4 months. I was sick, pale, tired all day, and severely anorexic. I estimated at that low low time, I was eating about 800-900 calories a day. I dreaded every little calorie, and even wouldn't use mustard. I lost so much muscle, and energy, that getting up out of a chair, or walking would become a difficult and draining task to me. Eventually, everyone at school became concerned. I knew it was time to change, when the school counselor and my parents talked to me and told me that if I didn't do something about it, they would have me confined to a hospital.

So I started forcing myself to eat gradually more and more calories.. 1000 this week, 1200 next week, then 1400, then 1600. At this time, I began to fall in love with weight lifting, as my friend who was concerned about me told me to lift weights and eat as much red meat as I could get my hands on, to grow big and athletic. (Which Is what I really wanted in the first place).

So over the summer, I began going to my gym, and researching weight lifting. My first attempt at the squat and bench press just BLEW ME AWAY. My max squat- 55 Pounds. Yes. Thats right. 55 Pounds. Max Bench- 50 Pounds. After 2 months over the Summer, however, by eating 2200 calories a day, and lifting weights with a fairly crappy routine, my bench went up to 85 Pounds, and my squat went up to 105. By then, I had gained about 10 Pounds, weighing in at 105.

Now, as school has started, I immediately signed up for weight lifting as my elective. I plan to have it as my elective for the next 3 years, throughout my high school. In this time, I plan to change my life, gain mass, and finally, gain the self confidence I have wanted for so very long.

LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN...

smallasian721

Current Lifts-
Max Squat ATG- 155 Pounds
Max Bench- 115 Pounds
Max Deadlift- Just STARTING THESE...
Pull-Ups- BWx6
Chin Ups- BWx12
Military Press- 75x1 Pounds
Bent Over Rows- Just STARTING THESE... Edit* Estimated to be around 90x5...

Since my weight lifting class relies on a 5 day (very bad) split, I have adjusted the split to not overtrain muscles. I will be cheating the coach at times, and I just hope he doesnt notice. The problem is, because there are so many people in weight lifting class, I have acess only to either a squat rack on mondays and fridays, and a bench press on tuesdays and thursdays. I can't get to both at once.

On Saturday, I go to my gym, which has no squat rack (WTF), but a good bench press.

Here is my program.
This program is sort of based on Rippetoe's, using the same progression method. I use 3x5 sets across, except where specified. If I can attain all reps of all 3 sets, then I raise the weight next week. If I cannot, with good form, then I stay on the same weight.
Monday-
Squat 3x5
Bent-Over Rows 3x5
Weighted Chins 2x5

Tuesday-
Bench Press 3x5
CG Bench Press 2x5

Wednesday-
REST

Thursday-
Military Press 3x5
Bent Over Rows 3x5
Weighted Chins 2x5
Weighted Crunches 1x15
Leg Lifts 1x15

Friday-
Squat 3x5
Deadlift 2x5

Saturday-
Bench Press 3x5
CG Bench Press 2x5

Plan of Progression- After achieving Every Rep of Every Set for exercises, raise the weight 5 pounds. If all Reps are not achieved with good form, continue at the same weight next session.

smallasian721

Ok, so my first workout...

Military Press 55 Pounds 1x5 1x5 1x5

Bent Over Rows 45 Pounds 1x5 1x5 1x5

Done.

Wow... after doing 70-75 pounds on the military press, 55 pounds feel so light. It's almost disheartening, using so little weight. However, I guess it's necessary to only start out with 70 percent of your 5RM on Rippetoe's.

Could I ask someone just WHY I need to reset my weights to such a low weight at first on Rippetoe's? I pisses me off using so little weight for my first 2 weeks or so.

Diet For Today-

Upon Waking Up- 5:00 AM 1/2 scoop whey... 10g protein, 50 calories.

30 Minutes Later- 5:30 AM 3 oz Chicken Breast 24g protein, 100 calories.
1 Slice WW Bread, 80 Calories 3g Protein
1/2 cup SugarFree Pudding- 70 Calories 4g Protein
1/2 of a Low Sugar Granola Bar- 70 Calories 2g Protein
2 Egg Whites 30 Calories 6g Protein

8:45 AM (Between Classes at School)
3 Hardboiled Eggs 230 Calories 19g Protein
1.5 TableSpoon of Peanuts 70 Calories 3g Protein

11:05 AM Lunch
4 Slices Turkey 100 Calories 24g Protein
1 Slice WW Bread 80 Calories 3g Protein
1 Small Cookie 50 Calories (Bah, I have no discipline... my friend gave it to me)

12:40 PM Post Workout (Why the hell do I need postworkout? Oh well, I ate it anyway.)
1 Granola Bar 120 Calories 2g Protein
1/2 scoop Whey 50 Calories 10g Protein
A REALLY SMALL POSTWORKOUT...BECAUSE I REALLY DIDN'T HAVE A WORKOUT...

1:35 Snack
2 Slices Turkey 50 Calories 12g Protein

3:30- Right Now
4 Slices Turkey 100 Calories 24g Protein
1 Slice WW Bread 80 Calories 2g Protein
1/2 cup SugarFree Pudding 70 Calories 4g Protein
1/2 TBSP of Peanut Butter 2g Protein 50 Calories

Thats my diet so far... As you see, I am aiming for 1950 Calories today, and my protein intake is definitely in check...

smallasian721

Friday-

Wow... I slept through this workout...
Squats 95 3x5
Deadlift 95 1x5

Deadlifts were harder than I thought, though... but still REALLY easy. Damn, i just want to go back to heavy weight now. It feels like everything im eating goes to fat these days.

Diet is in check... it's 4:00PM, and ive already gotten 100+ grams of protein.

My god, its so annoying using 95 pounds again in squats. Some fkher came up to me and told me "Why the hell are you using a girl weight"... I can't wait til im a monster squatting 3 plates.

He fkhing uses 225 pounds and does a goddamn quarter squat. I swear, he doesn't even go down 5 inches. When I ask him to try it deep, he says "Nope, it's bad for your knees".... Pansy.

smallasian721

wow.... im depressed

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

I woke up this morning, looked at myself in the mirror, and felt fat. And then, I stepped on the BF Scale and it read 16% BF... and then my mom said "Hey, you need to watch it, your getting rounder in your face"... I basically just got fat off of 8 weeks of fkhing 2300 calories. Pretty much, i gained 6 pounds of fat and 20 pounds on my bench press, probably newb gains anyway. What ABSOLUTELY CRAPPY RESULTS. I almost feel like quitting, and I feel burnt out.

Damn, I just want to go on a cut. Apparently, im a former fat boy, who packs on lard faster than you can eat a doughnut. Im dropping calories to 1750-1800 for now (I will bump it to 1900 when workouts get hard), and eating carbs only around breakfast, and minimal other carbs during the day. I will not exceed 150g of carbs a day.(I will be eating cabs around workouts, also, but only when they get harder. I probably don't want to cut when my lifting weights are so light, but ill eat at or a tiny bit above maintenace. Im figuring my maintenance is 1700 calories, so Ill eat 1750.

Proteins and fats every meal of the day, except breakfast now.

LIFE SUCKS... everything I do just seems to make me feel weaker and fatter like I was before.

Going to do my super light deload bench workout later.... What a pain. Not even a good workout to look forward to.

And hears my diet so far-

Breakfast-
1/2 scoop whey. 50 calories 10g protein
1 slice light double fiber high protein bread 40 calories, 5g fiber, 4g protein.
1/2 of a small banana. 50 calories.

I didn't feel like eating. Felt so depressed. Just sat down in my room and moped for 2 hours.

Later- 2 pork steaks. 150 calories, 15g protein

Now- 10:30-
1.5 TBSP Peanut Butter 6g protein 130 calories
1 1.5 oz Chicken Breast Tender 50 calories 12g protein
1 slice low Carb Bread (Same as above)
1/4 of an apple. (For vitamins)

smallasian721

im never gonna quit... I already predetermined that. No matter what. If getting ripped involved spending 9 hours in a gym, and cutting your wrist with it, I would still do it. I didn't whine, either. I did something about it. I just cleaned up my diet even further, and reexamined. For now, I plan to consume 1800 calories a day, putting me about 50 calories above maintenance. Then, when weights get heavy again, I will go to 1900-2000 calories, or 200-300 above maintenace, giving me a slow slow bulk.

Loading days- 1800 calories. 40% Fat 40% Protein, 20% Carbs
Days where I can still get 3x5- 2000 calories. 30% Fat 40% Protein 30% Carbs
Days where I fail to get 3x5- 2050 calories. 20% Fat 40% Protein 40% Carbs

I will do my best to mantain 95% cleanness, and limit carbs to before, after workouts, and breakfast. Every other time is still protein/fats combination. And Yes, I KNOW I am a FFB (Former Fat Boy). I am also endormorph. For so long, everyone was telling me to eat 2600+ calories, and guess what, I got fat off of 2200-2300. But Ill try my damn best to get past my genetics and move mountains of weight.

Today-

Bench Press 85 3x5
Close Grip Bench Press 75 3x5

All done in about 20 minutes =)

Easy as hell... considering my 5RM Max is 105... currently.
This is a lot worse than doing my RM Maxes. It tortures me to move substandard weight. But it's what I have to do, and Im determined to stick it through.

Im weak, but Ill try my damn'd hardest to change that.

smallasian721

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

Damn, Im just itching to lift weights... Eeergh...

Too bad I STILL can't lift any heavy weight, until about 1-2 weeks from now =(

*Goes around looking for something to do***... I get angry and snappish when I can't lift =(

1900 Calories Eaten Yesterday (I meant to do 1800, but I got hungry =(
1850 Will be eaten today. I ALWAYS keep protein up. Today, in church, which lasts from 8:00-12:00, I packed a little baggie full of peanut butter and whey, put it in my pocket, and at around 11:00 at church, while everyone else was singing hymns, I went to the bathroom in church, and wolfed it down in the men's stall =0.

Yeah, I know, thats going a little extreme... But I'm paranoid about small details like that =)

God, im such a loser. A 120 pound weakling who can hardly bench his own bodyweight chugging protein powder, and dreaming about lifting weights.
=(

I should be eating pizza and ice cream while playing video games, still...

smallasian721

Not a bad workout today. I took squats to hell, like actually pushing my thighs into my calves =) Now THATS ATG....

Still easy, however, I did feel a little bit of discomfort on the last one.

Rows are too easy, will be bumping to 65 next workout. Squats will be 115 next workout. The deadlift Ill keep low, because I need to perfect form first. A screwed up back is nothing to joke about.

Squats 105 3x5
Rows 55 3x5
Deadlift 100 1x5
*EDITED* I also did Wide Grip Chins, 2x5 Unweighted...
I almost forgot I did these... Next week I will be adding 5 Pounds to these...

Good day today... planning to eat around the region of 1900 calories. Probably less.

Tommorow-
Bench Press 90 3x5
Close Grip Bench 80 3x5

Damn, can't even go high on bench press tommorow. Call me a bench press whore, but I value a big chest over any other muscle group, so I place a lot of concern over my previously plateaud bench press.

smallasian721

errghh... so so workout today...

Bench Press 95 3x5
(My cheeky little spotter snuck on an extra 5 pounds on the first set, because he obviously doesn't know what loading is... after yelling at him a bit, I decided what the hell, I might as well just do 3x5 95. I meant to do 3x5 90... sigh...)
Close Grip Bench Press 85 2x5
(Since my bench jumped 10 pounds, I jumped my close grip bench 10 pounds also.)

Things are starting to get a bit harder. I took a little bit longer than usual on the last rep of the last set of close grip benches, and bench press felt heavy... WTF...

Doesn't look like im stronger AT ALL... but how can I expect to be stronger when Im still loading, anyway? For some reason, I feel weaker... WTF?

WTF, my previous 5RM Max was 105 pounds. Now even pulling 95 3x5 feels slightly heavy on the last set. I hope I can at least do 100 3x5 next week. Wish me luck on this one.

Eating 2100 calories today. According to the scale, on 1850 calories my weight has remained constant at 121.4 (of course, my scale says my bodyfat has jumped to 19 percent... BULLSHIT)...

Man... I eat, sleep, and think getting strong now. This has become an obsession.

*NOTE- Do you guys think I should do 95 3x5 and 85 3x5 again this saturday on my benching session? I really didn't mean to make such a big 10 pound jump... (BLAME MY DAMN SPOTTER)...

For now, the plan for next chest workout on Saturday
Bench Press 100 3x5
Close Grip Bench 90 3x5
I SHOULD.. be about at my previous max weight around here....

smallasian721

sigh... so so workout today...

Military Press 3x5 @ 65 Pounds... Pretty good, no PR though... My previous PR was 70x4...
Bent Over Rows 75 3x5... Gettin' Harder... Might need to make less jumps now...
Wide Grip Chins +5 Pounds 2x5 Kinda hard... Damn, Im getting weaker...

Sigh... Im getting tired these days now. I know I need to be patient, and that results will come, but Im so sick of being small, skinny-fat, and weak.

So, to recap it all, in around 4 months of working out, I gained a measly-

Bench- 55 Pounds to ~115 Pounds
Squat-Like 70 Pounds to ~165 Pounds Parralel (Not sure about ATG Yet)
Deadlift-??? Pounds to ~???
Pull Ups- 2xBW to 6xBW... (Weight Gain, hard to keep up)
Military Press- ??? to 75 Pounds

Of course, all Newbie Gains...

And Ive also gained a ton of fat... Ive gained like 25 Pounds, around 10-12 of which are fat. Damn endomorph genes... I will probably be posting pics soon... I look like a frikkin skinny fat slob, with no muscle whatsoever.
I may do either a zigzag diet (Lowering carbs to like 10g, and calories to like 1300 on rest days, to deplete glycogen, and then raising above maintenance on workout days),
or just keep Bulking, and then do a hardcore Timed Keto Diet to hopefully strip off the fat. Now that I realize my maintenance is around 1700, however, I assume I can pack on fat less, by only eating like 200 calories above maintenance.

Im tired of seeing guys who eat honey buns, PB&J Sandwhiches, Twinkies, etc. All day lift a few weights and explode in strength and size, and then laugh at me for pulling girl weights. After 4 months of working out, and clean eating, tons of guys START squatting +100 Pounds more than me, and I can't even bench my own bodyweight. Some of my "genetically gifted" friends give me strange looks when I pull out a chicken breast on whole wheat pitas, while their shoveling down their twinkies and PB&J Sandwhiches, while they get bigger each day, and I stay small and fat. And it's not lack of effort while working out. When I did my old split, I would do 95% of my Max for 2-3 Heavy Ass Repititions to failure, hoping to gain strength. I gained great strength for like 3 weeks, and then I just gained fat, and no more strength. Apparently my genetics (or whatever else the hell is wrong with me) dictate that I plateau at a frikkin 115 pound bench press. Damn my genetics. Damn my effort. Damn it all.
END RANT...

Sorry that you guys have to listen to my whiny Emo B*tchin'... Anyway, onto business...

Anyway, tommorows workout-
Squat 115 3x5 (Moving up 10 pounds) ATG... (Man, TRUE ATG is hard, I estimate my 5RM ATG is 135...)
Deadlift 1x5 135 Pounds (Or less, if I find my form slipping... it's time to get serious now.. no more "adjustment" crap... Im just gaining fat from "adjustment".)

Saturdays Workout-
Bench Press 100 3x5 (If I don't make this... Im going to go into a depression for like 5 days...)
Close Grip Bench Press 2x5

1quick1

nice to see you made it man!

smallasian721

Ok, to cap it all off, I started a program based On RIPPETOE'S STARTING STRENGTH, with variations, however, because I cannot acess squat and bench on the same day.

I reset to 80% percent of my 5RM, and quickly worked back up. I am now almost back to my previous PR's, and hopefully (prays to God), I can break them. I just turned 14...

Abyss

WOW dude, that is one hell of a story, I am proud of you bro, good job on the change, you seem full of potential, I will def be following this journal man, no problem, have some reps!

smallasian721

I got a pretty good workout today-

Squats 115 ATG 3x5... (Getting harder...Not killer yet- Will move to 125 Next Week)
Deadlifts 135 1x2 (I finished my second set, and then I said to myself- Hell no, I don't wanna **** my back... my form was "a little off"... I have problems keeping my back straight....)
So I dropped to 105 and did 1x5...- Will move to 115 or so next week...

Earlier today, my dad told me that he would not take me to the gym on saturday, so I included my benching/tri's workout with today's workout, because my friend who is a senior, who uses the bench press today, allowed me to "work in with him" *NOTE- I NORMALLY CAN'T DO THIS!!!.. And it went fairly well!

In fact, the first set felt so light, and so easy, that by my third set, I didn't even ask for a spotter, because I knew there was no way in hell I couldn't get this myself.

Bench Press 100 3x5 (Weight went up fast):th_icon_2thumbsup:
Close Grip Bench Press 90 3x5 (Some trouble on the last rep of the last set...)

So if I get 105 3x5 NEXT TUESDAY, I will have OFFICIALLY broken my PREVIOUS PR! Wish me luck!I will be consuming 2100-2200 calories today, as I did both squat and bench press in one day (which I normally do not.. although Rippetoe's reccomends it..) However, I will be zigzagging calories on rest days, so I will probably eat like 1700-1800 tommorow and Sunday.
I feel much better now, knowing I havn't gotten weaker (At least I think), and can do 100 3x5 easily.

?Also, does someone know how I could make tiny 2.5 pound jumps, with stuff like bench and military press? I have a feeling I can't make 5 Pound jumps after 105 or 110 or so on bench, and after 70-75 military I probably need to only do 2.5 jumps. How much do the little clips weigh, that you use to hold weights in place?