I started off with a whole body workout 3 times per week, with one set to failure per body part per workout. That was a pretty efficient workout for a beginner but I eventually hit a plateau with that. Then I went completely to the other side and started doing a high volume split workout where you do a lot of sets for a specific body part each day. So for example, if Monday was chest and Tricep day, I would do a bunch of sets and excercises for just those two areas. I found two problems with that. The first was that I would be massively sore the next day or two. And the next problem was that by the time the following Monday rolled around 7 days later, I would feel like those body parts had atrophied right back to where they were the previous week or two. I never felt like I really gained anything by letting so much time pass by between working out the same body parts. That's how I ended up with the type of split I'm doing now. I really feel like working out the same body part twice per week is the way to go, at least for me anyway. I think that the compound vs. isolation argument is too granular. The only thing that truly matters in my opinion is workout consistency over time. About 1 minute. Perhaps a little longer on intense leg exercises.
back when you were a potato compared to now, how intense did you start out,how did you keep going and not revert to potato status
I think the real key is making small changes to your daily routine on a weekly basis that ultimately add up to being significant over time. Too many people try to change everything at once in the very beginning and it all just seems so overwhelming very quickly, so they eventually just quit. I really don't think anyone who is just starting out should try to make major changes their diet, work out like a mad man, and do a bunch of cardio right from the start. That's a recipe for feeling like shit to be honest with you. I recently wrote an article just for fun called "How to become a better version of yourself in 7 days" which explains this incremental approach. I will post it as a separate thread in case anybody wants to read it. Once I got the ball rolling with working out and began to see changes, I realized that I never wanted to go backwards. That's when it hit me that I wasn't on a diet or some 16 week routine. I had to embrace that it was a lifestyle change, and there would really never be a point where I could just say "I'm going to stop trying now." As with most things in life, the joy is really in the journey of improving, not in actually obtaining the goal. The only thing that reaching a goal means is that you need to set another one.
You looked like the typical skinny nerd that could never hope to get much from training. The transformation is nothing short of amazing. You give inspiration to skinny nerds everywhere.
Has anyone here been on Adderall ?? I am prescribed 40MG a day but occasionally I will go up to 60MG.. I workout everyday for at least 1 hour -- mix of cardio / weights and I am constantly eating. I am 36/ 5'6" male and barely 135LBS. Over the last few months, I have fluctuated from 132-136LBS.. I hate to say it but amphetamines were used for weight loss prior to the 1960's. I am also taking Prozac and another med (Nuerontin). I am not ashamed to say it, I am ADHD with depression but this med combo has made me more on the manic side but the weight loss/maintenance without having to count calories is great
The weight loss sounds really good, but if you don't like the manic part of it, I'd recommend going to talk to the doctor about it. That's not a side effect I'd mess around with.