first time in a long time!

[rasczak]

for the first time in approximately 6 years, i weighed in at 198 as of lunch time (normal workout time) I so far have dropped roughly 30lbs. I still have some belly fat, but the bulk of it has gone. i'll try to get some pics up to show you the before and after later this evening.

 

[brikis98]

congrats! dropping under 200lbs is a big milestone. how tall are you? what have you been doing to lose the weight?

 

[rasczak]

yes it is. now i have 15 lbs to go. I'm 5'11 3/4. I stops working out for a while, but was able to keep my diet fairly regular, no spikes in eating. I was playing basketball regulary for the past four months m-w-f, and just added weightlifting back into my normal wekkly regimen.

i workout like so

mondays

bent over rows

reverse flys bent over

pull ups/chin ups

lat pull downs

and end with some weighted abdominal exercises. (i'm not sure what to call them, but I take a rope handle, and attach it to the lat pull down machine and do weighted crunches/pulldowns.

wed

bench

flys

incline bench

push ups

and same ab routine

fridays

OH press

and various should exercises of which i do not know the name

more ab work

after each workout (30 mins) I play basketball for 30mins to cool off. (usually very hard rigorous games i might add, so I'm getting the added benefit of cardio work)

I am unsure as to when to incorporate more leg work, but i definitely need to get it in there. time is an issue though. i wsa thinking t-thurs for deads/powercleans/squats (alternating by week) with heavy emphasis on ab work.

it's not SS, but it's working for me which is making me happy to see actual results. i know that part of the weight loss can probably be attributed to having taken some time off of the weights and going back in and "shocking" my body into consuming more calories.

one thing i have noticed though, i do not seem to be working my abs hard enough as when i work abs, i don't feel any burns. have any suggestions?

 

[brikis98]

Sounds like me and you have been on a similar path. I started cutting in mid April, at 223lbs. I'm down to 182lbs now, with just 2 more to go. It's a long journey, but very very rewarding.

Originally posted by: rasczak
one thing i have noticed though, i do not seem to be working my abs hard enough as when i work abs, i don't feel any burns. have any suggestions?

I'm not positive I understand the question, but it sounds like you're saying that you don't feel a burn any more when working your abs? If that's the case, it's important to mention that "the burn" is not an indicator of ANYTHING other than lactic acid building up. It does NOT mean your workout is any more or less effective. It can certainly feel good, especially when it's accompanied by "the pump", but neither is an accurate indicator of a good workout.

Instead, I recommend focusing on numbers - if you are progressively able to increase the difficulty of your workouts, then your routine is "working". For example, if you were able to finish 3 sets of 20 sit-ups one workout, 3 sets of 25 the next, and 3 sets of 30 the next, you've made progress, and that's a clear indicator that you're doing something right, even if you don't feel "the burn" during any of the sets. However, if you come in to the gym and do the same 3 sets of 20 every single day, and can't improve, then you are accomplishing absolutely nothing.