Starting all Over Again!!

[Stiff1]

Hi all, starting to train again after 5 years of nowt!! Previously, I used to workout at least 5 days a week, and then did 6 months training focussing on powerlifting and had good results, then went dairy farming and time for the gym went out the window. And before you say it, I know you have to make the time, but that would need to be before 4am and after 8pm because all hours in between are work hours, seven days a week!! Well those were the old excuses, time to stop the bullshit, over the last 12 weeks I've lost 17.5kg of kebab (still a ways to go, still happy tho) and started throwing some weight around. Back in the day I was benching 130kg squating 240kg deadlifting 260kg and was leg pressing 500kg!! Nowhere near those numbers now but still feel strong, just not conditioned, I want to focus more on getting some fat off and building a generally more balanced body shape progressivly getting bigger. I really need to spend some time getting my head around supplimentation and better diet, this is really where my knowledge is lacking I have no idea how to calculate how many calories or protien or anything that I should be eating so any direction would be great!! I currently weigh 105kg and 5'11" tall (147kg was my heaviest) I am fairly strong but not real fit, if that makes sense, so putting a fair bit of effort into cardio as well as lifting. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

wow 5 years off.. well welcome back to home sweet home then man!

problems with diet? running a farm? probably got most of the good stuff available right at home :nod:

hmmm to explain it simply (diet), it's all about how much energy you expend during the day vs how much energy you put in to you (food/drinks).

when the two are perfectly balanced you'll remain the same.

if you want to shed some fat (or just weight in general) you will want to make it so that there is either less food & drinks or more energy expenditure (your cardio, harder gym workouts etc.).

when you're talking putting on weight, it's the opposite - incoming energy must be greater than the energy you expend.

there is a more in-depth guide here : content.php?id=162

and a calculator to help you figure out how to balance that scale here : content.php?id=186

to check what you get from foods, simply start by checking the nutritional facts label on everything (or look it up in free online databases such as myfitnesspal.com). as a beginner you may be pretty uncertain about getting quantities right so it pays to weigh things for a while until you can just scope by eye the correct serving sizes of stuff for you.

for the lifting side i couldn't say much, looking forward to see how you progress coming back and maybe you can teach me how to get those kind of numbers some day :shifty:

[Stiff1]

Firstly thanks for the advice on the diet. it seems like it'll be a mission weighing everything and reading labels and working crap out but at the end the results should stack up!! I can't believe after all the work I did to get to where I was, I let it all slip, never again, too much hard work to waste. One advantage of being a farmer is that my job is very physical and alot of the movements we do in the gym I also do at work, deadlifts are like picking calves up and we calve 900 cows, I change 1800 sets of cups a day so arms in good nick, hopefully this would have helped retain some muscle condition, albeit hidding by some unhealthy eating. Once I figure out how to work this site properly I'll try put up some photos so I and whoever is interested can see how things are going, watch this space I guess.....haha

[Stiff1]

Here is a more in-depth guide here : content.php?id=162

and a calculator to help you figure out how to balance that scale here : content.php?id=186

:shifty:

This is all good stuff here thanks again, muscle and gym science I know but the diet and supp side of it ??? This will help alot..

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

Here is a more in-depth guide here : content.php?id=162

and a calculator to help you figure out how to balance that scale here : content.php?id=186

:shifty:

This is all good stuff here thanks again, muscle and gym science I know but the diet and supp side of it ??? This will help alot..

that first link really covers a lot of diet, did you have any specific questions in mind?

when we speak of supps, first consider the definition of supplement, "Something that completes or enhances something else when added to it." - the key is the diet and the supplementation is merely there to help you in terms of convenience (shakes as protein source where too tired/lazy/don't want to eat whole foods like chicken) or help fill in gaps in your diet (vitamins where diet is lacking in veges, omega oils etc.).

[Stiff1]

"FellowshipOfTheRon" the key is the diet and the supplementation is merely there to help you in terms of convenience

so if I understand correctly, supplementation isn't neccessarily required if we are eating correctly? I would be looking to ensure as faster recovery as possible, being that my job can be extremely physical, I really can't afford to be too buggered haha And I tend to throw everything at my workout, so really looking for recovery assistance if anything.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

"FellowshipOfTheRon" the key is the diet and the supplementation is merely there to help you in terms of convenience

so if I understand correctly, supplementation isn't neccessarily required if we are eating correctly? I would be looking to ensure as faster recovery as possible, being that my job can be extremely physical, I really can't afford to be too buggered haha And I tend to throw everything at my workout, so really looking for recovery assistance if anything.

well protein intake will be the primary force there but also good use of carbs will help you out so you're not feeling knocked out the next day when it's time for work. supplementation wise i'll leave that for others to comment but at least one I've tried in the past which helped reduce effects of soreness majorly was 'HICA Max' (basically leucine)

[Stiff1]

well protein intake will be the primary force there but also good use of carbs will help you out so you're not feeling knocked out the next day when it's time for work. supplementation wise i'll leave that for others to comment but at least one I've tried in the past which helped reduce effects of soreness majorly was 'HICA Max' (basically leucine)

Yeah thats the hard one, I love the feeling after a workout when you are totally wrecked, but you feel so pumped!! But for me the next day I feel sweet, the second day, I feel a bit tight, and the third day, man down!! haha Its too hard to milk 900 cows twice a day when you can't lift you arms above your waist, but don't want to hold back in my workouts either something will end up being the loser, need to find a balance I guess, but also I'll look at HICA Max and if that helps then I'm into that!! Thanks again for your thoughts, another mind on the job certainly helps.

[Kalidane]

You can buy straight Leucine which is usually the way to go.

I grabbed some here last week http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/leucine-p ... ech-1.html

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

^ yeah buying straight leucine will be heaps cheaper... i'm not sure how much more effective the 'leucine metabolite' HICA is but huge price difference so prob worth a shot t just Leucine powder first.

one thing that'll help heaps with reducing that damn doms (definitely will help if you haven't been doing this), i do it now at the end of each session: 5~10mins real good stretching! do all the stretches, hold them nicely

[Stiff1]

^ yeah buying straight leucine will be heaps cheaper... i'm not sure how much more effective the 'leucine metabolite' HICA is but huge price difference so prob worth a shot t just Leucine powder first.

one thing that'll help heaps with reducing that damn doms (definitely will help if you haven't been doing this), i do it now at the end of each session: 5~10mins real good stretching! do all the stretches, hold them nicely

You can buy straight Leucine which is usually the way to go.

I grabbed some here last week http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/leucine-p ... ech-1.html

Ye, I'm pretty big on making sure I warm up and warm down properly, including stretching, best way to hurt yourself is to shortcut in these areas I believe. I was having a bit of trouble finding someone who supplied HICA Max, "FellowshipOfTheRon" where were you getting yours?? And "Kalidane" is Leucine still real effective? It's a hard call in some ways, because mega bucks can be spent on products that all say they do a similar job and every now and then you stumble across a reasonably priced product that still offers good results, often the name is part of the price, or "Who" is endorsing the product. Having said that, I would spend the extra if I was getting a far superior product. For, example, I use Balance Ultra Ripped Protein, mainly because I'm trying to lose weight (fat) Its costing $176 for 3kg, which seem fairly well priced to me, it tastes good and I've lost 19.1kg as of yesterday morning so it seems to work for me, but haven't seen anyone else using Balance products, is there just far better stuff I should be looking at?

Going back to the Leucine, is it common practice to take a Creatine at the same time? I have used Micronised Creatine in the past with good results, and feel that for the cost (not that bad) you get good benefits. Sorry if I sound like I'm going around in circles, with what you guys are saying and with what I'm reading, shits starting to make sense, about time I say, not the sharpest tool in the shed haha, cheers guys

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

^ yeah buying straight leucine will be heaps cheaper... i'm not sure how much more effective the 'leucine metabolite' HICA is but huge price difference so prob worth a shot t just Leucine powder first.

one thing that'll help heaps with reducing that damn doms (definitely will help if you haven't been doing this), i do it now at the end of each session: 5~10mins real good stretching! do all the stretches, hold them nicely

You can buy straight Leucine which is usually the way to go.

I grabbed some here last week http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/leucine-p ... ech-1.html

Ye, I'm pretty big on making sure I warm up and warm down properly, including stretching, best way to hurt yourself is to shortcut in these areas I believe. I was having a bit of trouble finding someone who supplied HICA Max, "FellowshipOfTheRon" where were you getting yours?? And "Kalidane" is Leucine still real effective? It's a hard call in some ways, because mega bucks can be spent on products that all say they do a similar job and every now and then you stumble across a reasonably priced product that still offers good results, often the name is part of the price, or "Who" is endorsing the product. Having said that, I would spend the extra if I was getting a far superior product. For, example, I use Balance Ultra Ripped Protein, mainly because I'm trying to lose weight (fat) Its costing $176 for 3kg, which seem fairly well priced to me, it tastes good and I've lost 19.1kg as of yesterday morning so it seems to work for me, but haven't seen anyone else using Balance products, is there just far better stuff I should be looking at?

Going back to the Leucine, is it common practice to take a Creatine at the same time? I have used Micronised Creatine in the past with good results, and feel that for the cost (not that bad) you get good benefits. Sorry if I sound like I'm going around in circles, with what you guys are saying and with what I'm reading, shits starting to make sense, about time I say, not the sharpest tool in the shed haha, cheers guys

Creatine Monohydrate : It's pretty much a year 'round supp. Very cheap and proven supplement. Yes you can take this and Leucine at the same time if you want. Don't fall for the expensive brands like CellTech etc.

Local brands such as NutraTech offer the same thing (but without the extra random sugar crap) at ~$20 for 500grams which lasts a very long time.

Balance Ultra Ripped Protein : At $176 for only 3kg you are getting 'ripped' alright. If you are interested in thermogenics (for fat loss assitance) then why not buy some caffeine capsules/green tea extract separately and just source some straight WPC/WPI for your protein supplementation? Depending on how much protein you actually supplement, you stand to save yourself a fortune over the period of a year - savings could be put towards other more important things like real food.

HICA Max : I don't take it any more because I couldn't personally justify the cost (was about $37 NZD a month for me) just for the reduction of DOMS. The other marketed effects were increased strength and better gains but I don't attribute either of these to this product. I ordered it in from Bodybuilding.com when I used to get it. I don't think NZ suppliers stock it and unfortunately if they did stock something like this it would be about double the price here - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/lab/hica-max.html

As we all learn on our journey here, spending more is not always better. You may have some 'favourite' supps from time to time but eventually you learn to look in to what actually makes this supp work for you and you may find that it's just one ingredient doing the 'magic' & you can go out and just buy that instead of using this big expensive product with 'proprietary blend'.

[Stiff1]

Balance Ultra Ripped Protein : At $176 for only 3kg you are getting 'ripped' alright.

WOW!! I had seen this same product for up to $285 so I thought I was getting it for a good price haha how wrong was I!! I see what you mean, Nutra Whey for example which has similar ingredients is around 35ish a kg. This is why I joined this site, its amazing what you can learn shooting the breeze with people. I am certainly going to spend more time shopping around and comparing products, also like you say look at the core ingredients that I feel are where the benefits are from and work backwards from there, half the crap I may not even need. I think my diet is fairly good, I just dont eat rubbish anymore and take real care with my portion sizes, haven't started measuring what I eat yet but I guess that'll be the next stage of working out what I'm getting and therefore what I'm missing, its actually a complex exercise in a way, I mean its not like everyday consists of the same food!! Let the games begin, got 6kg to go to reach 25kg of fat busted so workin for that.