07-25-2017, 07:27 PM
Guess I'll throw in my 2 cents as well.
Coming into college I was 130 lbs soaking wet at 5'6 and looked like I was 14, so Tyler got me in the gym with him after freshman year. We did the typical "bro" workout of chest/back, arms/shoulders, and legs each twice a week (legs more like once every 1 1/2 weeks). Started off at laughably low weight (all 130 lbs of me couldn't lift much) and made the easy beginner gainz. Progress started to slow weight wise but over the next 2 years I gained 15-20 lbs of a combination of muscle and fat so I was happy. Mind you this was all while eating like shit since I had 10 punches a week on campus and never watched what I ate or chose very healthy choices.
Overall I went to the gym 5-6 times a week to lift, never did any cardio or stretching. Senior year I fell off the fitness train a bit and started only going 3-4 times a week, drinking the other 3-4 nights since I wanted to forget I was leaving JMU soon. Turns out that really takes a toll on your body and I got up to 160 with a slight beer gut and didn't make much progress in the gym.
After I graduated and dad made 10000 comments about my beer gut, I started going 5-6 times a week again and doing cardio 3-4 times a week of 15-20 minutes of high intensity on a bike with a 5 minute warm up and cool down. That got me down to 147, then gained 6 pounds back on my family vacation. Still wasn't eating healthy so for about the last month I've tried to change that. I eat parboiled rice with an egg and grilled chicken most days for lunch (I do put some yum yum sauce on it but I have to do something to make it edible), but its hard to eat healthy when my parents don't cook healthy or want to go out to eat 2-3 nights a week. I've convinced myself I'm only eating healthier stuff once I get to grad school in a week and I'm on my own.
Anyone starting out or somewhat beginner in the gym, listen to Taylor and get someone knowledgeable to work out with you or at least spot you and ask them about your form/what you should do to improve. Tyler was my "brofessor" and I feel like I probably would have gotten hurt if I was in there trying to figure out how to lift weights without someone like him there. But remember gym rats are like ricers, they think they know WAY more about something than they actually do, so take everything you hear in the gym with a grain of salt. Also find time to stretch, i never did and my body is starting to let me know that was a mistake. No injuries just random aches and pains a 22 year old shouldn't have.
After a few months of going to the gym, I started taking protein but have since kinda stopped. I'll probably start back when I get to grad school and reset my whole fitness stuff in a week. One thing I would recommend staying away from is preworkout though. After about a year of working out, Tyler convinced me to try C4, and it really does help. Way more energetic and you can actually feel like you can lift more/longer but it makes your head/face itch like hell which is kind scary the first few times. Like if you're not careful you won't realize you scratched so hard you drew blood. I didn't listen to the label either and never took any break from it for the next year. I found it really started screwing with my sleep schedule and I had mild heartbeat problems. I never got them checked out by a doctor, but most nights when I got in bed I'd notice I could feel my heartbeat and it was erratic which scared me pretty bad. I cut out preworkout and most caffeine other than the occasional soda with food or redbull after a really long night or if I have to stay awake on a long drive, and I feel and sleep much better now.
I want to switch workout plans from what I've been doing for the last 2 years since I feel like I'm not making any progress but I'm not really sure what I should change or who I should talk to so if anyone has any advice or guidance let me know.
Coming into college I was 130 lbs soaking wet at 5'6 and looked like I was 14, so Tyler got me in the gym with him after freshman year. We did the typical "bro" workout of chest/back, arms/shoulders, and legs each twice a week (legs more like once every 1 1/2 weeks). Started off at laughably low weight (all 130 lbs of me couldn't lift much) and made the easy beginner gainz. Progress started to slow weight wise but over the next 2 years I gained 15-20 lbs of a combination of muscle and fat so I was happy. Mind you this was all while eating like shit since I had 10 punches a week on campus and never watched what I ate or chose very healthy choices.
Overall I went to the gym 5-6 times a week to lift, never did any cardio or stretching. Senior year I fell off the fitness train a bit and started only going 3-4 times a week, drinking the other 3-4 nights since I wanted to forget I was leaving JMU soon. Turns out that really takes a toll on your body and I got up to 160 with a slight beer gut and didn't make much progress in the gym.
After I graduated and dad made 10000 comments about my beer gut, I started going 5-6 times a week again and doing cardio 3-4 times a week of 15-20 minutes of high intensity on a bike with a 5 minute warm up and cool down. That got me down to 147, then gained 6 pounds back on my family vacation. Still wasn't eating healthy so for about the last month I've tried to change that. I eat parboiled rice with an egg and grilled chicken most days for lunch (I do put some yum yum sauce on it but I have to do something to make it edible), but its hard to eat healthy when my parents don't cook healthy or want to go out to eat 2-3 nights a week. I've convinced myself I'm only eating healthier stuff once I get to grad school in a week and I'm on my own.
Anyone starting out or somewhat beginner in the gym, listen to Taylor and get someone knowledgeable to work out with you or at least spot you and ask them about your form/what you should do to improve. Tyler was my "brofessor" and I feel like I probably would have gotten hurt if I was in there trying to figure out how to lift weights without someone like him there. But remember gym rats are like ricers, they think they know WAY more about something than they actually do, so take everything you hear in the gym with a grain of salt. Also find time to stretch, i never did and my body is starting to let me know that was a mistake. No injuries just random aches and pains a 22 year old shouldn't have.
After a few months of going to the gym, I started taking protein but have since kinda stopped. I'll probably start back when I get to grad school and reset my whole fitness stuff in a week. One thing I would recommend staying away from is preworkout though. After about a year of working out, Tyler convinced me to try C4, and it really does help. Way more energetic and you can actually feel like you can lift more/longer but it makes your head/face itch like hell which is kind scary the first few times. Like if you're not careful you won't realize you scratched so hard you drew blood. I didn't listen to the label either and never took any break from it for the next year. I found it really started screwing with my sleep schedule and I had mild heartbeat problems. I never got them checked out by a doctor, but most nights when I got in bed I'd notice I could feel my heartbeat and it was erratic which scared me pretty bad. I cut out preworkout and most caffeine other than the occasional soda with food or redbull after a really long night or if I have to stay awake on a long drive, and I feel and sleep much better now.
I want to switch workout plans from what I've been doing for the last 2 years since I feel like I'm not making any progress but I'm not really sure what I should change or who I should talk to so if anyone has any advice or guidance let me know.
2013 BMW 135is
2010 Forester XT land boat - sold
2010 Forester XT land boat - sold