When I was about 21 years old, I was at my lowest
mental state and my heaviest bodyweight… 200 lbs. At 5’9”, I was
a sight to see. I honestly couldn’t tell you my measurements, or
my b.f. (which could have easily been over 40%) I refused to get
pictures taken of me. In fact, the picture you see before you
was just as I was starting to lose the weight, in this photo I
weigh 180 lbs or so. I was bloated, pale and acne ridden.
Depression set in, and I thought all was lost. Being that family
was my only outlet for support, I stayed close with my siblings.
My eldest sister Genevieve would always let me stay over at her
house for summer vacations and the like. And it was through her
that I met her husband Glenn Pratt: my brother-in-law, my
friend, and my future mentor. He was at the time my driving
force to getting back into shape. This man is single handedly
the most driven gym minded guy I have ever met in my life. A
natural athlete, he stands around 6’2” 240 lbs. He is a
phenomenal guy and was the man who opened my eyes to
bodybuilding. I saw him as a happy go lucky guy, and I never saw
him lose his temper. Two summers ago, I spent about two months
with my sister and Glenn. During that time he mentored me
through the beginning stages of my body development. Suggesting
proper diet tips, working through his normal routine, he also
forbade me to drink anymore sweetened drinks: soda, juice, and
the like.
He was my mentor. He was my motivation, he
showed me a picture of himself when he was 19, very skinny, and
gawky, and he told me that it would be easier for me to get into
shape than it was for him for two main reasons: Being heavier
means a natural affinity to strength training. And the most
crucial: I wanted it more. And so I set off, week after week,
month after month, of strict eating and exercise. I would be
remise if I didn’t share with you the reader what steps I took
in greater detail. So where should I start? Perhaps the diet?
Being a personal trainer, I am afforded some
liberties in my eating schedule, I am able to then schedule
clients around my eating habits, which helps keep me lean all
year round.
A normal day for me would consist of :
8:30 am breakfast with plain oatmeal a scoop of
protein powder for flavor, a banana, and a cup of coffee.
10:00 am workout lasting about an hour (details
to follow)
11:30 am protein shake with another banana (hey
I like’em)!
1:30 pm snack that would usually include low fat
cheese and triskets. If something in the area was unavailable, I
would probably munch on a power bar or it’s equivalent.
4:00 pm “power lunch” of what would usually
consist of grilled chicken and some sort of whole grain, be it
brown rice, wheat pasta, or even sliced chicken on whole wheat
bread.
7:00 pm, the one meal of the day that varies
most, but for argument’s sake, I usually like to cook some sort
of Mexican, with chicken and refried beans (fat free) some
low-fat shredded cheese, and plenty of water…I like my food HOT.
9:00 pm, unwinding from the day, I like to eat
yet another banana and a cup of peanuts, unsalted this pretty
much finishes my eating day. Going to bed 2 hours later, and the
cycle continues.
At first, my routine had a huge focus on cardio,
each day was a beginning 15 minutes on the treadmill, followed
by my daily splits.
My splits consisted of one to two muscles per
day, and most sets and reps are set up in the classic
composition of 3 sets of 10,8,6. Unless otherwise noted that is
how I worked each of my muscles to their current status.
Monday: quads and calves.
Warm-up with light leg-extensions 2 sets 20
Free bar squats
Hack squats
Leg presses with lower footing
Leg extensions (working sets)
Standing calf raises, four sets of failure
Seated leg raises, again four sets of failure
Tuesday: chest
Warmup with dumbbell bench press 1x15
Flat dumbbell presses
Incline dumbbell presses
Incline flies or flat flies
Cable crossovers
Pec deck
Wednesday: back
At first, I was unable to do a single pull up,
and as I progressed pull-ups became a fast favorite…. Over time
pull-ups became so easy and natural, I was forced to move up to
weighted pull-ups to get any sort of feeling out of the
exercise.
Pull-ups
T-bar rows
Seated rows
Bent over dumbbell rows
Dead-lifts
Hyper extensions 3 sets of 10. no weight.
Thursday: shoulders
Warm-up rotator cuffs, 2 sets of ten for
abduction and adduction
Dumbbell military presses
Upright rows
Front raises
Lateral raises
Cross body cable side raises
Single arm reverse raises
Reverse flies
Shrugs…. Yes I save my shrugs for last because I want to leave
the gym feeling like I couldn’t raise my arms to scratch my
head, that is what a shoulder day feels like.
Friday: Bi/Tri
Preacher curls
Standing barbell curl
Close grip bench
Weighted dips
Hammer curls
Reverse grip curls
Overhead extentions
Tricep pushdowns
Hercules curls
Kickbacks
Saturday: hams and calves
Warmup with lying leg curls 2 sets of 20
Stiff legged dead lifts
Leg press with a higher footing
Walking lunges (length of the gym, about 25 per leg) 2 sets
Lying leg curls (working sets)
Standing calf raises 3 sets of failure
Seated calf raises 3 sets of failure
Saturday off
Sunday off
As I progressed, I found myself not needing the
cardio component as much to control my weight. This phenomenon
was caused by proper diet and proper diet cannot be stressed
enough in this day and age.
Tips I suggest to people wanting to lose weight:
1. Please do not drink your calories. Unless
it’s a protein shake, more than likely a large quantity of your
calories may be coming from juices, sodas, and alcohol…. Please
abstain.
2. Limit yourself to no more than 20 minutes on
the treadmill at a time, unless you are a trained marathon
runner, or are training to become one, your body will not burn
fat but burn muscle to keep up with the dramatic increase in
energy needs.
3. I know people say to eat your fruits and
vegetables, but the truth is fruits are one of the WORST things
to snack on throughout the day, specifically because of its
naturally high sugar levels. Leave the fruits alone. Yes, I eat
bananas but they are lower in sugars, and contain plenty of
natural water and potassium, two very important keys in
maintaining a healthy water balance. Which brings me to my final
point.
4. DRINK WATER! Tap, bottle, rain,
whatever….water has been proven to help aide in weight loss.
Flushing blood toxins, clearing your skin, it even can give you
energy if you are deprived. Water is the miracle drink. I drink
so much water, I find myself having to get up in the middle of
the night to alleviate pressure, sometimes twice! But my 29 inch
waist thanks me.
