Ex-Marine needs help staying in shape

J

jsbeckton

0
OK, so as you can see I joined the Marines after high school, I was in horrible shape, very skinny(125lbs) and weak. Durring my four years I got into pretty good shape (160lbs-10% body fat) weight training 3-4 times per week along with the whole "Marines stuff" although my eating habbits were unspeakable, and I was a heavy smoker.

I stopped working out when I was discharged, lazy I know. I lost 10-15lbs over the next year and was pretty skinny again (150-155). I was skinny even though I ate bad and didn't excersize at all.

Then about 2 1/2 years ago i stopped smoking cold turkey, and then slowly but shurly the weight started comming. I was getting a gut so I started running about a month and a half ago, went from 180lbs to 170lbs, then started weight training last week. Here is my routine-

Workout#1
Bench press 3x8
Incline Press 3x8
Decline press 3x8
Chest Flys 3x8
Bent over tricep extensions 3x8
Overhead dumbell tricep extensions 3x8
Cable pulldowns 3x8

Workout#2
Low pulley rows 3x8
Lat pulldowns 3x8
Bent over dumbell rows 3x8
shrugs 3x8
barbell curls 3x8
Dumbell hammer curls 3x8
Forearm curls 3x8

Workout#3
Seated dumbell presses 3x8
Behing the neck dumbell presses 3x8
Lat raises (front) 3x8
Dumbell flys 3x8
Upright rows 3x8
Weighted crunches 3x12
Leg raises 3x12

I got to school in Pittsburgh so I get a leg workout everyday walking around this very hilly campus.

I have forgotton the correct names for some of these. I have really made an effort to cut down on calories lately, its not really hard to cut back from where I was before (4 cans of pop per day-avg).

I am starting to see gains in all of my muscles after just 2 weeks (back up to 176lbs), but even though I have been running about 2 miles 2-3 times a week after my workout (not ideal I understand) I have not seen any improvements in my gut, I can feel the abs under there but can't see them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
 
walking on a hilly campus, is NOT a leg workout. it might be a little light cardio at best, but it's no substitute for squats, deadlifts, calf raises.

Leg raises/extensions are actually pretty hard on your knees, and again aren't a sub for 'real' leg workouts.

diet more than anything is gonna affect fat loss, which is how you get abs to show up.
we all have abs...but most have too much fat covering them. since you cannot spot reduce, you simply train the whole body including abs, and clean up your diet.

I think your workouts are too 'advanced' for your level of training. 2.5 years of non-training, you're practically a beginner trainee again.

I would vote for 3x a week full body workouts INCLUDING LEGS.
try http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031 as a start for 2 months, and fix the diet.
 
malkore said:
walking on a hilly campus, is NOT a leg workout. it might be a little light cardio at best, but it's no substitute for squats, deadlifts, calf raises.
Click to expand...

I take it you have never been to Pittsburgh? Just kidding, I get your point.

When I say "hilly", I mean walking up and down ~62 flights of stairs a day(I have made it a habbit of using the stairs instead of the elevators), 5 days a week. (I'm an engineering major so out of curiosity I used a topo map and did the math). You say light cardio but I say its like an hour a day on the stair climber, 5 days a week. Plus with just 10 minutes inbetween classes, I have to go fast!

Anyways, I do know what you mean but if I did legs, I don't know if i would make it to class(w/o elevators). I guess I have neglected my legs (like many) because I have really muscular legs and no fat. But you are right, have to fit them in there somewhere.

FYI, my knees are in really bad shape from the Marine Corps, it turns out that running with a backpack full of sand isn't so great for long term health. We would also go on hikes where you carry a pack that weighs as mush as you for up to 25 miles. Are there any leg workouts that would be good for me?

Although i don't know how accurate it is, my scale says that i am at:
175lbs
16% body fat
57% water

I guess I am aiming for about 10-12% body fat, I am not overweight at all, just can't se my abs because of about 1/2"-1" of fat. Nowhere else do i have much fat.

I feel comfortable with my current workouts, Its about the same that I started at before, I have already gained 1" on each arm and 1.5" on my chest. Why should i switch to total body, 3 x a week? (not complainig, just want to know why).

If I stayed on my current w/o schedule, watch my calories, will the gut eventually go away?

Thanks for the info.
 
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