Hello, I'm new to the site. 
I'm 24yrs old, and have been smoking on and off now for about 4 or 5 years. When I was in high school, I didn't smoke - I ran track (8th-11th grade), cross country (7th-9th grade), wrestled (9th grade), always made sure I had a PE class every semester, and took a weight training class in 11th grade (17yrs old). I haven't run since I got out of high school, started smoking right afterwards (not sure why), and generally lost all discipline.
I want to start again. My goals are to build some muscle mass, but not a lot, and to tone the hell out of what I have and what I add to it. I suppose I'm looking for what I had before - a body built and designed for sports, not for looks or for setting weight records. I've looked around on the forum quite a bit, looked at the weight training 101, and the links included. I want to figure out a new regimen to get back into, and reading some of those threads and articles is making me remember bit by bit. When I was in that weight training class, we followed a very strict, very organized schedule, 5 days a week. Every single day, we'd start with stretches, jumping jacks, pushups, and crunches, followed by a medium paced jog that varied in length depending on the day. We would then go into the weight room and follow the chart that had been determined by our 1RM's in the first week, working on upper body exercises on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and lower body on Tuesday and Thursday. There were high-strength days, and there were low-weight, high-rep focused days. It was an excellent program, but I can't remember enough specifics to write up my own regimen.
I understand that I need to stop smoking - that is going to be first and foremost, although it will be more difficult than usual. I take medication for a neck problem, and makes me want to smoke more often - just as many narcotic pain killers have the same effect. I'm not really sure what to do about that, since my doctor says that there's really not any other option for medication, and without it the pain is unbearable. But I'm going to try - I've quit before, I'm sure I can do it again.
My diet will be changing while I work on controlling the smoking. I remember in high school, my calorie intake was between 3500-4000 calories a day, although I seriously doubt it will need to be that high now, as I don't burn (and don't plan to be burning) as much energy these days, and I'm not a growing teen anymore. I do remember what kinds of foods to eat though, and will train myself to get used to several meals a day.
I guess after all that, what I want to know is if there is anyone else that has been in the same position as I am in - smokers that got back into strength training, and maybe even with experience in the past like I have. What obstacles did you have to overcome? What made it easier? What should I expect? In addition to that, I'm curious if there's a basic formula for writing out a regimen, because it sure seemed like everything was pretty clearly figured out in that high school class. It seemed like he took our body weight, height, 1RM's, and was able to quickly and easily hand us a sheet for what our lifting schedule would be for the next 8 or so weeks. Can it really be that easy?
Sorry so long, thanks for helping me get back on the right path...
I'm 24yrs old, and have been smoking on and off now for about 4 or 5 years. When I was in high school, I didn't smoke - I ran track (8th-11th grade), cross country (7th-9th grade), wrestled (9th grade), always made sure I had a PE class every semester, and took a weight training class in 11th grade (17yrs old). I haven't run since I got out of high school, started smoking right afterwards (not sure why), and generally lost all discipline. I want to start again. My goals are to build some muscle mass, but not a lot, and to tone the hell out of what I have and what I add to it. I suppose I'm looking for what I had before - a body built and designed for sports, not for looks or for setting weight records. I've looked around on the forum quite a bit, looked at the weight training 101, and the links included. I want to figure out a new regimen to get back into, and reading some of those threads and articles is making me remember bit by bit. When I was in that weight training class, we followed a very strict, very organized schedule, 5 days a week. Every single day, we'd start with stretches, jumping jacks, pushups, and crunches, followed by a medium paced jog that varied in length depending on the day. We would then go into the weight room and follow the chart that had been determined by our 1RM's in the first week, working on upper body exercises on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and lower body on Tuesday and Thursday. There were high-strength days, and there were low-weight, high-rep focused days. It was an excellent program, but I can't remember enough specifics to write up my own regimen.
I understand that I need to stop smoking - that is going to be first and foremost, although it will be more difficult than usual. I take medication for a neck problem, and makes me want to smoke more often - just as many narcotic pain killers have the same effect. I'm not really sure what to do about that, since my doctor says that there's really not any other option for medication, and without it the pain is unbearable. But I'm going to try - I've quit before, I'm sure I can do it again.
My diet will be changing while I work on controlling the smoking. I remember in high school, my calorie intake was between 3500-4000 calories a day, although I seriously doubt it will need to be that high now, as I don't burn (and don't plan to be burning) as much energy these days, and I'm not a growing teen anymore. I do remember what kinds of foods to eat though, and will train myself to get used to several meals a day.
I guess after all that, what I want to know is if there is anyone else that has been in the same position as I am in - smokers that got back into strength training, and maybe even with experience in the past like I have. What obstacles did you have to overcome? What made it easier? What should I expect? In addition to that, I'm curious if there's a basic formula for writing out a regimen, because it sure seemed like everything was pretty clearly figured out in that high school class. It seemed like he took our body weight, height, 1RM's, and was able to quickly and easily hand us a sheet for what our lifting schedule would be for the next 8 or so weeks. Can it really be that easy?
Sorry so long, thanks for helping me get back on the right path...