Just so everyone knows – I weighed about 275-280 for about 4 years. Before I had been around 220-245 and in fairly good shape. So the weight gain was forced and part of a plan to increase my powerlifting total.
So it was some serious overeating and serious under moving. But it got to the
point where I no longer wanted to be that big – I was out of breath, my health was in the sh!tter and everything was awful.
I did drop to about 225 for awhile and am now back up to 240. I feel good at this weight and am much leaner now than I was years ago. So here is what I did:
Diet
1. Eat smaller portions – I began by eating the same crap I was before only less of it.
2. Remove one bad thing from your diet at a time.
After that - just look at what a bodybuilder does for his diet and follow it as much as you can. I don’t care what anyone says – you know what to eat and what is clean. People just choose not to do it. I pretty much eat the same stuff everyday:
• Eggs
• Chicken
• Brown Rice
• Wheat Bread
• Cottage Cheese
• Fruit
• Oatmeal
I only eat food until I’m satisfied. So I rarely finish a normal meal at a restaurant. I limit all protein drinks (I’ve had 4 in 6 months) and prefer to eat whole food. I do not count calories or any macronutrient. That is gay. If you want to lose weight, eat less. If you want to gain, eat more.
Conditioning:
I started doing some sled dragging to take the pressure off my knees and
because this is all I could do without passing out. After I got in better shape, I started doing a variety of conditioning work:
1. Running
2. Stairs
3. Bodyweight Circuits
4. Walking with weight vest
5. Sled work (running/walking)
6. Riding bike
Then I got a Prowler and this has made up the bulk of my conditioning for the
past year or so. This thing kicks my ass and I now use it as a warm-up and after I train. I try to condition after every single training session and my “off” days are exactly that. Nothing extra.
Lifting:
This really didn’t change that much, I just could try to do different things because I wasn’t just concerned about my 3 lifts. Just train heavy and break records… I don’t train to train. That is a waste of time in my eyes.
Listen – if you lose weight you will get weaker..in the short run. Be patient and it will come back. There were some days that I was weaker than a 4 year old boy. Now I am able to do some of the things I did 40lbs ago…and some lifts are even better. The problem is that no one wants to realize that this stuff takes time and
it’s a long process. Lifting weights and getting stronger is not something for the 2007 American Citizen. We all want it NOW.
If someone wants to get stronger, better shape and in better condition, here
is the model to follow:
• Warm up with Parisi Warm up
• Perform one big movement (squat, dead, clean, bench, military) for one or
two hard sets.
• Perform 3-6 assistant movements with a bodybuilding rep scheme
• Condition with Prowler for 15-20 minutes
Do this 3 times a week and you’ll be fine – you won’t be the biggest, strongest or
best conditioned person in the world – but you’ll have a little bit from every world.
