Hey everyone, new guy here saying Hi. Just joined the forum and wanted to introduce myself and ask for a little help. I just finished reading BtGB and really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to getting started on some training, but really don’t know where to start or how to design a program suited to my needs, so I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction. Little (long) back story on me…36, 5’11â€, 185lbs. I’ve always been super skinny, just couldn’t put on any muscle and have tried several dozen workout plans over the years. Been in and out of the gym for about 15 years now. About 2 years ago I discovered Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and made some unbelievable (to me) gains. I followed his most basic plan, started packing in nearly 4,000 calories a day and put on just over 30lbs in 3 months! Things were going great, except for a little excess fat that I was OK with since I was bulking up so quick, but just after I hit the 200lb mark I pulled a groin muscle that took a ridiculously long time to heal. This coupled with a new job killed my entire workout and I’m now skinny-fat. Gotta love the pear shape. lol Anyway, I’ve just started getting some cardio going again and have been doing my old lifting program for about 5 weeks. Thing is, this time around I hate it. I’m sore, I’m tight, I’m tired and just not interested in it for some reason. Last week while doing dead lifts I lost concentration and tweaked my lower back a bit, and that was that. I remembered reading about Coach Sommer’s book back when I was into lifting so decided to give it a read now. I really like the concept here and have given up on going for pure size. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m just a small framed guy, so what I’m really looking for now is functional strength and flexibility. I read the book, but just don’t know what to do now, so here’s what I’m looking to do based on what I’ve read so far and come across in the forums.
1) Increase flexibility – I have almost none. I cannot touch my toes or really do anything that requires flexibility. I also feel this is the culprit of some of my lower back pain that comes and goes.
2) Improve wrist strength – Definitely something I need. I did break my left wrist years ago, but they just don’t have the strength/stability to handle the heavy loads needed for some of these moves.
3) Increase strength – Of course I want to do this.
4) Minimal workout time – It’s not that I’m not dedicated, but my current schedule just doesn’t leave much time to hit the gym. Taking into account 8 hours sleep and my work day, I have anywhere from 3-3.5 hours free time a day. Now free time includes, eating dinner ,doing things with the family and getting house stuff done. The last few weeks I’ve been cutting my sleep down to 6.5 hours and getting up at 4:30AM to workout. While it’s nice to have peace and quiet, 4:30AM is EARLY!!! And I’m not particularly a happy morning person. :roll:
So there it is in a big nutshell, what I’m hoping to accomplish. Gain some useable strength while increasing my flexibility and feeling better overall without spending countless hours in the gym. And I’d really like to do this without lifting free weights if possible. So is this realistic? Can you guys help me design a program? I understand things take time, so I’m really not expecting a miracle, I just want to feel like I think I should at 36.
Thanks,
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I'm sorry to ask, but I'm very anxious to get started and don't want to either waste my time, do the wrong things and lose interest, or hurt myself. Thanks.