Stats

31yo male, 6'' / 183 cm , 163 lbs / 74 kg with 21% body fat.
Almost no sports for 1.5 years, gained 10 lbs of fat during that time.
I look thin with clothes on, but have a visible gut with the shirt off.
37.4'' / 95cm chest, 35.83'' / 91cm waist, 37'' / 94cm hips, 11.4'' / 29cm arms, 20'' / 50cm thighs.
I'm way weaker than a male at my age should be (as you will see from the weights that I lift). But that's always been the case, even when I did sports (mostly tennis but also some weights) on a regular basis.

Equipment

Powerblocks (5-45lbs), an incline/decline bench, a pull-ups bar, running sneakers. I'll start with what I have and if I get to a point where it is insufficient, I will try to acquire more.

Goals

In no particular order - get leaner, fitter, stronger

Medical issues

Moderate scoliosis - have to be careful about back exercises, otherwise my back hurts for weeks. That is why I will not be doing a lot of weight on squats/deadlifts/etc. at first. I'll start everything else slowly too to avoid injury.

My ancestors have heart problems so I shouldn't completely forget cardio.

More information

This thread has some questions on how to structure my program and some more background information:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85...nly-db-917516/

Comments and critique is quite welcome.

7nov - 13nov: not going to go into detail, but I did 4 workouts with weights almost never using more than 25 lbs in each hand (including for squats and deadlifts, for which even with that little weight my back seemed a bit sore while doing them, but about as always afterwards, which is encouraging).

And I swam 500m in 14min at the pool.

I found out I can do about 10 pushups and 4 pullups, which isn't much but will hopefully improve.

14nov

Exercise

I ran 5.4 km / 3.3 miles in 38 mins over somewhat hilly terrain. It was dark, wet and slippery at times, so I ran slowly some of the time. Supposedly, burned 536 kcal.

No weights as I did them yesterday.

Nutrition

Sugar (for coffee) 0.5 tsp
Oat porridge with milk 0.6 bowls
Jam 3 tsp
Whey Protein 4 Tbsp (heaped)
Pears 3 pc
Apples 2 pc
Stir fry (lean venison + pasta + veggies) 1 bowl
Milk 2% semi-skimmed 400ml
Fudge 16g
Bananas 1 pc
Muesli with milk 1.1 bowls

I did some calorie/etc. calculations, but since my kitchen scales haven't arrived I am not sure I've gotten it anywhere close to right.

Ended up with 2812 kcal with 155g protein, 57g fat, 435g carbs (46g fiber, 217g sugars). Most (70%) of the sugars come from fruit and muesli.

6% calories come from what I would consider junk food (sugar, jam, fudge). ~35% of calories come from milk+oats.

I don't trust many of the numbers as I don't find it easy to assess the weights, so I'm not sure how close that is to the truth. I measured my default bowl to be 450 ml though.

15nov

Not the greatest of days. Started with a 15 BI downswing (what stop losses?), ended down 8 BI (4 BI EV adjusted). Which means I ate only 2 apples during the first 7 waking hours and had a downbeat mood for the next few hours too.

My back also hurts a bit more than usually, not sure if it's the weights, the running, or just a coincidence.

Which means I didn't feel like I had a good workout, but I made an effort anyway. Was dizzy after squats a bit despite the weight used.

Exercise

Squats - 2*30 lbs, 3x12
Karate pushups (on knuckles) - 1x8
Pushups - 1x20 (looking back, depth could have used improvement)
Bench presses - 2*30 lbs, 1x12; 2*35 lbs, 1x10
Seated shoulder presses - 2*25 lbs, 5+4; 2*20 lbs, 6


Nutrition

Apples, 3 pc (285 kcal)
Jam, 3 tsp (84 kcal)
Oat porridge with milk, 0.8 bowl (464.4 kcal)
small boiled potatoes in skin, 3 pc (216 kcal)
ground pork with half-fat crème fraiche, 0.3 bowl (162 kcal)
Whey Protein, 2 Tbsp (heaped) (118 kcal)
Fried eggs, 4 pc (380 kcal)
Muesli with milk, 1 bowl (638.5 kcal)

Total: 2348 kcal, 121 p, 79 f, 295.34 c, 34 fib, 137 sug

P.S. My kitchen scales are in the mail. Until they arrive, the weight of stuff I eat for most of the stuff is my estimation, so the calories are off. The proportions should be more accurate though.

good luck

Thanks, I might need it, as today my back hurts more than usual and also one of the knees hurts a bit (it felt a little bit sore yesterday so I warmed up very thoroughly before squats and thought it would be fine).

I might have to skip deadlifts tomorrow and just do pullups / rows .

More protein, less carbs.

Doug, thanks, will try to follow that advice.

16nov

Exercise:
900m swimming, front crawl and breaststroke in about 30 minutes

Nutrition:
Oat porridge with milk, 0.6 bowls
Jam, 3 tsp
Stir fry (pork + veggies + a little bit of rice), 0.7 bowls
Apples, 2 pc
Fried eggs, 4 pc
Milk, 300 ml
Whey Protein, 2 Tbsp
Banana, 1 pc

17nov

My back is getting better, I think. My knee still hurts. Therefore I didn't do deadlifts even though they were planned . Might do tomorrow if it feels better.

The only bright side was that I figured out a way to do inverted bodyweight rows using a long beach towel and my pullups bar.

Exercise:
Pullups 5 + 1 + 1
Inverted rows (body straight but not horizontal, inclined, legs on the floor) 5 + 4 + 4
Single arm row 20lbs, 12; 25lbs, 12

Nutrition:
Soya nuts, 30 g
Apples, 1 pc
Banana, 2 pc
Oat porridge with milk, 0.7 bowls
Jam, 4 tsp
Stir fry (pork + veggies + a little bit of rice), 0.7 bowls
Rye bread with camambert, 3 slc
Clementines, 1 pc
Milk, 800 ml
Whey Protein, 4 Tbsp

My knee felt good and my back better too so I decided to try some deadlifts and squats, mostly to record a video so hopefully you can correct my form.

Doing both exercises I concentrated on not bending my back and keeping it straight. Looking at the video, it seems to me that my back is too rounded in the bottom.

However, it "feels" straight while doing it and seems if I did it any straighter I would fall over backwards, so I'm not sure how to fix it. I have serious flexibility problems, but I'm not sure what the solution is besides stretching.

Any advice will be appreciated.

YouTube - Deadlifts 40lbs 20 reps
YouTube - Deadlifts 60 lbs 20 reps
YouTube - Squats 60 lbs 20 reps
YouTube - Squats 60 lbs 8 reps (wider legs than usual)

I just had an epiphany. I don't think most of my back pain is from scoliosis. Yes, I have that in the thoracic region, but I did the physio exercises and pain there is now very rare.

I think I have Lower Crossed Syndrome, as the physio told me I have tight hamstrings, hence the pain in the lumbar region.

http://figureathlete.t-nation.com/fr...r_body_posture

Which means I need to work my abs (planks?) and glutes (squats?) and keep stretching my hamstrings.

Are there any glutes isolation exercises that would be worthwhile doing in my situation?

Dumbell swings as I said in your other thread. Also glute bridges.

Thanks, Doug!

18-Nov

Exercise:
Deadlifts
Squats
Plank (65sec + 60sec)


Nutrition:
Bananas, 2 pc
Fried eggs, 4 pc
Milk, 650 ml
Oat porridge with milk, 386 g
Jam, 22 g
Clementines, 2 pc
Beef with vegetables, 300 g
Quinoa, 300 g
Whey Protein, 4 Tbsp

19-Nov

I'm either getting lazier or fitter as I feel less DOMS lately.

And after my yesterday's "I call them deadlifts but they are actually strange quasi-good-mornings" I had DOMS in lower back (in addition to my usual lower back pain in a slightly different spot).

Oh and lol I bought fish oil omega-3-6-9 supplements and calcium caseinate "pre-bedtime" protein. And started taking multi-vitamins.

Exercise:
Karate pushups (on knuckles) 10
Pushups 12 + 8
Bench presses 2*35 lbs 1x10, 2*40 lbs 1x6
Standing shoulder presses 2*25 lbs 1x3 (lol), 2*20 lbs 6+8

Nutrition:

Bananas, 2 pc
Whey Protein, 30 g
Calcium Caseinate, 30 g
Milk, 800 ml
Pret Chicken Jalapeno Hot Wrap, 1 pc
Pod Food Thai Red Chicken Curry, 1 pc
Sushi with salmon, 2 pc
Pret Pomegranade soft drink 105 kcal
Vitaminwater xxx soft drink 95 kcal

20-Nov

Exercise:
Just streching / physio exercises

Nutrition:
Oat porridge with milk, 400 g
Raspberry jam, 34 g
Apples, 2 pc
Sugar, 1 tsp
Wholegrain pasta, 113 g
Chicken fillet & mushrooms stir-fry, 315 g
Milk, 600 g
Whey protein, 24 g

21-Nov

Exercise:
6.4 miles of brisk walking in the city (probably doesn't really count as exercise)

Nutrition:
Sugar, 1 tsp
Whey protein, 24 g
Milk, 380 ml
Fried eggs, 4 pc
Indian dinner (chicken fillet tandoori, lamb ishtu, naan) - lots
Red wine, 230 ml

Recorded my deadlifts/squats again.

Deadlifts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxvJHcHdbJY

Squats:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzKYICdCmU

Comments are very welcome.

22nov

Nutrition:
Milk, 400 g
Whey protein, 26 g
Apples, 3 pc
Chicken fillet & mushrooms stir-fry, 331 g
Oat porridge with milk, 300 g
Pink grapefruit juice, 257 g
Bananas, 1 pc
Rye bread, 2 pc
Italian dinner - chicken with vegetables,
Limoncello, 1 sml gls

Exercise:
None (rest day)

23nov:

Nutrition:
Milk, 400 g
Whey protein, 25 g
Calcium Caseinate, 12 g
Pret Make & Nigiri Sushi , 1 pc
Pod Thai Red Curry, 1 pc
Bacardi rum, 66 g
Cranberry juice drink, 267 g
Rice, 80 g
Sweet and sour pork, 120 g
rye bread with camambert, 2 slices

Exercise:
None (too busy at work)


24nov:

Nutrition:
Milk, 800 g
whey protein, 50 g
calcium caseinate, 30 g
bananas, 2 pc
pret jalapeno chicken hot wrap, 1 pc
wagamama chuchee chicken curry, 1 pc
starbucks oat scone thing, too sugary, 1 pc
rye bread with camambert, 2 slices

Exercise:
1 hr of karate class including pushups, squats and other bodyweight exercises

DL - noticed at the bottom your heals come up slightly meaning that some of your weight is shifting forward on your toes. I'd look at keeping almost all of your body weight on your heals through the entire lift.

SQ - at the top, looks like the bend in the knees starts about the same time or even earlier than the bend in your hips. I'd try and make sure you sit back with your hips first a few inches before your knees ever start to bend.

Thanks, 3shells, good points and I will try to follow your suggestions!

don't use exaggerated hip break. if anything you should drill the bottom position (parallel or below, which you're not reaching), and then start with knees forward first before your hips really move. your knees are moving for the whole descent, when you can get all their movement taken care of in the first half or less.

milesdyson, sorry but I don't really understand what you are saying. Are you referring to the deadlift or the squat? And are you opposing 3Shells advice of moving the hips on the squat before the knees?

squat ("parallel or below" and "start with knees forward" should make this clear), and yes.

milesdyson, got it now, thanks.