Monday, September 9, 2013

1981: My First Time at the Gym

I was doing push-ups, sit-ups, curls and shoulder presses at home but really wasn't doing much more at home. It was my sophomore year in high school and I wandered into the weight room after school. I took a look around and decided that I would start lifting.

Of course I started with the teen age boys idea of power, the bench press. I put maybe 100 pounds on and proceeded to get stuck with the weight on my chest. I probably weighed about 120 pounds at the time. I swallowed my pride and started with maybe 55 pounds.

Over the next six months I went from that 55 pound bench press to a 1RM of around 225 pounds. I weighed somewhere between 135 to 140 pounds by spring and had transformed my body.

My first workout was full body, 3 to 4 times per week and went like this. I always increased the weight with each set. Usually rested 2 to 3 minutes.

Sit-ups  3x25
Pull-ups 3x10
T-bar rows 3x10
Bench Press 3x10
Incline Bench 3x10
Leg Press 3x10 (sometimes hack squat)
Leg Curls 3x10
Tricep Press Downs 3x10
Curls 3x10 to failure
Shoulder Press 3x10

Walked about 1 mile home.

My diet was pretty much.

Breakfast:  Cereal maybe orange juice. I sometimes drank a couple of whole eggs mixed with orange juice.
Lunch:  Milk or Kool-Aid like drink. Cookies (if I was saving my lunch money) sometimes the hot lunch.
Snack after school workout. Milk maybe a sandwich.
Dinner: Whatever mom made. She was big on a meat, green vegetable, yellow or orange vegetable and a starch.

I didn't track calories, do muscle confusion, get a protein shake within 30 minutes of working out or have casein at bedtime. I just lifted progressively increasing the weight, ate when it was time and sleep. Never heard of over training. Played basketball some evenings and weekends and rode my bike everywhere.

I didn't have a coach but I did pick up a Muscle and Fitness magazine with the money I saved from limiting my lunch.


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