Jooki's Log

[Jooki]

Hey Gang!

So, for the first time in my life, I'm really serious about getting fit. I've never been the athletic type, but I've always found I've been fine.
33 years old, 5'9" tall, and 279.4 lbs as of this morning.
I generally eat a very balanced diet, maybe a little protein heavy at times, but mostly around 1700-2000 calories a day.
I've always been able to walk anywhere I've wanted, but it's starting to get harder to buy clothes off the rack. It's wierd what can finally be a motivator, isn't it?

Anyhoo, I can't do a pull up, and, as i discovered, i cannot do a push up either.
So, i'm subbing in some pull downs(3) and some bench presses(6) on my universal(previous purchase a few years ago that's finally gonna get some use).

Right now, i'm able to pull down 100lbs, and bench 60lbs.

L1D1(cause theres no level 0, lol)
14 rounds in 20 mintues and started to get close to fail on the bench presses near the end. Whew!

[cheapo]

Welcome!

You're a pretty heavy guy, so it isn't surprising that you can't do the exercises without modification. On the plus side, beginners like you make the fastest gains!

The lat pull-down isn't a bad exercise, but body rows or pull-up negatives or jumping pull-ups, or a combination of all of these will get you to your first real pull-up quicker.

Body Row:



Jumping Pull-Up

Band-Assisted Pull-Up

Negatives

[Jooki]

L1D2 (overall day 2)
So, I changed it up a little, instead of the seated lat pulldown, i did a reversed seat lat pulldown, which to me was looking exactly like a body row. Attached is a picture that the home gym has for that move. It seemed to work the abs a bit too, as I was trying not to fall backwards off the seat! lol

I'm gonna get a pull up bar asap, but for now, the universal will help fill the gap.

Body row was at the 100lbs and bench press had to be lowered to 45lbs(that was the next step down).

Did my 5 routines in 13 minutes, was feeling really proud, and then I realized I only doubled the bench presses, instead of tripled...so I made penance with 10 minutes on the eliptical.

I'll have to make sure I have my numbers straight for next time, but to be honest, the 45lb press on the 5th run was pretty damn hard on that 12th rep...oh well, anything worth while is gonna take some time.

I'm going to try some push ups using my stairs, and see which step might be alright for me to use. I'd really like to get to no reliance on the universal, that way if i'm away from access to it, I can still keep going.

[Jooki]

End of Week 1!
Wow, my legs didn't stop being sore and stiff until I was getting ready to go tonight!

L1D3 - subbing bench press (45lb) for pushups, and the lat pulldown above(100lbs) for the pull ups.

So, with 30 pull downs, 63 bench presses, and 21 squats... 14m 50s. I'm really happy with this, and can't wait to begin next week!

[Jooki]

Week 2!

Just getting over some awesome(sarcasm) weekend flu!

D1L1 - 14 rounds... i find i'm really getting slowed down by having to switch weights on my universal. It's definitely time to get a pull up bar, and do negatives or assisted pull ups, and push ups on the stairs or something.

Feeling really good after todays workout.

[KTG]

Nice start! Getting to the pull-up bar will give you a better ability to gauge your progress against the Simplefit standards and the workouts that others are doing.

[Jooki]

Week 2 take 2!

Don't know what happened to last week, but i definitely don't wanna give up on this!
Got a pull up bar, and found out i cannot do negatives, or even just hold myself up, but i'm confident i will get there!!

So, starting week2 fresh...

L1D1
Subbing bench press(45lbs) and subbing lat pulldown(above @ 100lbs).
14 rounds in 20 minutes.

Feeling much rougher after losing last week, but i'm looking forward to day 2 ... and beyond!

[Jooki]

L1D2, Same subs and weights as above.
11m22s
Last round was especially tough....here's the breakdown:
Round 1 - 1:53
Round 2 - 1:57
Round 3 - 1:57
Round 4 - 2:34
Round 5 - 3:00