291.0

The path to strength is a long road with many diverse options and myriad opinions.  Work/rest cycles, fixed rep schemes, overload or to failure, all with their upsides and downsides, proponents and detractors.  If you do something you have never done before you are strong, do it several times in a row and you get stronger.  That is the short form.

The road to a healthy life does not come with instructions, we have to pick those up as we go.  Modern living is not conducive to exceptional fitness, no barges to tote or bales to lift these days.  If we want fitness we have to find it, one way is by lifting weights, imitating what used to be a days work in the comfort of a gym or garage or wherever we can find.  A usable set of weights can be had cheaply if you don’t mind perusing the want ads or hanging around garage sales on the weekend.  A sad truth is that most people who start a conditioning program rarely keep up with it and as a result used equipment is plentiful most of the year.

Once you have decided to get stronger and have gotten hold of some equipment the question becomes, how to go about training?  Best answer?  Go slow.  Nothing kills the urge to workout like injury.  Ask yourself this, what is your goal?  Weightloss, fitness, strength?  If you are an absolute beginner I would recommend something like StrongLifts 5×5.  3 exercises, 3 times a week, premade charts to track progress, it’s all there.  There are also books out there like Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and the power lifter’s bible, The Westside Barbell Book Of Methods by Louie Simmons.  No matter what you decide to do, doing that puts you out in front of the guy still on the couch.

My food

breakfast
4 eggs(320 cal.)P28F21.2C1.6
1 can tomatoes and chilies(50 cal.)P2.5F0C10

lunch
chinese pork(684 cal.)P54F45C6

snack
popcorn(320 cal.)P8F3C50

20 oz. green beans(200 cal.)P10F0C44

total

1574 calories P 102.5 F 69.2 C 111.6

my workout-rest day