Workout, Supplement and Meal Plan

wisdom, that's awesome man! I'm stoked you're giving the Arnold program a go! Stick with it man, you'll see results. stick with it!

It sounds like you're doing it right man. If anything you actually want to go light on that first set of 30 since it's really a warm up set, better too light than too heavy on that set of 30. Don't even worry about not getting the weights dialed in exactly right. With the Arnold program it's changing every week so it's a constant judgeing of how much weight to use. I've been doing the Arnold routine since March and I still don't get the weight part down exactly right all the time. If you guess wrong and say go to heavy on a set of 6 and you can only get up 4 then just set the weight down and rest for 10-15 seconds and then pump out those last two reps.

I rest 45 seconds between each set/superset, and then as long as it takes between exercises to get to the next part of the gym as long as it's at least 45 seconds. I quit doing cardio all together with this routine because I don't need it, the workout itself is plenty of cardio. I still have my six pack.

It's just beginning for you man, I'm excited for you.

Got me thinking.... damn.. need to do it..... 

btw, I hope people like my new name + avatar.... I look (or maybe more "feel") like that guy especially the hair part.

no problem wisdom! If you have any questions about anything don't hesitate to ask. I'm extremely passionate about working out.

one big thing that I think separates the few from 99% of the other gym goers is your mentality, especially when doing intense weight training. when I hit the gym I am in a zone like no other and I'm loaded up on a good pre workout supp. I don't go to socialize, bull shit, or make friends..I go to work out and hit every set with laser focus and extreme intensity down to my last rep.

Most people won't understand this, but anger is a beautiful thing.....only when it is tapped, harnessed, and unleashed in a proper way. Tap in to your anger wisdom before each set and unleash it on those weights. people at the gym tell me I look angry, that's because I am, I have to be. It's a personal challenge, every rep...the weights are trying to beat me, push me down, but
II'm going to beat them....and at the end of each workout wisdom it feels amazing, just like you said, because you won.

Put on some music, tap in to your anger, and hit those f!@king weights hard bro. Anger is a tool....
its summed up perfectly in this song which is a great song to workout too btw and one of this bands most underrated songs;

oh nice wisdom, you boxed, then you totally understand what I'm saying about channelling anger, perfect.

yes, you're absolutely right, day two is a tough day and it will be your longest day.  I just did "day
two" (shoulder, bis, tris, forearms) also but I'm on week 3 so technically it's day 16 for me but same muscle groups. so yeah, tomorrow is leg day (yay!!!) and then Thursday you start the three day cycle all over again.

Come Thursday it's possible that your chest and back may still be a bit sore from Mondays chest and back routine but do it anyways. Work through that soreness. People will say you shouldn't work out a muscle thats still sore, but I (and Arnold) say thats bull shit. yeah those muscles may still feel sore but they've had 72 hours to recover which is enough.

That's cool you're getting the feel of the routine down, it's awesome. After time you will really get in the swing of it and you'll be tearing that gym up, stomping through that gym like a man with a purpose like you own that damn place...lol.

So have you got a diet plan in place for this yet? I know you're a smart dude and you know that nutrition is important but it's such a vital aspect that so many gym goers neglect. Its such a mandatory thing , to eat well when you're doing this workout.

Ok.. I am going to do it. I need to take care of few things and will start in the beginning of next year. As usual, I will document my journey......

wisdom, I COMPLETELY understand where you're coming from regarding the diet. It took me quite a while to dial mine in, for sure. What I do is go grocery shopping on Sunday for the week ahead. I buy everything I need for that week, cook most of my meat Sunday night, throw some mixed veggies and black beans, couscous, whatever sides I choose. ..in tupperware containers. I haul a big ass lunch box with me to work everyday with my food for the dayin it.

Its a bit of a lifestyle change for sure man, but once you figure it out you get your routine down and it's not so overwhelming. Whole foods brother, thats what its all about. It can be more expensive for sure but man, it's my body, my
well being, my health. I'm not skimping out on that. I'm not going to eat poor quality" food" just so I can save money, f!@k that. But I totally hear what you're saying about working it in to a hectic lifestyle, I'm a single father of two so I completely get it, but it can be done.

yes, leg day is BRUTAL imo, and you're right...by the time I get to the lunges I'm done...lol...I could easily stop the workout there but you gotta push through it, those lunges are killer.

FYI, to be honest with you I only probably do leg days twice a week about 50% of the time. I have skipped that second leg day plenty of times. So if this Saturday rolls around and you're body is spent from the five days of hitting it hard in the week and you just can't muster up another leg dau don't sweat it too hard. Skip it if you want. I've done it plenty of times and TRUST ME, I've still seen amazing results in my lower body. You stick with this man and your wife will love the changes she sees in your glutes ...and everywhere else for that matter.

oh one thing on that though, and you may already know this and do this, but I believe it is vital to do deep squats. Go as deep as you can go when you go down, at least deep enough to where your thighs are parallel to the floor. Go even deeper if
you can without hurting yourself, I do, and I believe it's the only way to see maximum results in your quads and glutes. You will have to use lighter weight but so what, you will see kick ass results.

I see so many guys who ego train. They will pile on the weights because it boosts their ego and makes them appear strong to everyone else watching. Yet when they go to do their squats they only go about a third of the way down, not even getting their quads parallel to the floor. They are cheating themselves and at the end of the day my quads, hams, and glutes are much more developed than theirs. That's a fact jack.

anywho, sorry for rambling so much on this topic but I could go on for days. Let me know if you have any questions. I believe next week you will start employing the stripping method and the 1-10 method which are both absolutely KILLER, so let me know if you have any questions on those.

Hit Day 8 of Arnold's workout today.. I kept it up through Thanksgiving and did my workout while the turkey was in the oven and am staying on schedule. I did the stripping method today but was unsure as to whether I was supposed to do the stripping method for all exercises or just the flat bench. ickes.. do you do stripping method for just the flat bench? I ended up doing some variation of it for the final set of all lifting exercises, though the more I think about it the more I think it only refers to the bench. I kid you not, I felt like I was going to get pinned by the bar near the end of the final set.

I think last week was good conditioning (not sore, but muscles still feel tight) and I am not so gassed that I can't lift my hands to wash my face or anything. Loving this workout.. I honestly feel great!

Ok.. here I am before the ickes and wisdom plan...... (the quality of my photos have been very consistence.... sh***y as always)



I don't want to get bigger but definitely want more lean muscle/toned down. I got on the scale yesterday and I am at 159lbs. My goal is to stay at the same weight but get my body fat to the low 12%. Btw, when your age is closer to 50's than 40's, expectation is relatively low...
Will start the plan on January 2015.

MiddleAge; awesome to hear that you're going to start the routine. Just an fyi though, this is a mass building routine. If you do this routine and at least eat enough to maintain like @winterland said, you will get bigger. However, I think you will
like the results as it will be lean mass and I bet you will drop body fat.

I'm not trying to discourage you from starting the routine at all, quite the opposite actually. I just want you to be aware that if you stick to the routine and maintain your protein and calorie intake it will be impossible to not gain some size.

I'm excited for you though man. Look forward to seeing your results.

If I were you, I'd start it as immediately as possible. Usually when I set a date a few weeks away for starting a workout, I tend to set myself back right before starting, justifying it by saying I'll burn it off anyways. Just start it now when you feel motivated to, and not weeks later when you don't know of how you'll feel.

I started doing Crossfit in early October and two months in I'm definitely loving it. The classes I attend are either 5:30 or 6:30 AM and are generally pretty empty, like 3-5 people on average. I like not having the hassle of finding and planning routines along with the ability to rip through a 0:45 to 1:00 workout with zero waiting for equipment or dealing with morons.

The Crossfit started after a spring/summer of running to get back down from my baby weight (don't laugh, we adopted so the middle of the night work was split pretty evenly) of 215 down to 185. Running sucks in the winter so I started the Crossfit for a little more strength/flexibility and to maintain my goal weight of 185. 2x/week of Crossfit seems to replace 7-8 miles/week of running pretty evenly when it comes to weight maintenance.

And lastly, I signed up for an amateur boxing competition and have been going to 2x/week boxing training classes. They are a ridiculously difficult challenge in terms of fitness, but I'm not sure if I love getting punched. We'll see if that part continues.