ex Soldier now looking to REGAIN muscle mass and tone

[smidey]

Hi, I'm an ex Israeli Army officer now living in NY and am new on this site. Since leaving the military, and pardon French, body has gone to shit. I've enjoyed and already gained some very helpful information from reading these boards, so thank you.
situation is not that unique and I know a lot of people are probably in the same boat as I am. When training for the military, most of the exercises were done outdoors and did not consist of using weights, rather were more aerobic and cardio in nature.
I am now 29 years old, 5'9" and weigh approx. 155 lbs. I am starting a new workout regimen that will help me gain the most muscle mass and weight as possible without overloading body. Genetics does play a huge part in anyone's physique and I want to make sure that I don't over stress body.
I read a bit about the Waterbury method. Is this really the best strength/muscle training program recommended by the readers of this site?
As far as dietary concerns, what should I be doing? Should I be focusing on getting as much protein in as possible? Any other suggestions / recommendations.
Remember, I used to train every day for about 3 years straight and am ready to focus seriously on doing whatever necessary. Any recommendations/tips/words of advice would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to good experiences with this.
Thanks all,
Avi

[Christopheel]

Hi, I'm an ex Israeli Army officer now living in NY and am new on this site. Since leaving the military, and pardon French, body has gone to shit. I've enjoyed and already gained some very helpful information from reading these boards, so thank you.
situation is not that unique and I know a lot of people are probably in the same boat as I am. When training for the military, most of the exercises were done outdoors and did not consist of using weights, rather were more aerobic and cardio in nature.
I am now 29 years old, 5'9" and weigh approx. 155 lbs. I am starting a new workout regimen that will help me gain the most muscle mass and weight as possible without overloading body. Genetics does play a huge part in anyone's physique and I want to make sure that I don't over stress body.
I read a bit about the Waterbury method. Is this really the best strength/muscle training program recommended by the readers of this site?
As far as dietary concerns, what should I be doing? Should I be focusing on getting as much protein in as possible? Any other suggestions / recommendations.
Remember, I used to train every day for about 3 years straight and am ready to focus seriously on doing whatever necessary. Any recommendations/tips/words of advice would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to good experiences with this.
Thanks all,
Avi

There is no "best program" but the waterbury method is a good sample of what a program should looks like when trying to build mass and improve strength.

Diet and consistence are the keys, remember that. Read the sticky in diet forum and come back with what you plan to eat and we will help improve your diet.

For training, start with the WB method and keep a journal update for us so we can comment and help.

And I forget sometimes to say, but congratulations on getting back on the "track" of healthy life and lifting !

[swanso5]

it's the best beginner program or one of, yes...easy to follow, not a lot of exercises etc

[smidey]

Ok, so I'm at the end of second week of this training. I'm having great workouts, but do have some comments/questions.

First of all, how come I don't feel so exhausted as I'm thinking I should after the workouts ?

I'm saying, this is too easy. I am doing 80 percent of max rep for 10 sets x 3 or 4x6, and I do sweat, but it is definitely not too intense.

Do you guys recommend I find some additional exercises / workouts to increase the intensity ?

I am also on a 4-5 day a week ab lounge program and try to do about 30 minutes of cardio on days off.

Thanks

[DianaB]

Ok, so I'm at the end of second week of this training. I'm having great workouts, but do have some comments/questions.

First of all, how come I don't feel so exhausted as I'm thinking I should after the workouts ?

I'm saying, this is too easy. I am doing 80 percent of max rep for 10 sets x 3 or 4x6, and I do sweat, but it is definitely not too intense.

Do you guys recommend I find some additional exercises / workouts to increase the intensity ?

I am also on a 4-5 day a week ab lounge program and try to do about 30 minutes of cardio on days off.

Thanks

Not sure I understand. You say you are having great workouts, but you want to be more exhausted?
Measure your success on performance gains, not on how tired and sore you are.

[swanso5]

fatigue doesn't mean youré building muscle, increasing your lift numbers do

ab lounge?? get off that now

[smidey]

Not sure I understand. You say you are having great workouts, but you want to be more exhausted?
Measure your success on performance gains, not on how tired and sore you are.

I'm definitely able to lift a little bit more, I mean, I am only in 3rd week of training right now. I was saying that I don't feel that I'm doing enough, because at the end of workouts and afterwards, I don't feel sore at all.

Shouldn't I be working out to muscle failure? Isn't that what many personal trainers recommend ? Again, I'm asking these because I really don't know at all.

Thanks again for all your help!

[DianaB]

Not sure I understand. You say you are having great workouts, but you want to be more exhausted?
Measure your success on performance gains, not on how tired and sore you are.

I'm definitely able to lift a little bit more, I mean, I am only in 3rd week of training right now. I was saying that I don't feel that I'm doing enough, because at the end of workouts and afterwards, I don't feel sore at all.

Shouldn't I be working out to muscle failure? Isn't that what many personal trainers recommend ? Again, I'm asking these because I really don't know at all.

Thanks again for all your help!

It's always better to leave oner rep in the tank, training to failure is not what you want to be doing at this point.
Soreness is not a sign of working hard. Work weekly towards adding more weight on he bar or cranking out an extra set. Keep a training log so you can measure real progress. When you get to the 6 week mark, look at your program and change it up a bit, maybe add some super sets if you've got energy to burn.
At 3 weeks, I'd say your doing fine, just stick with it.